12 days of Disney Resorts and the Pisgah Inn Road trip

[Dizney73]

Disney's Vero Beach Resort Wind and Waves Reservations Made

Wind and Waves is the table service restaurant at Disney's Vero Beach Resort. Last year we ate every single meal at this restaurant except a few days of breakfasts. This year we are planning to leave property at least once to try a local restaurant probably for lunch to avoid the crowd. We love being in the Disney bubble and last summer we simply felt safer in that bubble.
It was our 60 day mark for our Vero Beach stay and so I was able to make our Wind and Waves reservations this week on Open Table. We decide to make it nice and easy... we booked breakfast each morning at 8:30 am and dinner each night at 6:30 pm. The shrimp and grits is my absolute favorite! Once we get within the week, we will look at the weather and make the decision which day looks best for our off property lunch...we have been eyeing up Squid Lips! The menu looks great and so does the atmosphere. Then, I will cancel that night for dinner UNLESS the Turtle Sundae (which is simply my favorite) is calling my name! I am an ice cream lover! Oh... and in the quick service we love the Mickey whoopie pies and the banana bread pudding so that's another dessert option too!

We do also love to pick up cookies, donuts or bagels for breakfast and so we will most likely cancel at least one of the breakfasts. We also didn't book a breakfast for our last morning since we want to get on the road to the Pisgah Inn early as it is a 10 hour drive.

All of our dining reservations are all complete. Now it's onto think about all of the extras... a little something special for Father's Day is a must. For the past few years we have enjoyed the brunch at the Cali Grill but that is not being offered at this time so we will need a new idea for the"something special."
Last year, I thought about booking Kennedy Space Center but most of the attractions weren't open so we decided against that... onto researching that again for this year. Or maybe some kayaking around the Vero area? I'm always open to ideas if you have some!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I was stayed a few days at Vero last summer. I booked it pre-pandemic and had looked for some options of things to do. One thing I found was called Treetop Trek and it is next to the Brevard Zoo. It's in the Melbourne area, so not super close to Vero, and I didn't actually go, so I can't vouch for it, but it looks cool.

I liked the giant Mickey waffle at Wind & Waves.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Last year, I thought about booking Kennedy Space Center but most of the attractions weren't open so we decided against that... onto researching that again for this year. Or maybe some kayaking around the Vero area? I'm always open to ideas if you have some!

I wish I had suggestions for you. Everything you are planning sounds great!

 

[Dizney73]

How about that Disney Wish!? OMG... I really miss cruises.
We do have a Disney cruise booked for Thanksgiving break but we know we do not want to cruise this soon so we are definitely planning to transfer our cruise reservation to a Disney WISH cruise next year!
That gives me something more to look forward to booking! woo hoo!

 

[Dizney73]

Special Father's Day activity booked!

I was on the phone dialing wdw-play at 6:59 am and it paid off! On the 2nd time dialing I was on hold with that Disney music playing in my ear. I have heard about the dreaded call times and even lived it when I needed to fix my name in my own My Disney Experience account (it created a new me on my GFV reservation). I spent 90 minutes on hold listening to those same 4 songs over and over and over again. But it had to be done. This time I decided that I would be on the phone early... why not? I'm up by 5 or 6 am every day anyway!

I was talking to the happiest cast member by 7:13 am and booked a 2 hour bass fishing excursion as a special activity for a special Father's Day gift activity for my husband! Of course, the kids and I are going too! It was actually my son's idea and I thought it was a great one so I ran it past my husband. He said, "Yeah, I always wanted to do that!" The boat will pick us up directly at the Grand Floridian Marina! That's definitley part of the GF experience that we are looking for on this trip!

So all of our reservations are now booked for our trip and all we have to do is count down.
20 days of school to go... and then less than a week until we start our drive to Disney's Hilton Head Resort!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I was talking to the happiest cast member by 7:13 am and booked a 2 hour bass fishing excursion as a special activity for a special Father's Day gift activity for my husband! Of course, the kids and I are going too! It was actually my son's idea and I thought it was a great one so I ran it past my husband. He said, "Yeah, I always wanted to do that!" The boat will pick us up directly at the Grand Floridian Marina! That's definitley part of the GF experience that we are looking for on this trip!

That will be so nice! A great extra.

 

[Dizney73]

Change to Father's Day plans...

If you are like me this past year has left you in Disney withdrawal from the Disney theme parks. Our family has taken to watching many Disney vloggers... let's just say that we can watch their new videos for 2 to 3 hours a night! We watched a rather bad review of the Rix at Coronado Springs. I then checked for reviews of the restaurant online and didn't find anything amazing that made us excited about this reservation. We decided this was not what we were really looking for on such a special day such as Father's Day. So back to the drawing board. In years past we have done the brunch at the Contemporary for our special Father's Day meal but that wasn't available to book this year. After remembering that some of our favorite vloggers loved the Boathouse and House of Blues brunches we decided to look at them. We already have a Boathouse dinner reservation so we went with a brunch reservation at The House of Blues for Father's Day. Those all you can drink Mimosas are sounding pretty good right now!

Of course, this means that we also may need to cancel that Beaches and Cream reservation that I worked so hard to get. But that's OK.. we will survive without a No Way Jose on this trip.
Two more trips to Universal/Disney are booked this year! Working on next Easter. We currently have a 3 night Disney Dream cruise booked for next Easter break but if we decide to sail on the Wish next summer we will most likely cancel and make this a Universal/Disney trip again. (After watching some vloggers we are thinking we will book the Aventura hotel during this time and then add 2 nights at AKV for Easter). I love booking vacations! Don't you?

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Of course, this means that we also may need to cancel that Beaches and Cream reservation that I worked so hard to get. But that's OK.. we will survive without a No Way Jose on this trip.
Two more trips to Universal/Disney are booked this year! Working on next Easter. We currently have a 3 night Disney Dream cruise booked for next Easter break but if we decide to sail on the Wish next summer we will most likely cancel and make this a Universal/Disney trip again. (After watching some vloggers we are thinking we will book the Aventura hotel during this time and then add 2 nights at AKV for Easter). I love booking vacations! Don't you?

Yes! Although, right now it's causing me a little bit of stress with the rental car situation and my ridiculous flight changes. I currently have an 8-hour layover, but the two flights were unlinked and are showing up as two separate trips on the same day. I presume that means I'll need to go to baggage claim after the first flight and then check in again for the second and give them my checked bag back and go through security again.

Also, I'm struggling with park days because I have WDW, UO, Discovery Cove, and Sea World planned for the same trip. It's overly complicated and I'm struggling to simplify it.

I think I'm up to 15 WDW trips, and I've only missed Beaches & Cream once. (I think?) It's a family tradition. It used to be much less well-known, and it was easy to get in. Now? <Me at 3am on ADR day, and then again and again as I attempt to be successful and/or try to move it to a more reasonable time than whatever oddball I originally got.

 

[becauseimnew]

Hello there! Just found your TR and I’m excited for your trip!
And trip planning is the best.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love booking vacations! Don't you?

Ummm, YES!!!!

House of Blues should be nice. We have never been but I have heard good things for brunch.

 

[Dizney73]

Yes! Although, right now it's causing me a little bit of stress with the rental car situation and my ridiculous flight changes. I currently have an 8-hour layover, but the two flights were unlinked and are showing up as two separate trips on the same day. I presume that means I'll need to go to baggage claim after the first flight and then check in again for the second and give them my checked bag back and go through security again.

Also, I'm struggling with park days because I have WDW, UO, Discovery Cove, and Sea World planned for the same trip. It's overly complicated and I'm struggling to simplify it.

I think I'm up to 15 WDW trips, and I've only missed Beaches & Cream once. (I think?) It's a family tradition. It used to be much less well-known, and it was easy to get in. Now? <Me at 3am on ADR day, and then again and again as I attempt to be successful and/or try to move it to a more reasonable time than whatever oddball I originally got.

Thank goodness we don't need a rental car this trip. We thought about it for our Thanksgiving trip but we think we are just going to take our chances with Magical Express for the last time and then uber over to Universal and back.

 

[Dizney73]

Countdown 23 days and counting!

And we have 2 more NEW countdowns in progress....
This past week I was able to piece together a Value studio at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas for next Easter break! I remember when this was easy... but it's not so easy anymore! These studios are in demand! We love these Value studios because they really save us some points so we can splurge a little here and there at other times of the year (like the GFV this summer) ! And when I say pieced it together.. I mean I literally was able to book a day or two at a time. I will have to call and have the reservations put together when I have a few hours to hang on the phone waiting for DVC. The night of Easter was the hardest to get! I just kept hitting refresh until it popped up! Then I pounced on it! I even saw a concierge studio pop up once but we didn't want use that many points.

AND... today we booked our 4 night Disney Wish Cruise for next summer! We booked our favorite room category on the back of the ship and got the perfect room! We always use Kelsie from Dreams Unlimited and she somehow always works her magic for us!

This vacation booking is getting out of control! I love it!
Did anyone else book a cruise on the Disney Wish?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Yeah to more vacations!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I haven't booked a cruise before, ever! I'd like to someday, though.

I just changed 2 of my 6 CCV nights this summer to AKV-K. I was going to do 3 nights, but 2 is what I could get. DVC availability is getting really tight!

 

[Dizney73]

I haven't booked a cruise before, ever! I'd like to someday, though.

I just changed 2 of my 6 CCV nights this summer to AKV-K. I was going to do 3 nights, but 2 is what I could get. DVC availability is getting really tight!

DVC rooms are crazy to get right now! I am currently in a DVC predicament. 11 months ago I booked 6 nights at AKV in a standard studio at Christmas time. We bought those Universal annual passes and now my family wants to stay at Universal for 2 or 3 nights. So I booked 2 nights at Royal Pacific for the Express passes since it will be extremely crowded. My plan was to drop 3 nights from our AKV reservation and just pick up New Year's Eve at Saratoga or Old key West. But as I watch each day... there isn't even going to be availability at those two resorts! The thing is that I booked this vacation because I wanted to be AT DISNEY for New Year's Eve! ugggggg.
So I may just be dropping all 3 nights and booking 3 at Universal. I would like to book a night at the Aventura hotel. It looks so sleek and I bet we could watch fireworks in all directions from that rooftop bar on New Year's Eve!!!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Can you get NYE at your home resort, which I am reading to be AKV? You're trying to push your trip back a few days?

I wonder if you could even get a cash room on-site at Disney for NYE. Apparently pickings are really slim there as well. I wonder when they'll make reopening announcements for AKL, POR, POFQ, and the other All Stars.

 

[Dizney73]

Can you get NYE at your home resort, which I am reading to be AKV? You're trying to push your trip back a few days?

I wonder if you could even get a cash room on-site at Disney for NYE. Apparently pickings are really slim there as well. I wonder when they'll make reopening announcements for AKL, POR, POFQ, and the other All Stars.

I didn't see anything available for cash when I put the date in a few days ago!
We just had a family talk during commercials of Idol and the kids make a good point... they would rather be at Universal for New Year's Eve where we have park tickets than be at Disney where we would be standing around the lake watching fireworks from far away.
I think my problem is that I am so very familiar with Disney! The last time we were in the pars for NYE we had a great time! We had tours at AK and Epcot which took up a few hours from our day AWAY from the crowd. Plus we had a lunch and a dinner reservation. We truly never stopped! We enjoyed a whole day basically in a huge crowd because I knew how to "avoid" the crowd! I have only been to Universal theme parks twice in the last 25 years... it's my fear of the unknown!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

No rooms!

I think they have a good point about the park tickets. I have never been to Universal, but I hope to make it there this summer!

 

[Dizney73]

ONE week until our 12 hour drive to Disney's Hilton Head Resort!

The kids have 1 day of school remaining!
I have 2 days of school remaining plus 10 hours of curriculum writing.

Woo Hoo! We are so excited to visit this new vacation place this summer for a few nights!

 

[Dizney73]

T-minus 1
It has indeed been one of those crazy years and we all are in need of some normalcy, relaxation and some Disney magic! We wrapped up our school year here this week (though I still have two grades of Computer Science curriculum to write before the end of July... It truly never ends!) and spent yesterday doing wash and starting to pack. Packing for me somehow always seems to lead to cleaning out my closet... ugggg!


We completed the online check in for both Disney's Hilton Head and Vero Beach Resorts. We didn't ask for anything special as far as room placement. We are just going with the flow and we will see what we get.

By tonight we will be all packed up and ready to pull out early tomorrow morning! DH works today and the kids an I will finish up the packing, run to the store to grab some snacks, a case of water and a few breakfast in our room items. We also have to gas up the car for our road trip!

I will make every attempt to post while on our magical Disney road trip! Here we go...!!!