Jay's Spring Break at Vero Beach and Kidani...A great split stay

[Jay324]

Originally Posted by Tammy

Beautiful family, great trip report!

Thanks for the compliment Tammy

[quote=ilonaj1;662397]

Originally Posted by Jay324

Ocean Drive in Vero Beach has many specialty shops, restaurants and lounges. It's a fun place to browse and to have a drink or two at one of their many ocean front settings. DH and I enjoy having breakfast at the Historic Driftwood Inn and lunch at Gloria Estefan restaurant Costa d'Este. Although I live only 40 minutes from VB I always feel like I'm on vacation when I visit that area.

This particular area on Ocean drive just didn't do it for me. We have stayed at the Marriot on Ocean Drive in Delray Beach and I just prefer the area in Delray over Vero. But to each their own.

Originally Posted by micgoo

Thanks for the great trip report! Also enjoyed the comparison to HHI.
We went to Vero Beach a couple of times several years ago when Dodgertown was still there. Hubby is a huge Dodgers fan; son is a huge Braves fan. A Disney Spring Break fit the bill perfectly... as we did a split stay at Vero to watch Dodgers Spring Training and WDW to watch the Braves!

Now Spring Break with Spring Training would be right up my alley but can't do it for some time until the kids get much older.

Originally Posted by Islander

Thanks for the awesome trip report!

I need to put Vero on my list..............

Thanks Islander...Vero should be on everyone's list.

[PAJD]

[quote=Jay324;664124]


Now Spring Break with Spring Training would be right up my alley but can't do it for some time until the kids get much older.

QUOTE]

Now THIS is one we'll have to coordinate. Phils and Yanks play twice sometimes 3 times a week in ST. Would love to catch a couple of those games.

[Jay324]

Day 2 continued...

After dinner they had a camp fire for the kids. The camp fire was held on Mon and Wed night while we were there and it was a great time. The CM's sang many songs with the kids around the fire and smores were served (free for guests). We have done the camp fire at HHI and I have to admit the camp fire at HHI was much more organized and didn't feel as dangerous. The area at VB just doesn't have that much lighting and I kept thinking that one of the kids was going to get poked in the eye by the many little ones holding sharp skewers. But, as dangerous as it seemed, my kids had a lot of fun.







After the campfire...off to bed for it really was a long first day at VB.



Day 3.

Up early and breakfast in the villa. It was the start of a trend for us and we continued with a daily routine of Breakfast, sunblock, pool, lunch, beach, dinner.

At the pool, once again we were able to find a great spot to set up near the pirates pool. My wife wanted to just relax and read while I took the kids in the pool. We used the slide many times this morning and I must say the slide here is awesome. Very fast for the adults, I would lay down and just whip around the turns and great for the kids (as long as they sit up). We then attended the daily pool party and the kids just loved it once again.




After the party I noticed that a women was braiding the kids hair and both of my daughters wanted to get their hair done. So, I signed them up for the hair braiding for the afternoon and left to the room for lunch.


After lunch, my wife hit the beach for some alone time while I took the kids for the hair braiding. The cost was $5 per braid (very reasonable) and the CM was terrific. She really took her time to make sure the kids were comfortable and the cost for my two kids was $40 with a $10 tip.
I didn't have the camera while she did the braiding...so here's some shots on the beach after we met up with mom.









Spend an awesome afternoon on the beach and stayed out there until around 7 at night. Nobody wanted to leave for we were having such a great time and the weather was perfect. Finally we wrapped it up, headed back to the room for Dinner and just called it a night. Another great day.

[Jay324]

[quote=PAJD;664126]

Originally Posted by Jay324

Now Spring Break with Spring Training would be right up my alley but can't do it for some time until the kids get much older.

QUOTE]

Now THIS is one we'll have to coordinate. Phils and Yanks play twice sometimes 3 times a week in ST. Would love to catch a couple of those games.

I would love to get down there some time for Spring Break. But, our family vacation times have been Jan at Disney, April (after the season starts) and August due to the school schedule. Don't think she would be thrilled if I went down with some of my buddies to Disney for Spring Training. Atlantic City for the weekend or even Vegas for a three nights no problem...Disney not so sure.

[scottinbx]

What a fun day it seemed like.

Look at the pose in the last pic. adorable.

[dvcnewgirl]

Great report. just made me remember that I have to make my reservation for Vero for my days before my cruise next year!

[Jay324]

Originally Posted by scottinbx

What a fun day it seemed like.

Look at the pose in the last pic. adorable.

It really was a fun day. Thanks again Scott

Originally Posted by dvcnewgirl

Great report. just made me remember that I have to make my reservation for Vero for my days before my cruise next year!

Vero must be a great pre or post cruise destination. Nice place settle in before or after an island hopping type of trip. Thanks dvcnewgirl

[Jay324]

Day 4..

Woke up to another perfect morning weather wise. After another breakfast and a little TV we when back to the pool. My wife and I tried to get the kids to do some of the activities such as an unbirthday party, making shark's tooth necklaces, paper airplanes in the lobby but there really wanted to just enjoy the pool, slide and partake in the daily pool party.

I didn't mention it early but at the resort this week, there were children of all ages and a lot of teenagers. My wife and I really loved this aspect for if the kids ever get tired of Disney one year (when they turn 14), Vero is a nice alternative which seemed to provide sort of a camp atmosphere for teens. We saw teens throwing around the football, baseball, frisbee, playing soccer and just hanging by the pool. One kid had a acoustic guitar and he seems to have all the teenage women around his chair by the pool. It really just seemed like the teens were having a blast.

Our daily routine continued with lunch after the pool but this day while my wife was off to the beach with the kids, I decided to take a drive and see some of the local spots (wife and kids had no interest leaving the resort). I took a drive around the resort, headed to the town of Vero Beach (which is around 20 minutes away) and while it looked nice enough with some boutique shops, bars and restaurants on ocean drive, it just didn't do it for me. To be fair, the reason it didn't do it for me could be that I didn't give it enough time and I just drove by without even getting of the car. My wife and I have stayed at the Marriott in Delray Beach on ocean drive for 3 nights and I really loved the city and beach at Delray. At such Marriott we left the room and were immersed in shops, restaurants, bars and plenty of ice cream stands. Delray just seemed like it had more life than the town of Vero Beach and much more foot traffic. We have also been to South Beach but there really isn't any comparison of Vero Beach and South Beach, for they are two totally different destinations.

Well, back to the resort and onto the beach. On the beach this day, a kid was surf casting and he was just reeling in fish after fish. He became a celebrity at the resort that day for everyone loved watching him catch all those fish. For the fisherman out there, there is a bait and tackle store very close to the resort (short drive though not really a walk).




A more popular activity was boogie boarding and every day there were many guests having a great time with their boards.



An activity my daughter loved was just sharing the head set with me and listening to some tunes.



Back to the room for dinner, another campfire and on to bed.

Another great day at the resort for tomorrow we check out and head to AKV.

[DVCKelly]

Originally Posted by scottinbx

Is it wrong that I want to go down the slide in the last photo. I would probably break the ship.

The pool looks really nice.

That looks like a great pool area.

[DisneyEater]

Great TR Jay! Awesome seeing a VB trip report. The pool area looks great. Now I have to go get a Corona.