Vero Beach Trip Report – Turtle Walk too!

[bthrsoon]

My cast of characters includes myself, my DH, our DS12 and our DD8.

We’ve done WDW many times and loved it, along with 2 Disney Cruises, last year was the first year we tried a non-Disney vacation as a family and it just wasn’t the same, no magic! So this year was our first to try DVC Vero Beach. Our expectations were high and we were not disappointed. Vero Beach had all the Disney magic and service that we love.

We checked in on Father’s Day, at around 4pm. It’s raining and I’m a little worried. Nothing can kill a beach vacation faster than bad weather. We are assigned room 2313, an Ocean View Inn Room. It is one of the corner rooms, I’ve read about on the boards. It faced the pool but on the third floor you can see the ocean beyond the pool easily as well. We felt the trade off for having a larger room was worth the view not directly facing the ocean. The room was equipped with a dehumidifier and it hummed sufficiently to keep out any pool or hall noise. The parking garage is under the inn so if you wheel over a luggage carrier (they are by the elevator) you can load and push your stuff directly up quickly and easily. We unpack and treat DH to a Father’s Day dinner at Shutters. We both had the meatloaf and it was really good. Remember to get your refillable mugs. We go to Eb and Flo’s and sign up for all the activities we want to do for the next four days except the Un-Birthday party (which you have to sign up for the day of). The rain clears (for the entire trip too!) and we all go for a swim after dinner. After the kids are asleep, my DH gets us drinks from the Green Cabin Room (the banana split martini and a banana margarita) and we enjoy them on our balcony. The pictures do not do VB justice it is really beautiful!

 

[bthrsoon]

Day 1 – We surprise the kids with room service. The banana pancakes are wonderful! I take DD8 down to Bead Jewelry and she get to make a necklace. It doesn’t take long and she has a great time. Lots of fancy beads! We head to the beach and have fun in the waves and making sand castles until lunch. We clean up (no easy feat!) and head to the Green Cabin Room for lunch. The view is to die for! No kids menu here but my kids split a thin crust pizza and an order of mozzarella sticks and they are very happy. I share a lava smoothie with my DD8. It’s layered raspberry puree and pina-colada mix and oh my… After lunch, I take DD8 to the UnBirthday Party and my DH and DS12 go to the Mini-Golf Tournament (their team wins!) DD loves the UnBirthday Party, plays musical chairs, piñata, and decorates a cupcake. After some swimming and waterslide time, we go into town to buy some breakfast food and have dinner at Bono’s Barbecue. We arrive back at VB in time for the Sing Along Campfire. We have a nice time but it’s very crowded so we decide not to wait to cook our smores (it would have been a long wait) and have Mickey ice cream bars on the front porch instead. Off to dream land…..

 

[bthrsoon]

Day 2 – We get up early to get DD ready for Turtle Troop. I take her down to the lobby and they don’t have a big crowd. The parents are invited to the beach as well to see a turtle nest. On the beach, the Disney naturalists uncover a turtle nest from the night before (they do this to verify a nest is there and mark it, not to disturb it in any way). We get to see some of the turtle eggs on top before they recover it. DD get to hammer in the stakes marking the nest and she is in heaven. The kids then go back to Community Hall where they make a beach bag and get to adopt a turtle. The certificate has a website where you can track your turtle. Hers is named Seaweed. While we were on the beach at Turtle Troop, DH and DS were at the pool for opening at 8am. If you want a table in the shade, you do need to get there early. We spend the rest of the morning swimming and reading at the pool. At lunchtime, we get lunch from Bleachers. All of the food is good but beware the portions are not large and the prices are similar to what you could get for lunch at Shutters or the Green Cabin Room. DS enjoys his veggie burger and enjoys making a quick Sand Art picture at the Community Hall. At 1:15 both kids go to Intro to Harmonica and really enjoy it and DH and I hang out at the pool for a short time until they’re finished. We all get cleaned up and presentable (relatively speaking) and sit on the front porch in the rockers and enjoy a Banjo player. After we go to play Bingo. We finish the evening with dessert from the Green Cabin Room on the deck.

 

[bthrsoon]

Day 3 – We head to the beach early for more fun in the sun. DD builds a sea turtle sandcastle complete with babies. At 10:30 we walk over to community hall to do faux gyotaku, really it’s stamping shirts with Disney and beach type stamps. We all have a good time. We stroll back over to the beach for a few hours and then have late lunch/early dinner at the Green Cabin Room. We spend time playing a round of mini golf before returning to the Green Cabin Room for dessert (white chocolate bread pudding and key lime pie, yum!) and to hear a steel drum player. Only one day left….

 

[bthrsoon]

Day 4 – We order those yummy room service pancakes again (you only live once, right?). We make sure we’re at the pool for 8am to get a place in the shade and swim for an hour before DD8 goes to make Giant Paper flowers. I enjoy a good book in the shade by the pool, while DH and DS12 enjoy the pool. DH heads to the lobby to put our room card in for the Turtle Walk lottery. I realize it’s a long shot so I don’t talk about it much with the kids not wanting to get their hopes up. But I can’t help wondering since it’s taking him a really long time. He comes back with the good news, our room card was picked! But the naturalist leading the walk lists many negatives… bugs, possibly a two mile walk and a very long night up to 1:30am and possibly no turtles. I’m excited but also concerned DD8 appears to be the youngest going on this walk, will she be able to do it? We spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool. DH goes for his Father’s Day present, a massage and says it was very relaxing. DD gets her hair wrapped and DS spends time in Blinkers (the arcade). They have fun in the waterslide races. We get a whole pizza and ice cream bars from Bleachers for dinner (whole pizzas are only available after 5pm) and eat it on the front porch looking out at the ocean. We have dessert and listen to the steel drums at the Green Cabin Room one more time before heading to our room for long pants and bug spray for the Turtle Walk. We arrive at 9pm for the walk and the park ranger does about a 45 minute presentation about the sea turtles and the rules to be adhered to during the walk. At 9:45, he gives us a bathroom break and says now we wait until a turtle is spotted. I’m praying one is spotted soon and not too far down the beach either. My prayers are answered and almost immediately a turtle is spotted and the group is racing down the beach after the park ranger. The walk is easier than I expected in the cool evening air and DD is wide awake now! The loggerhead turtle approx. 250 pounds has dug into the sand for her nest and using a small special red light, we all gather around and watch her lay around 100 eggs. The children are kneeling up front and everyone is whispering in hushed voices under a canopy of hundreds of stars. The scene is surreal! After she uses her back fins to bury the eggs and then she turns herself around and crawls back down the beach. We watch as she enters the water and then the water covers her as she dives down. It was incredible. An older woman on the walk, comments that she saw it once as a little girl DD’s age and she’s always wanted to witness it again. What a way to end a vacation! We end up in bed by 11pm so we can be ready for the long trip back home the next day.

 

[Par8hed]

So glad to hear that you discovered what I already know. VB is awesome! (In my opinion it's the best of all the DVC resorts) I'm heading down in six days to spend some time in one of those awful Beach Cottages!
Thanks for teasing me with those beautiful pics! And you're right.......as nice as your pictures are, they can't do justice to being there.

 

[jennymouse]

Awsome! Thanks for sharing! I'm so excited to try VB in July!

 

[Tinkmom]

Thank you so much for the trip report. We would love to do the turtle walk -- do you happen to know what months of the year this happens?

 

[bthrsoon]

I'm not sure of the exact months of the Turtle Walk but the Loggerhead nesting season is May - October so it wouldn't be outside those months.

 

[shantay1008]

Thanks for the report! What a great family vacation...it sounds like a great mix of activities, learning, and relaxing. Please tell your daughter that her turtle sand sculpture is wonderful. Can't wait to take our kiddos there someday!
Shannon

 

[mbhoxsie]

I am getting so homesick reading that trip report...

I can't wait to go back next year...

Glad you had a great time!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wow!!

Bobbi

 

[conciergekelly]

LOVED your report! Thanks for sharing. I really want to try VB. It sounds like fun!

 

[Beth]

Thanks for your report and the wonderful pics.

I just wanted to agree with you about the banana pancakes.... They are my very favorite.... I look forward to them all year!

 

[Mahusky]

Great trip report..... longing for my trip back in Aug.

 

[tomandrobin]

Wow! Sounds like you all had a great and memorable time! We have not been to Vero yet, but have been thinking about the it more and more. Your trip report definately pushes us more in going to Vero Beach!

 

[Lenc324]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. We had a wonderful time there too. Can't wait for next yr.

 

[LisaS]

What a wonderful trip! Thanks for telling us all about it. The turtle walk sounds like an amazing experience.

 

[RadioFanatic]

that turtle walk sounds absolutely amazing but I had to laugh to myself thinking how I would feel with my legs spread giving birth with all of those people staring at me! You go mama turtle! You're a lot more patient than I am!

 

[bjakmom]

bathrsoon - thanks for the wonderful trip report - Vero Beach sounds like a perfect place for my little DNeph (8) - he loved spending a whole day at AKL last month just to do all of the activities they offered! He is also a turtle (and animal) LOVER - I'd like to know what dates you were there in June - just having the opportunity to be on the beach and see the nests (let alone see a turtle lay eggs!!) would absolutely thrill him !!