Vero Beach in February

[rigsby25]

Arriving on Super Bowl Sunday. Have they gotten internet in all the rooms yet? Are they doing any upgrading or renovating, etc? Last February we ran into lots of renovation in February.

[DVCconvert]

Have they gotten internet in all the rooms yet? Are they doing any upgrading or renovating

yes to both....enjoy!

[rigsby25]

What does the renovating entail? Nothing closed -like the pool or anything?

[delauzons]

We are also going Feb 13th-17th. I called yesterday direct to the resort to book the Pirate Dinner for the 15th . They told me there is a very good possibility the beach will be closed. They said a lot was washed away in the storms and it is being made larger. She said there will be huge cranes on the beach and it might be completely closed. I was so upset. We are 4 families coming from NY FOR the beach! I hope it ends up better. Anyone else hear anything about this?

[rigsby25]

How can they possibly do this? Can they do this?

[rigsby25]

My husband is calling today to get the story. But we were thinking. We are booked in an ocean view room in the inn. We will have an ocean view no matter what. We did not go in the ocean last February, but we do love to walk along the beach in the morning. So then we thought, ok, it might be kind of neat to see them do this. It certainly will be interesting enough. And we will still have use of the pool And we will still watch the sun come up over the ocean. And if there is a nice moon, we will still see it reflected in the ocean. We will miss our walks though! I saw a state park not too far from there and maybe we'll check that out.

[lisareniff]

We are also going Feb 13th-17th. I called yesterday direct to the resort to book the Pirate Dinner for the 15th . They told me there is a very good possibility the beach will be closed. They said a lot was washed away in the storms and it is being made larger. She said there will be huge cranes on the beach and it might be completely closed. I was so upset. We are 4 families coming from NY FOR the beach! I hope it ends up better. Anyone else hear anything about this?

I really didn't want to read that! We will be there the same time frame (14th-19th).

[delauzons]

I keep hoping it will be finished by then! We really are upset! We also got OVIRs for us, my in-laws, my 2 sister-in-laws and their families. I keep thinking all we will be looking at is big machinery from our balcony. It's our first time at Vero Beach and we wanted to walk on the beach and let the kids play in the sand even if the water was too cold. Hoping for some pixie dust for all of us!

[rigsby25]

I'm sorry to report that my DH called the resort this morning and it is confirmed. The beach itself will close starting Feb. 3 for 4 to 6 weeks for repairs. They are directing guests to a beach that is a few minutes away. We decided to cancel all together and are doing a crazy split at WDW. 1 night at SSR, 2 nights at BW - where we've never stayed before, and the rest at our home, OKW in a 1 BR. For those of you who do go, please let me know how that other beach was!

[lisareniff]

Well in an Jan 18th(?) up project update, they have the start date as Feburary 9th. It sounds really horrible. 31 dump trucks per hour will cross the bridge. I think, if I'm reading it correctly, they may start to the north of Wabasso first so us President's week people may be spared the brunt of the impact.

Here is a TCP article from December (make sure to read the comments too)...
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/dec/19/expect-dump-truck-traffic-wabasso-causeway-during-/

[lisareniff]

I'm sorry to report that my DH called the resort this morning and it is confirmed. The beach itself will close starting Feb. 3 for 4 to 6 weeks for repairs. They are directing guests to a beach that is a few minutes away. We decided to cancel all together and are doing a crazy split at WDW. 1 night at SSR, 2 nights at BW - where we've never stayed before, and the rest at our home, OKW in a 1 BR. For those of you who do go, please let me know how that other beach was!

I missed your post in my search! UGH!! This is not good. Were you able to switch resorts (cancel without penelty and rebook) because of the beach work?

[rigsby25]

No there isn't any penalty. I guess when you cancel, your points go into holding, but we are using them at WDW. We are happy campers right now. First night in a BC 1br, 2nd and 3rd nights in a BW studio. We've never been able to book at BW. The rest of our trip will be in an OKW 1BR. OKW is our home resort and our favorite resort at WDW. I just wish someone else (another couple or something) were coming with us. It seems a shame to waste a 1 br on just the 2 of us. I hope the weather is nice. We have some 5 day park hoppers that we've never used so we're good there. And we are going to talk this weekend about maybe canceling the rental car and just using DME to save money. This is what I love about DVC. Flexibility to the max!

[lisareniff]

The rest of our trip will be in an OKW 1BR. OKW is our home resort and our favorite resort at WDW. I just wish someone else (another couple or something) were coming with us. It seems a shame to waste a 1 br on just the 2 of us.

Enjoy the splurge of the 1 bedroom and trying out the other resorts. Our homes are BCV and recently AKL and have yet to try OKW. We initally went on the wait list for OKW and SSR yesterday but at the end of the day canceled both of those waitlists and our Beach cottage at VB. We decided the beach was were we wanted to go, so that is where we should go. I'm now trying to find 5 nights on the gulf coast.

ETA: for our 5 nights (2/14-2/19) there was only a 2 bedroom available at SSR on the last night.

[rigsby25]

We are also going Feb 13th-17th. I called yesterday direct to the resort to book the Pirate Dinner for the 15th . They told me there is a very good possibility the beach will be closed. They said a lot was washed away in the storms and it is being made larger. She said there will be huge cranes on the beach and it might be completely closed. I was so upset. We are 4 families coming from NY FOR the beach! I hope it ends up better. Anyone else hear anything about this?

Thank you so much for the head's up. We changed our reservations for WDW. I am very disappointed. For me - it would have been fine. But my husband did not want to stay if the beach might be closed. If you all go, please, please let us know how it turned out. I am tempted to ask my DH to drive up one day so we can check it out ourselves. The hotel did say they were directing guests to another beach a few minutes away.

[delauzons]

We decided to go anyway. It might be too cold for the beach anyway and she said it might be open on weekends and certain days. She said to call back next week and they should havwe more info. I hope you have a great trip! We will be at BWVs for 2 nights before VB. I will definately post how it was when we get back!

[lisareniff]

I wanted to thank you for posting this info as well. It allowed us the option of changing our vacation. I hope all goes well for you. You never know with construction - there are always delays.

[dis4all]

I spoke with DVC MS at length yesterday. The work is slated to begin 2/9 and has slipped before so you never know. They will not be working Saturdays and Sundays, and all of this is not under Disney control. That made me feel a bit better. They also checked WDW hotels and couldn't get me any reservations without a waiting list. They also checked RCI. No luck. We are just going to take our chances with VB. Our kids love the pool and we'll go to the beach on Saturday and Sunday. If we go off-property we'll just do it on the weekdays. Luckily this time, no ocean view for us. We'll be there 2/13-2/18.

What's the scoop with the Pirate Dinner? MS said there are no special dinners right now at VB

[delauzons]

The pirate dinner is on Monday, February 15th. I have a 6:25 reservation for our party of 15. I was told it is Goofy and Donald dressed as pirates and all castmembers dressed up also. It is $26.99 Adults $12.99 Children. We are celebrating 3 birthdays so we ordered a cake for the table also. We are going to VB from 2/13-2/17 so maybe we'll see you at the pool! I just hope it's warm-it is COLD in NY today and we are expected to get snow again this weekend! Have a great trip!

[ajkmom3]

Hi! We're at VB now. No work on the beach yet, but the beach does need work. It looks as if there was a walkway (first visit here so I don't know what it did look like) which is now buried in sand. The handrail is sticking out of sand.

Hopefully it warms up for you! Have a great time!

[delauzons]

well, we are back from our split stay at VB and BW. It has been raining, cold, and nasty in NY since we've been back. When we left DW on Monday morning it was sunny and warm. I told everyone I would update them on the construction at VB so here it is:
We arrived very late on Sunday, Feb 14th to VB. We had room 2424 and my sister-in-law was connecting to us. She had a beautiful corner room with a ton of space. My in-laws were in 2415 and had a HUGE king size bed room with 2 couches. My other sister-in-law was in 2414 and had the same layout as us(2 beds,kitchenette, and bathroom). Everyone had beautiful oceanviews and was thrilled with their rooms. Now the bad part-Monday morning-President's Day at 7 AM the trucks started driving up and down the beach. They were loud! This was the same the next day. I heard many people complaining. One woman told me she was not notified and was very angry. She brought her little daughter over from DW just to have her play on the beach. Tuesday we were told they had shuttle service to a beach Jaycee Park 5 miles away. We opted to drive our cars over because we were 15 people. It was a nice beach with a playground, bathrooms and restaurant. It was a chilly but nice day. The beach at Disney's VB was closed until Wednesday. Wednesday when we woke up there was no noise and we couldn't see any trucks. We were down by the pool around noon and we heard people saying that the beach was supposed to open. My husband went to the front desk and they said they left messages on everyone's phones that it was open. We rushed over and it was. It was covered with truck tire marks but we still enjoyed walking it and it was crowded with kids playing in the sand. We left the next morning for DW but my daughter had made some friends with kids who stayed until Saturday and they said the beach stayed open. All in all-we LOVED VB! If we had had warmer weather I think we would have loved it more but still we all had a great time and will return. Also because the beach was closed everyone got free mini golf and bike rentals. We played mini golf A LOT! My kids loved the activities and my 14 year old loved being able to have some freedom. My husband and I let her go off with her new friends and we felt very comfortable. Any questions, let me know. I would be happy to help!

[polyhm83]

We will be at Disney's VB in a couple of weeks, and have been very curious about the beach project. Do you think they are finished in front of the resort or will they be back to do more work. I know it is just a guess but wondered what you thought. Also how was the ocean temperature, we were there last year in the middle of March and it was so warm, but with the cold weather this winter I wondered if it is freezing. TIA :)

[CheapMom]

just got back from vero. Mon-Fri they are shuttling guests to nearby beaches. Sat and Sun the beach in front of the resort is open. We had an ocean view and even though we couldn't go on the beach the view was gorgeous and I only ever saw 2 or 3 trucks and I didn't think the noise was bad. They start right after sunrise. The pool area was a good substitute for the beach- they had a dj everyday. As reported- free bikes and mini-golf.
took this pic Monday morning- Vero is a beautiful place:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2dtx8cl.jpg

[delauzons]

We will be at Disney's VB in a couple of weeks, and have been very curious about the beach project. Do you think they are finished in front of the resort or will they be back to do more work. I know it is just a guess but wondered what you thought. Also how was the ocean temperature, we were there last year in the middle of March and it was so warm, but with the cold weather this winter I wondered if it is freezing. TIA :)

The water was cold when we were there but there were people in it. The air was chilly also though. It was 62 during the day and in the 40's at night. I think it will warm up though. It is a great place and we can't wait to go back.

[delauzons]

took this pic Monday morning- Vero is a beautiful place:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2dtx8cl.jpg[/QUOTE]

What a beautiful picture! We loved it too! Oceanview rooms were awesome! Wish I was still there!

[polyhm83]

I can't wait to go back to VB, we will have a great time even if the beach is closed. Thanks again.