First trip home (Vero)- Complete Disaster

[Par8hed]

...Not! Truth is I could not have been more satisfied. Arrived at noon and received a "Welcome Home" from check-in. Room was not ready yet so we ( myself, wife, and 7yr. old Son ) headed to the pool. I tried the courtesy phone around 2 P.M. and was told our room was ready. My requests for our 1 Bdr were in order of importance ( Non-accessible, non-smoking, top floor, ocean view). From looking at the resort map I additionally hoped for building #14 . Well....I received room #1436. Non-accessible, non-smoking, top floor, ocean view, and Bldg 14 !!!!. The room was absolutely spotless and beautiful. The only issues whatsoever were 2 burned out light bulbs and my desire for a decaf coffee setup. Both of these were taken care of within 5 minutes with a quick call to housekeeping. The weather was spectacular from start to finish. With the exception of one afternoon where they had to close the pool from about 3 PM on due to lightning in the area, it was bright, sunny, and about 90 degrees the entire week.( Note- The VB portion of our trip was from 7/5-7/10- we also visited relatives in the area.) While it was hot, humidity was not an issue and there was always a pleasant breeze. The grounds are just delightful. Lush, tropical, and constantly being manicured. The decor throughout the resort is equally appealing. The resort was at full capacity and yet never seemed overcrowded. No waits for tables, the slide, golf, anything. Did I just mention the slide? What a blast. Very, very deceiving. It looks innocent enough but trust me if you lay down flat you get moving very quickly. I'm told it is 163 ft. long. I can tell you that it is appox 3 stories high with a great view from the top. My 7 yr. old began the trip refusing to put his head under water and in trepidation of the slide. By the end of the first day, and with a litle reassurance from the lifeguard, he went from fear of the slide to going down in a sitting position with swimmies on, to lying on his back with no swimmies on. He's also staying underwater for 20 seconds at a time. We signed him up for the un-birthday party which he really seemed to enjoy and my wife enjoyed an early morning massage as well. The beach, while not huge, is big enough. It was impeccably clean and the water was refreshing. I was up very early each day to use the gym and took in several wonderful sunrises and the view from the Green Cabin Room was equally spectacular.I'd have spent more time there had our room not had such a perfect view.. We planned on hitting several of the area restaurants but were quite pleased with both Shutters and Sonya's. Without elaborating, we had a vast variety of dishes and were quite satisfied. I am from the New York are and as such the prices were in line with what we're used to. A very nice meal at Sonya's with drinks, appetizers and dessert (son ordering off the kids menu) ran us about $120 with the tip. Nothing unreasonable about that as far as I'm concerned. One complaint- a side order of bacon at breakfast will run you $2.99. Thats fine, but it was literally two strips of bacon. Oh well- if thats my only complaint I'll just skip the bacon in the future. I was surprised that the restaurants were so uncrowded. I guess many people cook in their rooms. As to off site dining the only places we went were Mr. Manatees which had good,fresh seafood at very cheap prices and an Outback Steakhouse which was , well, Outback Steakhouse..We attended two Vero Beach Dodger games during the trip. After the first there was a very impressive fireworks display and at the second, my father-in-law ( who does security for the team ) arranged for my son to be presented with a ball autographed by the entire team. The other highlight of the trip was some very successful freshwater fishing with my son that both he and I will remember for a long,long, time. In closing- for you veterans out there - yes it will in fact be very,very hard to stay in either a studio or standard hotel room after staying in the one bedroom and....YES.... I admit it....as I type this my wife and I are very,very seriously considering making a call for some additional points. Sorry if this was a little long winded.

 

[Granny]

Thanks for the report...though I'll admit I was afraid you had a bad vacation from your title. Very glad to hear otherwise!

And yes, you have found one of Disney's favorite traps. They hook you and then we blow it by staying in a 1BR and BAM! More points.

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

 

[WDWLVR]

Thanks for the great report. I'm looking forward to staying there in December (if only for one night).

 

[bobbiwoz]

I didn't want to click-on and read your report, but I did, and am glad!

Thank you for posting! When we went in March, the beach/water was not nice, it was very rough and dangerous. So, our next trip to VB will be in late May, I'm looking for even a quick dip in the ocean.

Bobbi

 

[Bellesmama]

So glad you had a nice trip - we're(me, DH & DD5) headed there for the first time next month.

Just a few questions...

Did your son participate in any of the other kid activities? If so, how were they?

Was the gym crowded? Any waits for machines? What kind of machines were there?

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!!! Can't wait to go next May before our cruise!

Allison an associate

 

[rbuzzotta]

I was so afraid as I clicked on this post!! We are headed to Vero shortly!! WE haven't been in a few years and feared something dreadful happened!!

So glad to hear it is the same! Glad you enjoyed it............we do!! Your report was great...........

Do they still hhhave the Sunday brunch at Sonya's??? If so, do you recall the price? We took DH there one year for Father's day and although it is not Fathers Day when we go, I would like to surprise him!!

 

[PamOKW]

Thanks for such a colorful report! I'm glad to hear you had a great time. It sure is a beautiful spot.

 

[MI mom of 3]

So glad you had a great time. It is a beautiful place isn't it?

One question...has the situation with saving chairs at the pool gotten better? When we were there last summer, if you didn't get down there by 10 am you had a really hard time finding chairs.

Thanks

 

[mbw12]

thanks for the trip report....we would love to stay there one day. Stupid question for you Vero experts out there......what time os the year is hardest to get a ressie at the 7 month window? (I know with HH, it is hard to get summer, but wondering about Vero.)
also, what is there to do in the area for a 4 and 6 year old?

 

[Credit Man]

Thanks for the great report!

 

[Par8hed]

I'll answer what questions I can. While we did not enroll my Son in anything additional I can state that the kids I saw in the "Discovery Club" did seem to be enjoying themselves. The campire sing-a-long, while a little hokey for my tastes, seemd to be a big hit with the masses. There were a lot of activities to be had. My best suggestion would be to have the resort fax you an activity sheet which covers a full week as there are various different activities depending on the age group of the kids. I also spoke with people who raved about the late-night turtle nesting observation. Locally there is baseball, movies, fishing, Cape Canaveral, etc. The gym was not crowded at all when I attended which was generally at 7:00 A.M. Point of information if you're an early riser is that while the gym "opens" at 7:00 A.M. you CAN get in there much earlier if you so desire. As for the equipt- they had a full Cybex circuit, an array of dumbells, two treadmills, some stair climbers, and an elliptical trainer. Towels were abundant and there were two TV's as well as music. Chairs by the pool were not an issue with me but again I'm out and about early. They do close off the area until 8:00 A.M. Most people seem to throw towels on the chairs then head off to breakfast. This worked out well for us. I can't recall seeing anyone searching for chairs and the resort was at capacity.

 

[TexasTom]

I love your pictures of W and Dick Cheney.

 

[DVCDawn]

You almost fooled me with your subject line! I glad you had a great time at VB. My family and I will be headed there for the first time next May. I'm really looking forward to it after reading your post.

One question:

If you don't throw your towel on a chair before breakfast, do you even have a shot at getting one later in the morning? We went to the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island a few years ago and if you didn't "save" yourself a chaise by the pool by 8:00 AM you were out of luck.

Thanks for the info,
DVCDawn

 

[floridafam]

DVCDawn,

I wouldn't worry too much about the chairs. When we were there in May, the lifeguards often came by and removed the pool towels that were being used to save chairs. I think they do this when the pool is busy.


Par8hed, Vero Beach is awesome and I'm glad you had a great time. We just can't get enough of the place.

 

[ahoff]

Sounds like you had a great time. We were there the end of May, and had a great time as well, we will definatly be returning. We never had a problem with towels on the chairs, but we were there early anyway. As to ease of reservations, we booked at less than three months out, and there was only Inn rooms available.

 

[sgtdisney]

We were there at the same time you were par8head. We had a great time. We were in the pool area when that big storm blew in last Wednesday. That was pretty wild. We ended up going back to the room and just relaxing that afternoon.

 

[kathleena]

Glad you had a nice trip! Someday I hope to stay at Vero, but after reading about the jellyfish. eeeuuwwww. My brother used to throw them at me at the beach and I hate them!

Have to admit - I was hesitant to look at your post with the title, but since I'd never "enjoyed" any Vero bashing I snuck in. And the negative title also snared over 700 others - seems the happy ones don't get so much play!

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

I know you must have enjoyed setting up that teaser subject

I really enjoyed your trip report, Par8hed! You have made me more interested than ever in checking out Vero Beach, and believe me, I am a DVC member because I love WDW

Thanks again for the gifted description...

Lisa

 

[msdis]

WHAT?????? Your post was too SHORT!!!!!

Thanks for all your positive feedback. As you can see I too was afraid to look but figured I should be prepared although we're completely booked and there's no turning back.

You didn't see any creepy crawlies did you? That thread a while ago about the snakes has NOT set well with us.

I truthfully have seen almost nothing negative about Vero and am very much looking forward to a WHOLE week there.

Which airport if any did you fly into? How about a grocery stop? Anything else you care to share I would love to hear about it.

Thanks again for sharing.