Disney's Vero Beach, a comprehensive trip report (part one)

Note: This is a companion article to my Examiner article. Click here if you haven't read it already.

My husband and I have discussed visiting Disney's Vero Beach ever since we moved to Florida. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a 211-room Disney Vacation Club resort on the Atlantic Ocean about two hours away from Disney World. It's not near theme parks, nor much of anything else, so it's the perfect place for some rest, relaxation, swimming and sand castle building. There are restaurants and activities for kids and families, like a pool with a water slide, bike rentals, and miniature golf, spa, and music in the Green Cabin Room lounge in the evenings. We thought it would be a neat place to spend a weekend, so we were very excited when Disney invited us to check it out.

There are several ways to get to Vero Beach from the Disney area (192, 528/95 and the Florida Turnpike). We chose the turnpike on a friend's advice, even though it takes you a bit out of yoour way and racks up tolls. It was worth it, as the two-hour drive was smooth sailing. We were greeted by a familiar Disney Vacation Club sign at the entrance:





Below is the check-in area. We arrived on Friday afternoon around 4 p.m. and there were a few people, but no line. Things did get busier at the desk on Saturday, although never unreasonble. Our room was ready (check-in time is actually 3) so we were able to park in the garage below the building and head right upstairs.





Our room was in the main building on the second floor, right by the elevators. The good part is that it was extremely convenient. We didn't need to use the elevator because there is a nearby staircase down to the main level from that floor, and the Green Cabin Room was on our level for easy access in the evenings. I was worried about hallway traffic because of the elevator, but I didn't really notice much. I always travel with a while noise machine, which helps a lot. The cute towel animal that was waiting to greet us is pictured below. The bad part was that we could hear our next door neighbors through the wall. Thankfully they were not wild late-night partiers. There was also a wedding on our second night, and I could hear the DJ and music in our room. I think they cleared out around 11 p.m. tho' so it didn't disrupt our rest.

Below is the cute towel animal that was waiting for us in our room:



There are DVC villas with separate bedrooms in other parts of the resort, including three bedroom freestanding cottages that reminded me of the treehouses at Saratoga Springs, but ours was a standard room with two beds. Size-wise it was equivalent to the deluxe resorts at Disney World It also had DVC amenities like a small refrigerator, microwave oven, paper plates, plastic cutlery, a toaster and coffee maker. You can see the beds below:



We also had a table and two chairs, which would be handy for eating in the room (although we stuck with the on-site restaurants):



There was a flat screen television with a DVD player. The radio by the beds has a docking station for iPods and MP3 players too, and the electrical outlet is well positioned for plugging in computers, cell phones, etc. DVC members get free wireless internet, or you can purchase it:



Below is the bathroom area, which has a toilet and tub that can be closed off from the sink. The hairdryer is hanging on the wall:



Below is the kitchenette area:



There are towels you can use at the pool or out at the beach:



All of the rooms have balconies. Ours overlooked the parking area and was tucked into the roof line so it had a solid wall, but most of the others have see-through railings. That's especially nice if you have an ocean view room:



Here is an example of the artwork in the lobby areas:



Here is the view just outside our room, looking at the staircase and Green Cabin Room, which faces the ocean:



There are many little sitting areas and alcoves around the hotel:



Here is our first view of the beach:



The pool has a neat little water slide and is kept warm and comfy. There is also a nearby hot tub, which we used in the evening. You can get food, rent bikes and play miniature golf in this area too. The pool is a very popular spot:



More beach shots. You can rent chairs and umbrellas:



The water was stirred up by Hurricane Igor during our visit:



Some made a sand castle earlier in the day:



More beach views:











Here are the various rental rates:




There is also a sign listing beach conditions and warnings:





We had a very full experience as we tried to do as much as possible in our brief weekend visit. The next parts of this trip report will cover the on-site restaurants, including Sunday brunch and a character meal; the spa; and fun activities, including miniature golf and the evening campfire (smores...mmmm!).

Let there be light

One of the great things about living in Celebration is being on the Disney electrical grid. Everything is underground, and our power is very reliable. We didn't even lose it during the infamous Charlie/Frances/Jean hurricane trio. I remember bagging ice to send to people in Kissimmee, who were without power for days.

Alas, we may not go down in the big catastrophes, but yesterday we had an outage for no apparent reason. Of course, it had to happen when my cell phone battery was already low. At first I thought it would be a brief, nondescript outage. It happened early in the day, and right when I was in the middle of something important on my laptop, so I hustled off to the library to use their wireless. The electricity was back on by the time I got back home. The rest of the day went smoothly...then boom! We were out again just before 6 p.m. And this time I do mean OUT; I decided to go out and get something to eat, since sitting in a rapidly darkening house was pointless. All of the traffic lights on the way to 192 were out, which made for an interesting drive. Thankfully I'm a fearless, Chicago-trained driver so I made it through the mish-mash of “Whose turn is it anyway?”

I monitored the goings-on in town from my rapidly dying cell phone, which also has internet. Apparently the power was going off and on sporadically. I called home and the answering machine didn't pick up, so I knew East Village was still among the have-nots.

As I was driving home, I noticed people downtown wandering about in desperation. The Thai restaurant had its doors propped open, and I imagined the impact the outage would have on our stores and eateries. I was worried enough about the food in my fridge. I could just imagine worrying about a commercial quantity and all the lost customers.

It was still light enough for me to find candles when I got home. I had just cleared out a bunch of old candles, but fortunately I still had four or five stashed in various spots around the house. I placed them strategically on the kitchen counter so I could toss them in the sink if they caused any hazard. Then I booted up my PC to drain its last bits of power in whatever work I could do while not logged onto the internet.

The power suddenly returned a little under an hour later. Hooray! Or should I really celebrate? After all, people had reported offs and ons. I let myself get suckered in and blew out all the candles. Sure enough, as soon as that task was done, Progress Energy plunged us into the dark again. Ugh.

It reminded me of my childhood, when I was around 6 or 7. Our Chicago neighborhood once lost its power for two or three whole days. I don't know whether it was a tornado or just a terrible storm, but there were downed lines everywhere. We had to make due with unheated canned food, and most of the families on our block would gather together in the living room of the one family that camped because of course they had lanterns. We'd talk, sing, play games, and generally try to make the best of life without power. It felt like a miracle when the juice was finally restored.

I also lost power in my apartment once when I was single and living in the 'burbs. I had a studio apartment behind a house in a very tight-knit neighborhood. Lightning struck a power box; I actually saw it through my front door. So much for the power. Shortly thereafter one of my neighbors (the block busybody, but I mean that in a good way) came over to make sure I had some candles. Fortunately that mess only lasted for a few hours before we were back in business.

Alas, Florida in September is much hotter than Chicago. At least the temperature had moderated by nightfall, but I was still missing the air conditioning. In my apartment I was able to open the windows and front door. In Florida, we don't have screen doors, and our cat SkeiKra would probably burst right through a screen to eat a lizard.

I used up the last of my laptop's juice working on a magazine article, since I had the interview notes saved on my hard drive. Then I huddled by the candles to read a true crime book (in restrospect, probably not the best choice in the eerie darkness that had descended on our entire street).

It was after 9 p.m., and I was starting to believe we'd have no power before bedtime, when suddenly I was dazzled by the warming glow of light bulbs. My poor bird, Truman, who had gone to sleep in his happy hut, must have thought sunrise was here very early, as he promptly woke up and started going about his usual daytime routine.

Of course, my first action was to plug in my nearly dead cell phone and log onto the internet. My work day had been sorely interrupted, since all of my jobs are internet-dependent. I breathed a sigh of relief that at least I'd have some time to try to get caught up before bed.

I know it sounds rather whiny to complain about a few hours without power when people back through history functioned all day, every day without it. I'll readily admit that I'm spoiled by modern life, and this experience just confirmed the fact that I'd made a lousy pioneer.

Check out my coverage of the theme parks in Orlando and beyond by clicking here!

Trapped in Paradise

Florida is an interesting state because it's so darned LONG. When we lived in Illinois, we could easily get to places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Iowa. We sometimes even ventured down to Tennessee. We loved to do weekend trips to places like Wisconsin Dells, Kings Island, Cedar Point, the Smoky Mountains, Indiana Beach, Mall of America and Lake Michigan (in Indiana or Michigan, not downtown Chicago).

In Florida, there is no such thing as a simple weekend trip in another state unless you want to drive and drive and drive. After all, as Homer Simpson would say, it's a America's wang, and a darned long one at that. Sure, we could go to Georgia, but that's a state I prefer to see again any time soon after driving through an ice storm there when we moved to Celebration. Other than that, we're pretty much surrounded by water.

Oh, well, I can't complain too much. After all, I live in the heart of Theme Park Country, and if I get tired of Orlando's offerings, I can easily drive to Busch Gardens in Tampa. There are beaches on both coasts, although I prefer the Gulf side because the other side always seems to have some nasty hazard like bird bacteria or rip tides of man-o-wars. We're definitely not at a deficit of leisure things to do. Sometimes I miss all our old road trips, but then I remind myself that people in those states all shiver their butts off while I stare at palm trees in the winter time. I miss Magnum at Cedar Point, but I'll trade it for SheiKra at Busch Gardens, as long as that's accompanied by warm temperatures year 'round, any day.

A fiesta of flavor at Epcot's new Hacienda de San Angel restaurant

On September 15 I had the pleasure of attending the media event for the grand opening of La Hacienda de San Angel at Disney World's Epcot theme park. I wrote about it for Examiner, but they only allow me to post one photo now so below is my full photographic coverage, including plenty of "food porn" at the bottom. Click here to hop to the Examiner article if you didn't read it already. The food was delicious, and as an added bonus, the outdoor eating area is a perfect spot to see Illuminations. I enjoyed the view here even more than I do at the U.K. restaurant patio.



Here is the friendly team from Hacienda de San Angel:



Opening ceremonies:




Mickey and Donald were on hand to cut the ribbon. Note that it's up in this photo:

And now it's cut!

Grand opening sign inside the restaurant:

Aren't those lovely light fixtures?

What Mexican-themed celebration would be complete without a mariachi band?

And now the best part...food porn! Everything was delicious:

Mole on pork:

The item below was my favorite. It had a slightly sweet flavor:

Rose petal margarita that did indeed taste like rose water:

I didn't dare try the jalapenos:

This was filled with cheese. It reminded me of the quesadillas casera I get at El Tenampa, my favorite Kissimmee Mexican restaurant:

I can't remember if this was a mango or guava margarita, but it was good either way!

The shrimp taco will definitely please seafood lovers:

Yum! They use my favorite kind of Mexican cheese (the white, crumbly kind), as you can see below:

I think the photo below is another view of my favorite tasty treat:

All photos copyright 2010 by Barb Nefer, all rights reserved.

Disney World Means Luxury for Pets as Well as People

I haven't been blogging lately about life in Celebration because I've been busy with magaine work and covering the theme parks for the Examiner website. Examiner now only lets me upload one photo, which does not work for travel writing. Thus I will be putting the photo tours here and linking over from the articles. Click here to read the Examiner article.

What follows is my photographic tour of the brand new Best Friends pet resort, which just opened at Walt Disney World today.

Below is the sign that greats you in front of the building, which is located across the street from the Port Orleans resort, not far from Downtown Disney and the Epcot resort area:



Below, Pluto joins in on the opening day festivities:



Part of the outdoor doggie play area is shown below:



Below you can see the press turnout as media members watch the dogs frolick:



Check out the dog in the two photos below enjoying the fountain in the dog playground. Perfect for hot Florida days!







Cats are not neglected at Best Friends, as you can see by the kitty condo pictured below:



Cats get time out each day to enjoy this play area, complete with big windows that you can see below:



People bring bettas, hamsters, and bunnies to Disney World, and they're all welcome at Best Friends, as the photo below shows:



Pampered dogs can visit for the day and have special spa treats, as you can see below in the grooming area:



Check out the doggie dogs below. The kennels are very comfy and have doors to the outside:



Dogs get playtime each day, and you can even bring them for doggie daycare so they can romp in the room shown below:



There are luxury suites and VIP rooms with amenities such as the cushy bed below:



Pretty fancy kennel!



Pampered pooches even get doggie ice cream treats (and cats get tuna on crackers), as you can see below:



The VIP suites even have playgroup equipment outside:



Cute decoration on the Best Friends building:



The outside decor shown below makes dogs feel right at home:



Opening Ceremony:



Cute Dog Video:



All photos copyright by Barb Nefer, 2010.

Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

We're been under a water boiling order in Celebration since yesterday due to a water break in Kissimmee that has affected a pretty wide span. I didn't even know there was a problem till I read it on the Front Porch, our community intranet, which serves the same function as the backyard fence gossip chains and party lines of old. Tap water is supposed to be boiled before use, although thankfully we're pretty well supplied with Gatorade so it hasn't been a major inconvenience.

It did make for an interesting restaurant experience tonight though. We were kicking around where to go and were pretty much between B. J.'s Brewhouse and Abuleo's, both located in the Loop shopping area. They're pretty much our default selections when we can't decide where to go. Then I got to thinking...what about Bonefish? It's in the same area, although it's part of the strip mall rather than a standalone building like the other two. I always see a lot of people there so I figured it had to be good, or at least decent. I tossed the idea out to hubby, and after reviewing the online menu we decided to give it a try.

The Loop is within the water boiling boundary, so we wondered how that might be affecting things. We quickly discovered it meant no ice, no water and no fountain drinks. My husband ordered wine and we did manage to get a little water (they had some bottles on hand that were quickly running out). The food menu was not affected, so he ordered the mussel appetizer and a mahi dish which I ordered corn chowder with crab and a mahi sandwich.

It was quite interesting to hear the reactions of many of the people around us when they learned of the limitations. Even with the last of the bottled water there was no ice so you had to drink it warm. This was apparently a major life trauma for one party; they demanded to see the manager. I'm not sure what they thought she would do or if they thought they'd do any better at another restaurant since every Loop eatery was in the same boat. I squelched the temptation to ask them if they thought the people in Haiti, many of whom have no water or food, would have any sympathy for their plight. Life is very much a matter of perspective. Your life is pretty freakin' good if your major complaint is having to drink warm bottled water with your upscale seafood meal.

One of the restaurant employees had been sent out for more bottled water and ice, which showed up in time for our meal. Actually, I could have easily restricted myself to drinking the broth from hubby's mussel appetizer, was was truly the nectar of the gods. I have no idea what was in it, but it took all my willpower not to steal his bowl and chug it right down.

As we were finishing it up, I heard the distinct sound of a poot from the table behind us (we were in close quarters). Just as I was thinking, "Was that really a fart?" the unmistakable olifactory evidence proved that it was. "Ugh," I told my hubby, "the next table is providing us with after dinner aromatherapy."

Suddenly Mr. Poot slung his chair back and reclined as though he were at the dinette table in his trailer, putting him nearly in hubby's lap. Now I was doubly fearful of a repeat pooting. Hubby was like, "WTF?" and I said, "Maybe he's flirting with you." That didn't seem to sink into Mr. Poot's head even though he had to be close enough to hear. I tried again: "He has to be subtle about his attraction to you because I don't think he's out of the closet with his family yet." Still nothing. Finally I said, "God help us if his rear end lets out enother emission when he's this close." He immediately lurched forward and stayed out of our space while we ate dessert, thank goodness.

All in all it was a tasty meal despite the water situation and the pooter. I love both Abuelo's and B. J.'s, but it's nice to know we have another restaurant to add into the regular rotation.

Piss on This, or the Story of the Snuggie

One of Duloc Manor's few shortcomings is a huge temperature disparity between the front and back. My husband's office is upstairs in the front of the house, and the sun makes it a veritable oven. Meanwhile, my workspace in the back is like a refrigerator, especially in the summer when he cranks the air conditioner to "Arctic Blast." The cold weather has made my little space rather chilly too, so finally I decided to do something about it.

I'll admit I'm a closet infomercial fan. Mostly I just watch them, but I have been known to buy the occasional item although I wait until they show up in stores. I want a physical place to return something that turns out to be junk, and I also don't like the infomercial call center habit of selling your information to every telemarketer on the planet. That gives them a way around the do-not-call list, since they can claim to be "partners" of a company you did business with. I'm the proud owner of a Magic Bullet and a Swivel Sweeper, both of which I love, so now I started to wonder: might a Snuggie be the answer to my chilly prayers?

For the five people on the planet who have not seen the Snuggie commercial, it's basically a blanket with sleeves that looks pretty much like a backwards robe when you are wearing it. It's not meant for walking around in; rather, you cover up with it when sitting around and the sleeves allow you to use your hands freely. It's long enough to cover your feet, so you have a nice little cocoon. I decided it would be perfect for my long work hours spent on the laptop each day.

I had read plenty of horror stories about phone and internet orders, so I decided to get my Snuggie at Walgreens. Florida has the highest Walgreens-to-citizen ratio. Right now I think we're at one Walgreens for every 2.5 Floridians; you can't go five blocks without running into either a Walgreens, CVS or both. We have one close to Celebration, but hubby and I had some errands to run that were taking us down to the west end of 192, towards 27, so we decided to stop at the Walgreens out there. The internet said that store had Snuggies, but I was personally skeptical. That is the same Walgreens that had me return four times for a prescription, claiming it would be in each day, only to tell me the last time that they had stopped carrying it in the type my doctor had specified. Argggh! Thus I bet my husband a quarter that they would have no Snuggies, despite what the website said.

Alas, I was correct (unless you count kid Snuggies, which they did have). Our next stop was Wal-Mart, which hubby said did not carry anything but pet Snuggies according to their website. I still asked just for the heck of it; the clerk momentarily raised my hopes as she said, "Oh yes!" and proceeded to tell us which aisle to check. Nope...just pet Snuggies.

But my hopes were far from dashed, since there were plenty more Walgreens to try. We stopped at another one on the way home that had also been listed online as having Snuggies. Amazingly, it really did! I selected my warm,. cozy treasure (not much of a choice...all they had was blue) and visions of being snugly wrapped while tapping on my laptop danced in my head.

When we arrived home, I unpacked the Snuggie and tossed it in my place on the couch. Our couch reclines, and the footrest was up so the Snuggie was draped there. First Farquaad had to investigate it; he settled in in temporarily, but soon SheiKra came to chase him off before doing his own preliminary investigation. I didn't think anything of it; I donned the Snuggie and prepared to boot my laptop. Quaad climbed back up, then left, and a realized there was a big wet spot. Weird...had he been playing in the water dish?

Then a terrifying thought struck me. I sniffed the spot and my worst fears were confirmed. Cat piss!!!! You can't miss that distinctive odor. Worse yet, it had leaked through to my jeans, and when I got up I discovered a puddle on the recliner foot rest. I don't know if Quaad or SheiKra decided to mark it or, or maybe one of them just lost bladder control for some bizarre reason (Quaad has been known to pee in fear, but it takes a lot to incite that reaction...usually being hauled to the vet). No matter the reason...the effect was still the same. My poor Snuggie had been christened in a most unappealing manner.

I had read that Snuggies and washers aren't a good mix, so I had been hoping to minimize washings. Alas, I hadn't had the thing out of its box for 10 minutes and already it had to be submerged in soap. Neither of the two potentially guilty parties seemed phased; my money is on Farquaad, but I can't rule out SheiKra entirely. It's strange because both are generally very good about using their litter boxes. Maybe "piss on this" is their comment on informercial goods?

Oh well, as I type this I'm waiting for my poor Snuggie to emerge from the washer, hopefully in halfway decent shape. Hopefully the cats will not decide it's a soft, cushy litter box and christen it yet again once I give it another try.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow?

I'm used to snow in Celebration...of the soapy kind, that is. It happens every night downtown during the Christmas/New Years season. What I am not used to is snow of the real variety, which I thought I left behind forever in Chicago. Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a vicious cold snap that has been bringing overnight temperatures of 28 degrees (global warming, where art thou?), and Fox News is reporting tonight that we're going to get snow this weekend. Yes, snow!

Granted, snow in Florida is just a fleeting thing but it will be very strange to see flurries. It's already odd enough to see people stuffed into winter jackets, with hats pulled down over their ears and hands stuffed into mittens and gloves. Thankfully my husband got us matching jackets at Busch Gardens this fall. They are not northern-thick but they do have a lining, so they're adequate for the freeze when worn along with a sweatshirt or two.

At Duloc Manor we have something called a "heat pump," which doesn't bear too much resemblance to a real furnace. The poor little thing struggles to keep up with the bitterly chilly air. I get more warmth from the cats; all four have been piling into bed overnight, and those feline bodies do throw a lot of heat.

The cold snap is going to be here for a while; if we do indeed have snow, I'll try to grab some photos to post.