VB Adoration & Information Thread (Plus 2007 Chair Swap)

[bobbiwoz]

LIVE FROM THE LOBBY AT VERO!!! Doing a couple of loads of laundry and staying out of the noon sun for today so thought I'd check in with you all.

First re: chair swap - I'm also adding a boogie board and umbrella anchor to my swap - Enjoy - DNeph was in the ocean for hours yesterday on the board - met a friend his age and they had a BLAST - hence the mild sunburn today - we're going to go back down at 3PM and then to the pool for tonight's dive in movie. Starbox - the chairs are GREAT - I will be ordering a couple for the beach at home - love them. REMINDER - you have to go down the beach past the 'official' umbrellas and cabanas to set up your own umbrella - I forgot and had to take everything down after I set up and move - seems silly to me, there was plenty of room, but they have their rental thing going and the young man was polite about it.

Second: turtle walk - last night we went with the conservation group Carribean Conservation Corporation - AWESOME !!! (I posted their info a few posts back on this thread) We were soooo lucky (and they told us so) - had several turtle sightings within 10 minutes of getting to the beach - we waited less than an hour for the 3rd or 4th one to be the 'right' one to observe. It was quite a distance down the beach, but so beautiful to walk by the water under the clear, star filled sky! We were able to get down in the sand RIGHT behind an incredible loggerhead and watch her drop her eggs (via red light) into her nest, the kids were allowed to push some sand to her to help her cover it up. Watched her disguise the nest - and then our guide asked who was the youngest child - DNeph(9) was!! - he got to give this turtle his name (he had picked TK, his father's nickname) - he lost his dad 4 years ago this summer to West Nile Virus, so you can only imagine how moved I was by the whole experience - we had been 'calling' to 'our' turtle from the beach that day, encouraging her to swim in - talk about a magical experience - one we will never forget!!

This place is a gem!! We lucked out (yet again!) and got the corner OVIR by the pool. Our balcony looks over the pool and ocean - two sets of double windows overlook the ocean - when I'm at the bathroom sink I can see the ocean in the mirror behind me - the room seems super large because of it's L-shape - gives me a little sitting area around the corner where the kitchen is for reading. To sum it all up, DNeph keeps saying "I think I've died and gone to heaven!!" Off to check my laundry - almost forgot to mention - the CMs here ROCK!!!!

This trip has been so amazing - I can't believe we still have SWW to look forward to!

Wow!! This is marvelous!
Bobbi

PS. Just a bit later in June next year we'll be at VB with our family. I'm going to send everyone a copy of what you've seen regarding the turtles.

 

[wink13]

LIVE FROM THE LOBBY AT VERO!!! Doing a couple of loads of laundry and staying out of the noon sun for today so thought I'd check in with you all.

First re: chair swap - I'm also adding a boogie board and umbrella anchor to my swap - Enjoy - DNeph was in the ocean for hours yesterday on the board - met a friend his age and they had a BLAST - hence the mild sunburn today - we're going to go back down at 3PM and then to the pool for tonight's dive in movie. Starbox - the chairs are GREAT - I will be ordering a couple for the beach at home - love them. REMINDER - you have to go down the beach past the 'official' umbrellas and cabanas to set up your own umbrella - I forgot and had to take everything down after I set up and move - seems silly to me, there was plenty of room, but they have their rental thing going and the young man was polite about it.

Second: turtle walk - last night we went with the conservation group Carribean Conservation Corporation - AWESOME !!! (I posted their info a few posts back on this thread) We were soooo lucky (and they told us so) - had several turtle sightings within 10 minutes of getting to the beach - we waited less than an hour for the 3rd or 4th one to be the 'right' one to observe. It was quite a distance down the beach, but so beautiful to walk by the water under the clear, star filled sky! We were able to get down in the sand RIGHT behind an incredible loggerhead and watch her drop her eggs (via red light) into her nest, the kids were allowed to push some sand to her to help her cover it up. Watched her disguise the nest - and then our guide asked who was the youngest child - DNeph(9) was!! - he got to give this turtle his name (he had picked TK, his father's nickname) - he lost his dad 4 years ago this summer to West Nile Virus, so you can only imagine how moved I was by the whole experience - we had been 'calling' to 'our' turtle from the beach that day, encouraging her to swim in - talk about a magical experience - one we will never forget!!

This place is a gem!! We lucked out (yet again!) and got the corner OVIR by the pool. Our balcony looks over the pool and ocean - two sets of double windows overlook the ocean - when I'm at the bathroom sink I can see the ocean in the mirror behind me - the room seems super large because of it's L-shape - gives me a little sitting area around the corner where the kitchen is for reading. To sum it all up, DNeph keeps saying "I think I've died and gone to heaven!!" Off to check my laundry - almost forgot to mention - the CMs here ROCK!!!!

This trip has been so amazing - I can't believe we still have SWW to look forward to!

Sounds awesome!!! Thanks for adding the boogie board we were going to pick up a couple for my DS's 13 & 9 when were come in Oct but now may not need to.

Love to hear the reports from Vero!!!

 

[lisareniff]

Bumped on request!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'll be looking for other Disers there this week! Our plans were changed by MS and we ARE going to be at Vero, Tuesday to Friday!

Bobbi

 

[PixiePop]

HI~

Can someone explain the chair swap? We will be there July 2nd through 5th and might be interested.

Thanks.

 

[starbox]

I'm typing this from my beautiful OVIR with the door wide open! (We're in a room close to the hot-spot, and we have wireless in the room. The weather has been amazing so far. I'll try to post a live trip report with photos later!!

VB rocks!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lisareniff]

Hey Starbox or anyother VB lover staying in the Inn,

Could you take a picture of the floor plan on the back of the door to your room and post it or send it to me?

Just curious about the Inn floor plan.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I'm typing this from my beautiful OVIR with the door wide open! (We're in a room close to the hot-spot, and we have wireless in the room. The weather has been amazing so far. I'll try to post a live trip report with photos later!!

VB rocks!!!!!!!!!!

Oh... just rub it in! Just what I need to read the day after getting home....

If you have wireless in the room you better be posting live!

You know I'm kidding... here's to hoping you have a perfect rest of your stay. And a safe trip home.

Yes, VB rocks!!!!!!!!!

 

[starbox]

Here's the trip so far. We arrived Saturday around 12 noon and were told that if a HA room next to the Green Cabin was okay, our room was ready. I don't need a bathtub, and I like the live music at night, so I said we'd take it! We are soooo thrilled because the room is ENORMOUS. I'd say it's at least twice the size of a regular IR and the balcony rivals the one at HHI. PLUS, we easily pick up wireless in the room. I'll be requesting this room again!

The CM at check-in knew I had boxes from the swap and sent them to the room right away. The weather was great - so we spent the day at the beach and pool. The night ended with a campfire.

Pictures:

More later!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

More later!

No cast on arm and boogie board raised high.... all is well....

Looking forward to "more later"

How are the No-See-Ums? (at the campfire particularly).

 

[DR JK]

Starbox: Thanks for pulling together the swap...it worked out great for us! I see you got the packages OK. My kids were excited to see their boogie boards being put to good use. They both wanted to tell your kids to have fun with them.

Your room looks like the one we had for the first 1/2 of our trip. Pretty good internet access and a great location for the week's activities. The second half of our stay was a room swap for a 1BR in building 14 -- top floor, ocean view. We were able to see last week's shuttle launch from the balcony -- awesome! We loved both rooms but we probably preferred the location and view in the OVIR.

We had a wonderful week and will definitely be going back. The only disappointment we had was the quality of the food and service at Shutters. We tried it three times, including the character breakfast, but never had a real Disney quality experience we expect. The CMs were great (even at Shutters!) and truly enjoy their work.

BTW: Watch out for the noseeums. We thought we had used enough Cutter Advanced but the campfire did us in! All four of us got bit pretty bad. Maybe we'll figure it out by next time!

 

[DR JK]

I forgot to mention that we were able to go on a sea turtle walk up at Sebastian Inlet State Park. We ended up spotting a turtle fairly "early" in the evening and we were able to watch her nesting as the nearly full moon rose over the ocean behind us. My son was even allowed to name the turtle for the group! An unbelievably awesome experience -- one we would definitely do again.

As mentioned earlier in this thread...for anyone going in July, they accept booking on June 15 at 321-984-4852.

 

[TinkTatoo]

Great photo's I want to be there now

 

[starbox]

Starbox: Thanks for pulling together the swap...it worked out great for us! I see you got the packages OK. My kids were excited to see their boogie boards being put to good use. They both wanted to tell your kids to have fun with them.

The boards are great! I am sure they will be well-loved and used all summer. I've been looking for the other swap group to make sure there are boards in both swapsets now, but I have not seen them yet.

ITA about Shutters, the food was not as good as it was last year and the menu there and at Green Cabin seem much more limited. We'll venture off-site to dine tonight.

No-SEE-ums were present at the camp-fire, but we have not had a problem otherwise.

 

[starbox]

No cast on arm and boogie board raised high.... all is well....
.

DD is telling every cast member that "she actually gets to enjoy VB this year"

Here's more: On Saturday there was a wedding in the early evening on the green overlooking the ocean. It was totally stunning,like something from a bridal magazine - although we all felt bad walking past in swimsuits! I can't imagine how much it cost!

Sunday morning, DD and I went on the naturalist beach walk while DS and DH did archery. The beach walk was really cool - we learned lots about shells and the coast, and were taught how to find shark teeth.DD ended up finding FOUR shark teeth by the end of the day, and I've found a handfull of seaglass - which I collect.

We spent the rest of the day swimming or at the beach. Good news on the pool chairs - we have not seen the dreaded "pool chair saving" behavior. We've had no trouble finding chairs whenever we need them. Here's the pool around 10:30 on Sunday - notice the non-saved rows of empty chairs!

We had dinner at Shutters, great staff and CMs again, but disappointing food for the $$. It was not bad, it just was not good enough to justify the cost, even with the DDE. Last year I had some crunchy grouper that was quite good, but it was not on the menu this year.

Okay, coffee is brewed and the family is stirring. I'm off to sit on thr baalcony and listen to the waves with my coffee!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Starbox,
Your pics are great....sounds like you're really having a good time. Thanks for posting !

 

[milmom6]

Hey Guys !!
So glad we did the chair swap. We had a wonderful 1st time to VB. There were turtles swimming when we were out there and I'll try to post some pictures later. We had no problems with the no-see-ums.

 

[keliblue]

Ohhhhhhhh I can't wait much longer.. I want to go now

 

[EpiscoDisFan]

starbox,

great posts! keep 'em coming, with the pics!
your making our 3 daughters dance with anticipation for our trip, but that doesn't happen until Jan

 

[bjakmom]

starbox - I completely forgot to pick up a VB christmas ornament when I was there - any chance you could pick one up for me? PM and let me know if possible - they are the round disk ones and we collect them from each resort we stay at - my brain must have been fried by the sun to have forgotten !
Hope the rest of your stay is wonderful!!