Crowds at Vero Beach?

[Cheese Please]

What kind of crowds have others experienced at Vero Beach? Admittedly we where there during a holiday week (Thursday to Monday over Easter weekend), but I was still a little surprised that the facility seemed so over crowded. I figured that since this was a timeshare, unless people are losing points, the resort should be nearly full all year round.

The facility it self was beautiful, and the location and beach at the ocean was just what we were looking for. I will "whine" on here with my disappointments if only to help others learn from my mistakes. Because I was not expecting the problems, I did not plan ahead enough.

Shutters' was full such that without a reservation you had to wait over 2 hours to get a table for dinner. There were some frustrated guests that just left. The fact that the snack bar at the pool closed at 7 PM didn't help. Actually it closes earlier, because I went to the snack bar one night to get something to eat at 6:50 and all they had would sell me was pre-packaged sandwiches. The kitchen was closed and looked like it had been for quite some time.

I did not know you could make reservations for the chair and umbrellas that were rented at the beach. On our last day, I tried to get a pair of chairs and umbrella at about 10 AM and they were all sold out. Even though there were many empty, they had been paid for.

At the pool, it was the usual problem with chairs that you have at Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. Most chairs were taken in the early morning, at least with towels. I was also surprised to see a large group of chairs reserved for a birthday party on Easter Sunday. There were at least 20 chairs that I counted saved with towels and little stickers for the party. We had some chairs near by, but there were many people that walked by looking for chairs. Unfortunately, the party didn't really start until 1:30. Even then I never saw more than about half of the chairs used at any one time. Some chairs were never sat in. They just held toys and other "stuff". This was not a party catered by the resort. The parents brought in coolers and food themselves. I wondered whether they rented one room for one night and then brought in 20 kids for a party, but that is another topic.

I was just disappointed that the resort was so inadequate as far as beach chairs, pool chairs and restaurant space. I guess I am spoiled with WDW where even in busy times I have never had a problem getting food when I wanted it. I might not get a seat in my favorite restaurant, but I never went hungry.

Cheese Please

Magic 9/23/00
Wonder 4/8/01
Magic 9/22/01
Magic 11/17/01

 

[maryisme]

Thanks for the insightful post. I was thinking of making ressie's at VB for next Easter. For some reason, I also thought that VB would be less crowded than the WDW resorts (even during Easter). At least now, I will know what to expect.

Hope you still enjoyed your trip. How were the accommodations?

 

[PamOKW]

I'm sorry you had these problems. I've never encountered anything close to what you experienced but I haven't been there during primetime. I imagine Easter weekend is the busiest time of the year for the resort.

I don't quite understand the birthday party holding all those chairs, especially if it wasn't being done by the resort (like for a conference function). I think I would have taken a chair and told them I'd give it back when the party started. I certainly would have questioned someone on the staff.

Your advice about the restaurant is good. People forget that the restaurant is open to the public and has become quite popular with Vero residents....who increase dramatically with the snowbirds at this time of year. I didn't know you could reserve beach chairs. That's good to know. I also share your frustration about how early the snack bar closes. To tell you the truth I don't care much for the food at Shutters and would be happier with something from the snack bar!

 

[eva]

We went to Vero a couple of years ago in June. It was somewhat crowded during that time so I can only imagine what it was like over Easter. The pool chairs were a problem during that time too. We decided to get to the pool very early each day to get ours. (And yes, we were there swimming not just throwing something on the chair to hold it all day.) We got down to the pool around 9 or 10am every morning and there were all kinds of towels and coolers around holding chairs but not a person in sight. I think that most DVC facilities figure that a lot of people will stock their refrigerator and do some light meals in the room. I guess that is why there is only 1 restaurant at OKW and Vero (and none at HH). We only ate at Shutters one time when we were there. We had a tendency to drive somewhere for dinner or eat snacks or pizzas at the lounge. We really enjoyed eating pizzas out on the deck of the lounge (Be sure to wear bug spray though!) There were a number of places that deliver to the resort too. If you ask at the desk they have a list of places for dinner with phone numbers and directions. I bet at Easter it was really a mad house there. Even though Vero is not sold out they do have a lot of visitors. A number of our friends have been there on that package deal they offer with WDW and the cruise.

 

[mouseobsessed]

We have never been to Vero in April but are planning to go next year at that time. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope we do not encounter similar crowds. We were there in Feb. and asked several staff members how the Feb. crowd compared to April. We were told that the resort was at 95% occupancy in Feb. so there would not be much difference. The crowds at that time were not overwhelming although you did need to have a PS at Shutters on weekends. We'll hope for the best!

 

[A1A1]

Thank you so much for your post. I will be heading down there next month for a week, and needed the info you provided.

Let's see, I will:

Make PS reservations at shutters;
Rent the beach chairs in advance;
Bring and wear lots of bug spray;
Get to the pool early;
Expect a crowd.

Thanks!

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Another tactic we have use is to go to Walmart and buy $10 beach chairs. The clamshell style worked great. We used them all week, and at the end of our trip, offered them to another DVC member who was just starting thier vacation. Works for the beach and the pool, if none are available.

 

[Paul in CT]

Did you try the Green Cabin Room (the lounge on the second level)? I know that they serve desserts there. I thought they also serve some food as well, but I'm not sure. Of course, it was probably packed, too. We usually have most of our dinners offsite when we stay there. We like Shutters for breakfast and lunch. The Ocean Grill on A1A is quite good.

Paul in CT

 

[familyfun86]

We went to VB at Easter time 5 years ago and it was the same way except that the beach was basically unusable due to temp. It was only in the 70F during the day and their was a good breeze for most of the week so it felt like the low 60F/hi 50F on the Ocean. The pool has a wind break so it was comfortable so this really made the pool even more crowded. I would go to the gym at 6:00am and already see chairs being saved. They did not have the pool gated in so their was a fair amount of local people who thought that it was VB community pool that they had to keep throwing out. Hence they added the Gate/room key reader. Additionally at that time they were encouraging DVC members to come over and use the pool. I guess this was to help sell VB. I have stayed at VB as recently as Jan 01 and I can see that they have made positive steps to try and keep pool users to registered guests only. The resturant was the same way. Five years ago they had not enclosed the deck around shutters so it was smaller. If you did not have a ressie by 3:00pm you we only going to get seated outside after a couple hour wait. Needless to say eating outside while it was in the 50F's at night was not an enjoyable experience. On a positive note some of the folks that had vacationed at WDW the same time had similiar complaints about crowds. Bottomline is we now avoid VB and WDW during easter. NOW NO ONE TAKE THIS WRONG!!! but the folks from the north are iching for some nice weather and I think that easter week corresponds to spring break so they come south. Us folks that are already down here want to wait until it gets really unbearably hot before we travel further south to Florida.

 

[mattsdad]

I went to VB in June last year, and though there were plenty of people, we did not have any of the problems with overcrowding you indicated you had over Easter. I tend to avoid all the Disney resorts during holiday weekends, because whether it is VB or WDW, those weekends just get too crazy with crowds.

 

[Daydreamin]

the week before Easter and left on Good Friday.

We had similar experience with having a long wait for Shutters the first night we were there. For some reason, I didn't even think about making PS ressies. The dinner meal we had was good, but not something that we wanted again...dinner seemed over priced (ate one breakfast there that was great). We never tried Sonyas based on our Shutters experience. Ate a number of appetizer meals at the Green Cabin Room. Loved the porch, the appetizers, deserts and drinks. Very relaxed and more our families style. Also had many lunches/snacks/drinks from Bleachers by the pool. Loved it! They really make it easy by having the waitresses come around during the long line wait times.

We loved the pool area at the resort and spent many hours there. We were equally surprised by the need to make sure that you were down by the pool at 8 am when they opened up the area to ensure that you had chairs/table. DH needs to have shade due to his complexion, so getting an umbrella chair was important. One day, I didn't get down to the pool until 8:15am and there were no tables left. I was never late again. We too couldn't believe the number of chairs and tables reserved that never seemed to have people at them. Also, were amazed at the number of people with cell phones at the pool. While I know a lot of people combine work with vacation, I HATE THE SOUND OF A RINGING PHONE especially right next to me when I'm trying to relax.

Didn't have the same problem with the beach, because we didn't try to rent chairs/umbrellas. DD didn't really like the sand or salt water that much, so we spent most of our time at the pool. Took several walks on the beach collecting shells, spent a few hours of building sand castles and played in the surf. When we were at the beach, it was usually early in the day and not for long. Used the steps/ramp as a place to hang towels, sat on our boards we brought with us. After looking at the rental prices we decided early in our week, that we'd go for the free chairs by the pool.

We enjoyed our days at VB and would return. As for the crowds, it really didn't bother us that much after we changed our eating plans and got to the pool early (It sounds like leaving on Good Friday was smart!). The pool never really seemed that crowded even though all the chairs were gone. We loved the slide and miniature golf. Our kids brought their scooters and we loved going across A1A for walks/rides. The area never seemed to be used at least when we were there. Wish we had rented bikes and taken a family bike ride, but didn't. Really enjoyed the smores at the campfire...our kids are still singing those crazy songs (like the pool, make sure to go early so that you get a bench seat).

Though we enjoyed our time at VB and feel that its a beautiful resort, would only book a 3 night stay in the future. Kids like a bit more action than what VB has to offer. Ended up going to Kennedy Space Center for a day, as well as Universal in Orlando.

On another note, the noseeums/bugs we expected were not near as bad as we thought they'd be. We were well armed with bug spray but rarely needed it.

Dream it and you're there!

Off Site - '80,'82,'84,'87
Caribbean Beach - '92,'95,'00
DVC Purchase - 6/00
Vero Beach - '01

 

[PamOKW]

The "reserving" of chairs and tables at all the resorts is ridiculous. If people would use them as available everyone would be a lot happier. To have a towel "holding" an area from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. when the group finally arrives, denies access to those who might want to use it for breakfast and a morning swim. An empty pool area with towels on the chairs means nothing in my book. If you're there, you use the chairs. If you're sleeping, on the beach, etc. too bad. I can see using a towel while you're in the pool or at the snack bar but beyond that there is no PS for the pool area.

 

[msdisney53]

Thanks for all the great heads up.We just booked the cruise for the week before Easter and was considering going to VB for a few days before heading home. Do you think the same will apply to HH during Easter week? <IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused">