Our first stay at VB: a mini trip report

[cjsbmiller]

I can't wait till we get down there. We have a beach cottage for 5 nights in mid April. We are a family of 4 and we invited my mom and another family of 4 to join us. We stayed in a 1BR on our previous trip. I saw pictures of the inside of the BC and it looks amazing. I hope we can find chairs at the pool. It is kind of annoying to see towels on all the chairs and no people ever in them. Our family generally only takes one chair and we end up sharing it, as we are never all out of the pool at once, unless it is lunchtime.

Thanks for the trip report. I was wondering how the resort was making out with clean up and repairs.

 

[racheltyler]

And before we went, we didn't read this or see pictures of this anywhere - the kid's pirate ship & slide and wet deck play area. We spent hours here sitting in a lounge chair in the shade while our kids had a blast here. At the time our DD was 4 and DS was 18 mos. We never in a million years thought we could relax on vacation with 2 small kids, but at DVB, we actually did! We love, love, love this place - and we're not even members!!! Even when the resort was fully booked, the beach was never overcrowded but always enough kids for ours to play with. So you could sit back a little and have full view of your kids w/o worrying. They thought of everything imaginable when creating this resort. If you love Disney and the beach - look no further, this is the place for you!!! If anyone who hasn't been there has any questions, I'd be happy to answer since I love talking about this place. Sharon

 

[dvc guy]

We also arrived on the 20th and found it impossble to find a chair by the pool. The next morning I got to pool about 8:30 to get a few chairs and found that 80% of the sunny chairs were already gone, other than that it was great. I agree about the beach chairs, but it is a public beach, I should have gone to walmart a bought a few chairs, cheaper than renting.

Maybe we should start a beach chair swap, just like the Stroller/X Mass tree swap

 

[Desnik]

Thanks for your report. We are so excited to go in June. I'm glad to hear we can bring our own beach chairs. We will be driving down, so no biggy to travel with them. I was wondering if we are allowed to bring one of those kiddie cabannas? Something like this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/61179/1212/117.html
Or a family one like this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/61179/1213/117.html

 

[scootert]

I wouldn't think you would have a problem bringing your own cabana. As I mentioned earlier, they usually ask that you set up on the north side of the stairs -- that's just because they put the rentals on the south side and it's easier for them to keep track of things. You could always call the hotel directly and ask.

Hope you have a great trip -- VB is one of our favorite places.

 

[westjones]

Thanks for your report. We are so excited to go in June. I'm glad to hear we can bring our own beach chairs. We will be driving down, so no biggy to travel with them. I was wondering if we are allowed to bring one of those kiddie cabannas? Something like this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/61179/1212/117.html
Or a family one like this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/61179/1213/117.html

I sure hope so! And I would think so. I plan to pack one in our suitcase with our 'neat sheet' to take down to the beach when we are at VB in June. I don't like being out in the sun, I always look for shade, but there isn't much to be found there. I did find some last year by the stairs, but with the cabanna, I can get closer to the water this year.

We just happen to have one of those 'neat sheets' in our car when we went to HH a couple of years ago and it came in handy for the beach there too.

They are also useful for after a day at a water park if the kids are still wet.

DJ

 

[Candace]

I will be at VB two weeks from tomorrow and can't wait! Anyone remember the cost of chair rental? And do they NOT come with umbrellas? Thanks.

 

[TimeforMe]

The water was relatively calm but with enough waves to body surf. No strong undertow.

The chair rental was $6.00 per chair/per day. The umbrellas were extra but I forget how much they were.

dvc guy: I, too, thought the beach chair swap would've been a great idea. Wish I had thought of it sooner!

 

[TheWho]

I had to convince my DW and two girls (4 & 8) to go last July to VB before our annual stay at WDW. We all loved it. It's kind of the bizzaro WDW trip. We did things at VB we wouldn't think of doing at BWV. We played shuffle board (the kids loved it), we played cheesy board games at the pool, the kids did the un-birthday while DW and I sat in the rocking chairs , we played ping pong, we ate at the pool not worrying about ruining our appetite because we had a PS later, did the campfire w/ the smores, my 4 yr old loved Tiger Lilly (slide) and my 8 loved the big slide. We ate at Cpt Hirams, good food with great atmosphere. And of course, the 1 bedroom was the grand prize. I wish VB was part of our trip this summer!! Enjoy.

 

[wdwstar]

try bringing a clear see thru hanging shoe bag and hang it in the closet.
i bring one everytime and i put everything that use to be sitting on the bathroom counter to car keys to snacks/candy/gum ,
each row is assign to each one of my family members and they are responsible to get their own toothbrush, etc and put them back.
and the best part DH cant loose the car keys or his wallet

i love the mess free bathroom counter, less work for me, im on vacation to