The Disney Snob Rides Again!...July 2007

[tinawv]

I see the makings of a great trip report. Can't wait to read more.

[tinkercat]

Vero Beach looks SO nice! I just had to share this funny little tidbit. As I was looking at your pictures with the dolls, my 2 year old DS came over to look as well. He says, "Look! Its Alexis and Krista! (my neices LOL) at the beach!" I couldn't help but laugh and I knew he wouldn't understand that they were dolls on the beach so I just let him go right on thinking he was looking at his cousins at the beach.

[scrapbookersdis]

This is great! Looking forward to Day One!

[AGPrincess]

Lifelong_dreamer...The sea turtle aspect of Vero was really amazing...they really take it seriously. The CM at the desk said that all exterior lighting near the beach was turned off by 9 PM and rooms facing the ocean were required to close their blinds by that time so they wouldn't disturb the turtles.

mla1977...

My goddaughter lives too far away, so if I got her one, I wouldn't be able to play with it.

LOL! That's why Elizabeth is really my mom's doll...I won't get to take her away when I move out. My mom says that she wants some dolls to stay at her house so that her granddaughters will always want to visit her!

LISAMWDW...I didn't know you golfed! I'm sure you would've swept the floor with me at the mini-golf at Vero. Porthos did, and I don't think he's ever going to let me live it down.

VanniGirl and elena05...Thanks for checking in!

Chris...Hey there! I hope you had a fabulous time on your recent insanely long Disney vacation!

ChrisLei...lol! I should send the pics into American Girl and see if they could use them! The AG dolls I have are Nicki, Felicity, and Samantha. My "mom's" dolls are Jess and Elizabeth.

heartofdisney...Welcome! You're right...another bonus to driving is that you're actually thankful to be home and out of the car! Thanks for the good wishes!

BeautyluvsBeast...Power to girls with frizzy (I mean curly!) hair! I was looking at the shampoo at WalMart the other day and I saw one called "None of Your Frizziness!" lol. That sounds like it'd suit me!

myrsfmly...you're leaving for Disney soon? Hooray for you! Hope you have a fantabulous time!

teruterubouzu...we were a little cautious about Vero too...after all, my Mom had been wanting to go there a long time and we kinda had high expectations, but we were completely satisfied in the end!

tinkercat...

As I was looking at your pictures with the dolls, my 2 year old DS came over to look as well. He says, "Look! Its Alexis and Krista! (my neices LOL) at the beach!" I couldn't help but laugh and I knew he wouldn't understand that they were dolls on the beach so I just let him go right on thinking he was looking at his cousins at the beach

Awwww! That story is too cute!

KathyRN137, Sleeping*Beauty, tinawv, and scrapbookersdis...Thanks! I'll have an update shortly!

[Elmo888]

Originally Posted by Sorsha

Well, not "Emma's back" as in the rearward portion of her upper anatomy...

LOL! That was amusing!

Originally Posted by AGPrincess

Felicity and Elizabeth immediately made friends with him.

One would think that the girls would be scared of the GIANT lobster!

[AGPrincess]

DAY 1, part 1: A Not-So Fortuitous Morning.

On Day 1 (ONE! Yay!) I woke up with the delicious consciousness that TODAY was the day we were arriving at the happiest place on earth. The place where dreams came true. The place where, supposedly, you could be ambushed by cast members and given one of “a million dreams.” Hopefully. If you were lucky. We hadn't been in May, but I was willing to hope for better luck.

So I got up right away and went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror.

POOF! My hair looked like a R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size...from what book/movie?) had tried to make a nest out of it. (SHUDDER!) I had brought along a straight iron because snobs, as well as boy scouts, are always prepared! I got out the one bottle of potion (as my mom fondly calls the “product” you have to apply to my hair to coax it out of it’s frizziness) that I had brought along and discovered it had lost its cap. TSK TSK you bad potion you. I had to rummage all through my now-sticky bag to try to find the cap which was not there.

Not a very fortuitous start to the day.

But there was still some potion left, so I did what I could and made my hair look SEMI-straight again. Then I hurried to get dressed.

NOW. Vero is on the Atlantic coast which means it looks out east which means that you will able to see a spectacular sunRISE because (certain as the sun…doododooododooo…rising in the EAST!...yes...I use a Disney song to remember in which direction the sun rises...). And I wanted to see that sunrise.

I was a little late because of of the Frizzy Incident, so it already looked pretty light out. I woke Mom up (sorry Mom!) and told her where I was going, and then Athos heard, and he wanted to come too, so I had to wait for him to get up and dressed, but FINALLY we were ready to go. I was afraid we had missed the best part.

We got out to the beach and saw this…


AHHH, yes. A beautiful grey sky.

NOT a very fortuitous sunrise.

But truly, look at the picture!



Who could mind so very much at a cloudy sunrise? The light was still gorgeous, there was still a beautiful beach in front of me with waves crashing and we were going to Disney World later. Plus it was early in the morning and we were going to Disney World and Athos was really excited to look for sea turtles and a have a conversation with a conservationalist and DID I MENTION we were going to Disney World? That day. Later on?

Oh yeah. I think I did. Three times.


Here’s a foot shot…so glamorous, aren’t my feet? lol. This photo kinda gives an idea of how rough the sand was…in some areas it was completely broken shells!


A blurry foot shot…covered by the wave.

SO Athos and I walked out and saw some conservationalists on ATVs cruisin’ down the beach, stopping every so often to tramp up into the grassy dunes, then tramping back down again to answer the Disney tourist questions. We approached them as they were at the tail-end of a spheel to the family in front of us, so when it was our turn we didn’t make them repeat it all, we just asked a few questions.

It was actually pretty interesting. They have over 400 green sea turtle nests, over 200 loggerhead nests, and 19 leatherback (those are the huge turtles, according to Athos, who was confirmed by an impressed conservationalist) nests. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been any turtle hatching the night before.

As soon as Athos perceived that there were no turtles or evidence of turtle life in the immediate vicinity, he moved on to the other forms of life on the beach.

Were there crabs? He wanted to know. And if so, what kinds? Were they the ones that lived in the holes? Or were they mice holes…they might be judging by the size…And the tiny holes, they couldn’t be crabs or mice. Could they be sand worms?

How a boy of eleven is able to identify the hole of a sand worm when his educated sister of eighteen was not even aware of the existence of such a thing as a sand worm, is beyond me.

After Athos’ curiosity about small sand animals and crustaceans and nonvertabrates was marginally satisfied, we headed back down the beach. Dad was coming out to meet us. We gave him the low-down on the conservationalists and offered to walk back if he had a question for them that we couldn’t answer.

Or rather, I did those things while Athos examined the tiny holes further and tried to dig something out of them.

“EMMA, DAD, come LOOK!”


Athos, that budding conservationalist, had caught a crab. And how he did it I can’t fathom, because I practically couldn’t see it when he put it down again. It was about the size of your thumbnail and looked like it was MADE of sand. I kept taking pictures, but I wasn’t sure if I got it.


See it?


That’s better…can you pick it out?


OK, I’ll help…

After we convinced Athos that it would NOT be a good idea to bring it back to the room to show Mom, we headed back up. We were hungry and ready for breakfast.

I got into the room and took my hair (which had been in a ponytail) down. And found that the R.O.U.S’s had invaded again. It was so ridiculous I could’ve laughed…the effects of a half-hour of straightening had been completely wiped out by a half hour outside. The humidity, in case you haven’t noticed, was not too fortuitous for my hair.

Oh well. What can you do? I bundled my hair into a bun at the top of my head and tried not to think about it too much.

Mom was up and ready to go…but not to Disney World. Quite yet. She had read about a bakery. An Italian bakery. A New York Italian Bakery. And she wanted to check it out. After all, it was in Vero, and it was still really early.

So Mom and I go out exploring to find the bakery. We use the map the hotel gave. It said “not to scale” at the bottom. Here’s a hint. If a map says “not to scale,” you might want to find another map.

This map was REALLY not-to-scale at ALL. But we kept driving and driving and driving, thinking we must ALMOST be to the cross road we were looking for because, after all, Vero isn’t THAT big of a place. Finally we find the Cross Road, but we can’t find the corner. It’s supposed to be on 11th St. We pass 13th St., 12th St., then 11th Ave., 11th Lane, and even a little driveway called 11th Way, but no 11th St.

It was not so fortuitous.

We keep driving. What else were we to do? Eventually we stop at a Publix and try to find where we went wrong. We see an elderly gentleman getting into his car next to us, and my mom leans out as asks if he know the way to the Farrara Bakery.

He does! We didn’t miss it. It’s a few more miles down the road. Turns out that Disney’s Vero Beach Resort is actually NOT located in Vero Beach, as is the Farrara Bakery & Pastry Shop & Deli. The resort is in a town called Orchid something-or-other. At long last we see the bakery! HOORAY! (actually, I’d still totally recommend going to this bakery if you ever go to Vero, just know it’s not all-that close)

It’s a very little shop…unprepossessing both outside and in. But it’s charmingly old-fashioned -- the woman who served us put all our purchases into boxes and tied them up with red and white striped cord. The treats behind the counter…which may not catch your eye at first…will certainly catch your sweet tooth as soon as you see what’s in them! Most of them were unpronounceable Italian names. I am, unfortunately, not Italian, and so couldn’t possibly do justice to them. But they were delicious.

I got a rugala…some sort of cookie with chocolate and nuts in it, and a lingonberry cookie with raspberry jam. We also got some desserts to share.

There was a lobster tail (crunchy pastry filled with whipped cream and shaped like a lobster tail), a lu lu (very difficult to describe…a sort of soft doughy muffiny thing filled with whipped cream), and an éclair (because that’s SO Italian). There was also some sort of savory thing with cheese stuffed inside the lobster-tail pastry, then some of those green-leaf-chocolate sandwich cookies.

Which we DID share with everybody. And it went super-quick. And it was all VERY good. And very fortuitous. If good desserts can be considered fortuitous.

SO. Wild Goose Chase accomplished and treats gobbled, we were ready to load up the car and head. To DISNEY.

UP NEXT: Arrival! p.9 posts 124 and 125

[WDW Poly Princess]

My brand spankin’ new never-been-written-in-before Disney Diary! There’s something about blank notebooks that just thrills me…

Me, too! I love them!

R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size...from what book/movie?)

Princess Bride!

Vero Beach looks really pretty! And I hear you on the hair issues- I just give up on mine when we get to FL- hopeless!

Can't wait for the rest!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Originally Posted by AGPrincess

POOF! My hair looked like a R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size...from what book/movie?) had tried to make a nest out of it.

I know! I know! That would be The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

I also have no idea how your brother found that crab.

That bakery sounds very yummy. My town does not have a good Italian bakery and I so wish it did.

[VanniGirl]

A great update - can't wait for the rest!

[KathyRN137]

Originally Posted by AGPrincess

..... And it was all VERY good. And very fortuitous. If good desserts can be considered fortuitous.

SO. Wild Goose Chase accomplished and treats gobbled, we were ready to load up the car and head. To DISNEY.

You are going to Disney, you have to keep up your strength somehow!!

Kathy

[Marion]

How did I miss you starting a new report???? Well I'm here now and loving every second. And your brother has amazing eyesight, thanks for the circle!

Welcome back!

[Hedy]

Thrilled to see you back with a new TR-I love the girls with the giant lobster...I think I'm getting an Elizabeth as soon as Felicity comes home from Williamsburg, AKA the attic (DNiece liked her a little TOO much when she was wee).
Oh, and re your college (on the other TR)-that's the best sort-all of the privilege, none of the pretense.

[mariacj]

Originally Posted by AGPrincess

Here’s a foot shot…so glamorous, aren’t my feet? lol. This photo kinda gives an idea of how rough the sand was…in some areas it was completely broken shells!


See it?


That’s better…can you pick it out?


OK, I’ll help…

Yay, another post. Side story about the shell beach. My DF's family has a cabin at the "Beach" at Whidbey Island. When I was first invited, I pictured sand and miles of ocean to play and frolick. Nope, the beach was made of rocks! No sand and miles of ocean and no way no how was I going to frolick and risk my ankles and other extremeties. I was however pleasantly surprised at the forest (lots of trees and bushes) behinf the house. It felt as if we were in Sleeping Beauty. I started humming Once a Upon a Dream, DF joined and well... !

I also wish to announce I found the crab before the red circle. My heart jumped a little when I saw it.

I can't wait for the first actual WDW posting. Don't keep us waiting to long.

Lifelong_Dreamer: Good Job! I had forgotten that part... scariest part of the movie. I only say this because in Peru I saw a mouse in the bathroom and at the age of 13, it was huge and I did not have my glasses.

[TinkerChelle]

Absolutely adoring your trip report. You are a very talented young lady! Yeah for you! As for me, another Disney snob. For example, a friend of mine just returned from her first trip to DisneyWorld. I was enjoying looking through her photos and listening to her recall her glorious vacation when she mentioned how much she loved all the different shops around the lake at Epcot! I inquired and it turned out the World Showcase was a mall! Some people get the "magic" and some people don't! I had to profusely apologize for my reaction and explain that I am nothing but a Disney snob...my family is quite aware of my problem, but some of my friends have to learn the hard way. We had a nice laugh about it.

Looking forward to your trip report and now heading off to read your first report!

[myrsfmly]

great update - Thanks Emma!