Convince me to add on at Vero!!!All Vero experts!

[Debs Hill]

Am considering a Vero add on, our home resort is BWV. We have visited and thought it was a beautiful resort, but have never stayed there. Would love to hear from people about their opinions good and bad about the resort and the surrounding area.

 

[vbfamily]

We love Vero Beach!!!!!

We started going to Vero Beach when we thought our kids were too young to handle WDW. We've gone 4 times in the last 4 years and we love it. We have gone to just VB and have also gone after spending time at WDW.

It's the perfect spot to go and relax and have fun. Once we check in we hardly ever leave the resort because we have so much to do. We spend hours at the pool and beach-we love the beach-there are all kinds of things for adults and kids to do and the restaurants are good. They have a great pool slide, pirate ship for kids, mini golf, bike rentals, arcade... It seems to be the perfect place to go no matter what your situation-with kids or traveling without kids.

Sonya's has a seafood buffet and Sunday brunch that are really good.

There is nothing we don't like about VB. You can stay in the Inn or you can stay in one of the villas-all depends on what you enjoy. We love watching/listening to the ocean from our room.

We are buying 250 pts at VB and will use these to vacation there and maybe add on some time at WDW.

The town of VB is awesome. A lot of great places to eat, very relaxed. You can shop, go to a citrus place, museum, etc.

If you go into town make sure you 1. Get a Rita's Italian Ice 2. Stop at Casey's Place for lunch

I'm sure you are interested in hearing both good/bad opinions of VB but we can't think of anything bad to say. We love it and are all hoping my husband is transferred there someday so we can enjoy it even more. He was offered a transfer once and we turned it down Yes, we have been kicking ourselves ever since.

 

[Dean]

It's a great resort but if you haven't stayed there, it's hard for me to think you should buy there. Only buy at VB if you want to use those points at VB most years. Go stay there then decided. Remember you can always stay there with non priority points, you just might not be able to get exactly what you want when you want.

 

[ncligs]

Debs Hill,

Dean is right, add 2-3 days at VB on your next BWV stay and see for yourself.We bought 200 pts at VB , but we also have OKW(300) as a home resort. If you want to experience the Beach Cottage it is a good idea to have the 11 month window to get your choice of days.
Here are some of the Pro's of VB............
1.Very relaxing........non commando type vacation.
2.Restraunts on property..........and numerous within 15 minutes.
3.Mall(Movie theaters) within 15 minute drive(in case of rain)
4.Minor League baseball (VB Dodgers) and L.A. Dodgers training camp
5.1 hr from Kennedy Space Center.
6.Beach Cottages (view is awesome)
7.Parking is right under Inn and Villas(with elevators)
8.Everything vbfamily said also in above post..

We boughtat VB with the intention of going there every yr, by adding a few days to our OKW stay or going to VB only to just relax.

 

[vbfamily]

We are only buying there because we love it.

I would also check it out for a few days if you have never stayed there before. We stayed 3 times before we decided to buy DVC-we made that our home resort because we know we are going to go there all the time.

Do you intend on using your VB pts for VB? We do, so it makes sense to buy there. We will probably do an add on at WDW if we think we are going to go every year.

It is a great place if you know you are going to use it. We are ocean lovers and actually miss it when we are at WDW.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[jcodespoti]

Vero is a great resort for us, and like all the posts before this its great for us, I don't know about you. That said I will tell you what I like about Vero.
1) Its a beautiful resort and very relaxing. Compared to WDW there is not much to do there (everything is relative).
2)there is lots of other stuff to do . If you go in the spring the is baseball (thats what I like). there is also a bunch of stuff to do on the resort as wel off. I would suggest adding the 2 or 3 days after a WDW trip its rather nice.
3)4 days for me at vero is plenty. I start to get a liitle bored.


Joe in CT

 

[CarolMN]

VB is truly a beautiful place. We paid cash to stay there for a long weekend before our last two trips to WDW. One of the stays was over President's Day weekend in 2002. We did not have trouble renting a 2 bedroom for cash.

While we absolutely enjoyed our stay, we would not consider adding on to VB. IMHO, unless you want to stay at one of the Beach Houses or otherwise need the 11 month window on a regualr basis, it isn't worth paying those high dues. I believe you can get accomodations there at most times (not all) by using the 7 month window, perhaps in combination with the waitlist.

I would love to stay in one of the Beach Homes for a few days sometime in the future - that would be my idea of heaven. To do that, I plan to rent VB points or look for someone who may be interested in a BWV stay.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will be right for your family!

 

[kem330]

You definitely need to stay there and check it out. We found it a nice relaxing place to go for a few days and enjoy the beach, but are happy to do so with our WDW points- I have to agree with Joe - 4 days would be plenty there. LOTS of activities for families with young children.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

4 days would be plenty there

Boy, I've sure got to dissagree with this statement for myself. 4 days means your just getting there, and then it's time to leave. I thought 9 days there was wonderful, and will go longer in the future.

Our kids are young, so the beach and the pool and a few games create wonderful times and memories for us.

A key point will be when do you want to stay there? With a school teacher in the family, we'll be taking some spring breaks and christmas breaks there, so we wanted the 11 month booking window at a relaxing resort. WDW can be a blast, but fighting the crowds at peak times, isn't always what we're looking for. We've found that even when we do go to WDW it's nice to hit the beach for a few days to unwind. There's nothing like the ocean to signal a relaxing vacation for us, throw in a wonderful pool, activities, the Green Cabin Room for some live music an night, and we're all set for quality family time.

The advice above of staying there before you purchase is good advice, go check it out. You'll like the room size, the service, the amenities, the peacefulness and hearing the ocean at night as you walk along the prominade. Enjoy.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We own at VB, and love it. We bought sight unseen, and once we stayed, we added points. We are planning two trips per year, four nights per trip. It is a truly relaxing place....no lines, no schedules, and no 'toot of the angry horn'.

 

[kem330]

Debs asked for all opinions, so please don't take offense at my posting about 4 days being enough. This was our first trip and the resort is lovely. We went without kids and I have to say 90% of the resort was families. They were having a great time. I think it is perfect for families to relax. There are non stop activities for the 2-11 age group (before they get to be goofy adolescents) It's just some of us only need a few days of relaxing and others prefer more. The area around the hotel is all high end condos and homes. The town of Vero Beach (about 10 miles south) itself is kind of sprawling- with a few weathered ma and pa places and mix of upscale shops and touristy places. At this time of year it was overwhelmingly retirees. We went into several restaurants and were by far the youngest people there (we're 46 & 47). One highly recomended restaurant had an older piano player and a 70ish woman tap dancing (badly) in a sequinsy outfit. Quaint for the older set but I felt I was in a time warp! So I can see why many stick to the resort which was young families with some grandparents sprinkled in. My impression, which could be very different from someone elses, is Vero Beach is very much a residential community and not as much a resort as compared to say Palm Springs, Hilton Head, Scottsdale. This is not a value judgement just a comparison. Spending 3-4 days before or after a Disney trip is perfect for us and we look forward to going back and checking out the golf courses. It all depends what your looking for. I'm sure its a wonderful place to live for Mike (Madcoco) as well!
*I forgot to add that the staff was WONDERFUL!

 

[madcoco]

kem330 :No offense taken.Have a number of reasons for being in the area quite a bit of the year.(not a snowbird but sometimes have been called a Dodobird.LOL) The wild nightlife is not one of them.LOL 3-4 days works for a lot of families that are looking for R and R after the parks or to store energy before hitting the parks.

Debs Hill:Like the others stated,it would be best to stay a few days explore the area then decide.Have to decide what is best for you.When would you be staying?What size room would you want? This could weigh on your decision.IMHO if you decide to try VB out and was looking for a studio, request an upper floor Ocean View Inn room instead. I don't think you will regret it.

 

[walter]

We added 50 VB points several years ago to use when we have an extended stay (10-12 days at WDW/OKW. We usually stay in an oceanview inn room for approx. 4 nights to relax after the hectic WDW stay. We usually go during off season, therefore the low amount of points we have go further. The bonus is that when we decide to go to HH in an off year, we have these additional 50 points at the 7 month window.

 

[sumessefui]

We just stayed at VB in a beach cottage in September. Had no problem booking at 7 months using OKW points. If it ever sells out that might change. The resort was almost empty when we were there, however and the pool was deserted even though the temperature was 90. We have stayed there before and have had no problem at 7 months in September.
The resort is beautiful and the CM's are great. We find 3 days more than enough to relax there, but we are not big beach people. The area itself is not real tourist friendly and even the CM's told us that. We found HH much more to our liking and added on there. If you have young children and love the beach it may work well for you.

 

[trainfun]

Our home base is OKW, but we added on at Vero. It is a beautiful, relaxing beach resort. We have enjoyed some of the local restaurants (Capt. Hirams) and local golf courses (Aquarina).
We go almost every year and have been doing so since 1996. If you like to relax and unwind it is great. When the kids were a few years younger they really enjoyed the slide and pool.

 

[Macnjac87]

We bought at BWV but after staying at VB for 2 nights after a cruise 2 years ago, we bought 50 points there. Last year we went to OKW for 8 nights (we have 3 kids then ages 12, 9 and 5) and then drove to VB for 5 more nights. It was the perfect place to unwind after 8 hectic days at WDW. We absolutely love it there and plan on going after every WDW trip. We also flew down (Just dh and me) for a long weekend last June and had a fantastic time, we stayed in a studio. So far we've stayed in an ocean view inn room, a studio and a one bedroom and the one bedroom is our favorite. Can't wait till the next trip!!

 

[Debs Hill]

Thank you for all your opinions, it's much appreciated! We're going to add 4 days at Vero to our next trip, using and BWV points and see how much we like it!

Someone asked(I'm sorry I can't remember who!) whether we would be using these points mostly at Vero. To be honest we might..and we might not! This year we are using our BWV points for BWV, cruise, OKW and then VB! Hoping that we can get what we want at the 7 month window. Basically we would like some more points, liked the look of Vero, they're still doing the $15 magical beginnings and thought it might be a good time to go. Are the annual dues there the same as everywhere else?

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Debs Hill
...(snip)......we would like some more points, liked the look of Vero, they're still doing the $15 magical beginnings and thought it might be a good time to go. Are the annual dues there the same as everywhere else?

No, the dues at VB are the highest of all the DVC resorts. Here are the dues per point for 2003:

OKW- $3.49
HH - $3.69
BCV - $3.97
VWL- $4.05
BWV- $4.10
VB - $4.37

 

[wordzylady]

We are new DVC owners and are making our first trip home in January. We bought 250 pts at Vero because we will be going there during the Dodger training season and knew we would need the earilier booking window. We haven't been there yet but are planning on being there next year for training camp. This year we are going to use points at BWV. If not for the interest in being in Vero during March every other year or so we would have probably bought at one of the WDW places. Vero sounds great and we are looking forward to going there.

 

[Candace]

Well, I did it. Yesterday I did a 90 point add-on at Vero. Now this gives me points at 4 resorts. I got an August use year, added to my BWV points, same use year. My other contract for HH and OKW have an April use year. My guide said there were very few points left in the April use year, but I wanted August anyway. I told her not to take any more of my calls! She said. "You tell me that every time you add on!" I swear this is my last purchase this time, though. LOL!