Vero Beach ?'s

[joandegennaro]

I have read a fair bit about how the beach has quite a steep incline from the resort to the beach front. What if anything is being done about this from the resort. I ask since we hope to go in October and I have real issues with my knees. Not sure I would be able to climb large sand dunes with my knees as they are. Should I just plan to stay at WDW instead of planning to go to Vero?

 

[vicki_c]

The beach "cliff" issue is an on-going / recurring problem. Storms wash the sand away, they renourish the beach with more sand from the ocean, then storms come back and wash it away again. Sometimes it is worse than others, depending on how the weather has been, the schedule for renourishment, etc.

I think the resort already does as much as they can with that issue if I had to guess (I used to live on the coast in central eastern FL not too far from Vero and it's just an overall issue). I'm sure they are also limited by sea turtle nesting limitations too.

As to whether you should go or not, I wouldn't know how to answer given the always changing situation on the beach.

Perhaps someone else can tell you what ways there are to work around the issue if it's bad when you are there.

So -just my 2 cents from a non-Vero owner but former FL resident.

 

[joandegennaro]

Vicki: Thanks for the reply. This is just what I was afraid of. Given the time of year we want to go (Oct) it would be iffy as to what the beach would be like given the fact that it is right in Hurricane season. I would be perfectly happy to just stay at WDW but the DH and DD12 wanted to add the beach to this particular trip. Maybe when we are there in March we could take a day trip down there to see what its like. I believe the drive is about 1.5 hrs from WDW.

 

[rigsby25]

I don't know. We've gone in October and really loved it. As a matter of fact, our first visit was in October. They had Halloween decorations up by the pool. But we did spend a lot of time walking on the beach. Not swimming in the ocean. We went to the pool for that. But we loved just looking at the ocean from our room. It's like looking at a campfire. It's so relaxing.

 

[joandegennaro]

I don't know. We've gone in October and really loved it. As a matter of fact, our first visit was in October. They had Halloween decorations up by the pool. But we did spend a lot of time walking on the beach. Not swimming in the ocean. We went to the pool for that. But we loved just looking at the ocean from our room. It's like looking at a campfire. It's so relaxing.

The problem is I'm a weather curse. When we go in March we need to wear winter coats for a fair bit of our trip. Went to Cuba...flew into a tropical storm Drove to Daytona last year and drove threw that bad weather that spawned a tornado just a few miles away. With my luck we will be hit with a storm while at Vero or the beach will just have been made impassable for me days before we arrive We are hopeful that with moving our trips to October will improve our weather outcome althought it is a running joke about how I seem to find the bad weather while on vacation.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

I was at Vero on Thanksgiving, and we were told then that the beach erosion/incline was going to be fixed the following week. I think December 1 was the date the resort gave us as the start date. Perhaps someone who has been in the last few weeks can update.
Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, either.

Give Vero a try! We LOVED IT sooo much my DH has declared he'd rather stay there than WDW! Really. The villa was incredible, the weather was great, pool terrific, even the poolside food was good. The resort was immaculate and the villa was spotless, everything in good condition. We can't wait to go back!!

 

[bus driver]

hope this helps we were there on thday if you go to the camp fire area there is a gate go through it follow walk way to boarded walk way.[ handicap walk way wooded] to beach no cliff

 

[vicki_c]

hope this helps we were there on thday if you go to the camp fire area there is a gate go through it follow walk way to boarded walk way.[ handicap walk way wooded] to beach no cliff

That's the kind of info I was hoping someone would say - I haven't been to VB, so I didn't know, but assumed there must be some alternate way to get to the beach. So then, OP, you should have another option.

 

[quentina]

VB is one of my home resorts and although it is a beautiful resort....the beach is terrible. We went once, about 8 years ago, and we were unable to even walk on the beach due to all the rocks/shells etc. My son was about 5 at the time and he wasn't able to play in the sand.

What I remember besides the sharp pieces of shells all over was that it was very short/small beach. We did not like it at all and have not returned. The hotel is stunning and the pool is nice with the extra kids activities so, even if the beach is steep, you will still have lots of things to keep you busy.

 

[yearlightbuzz]

Went to VB for the first time for one night at the end of our Spring Break in April. Loved it so much we went back in Oct for a week. Our kids, 3 boys (10, 8 & 7), loved the beach. They skimmed boarded all week. The beach was actually flatter after the "cliff" developed. They had a blast and want to go back ASAP. We also had someone with us that shattered their ankle several years ago and has several rods and pins in it now just to keep it together. The ankle doesn't really bend so well anymore and it's hard to climb the "cliff". A couple times, she would just walk down towards the public beach (north) and walk back that way. It's longer, but a pretty walk. Just a thought. My wife and I are very disappointed in ourselves that we didn't make it to VB sooner. We have been to Isle of Palms (Charleston) 10+ times, Outer Banks once, Panama City several times and would go back to all of these places in a heart beat, butnVB has a great set up with the pool and beach. Good Luck and have a blast whatever you decide.

 

[joandegennaro]

OP here. I think with all the info in this post DH and I have decided to give it a try. We had only planned for 3 days at VB after 9 days at WDW. So even if we aren't thrilled with it(the beach) we will have at least experienced it ourselves. It really is in the eye of the beholder isn't it. Some love it and some don't. We will have to give it a try and find out which group we belong to. Thanks to all who responded.

Joan

 

[Judique]

OP here. I think with all the info in this post DH and I have decided to give it a try. We had only planned for 3 days at VB after 9 days at WDW. So even if we aren't thrilled with it(the beach) we will have at least experienced it ourselves. It really is in the eye of the beholder isn't it. Some love it and some don't. We will have to give it a try and find out which group we belong to. Thanks to all who responded.

Joan

Glad you have decided to give it a try. If nothing else, you are so close to the water that you can sit on the deck of the Green Cabin Room and enjoy it. Also, when I was there this past spring they had a few tables set up on the decking area where the beach stairs are/were. The beach changes here so fast that it's hard to predict what it will look like during your visit, but the resort is very lovely.

 

[metzger01]

The beach "cliff" issue is an on-going / recurring problem. Storms wash the sand away, they renourish the beach with more sand from the ocean, then storms come back and wash it away again. Sometimes it is worse than others, depending on how the weather has been, the schedule for renourishment, etc.

I think the resort already does as much as they can with that issue if I had to guess (I used to live on the coast in central eastern FL not too far from Vero and it's just an overall issue). I'm sure they are also limited by sea turtle nesting limitations too.

As to whether you should go or not, I wouldn't know how to answer given the always changing situation on the beach.

Perhaps someone else can tell you what ways there are to work around the issue if it's bad when you are there.

So -just my 2 cents from a non-Vero owner but former FL resident.

I don't remember the cliffs at Vero ever being as bad as they are now. About 10 feet it seems. It seems that this all came about after the beach replenishment it got in the last 2 years. There were steps leading down to the beach, as well as a ramp on the other side leading down. After the renourishment, they literally buried both with sand. They used to store the Sea Doos under the deck and building out by the beach. Now there is no "under the deck and building." It has all been filled with sand. Disney should build stairs from the front going down, instead of on the sides where they were. In any case it is going to take a bit of a capital expenditure to rebuild that to make the beach accessible to all, or they should hold the county responsible for burying their beach access. It obviously wasn't thought out very well at all.

 

[Hopefully]

I don't remember the cliffs at Vero ever being as bad as they are now. About 10 feet it seems. It seems that this all came about after the beach replenishment it got in the last 2 years. There were steps leading down to the beach, as well as a ramp on the other side leading down. After the renourishment, they literally buried both with sand. They used to store the Sea Doos under the deck and building out by the beach. Now there is no "under the deck and building." It has all been filled with sand. Disney should build stairs from the front going down, instead of on the sides where they were. In any case it is going to take a bit of a capital expenditure to rebuild that to make the beach accessible to all, or they should hold the county responsible for burying their beach access. It obviously wasn't thought out very well at all.

I agree that the ramp to the beach has been buried. We bought a post card of Vero Beach while we were there and what we saw and what we experienced were not the same at all.
It was bad last week. And clearly this last set of storms eroded some of the dunes in front of the hotel. I think it is worrisome.
All that said on Tuesday, the county came in with heavy equipment and leveled out the cliff in front of the hotel. It was much better, but still not perfect.

 

[Poppin]

Please remember that the county owns the beach and it's replenishment -- not Disney. We were there probably at it's worst and it was still ok....we had a great time.

 

[Arthur27]

We were just there the weekend of Oct. 14 and the incline is pretty steep. If you have knee troubles that keep you from doing things like stairs, then the incline would definitely be a problem for you.

The weather that weekend was perfect! We had a blast as the resort is very relaxing and full of fun things to do.

If you want to go & see the resort for yourself when you stay at WDW, it is about a 2 hour trip south on the Turnpike to route 60 east.