Vero Beach Resort to Open Again Friday 9/10/04

Geyser Gazer

Mouseketeer
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This was reported by DebbieB in another thread, originally reported on wdwig.com , but deserves repeating. Despite having had to endure the brunt of Francis and knowing that neighboring Wabasso beach took a hit, this has to be good news.
 
It will have to feel strange for those checking in this weekend? Any Disers going this weekend? What are your plans?

HBC
 
I assume you mean this Friday Sept. 10, 2004 and not 2005. If so, that is great news!
 
Emily,
Thanks for pointing out the typo (now fixed) . A year of rehab would be very bad news!
 

That's good news! I was supposed to be there yesterday and today but obviously was not able to go. Although I was disappointed, I couldn't feel sorry for myself................my thoughts and prayers were with those who had to evacuate.


It's probably been reported elsewhere, but I personally didn't see a lot of damage at the parks. There were trees down here and there. I saw a very large one down on Bonnet Creek (?) near OKW. Also, the golf course near there was a mess. (lot's of standing water and tons of tree limbs and debris) I also saw one of the Tree House Villas with a tree leaning on it........there was probably quite a bit of damage from that. Today when I left, the clean up crews were busy gathering up a lot of broken branches.
 
DW and I are heading down Sunday, 9/12.
Arrive MCO @ 9:30 AM and heading east.
She was somewhat leary in going, not knowing if the beach would be accessible.
We were there last year when "Isabel"
skirted the coast and headed north. No access to the beach due to high surf and the fact that the steps and ramp to the
boardwalk / walkway had been destroyed.
So, we'll see. Should be interesting and I'll report back, as I'm sure will others when we return 9/18.
 
a lot of the damage to the treetop villas was caused by charley
Paulh
 
/
I do work as an independent travel agent and this was included in an e-mail we got from Disney:

"Disney's Vero Beach Resort remains closed to allow for a complete assessment of the impact from Hurricane Frances on the property. As a precautionary measure, clients or agents with arrivals through Sept. 30, 2004 are being contacted to either move to a Walt Disney World location, book a future visit, or cancel their reservation."

Might not be open by 9/10.....
 
Unfortunately, I think reports of opening tomorrow are a little too optimistic. In speaking with MS today I asked about the resort and whether it would be okay for a ressie I have a few months away. I did not get an enthusiastic "yes". I got, I don't know until we have our meeting tomorrow.

Looking at other pictures, I can't imagine that there isn't some damage to the resort. Hopefully, it's all cosmetic rather than structural. My guess is that the garages and lobby may very well have sand and/or water in them.
 
Checking in. I still have no power in Melbourne Beach and thankfully little damage. We just got power back at the BIL's here in W Melbourne yesterday. About 12 houses on his street without power. Was down in VB and Sebastian today. Heavy beach erosion. The Resort was blocked off. The security guard said the resort held up pretty well. It suffered some damage and that was all he would say. Saw a number of trees down in the parking lot but that was about it. Overall it looked in good shape from outside on AIA. Next door at Wabasso Public Beach is a different story. The beach access,lifeguard shack,restrooms,picnic shelter,sea wall were totally destroyed. The end of the parking lot drops straight off to the beach. As far as I could tell most of the Disney beach access remains standing.
Fins Marina(Squid Lips) and Captain Hirams substained damage and there appeared to be boats in the outdoor dining area of Captain Hiram's. We had a sailboat on the street in back of the museum. Line was app. a hundred cars long for gas at the Hess station on US1 at 512 Well thats it for now Time for ZZZZZ.
 
Thanks for checking in and glad to hear you weathered the storm fairly well! Thanks for trying to check on "home" for us, too.
 
Madcoco, thanks for the updates on Vero and the surrounding area. I knew that Cap't Hiram's had damage and was wondering if Squid Lips had made it through.
 
The 5 nights we gave my parents are going to be cancelled in the morning. They have decided that they will see Vero at another time. I am assuming we will get our points returned. I will post if the points need to go into a holding account. If I find out any information about the resort I will post that as well.
 
Thanks so much for checking in, Mike. I was really worried about you guys in Melbourne - it sounded like you got it really bad.

We just got our power back last night after 75 hours. The power company has been in our neighborhood all night - chainsaws at 3:00 am! At 4:50, the power went off again - but it's back up now. It's been a trying few days...

Thanks for the report on Vero. I talked to MS yesterday - they said that they have 1,000 manual adjustments to make following all of the cancellations/changes. But they assured me all of my points would be taken care of. I was sure that they would be...

We're hoping to, maybe, get over that way in a few weekends - if Ivan doesn't cause us too much trouble.

Go away Ivan....
 
Thanks everyone. Catastrophic damage is sporadic. Imho it looked much worse through the media than it does in person. Not to say there isn't a lot of damage. It could have been worse. Still on water boil alert. The police are escorting the ice and gas trucks. Headed back out the door for cleanup. The latest 5 A.M. track from the NHC has Ivan heading to FL again. Still too early to tell as the possible track is very wide but nerves are frayed. Stay safe everyone.

Has anyone heard from flafam? Last I had heard they were moving to Sebastian around the same time as Francis.
 
There is an article in today's Orlando paper stating they are closed thru the end of the month maybe longer.

Disney shutters its Vero Beach Resort for repairs

Disney's Vero Beach Resort sustained damage during Hurricane Frances and could remain closed through the end of September or longer, the company said Wednesday.

"Has it been decimated? Has the roof been ripped off? No. But there are things we're evaluating right now," said Mariska Elia, spokeswoman for Disney Vacation Club, which operates the resort.

Elia would not discuss the extent of the damage, citing an ongoing survey that she said began Monday and was expected to take the rest of the week to complete.

But, she said, "Everything is structurally intact."

The time-share resort features a large main building that overlooks the beach, with less than a football field's worth of vegetated dunes and sand separating it from the open sea where Frances came ashore. Smaller villas also dot the property near the water.

The speed of the winds that battered the resort during the weekend is unclear. Three miles inland, the National Weather Service reported sustained winds of 56 mph and gusts of 82 mph. The beachside winds were most likely higher, forecasters said.

Disney canceled reservations through Sept. 30, and is rebooking guests at other resorts or rescheduling visits. Elia said it was possible the resort could reopen before or after that date.

In the meantime, the 250 hourly cast members are temporarily out of work. Their last paid day on the job was last Thursday, when the company evacuated everyone in advance of the oncoming storm.

Disney asked them to come to the resort today to pick up their paychecks. Elia said the company was working to give the displaced workers temporary relief assistance.

Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@orlandosentinel.comor 407-420-5664.
 















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