Disney, Universal and SeaWorld closed for the first time in their histories in 1999 as Hurricane Floyd approached
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Florida's theme parks remained closed on Friday as wind and rain from Hurricane Matthew lashed the Atlantic coast and thousands were left without power.
Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and SeaWorld are among the visitor attractions that have shut down.
Matthew was downgraded to a Category 3 storm overnight but officials warned it could still be dangerous as it moved up the East Coast, threatening hundreds of miles of coastline in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
At the food court at Disney's Art of Animation attraction, where the wait for pizza was more than an hour and half about 5 p.m. Thursday, Stephanie Bautista was stocking up on fruit for her family.
"They said they're going to close this whole place down and keep us in," Bautista said.
By 6:45 p.m., the line for food would stretch outside.
Dan Macht
Visitors to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, line up for food as Hurricane Matthew bore down.
Bautista's flight back home to Houston on Friday was canceled so she booked an extra room. But because she has been through hurricanes before, she said she "wasn't too worried."
Walt Disney World's theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs, miniature golf courses and ESPN Wide World of Sports complex are all shut. Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was cancelled for Friday night.
Guests at the Walt Disney World Resort hotel were warned by voice mail to stay in their rooms through Friday.
Two visitors from England who had been in Florida all week had gotten some extra candles and water Thursday evening but did not know what to expect. Lucy Cotton and Lucy Best, out at the "Crossroads of the World" section of Disney's Hollywood Studios, were part of a group of six. They said the rental villa where they were staying told them to fill up their bathtub with water to use for sanitation.
Dan Macht
Lucy Cotton, left, and Lucy Best, right, prepare for Hurricane Matthew at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The visitors from England bought extra candles and water and had been told to fill up the bathtub at their rented villa.
"Try not to worry too much," Lucy Cotton said.
At Universal Orlando, Wet 'n Wild, Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and CityWalk also are all closed and Halloween Horror Night is cancelled for Friday. Plans are to resume normal operations on Saturday morning.
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Titusville will remain closed until Saturday, when it expects to open at 9 a.m, while SeaWorld Orlando's website says it will reopen at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Dan Macht
Visitors to Walt Disney World Resort before the arrival of Hurricane Matthew
Disney, Universal and SeaWorld allow tourists to cancel or reschedule trips in the event of a hurricane warning, though policies vary for each theme park.
Universal Orlando and Disney World waive fees for rescheduled vacations and cancellations within seven days of a hurricane warning in Orlando or a visitor's hometown. In the case of a named storm, Universal says it will also refund vacations that were booked through a third party. Disney's policy only applies to reservations made directly with the company.
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The daughter of 84-year-old Armant Germain replaces the sheets on her bed, in the cholera ward at a hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti, Oct. 11, 2016. Health authorities have warned that Hurricane Matthew has created conditions that are likely to cause an increase in the deadly waterborne cholera virus.
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A herd of deer crosses a flooded Highway 9 near Nichols, S.C. on Oct. 11, 2016. The town was hit with heavy flooding after Hurricane Matthew.
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George Aubert rescues one of his chickens from rising floodwaters caused by remnants of Hurricane Matthew on Oct. 11, 2016, in Fair Bluff, North Carolina. Thousands of homes have been damaged in North Carolina as a result of the storm and many are still under threat of flooding.
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A swift water rescue team member guides a boat through floodwaters caused by rain from Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina, Oct. 10, 2016.
A young man uses salvaged sheets of mangled metal to construct a makeshift roof over one room as a rainstorm rolls in, after his home was damaged by Hurricane Matthew, in Port-a-Piment, Haiti, Oct. 10, 2016.
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A swift water rescue team member holds a dog that was rescued from floodwaters caused by rain from Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina, Oct. 10, 2016.
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A man walks past debris left by Hurricane Matthew in Dame-Marie, Haiti, Oct. 10, 2016. Nearly a week after the storm smashed into southwestern Haiti, some communities along the southern coast have yet to receive any assistance, leaving residents who have lost their homes and virtually all of their belongings struggling to find shelter and potable water.
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People ford one of many rivers along the southern coast spanned by bridges that were destroyed or rendered unusable by Hurricane Matthew, near Port-a-Piment, Haiti, Oct. 10, 2016.
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Severely damaged highway A1A is seen after ocean waters stirred up by Hurricane Matthew washed away parts of the ocean front road on Oct. 8, 2016, in Flagler Beach, Florida.
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Rob Birch salvages a speaker from the trunk of his car which floated out of his drive way as Hurricane Matthew passes through the area on Oct. 7, 2016, in St Augustine, Florida.
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Frances Long examines an elm tree that fell in front of her family's home, Oct. 8, 2016, in Savannah, Georgia. Across the Southeast, Over 1.4 million people have lost power due to Hurricane Matthew which has been downgraded to a category 1 hurricane on Saturday morning.
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A man walks through a flooded street as Hurricane Matthew passes through the area on Oct. 7, 2016, in St Augustine, Florida. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina all declared a state of emergency in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew.
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An abandoned car damaged by a fallen tree sits along Interstate 16, Oct. 8, 2016, in Savannah, Georgia.
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A fallen tree from Hurricane Matthew blocks the road on St. Simons Island, Ga., after residents were ordered to evacuate, Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.
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A motorist drives through a flooded street from Hurricane Matthew in Brunswick, Ga., Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.
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A car sits in flood waters due to rain from Hurricane Matthew in Rockingham, N.C., on Oct. 8, 2016.
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Debris litters a road after it washed over from Hurricane Matthew on St. Simons Island, Ga., Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL - OCTOBER 07: Large waves caused by Hurricane Matthew pound the Jacksonville Pier and was damaged by the storm, October 7, 2016 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Hurricane Matthew passed by offshore bringing heavy winds and flooding.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
A downed tree from high winds rests against a car in a residential community after Hurricane Matthew passes through on Oct. 7, 2016, in Ormond Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A man walks through a flooded street as Hurricane Matthew passes through the area on Oct. 7, 2016 in St Augustine, Florida.
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Rob Birch checks on his car which floated out of his drive way as Hurricane Matthew passes through the area on Oct. 7, 2016, in St Augustine, Florida.
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A women helps a dog navigate through Hurricane Matthew's flood waters, Oct. 7, 2016, on Port Orange, Florida.
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Nick Lomasney walks through heavy wind and a flooded street as Hurricane Matthew passes through the area on October 7, 2016 in St Augustine, Florida.
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High winds stir up a flooded street as Hurricane Matthew passes through the area on October 7, 2016 in St Augustine, Florida.
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John Nock walks with his bike through a flooded street Hurricane Matthew, Oct. 7, 2016, in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.
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Waves from Hurricane Matthew batter a boat dock, Oct. 7, 2016, in St. Augustine, Florida.
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A car is sumerged in Hurricane Matthew's flood waters, October 7, 2016 on Port Orange, Florida.
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Austin Massett runs through a area beginning to flood as Hurricane Matthew moves closer to St. Augustine, Florida, Oct. 7, 2016.
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Brian Johns walks through waters from a storm surge as debris litters the ground while he tries to video the effects of Hurricane Matthew, Oct. 7, 2016, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
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A girl lugs buckets of drinking water after the passing of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.
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Palm trees sway in high gusts of wind, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, in Vero Beach, Florida.
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Residents repair their homes destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Two days after the storm rampaged across the country's remote southwestern peninsula, authorities and aid workers still lack a clear picture of what they fear is the country's biggest disaster in years.
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Girls hold hands as they help each other wade through a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, Oct. 6, 2016. Two days after the storm rampaged across the country's remote southwestern peninsula, authorities and aid workers still lack a clear picture of what they fear is the country's biggest disaster in years.
Dieu Nalio Chery, AP
A woman from the Laguerre family lies on the floor in grief as the coffin carrying Roberto Laguerre is taken out of the morgue, to bury him at the cemetery in Jeremie, Haiti, on Oct. 8, 2016. Roberto, 32, died when the wall of a church next door to his home fell during Hurricane Matthew.
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Women from the Laguerre family cry during the burial of Roberto Laguerre in Jeremie, Haiti, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. Roberto, 32, died when the wall of a church next door to his home fell during Hurricane Matthew. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
With Hurricane Matthew still far off the coast, people party at the Elbo Room bar in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Dozens of people joined in the festivities and others jogged or swam in the rough surf as Matthew appeared headed well north of the city.
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Ted Houston and his dog Kermit visit the beach as Hurricane Matthew approaches the area on Oct. 6, 2016, in Palm Beach, United States.
Two men run for cover as rain ahead of Hurricane Matthew begins to fall Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, in Jacksonville Beach , Fla. Leaving more than 100 dead in its wake across the Caribbean, Hurricane Matthew steamed toward heavily populated Florida with terrifying winds of 140 mph Thursday, and 2 million people across the Southeast were warned to flee inland.
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Alec Manning drills holes into plywood to cover the windows of a business during storm preparations for Hurricane Matthew, Oct. 6, 2016, in Darien, Georgia.
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Gavin Cohen, left, and Ada Cohen take in the scene as Hurricane Matthew approaches the area on Oct. 6, 2016, in Miami Beach, Florida.
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Residents carry a mattress to a shelter after homes were destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, Oct. 6, 2016.
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Children sit inside a church damaged by Hurricane Matthew, in Saint-Louis, Haiti, Oct. 5, 2016. Rescue workers in Haiti struggled to reach cutoff towns and learn the full extent of the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew as the storm began battering the Bahamas on Wednesday and triggered large-scale evacuations along the U.S. East Coast.
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Residents carry food down a street strewn with rubble caused by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Oct. 5, 2016.
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A man looks from the balcony of his house damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Oct. 5, 2016.
A woman cries amid the rubble of her home, destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, leaving hundreds of others damaged.
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Men push a motorbike through a street flooded by a river that overflowed from heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti, Oct. 5, 2016. Rescue workers in Haiti struggled to reach cutoff towns and learn the full extent of the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew as the storm began battering the Bahamas on Wednesday and triggered large-scale evacuations along the U.S. East Coast.
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Bus drivers with the Greenville, South Carolina, school district wait by their buses in the parking lot for word when to start evacuating people to Greenville from North Charleston, South Carolina, Oct. 5, 2016, in advance of Hurricane Matthew.
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Children are pictured in the flooded neighborhood of La Puya, in Santo Domingo on Oct. 4, 2016, after the passage of Hurricane Matthew through Hispaniola -- the island that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti.
People try to cross the overflowing La Rouyonne river in the commune of Leogane, south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 5, 2016. Haiti and the eastern tip of Cuba -- blasted by Matthew on October 4, 2016 -- began the messy and probably grim task of assessing the storm's toll. Matthew hit them as a Category Four hurricane but has since been downgraded to three, on a scale of five, by the US National Hurricane Center.
Javier Sierra/Telemundo
Storm damage from Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 5, 2016.
Officials in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina had urged people in evacuation zones to leave. Matthew has already left more than 280 dead in its wake across the Caribbean. One death was reported in Florida.
The Orlando Sentinel said Florida's three theme parks closed for the first time in their histories in 1999 as Hurricane Floyd approached. The storm eventually changed course.
In 2004, the parks closed for three hurricanes — Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Disney and Universal also closed briefly during Wilma in 2005.
NBC's Dan Macht contributed to this report from Orlando
