6/6-6/10 TR: The Holy Grail of Vero Beach OVIRs

[starbox]

After two weeks of vacation, we're slowly readjusting to life outside the Disney bubble. Our trip was in three parts a 2 bedroom savanna view villa at AKV, an OVIR at VB, and a studio at OKW.

Since VB was my favorite part - I'll post that trip report and pictures first! As always, prepare for an epic report.

Part One - Discovering the Holy Grail!

We arrived at VB at 11:00 Friday morning. I had picked up a fruit arrangement from Edible Arrangements to deliver to the front desk and bell service CMs as a "thank you" from the chair swappers.

. They seemed very surprised and excited to get it. Evidently, people ask for info about Edible Arrangements (there is not one in Vero's delivery area) but the CMs had never actually seen one. It was a hit!

Our room was ready at check-in. However, I was unprepared for what was waiting for me when I opened the door. We were in a room I started referring to as "the holy grail". If you look at this picture of the inn:

You can see a dormer window to the side, then a row of large windows above Shutters (third floor). That WHOLE thing was our room - stretching to the other side of the building where the balcony was. I think it was, no kidding, bigger than the one-bedroom portion of AKV.

Here's how it looked on the inside. Right when you walk in the kitchenette was on the left.

Past the kitchen, there is a recessed alcove where the dormer window sits. This has a large chair and ottoman and a table/lamp.

Here's the view from the dormer window:

Inside the room, there were two huge widows that faced the ocean. One of them was in front of the vanity area, so when you brushed your teeth the ocean was reflected in the mirror behind you. The other was in front of one of the queen beds, so you could see the ocean from bed. They were big enough to sit in and have coffee.

This is the reflection in the vanity mirror:

The room was huge:

Balcony faced the pool and ocean:

Needless to say, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. There were ocean views on three sides of the room . I did not know such a thing existed.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

OMG!!!!! What was your room number!!

 

[starbox]

We were unimpressed by Shutter's last year, so we opted to skip it this trip. I will say that the restaurant seemed very busy the entire trip - so hopefully that's a good sign that things are improving.

The first day, we went to Publix and stocked up on breakfast and light snack/lunch foods.

Friday - we had lunch at Bleacher's by the pool - grilled chicken sandwiches for DH and I, a kids sandbucket hot-dog meal for DD and the chicken nuggets for DS. Everything was very good - I really liked the grilled chicken, which was like a breast of chicken rather than a patty.

Dinner was at my favorite - Squid Lips!!!!
I remembered to take pictures of the food right after we started eating!
Fried shrimp (I gave DH my french fries)

Shrimp Po-Boy

I love the casual atmosphere and views:

View from the dock:

Saturday - we ate lunch in the room and then had dinner at Green Cabin Room. I love the atmosphere and convenience of the GCR.

DD and DH had Angus burgers, DS had buffalo chicken, and I had four cheese flat bread and red wine. The food was delicious, and a couple was getting married on the lawn right in front of the restaurant - beautiful.

Sunday - we had lunch at Bleachers again. This time DH got the chicken roll-up thing and he loved it.

For dinner, we went into Vero Beach's retail district to find a pizza place we'd seen last year. Last year, we had pizza from Orchid Island and it was fine - but we wanted someplace with a little atmosphere.

We found Nino's Cafe and give it a very enthusiastic recommendation!!!

Monday - we decided to return to the Green Cabin Room. This time we all had burgers.

A few notes:

If you like adult beverages, I highly recommend skipping the pool bar and getting your drinks to go from the Green Cabin - they have a much more extensive menu and, IMHO, actually put a decent amount of alcohol in the drinks. Last year, I was a fan of the raspberry mojito - but the bermuda ginger mojito is now my favorite. Yumm.

If you use DDE - Green Cabin Room did not add the automatic gratuity that gets added at WDW. I'm not sure if Shutters/Sonjas do - but you probably want to check to make sure that your server gets tipped.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I am soooo excited now... this time next weeek one.... OVIR I can only hope for that..... excuse me.... I have to go peeee now......

I'm back... Really glad you had a good visit. Now waiting for the rest of the story

 

[starbox]

First, the beach:

I did not notice any difference in the erosion of the beach between this year and the past two years:

The chair swap is working just fine. All three groups have chairs and umbrellas. There are not boxes or labels now - the manager at VB has copies of the lists and everything is linked to your reservation - this was REALLY nice of VB.

The ocean was great for boogie-boarding - very wild! On the first day, DS got a very nasty jellyfish sting on his thighs. It looked horrible and the poor kid could barely walk. The folks at the Green Cabin rentals sent us to Eb and Flos, where they gave us these vials of green medicine to put on the sting and instructed DS to stay in the pool as much as possible since the chlorine killed the poison. Sure enough - after a day in the pool his legs did not hurt (although they looked bad) and he was back in the ocean!

I had ordered a sandcastle building set and DVD as an early father's day gift for DH (who loves to build and probably should have been a master craftsman). He spent hours every day building things:

 

[starbox]

The pool was great - we had no problem getting pool chairs or a table for lunch in the gazebo. We all love the waterslide and after some helpful hints from a CM about how to go reeeally fast (if you're a girl - sit and lean forward with your head down and hands grasping your ankles; if you're a boy, slide laying down on pushing up on your heels and shoulderblades) DD won a ribbon and a prize in the waterslide races!

There was a DJ by the pool and pool games a couple of days and that was fun.

We also enjoyed the campfire two nights - it was packed both times! DS "volunteered" me to do the Peanut Butter Reeses Cup song and dance and win first S'mores for the family! Oh yes. My back hurts, the sun's too bright and my booty shakes to the left and to the right.

As for recreation - we spent the best 20$ of the trip by getting unlimited mini-golf. The kids LOVED to play, and found lots of other kids to play with as well as playing with mom and dad.

DD is my activity girl and she loved the marbles tournament (no charge) and bingo (no charge). Both kids did the faux gyotou - which I almost did not sign them both up for until the CM told me it was really fun and they did not have to use the fish stamp - but could design any shirt they wanted. At 7$, I thought it was a bargain and they kids loved it.

DD also did the seashell art and silk painting. (10$ and 3$)

Towards the end of the trip, we discovered that almost all the video games in the arcade are set to FREE PLAY. That's right - FREE video games in the arcade. Parents - use this knowledge to your advantage.

Finally, DD once gain did the Creatures of the Lagoon excursion and rated it as the best part of the trip once again. If you've got a budding naturalist - they'll love this. DD got to hold spider and hermit crabs and touch a wild stingray.

All in all - it was heavenly trip. The CMs are the best anywhere - and the whole place just has such a friendly, family feeling to it.

 

[Lexxiefern]

Thanks so much for your report and photos!! I miss VB. I need to schedule a trip to go back

 

[bobbiwoz]

That's a great report! Glad you had such a wonderful time!! I appreciate knowing what to do in case of jellyfish sting, and will pass along the slide tips to everyone!
Bobbi

 

[rigsby25]

We just booked for October. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading your report. Lovely family.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Thanks for the report! Actually, I was not aware the DDE could be used at Vero Beach. Does this include the snack bar at the pool, and the drinks in the Green Cabin Room?

Thank you..

 

[groverdog]

What a wonderful trip report, we are going in November and I can hardly wait. We will be getting an OVIR and a Beach House, I can only hope we get a room like yours! What was the room number???

Also Squid Lips??

 

[jdg345]

Thanks for the report! Actually, I was not aware the DDE could be used at Vero Beach. Does this include the snack bar at the pool, and the drinks in the Green Cabin Room?

Thank you..

Curious about this as well ... is there a list of all the areas in VB that take the DDE Card?

Also, what is an OVIR?

 

[Claire L]

Curious about this as well ... is there a list of all the areas in VB that take the DDE Card?

Also, what is an OVIR?

The DDE card is accepted at Shutters, the Green Cabin Room and Sonya's (not Sunday brunch though).

OVIR - Ocean View Inn Room.

Claire

 

[disfountainofyouth]

I'm looking at our first try @ HH in June '09. What room were you in?

Looks like a great location!!!

 

[jdg345]

The DDE card is accepted at Shutters, the Green Cabin Room and Sonya's (not Sunday brunch though).

OVIR - Ocean View Inn Room.

Claire

Thanks! What's the difference between an Inn Room and a Studio? Are those the ones right on the beach?

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks! What's the difference between an Inn Room and a Studio? Are those the ones right on the beach?

There are Beach Cottages right on the beach, and those are Grand Villas, that is, 3 bedrooms and there are only 6 of them.

Inn rooms can be of 2 types, Ocean View or Garden View and they are in the main building. The Inn Rooms usually have 2 Q beds, except for the exceptional ones that have a King Bed, you can request one of those, but it's not a guarantee. The Inn is where you check in and where the Restaurants are. There are outbuildings that have the 1-2 bedroom villas and the studios. A studio has a room outline similar to one at OKW, (that is, not a rectangle) but there is one queen bed and a pull out sofa and a small balcony as well as the kitchenette.

Bobbi

 

[WDRabbit]

Starbox,

That's hilarious! We just got back from VB yesterday. I was reading through your trip report and got to the part about the sand castle kit. Sure enough we were sitting right next to you on Monday on the beach. Your DH was building with that kit directly in front of us. I even specifically remember you saying something like "Daddy sure loves building things" to one of your kids, and then some discussion about how they wanted to go sailing when they got older (sorry to eavesdrop but we were literally sitting right next to you).

It looked like a few of the sand creations survived out there for several days. Awesome trip report

On another strange note... we were in the room right above you on the 4th floor.

 

[alldiz]

Wow.....did you really get the "holy grail".....Starbox have you stayed in an OVIR before....did you really get a bigger room

Those views look awesome....I might just have to do the OVIR instead of a 1BR. Of course I'll take any room they have next summer

 

[alldiz]

Starbox,

That's hilarious! We just got back from VB yesterday. I was reading through your trip report and got to the part about the sand castle kit. Sure enough we were sitting right next to you on Monday on the beach. Your DH was building with that kit directly in front of us. I even specifically remember you saying something like "Daddy sure loves building things" to one of your kids, and then some discussion about how they wanted to go sailing when they got older (sorry to eavesdrop but we were literally sitting right next to you).

It looked like a few of the sand creations survived out there for several days. Awesome trip report

On another strange note... we were in the room right above you on the 4th floor.

What a small world....So did you have a giant room also....WOW so you must have had a great view as well. Did you bring the CM's a gift also?
I might have to bring some NY bagels
Kerri

 

[starbox]

Starbox,

That's hilarious! We just got back from VB yesterday. I was reading through your trip report and got to the part about the sand castle kit. Sure enough we were sitting right next to you on Monday on the beach.

Too funny!! I've probably got you in the background of some of my pictures! DH loved learning how to make those sand castles - in July he's going to attempt to make Cinderella's castle.

Wow.....did you really get the "holy grail".....Starbox have you stayed in an OVIR before....did you really get a bigger room

Yup it was at least 2X as big - this was our third inn room and the others have been set up like normal hotel rooms with the addition of the studio-style kitchenette - and with no extra windows, just the balcony. The only downside to the room is that all the reflected sun and glass from the huge windows made it hard to really cool the room - but I learned quickly to draw the blinds when I was not in the room during the day.

I might have to bring some NY bagels
Kerri

In fairness, the room was pre-assigned before I showed up with the thank-you (there were messages waiting in the room for us). I was paying cash for the first part of the trip though - and I did wonder if that's a room that they reserve for cash reservations.

Whatever the case - it was awesome. I'd love to get that room again someday. I kept telling DH that I did not think very much knowledge of the holy grail was out there because I would have heard about it!