Princess Half Marathon OKW/VB Split Stay: Part 2

**MatterhornMiss** · 07-04-2010,01:36 PM

(Continued from the WDW board)

Okay, so as I'm sure I already posted, when I originally booked this week long vacation between WDW and VB, it was to entice my sister to run with me in the Princess Half Marathon. She likes the beach (which I don't) and I like WDW (which she doesn't). However, a few months after I booked the VB part, my sister got a new job and wouldn't have enough vacation accumulated to take off more than just a long weekend. Although, as I just stated, I am not a beach person, I had to fight with MS to keep the price for the VB studio they originally gave me, and I didn't want to cancel it. Plus, I had the whole week off from work anyway. And I want to make it to all the DVC and Disney resorts eventually.

**MatterhornMiss** · 07-04-2010,02:50 PM

Right, so, Tuesday morning, after going for a short run, I checked out of OKW, did some shopping in the Orlando area, and headed to VB.

If I remember correctly, the drive really did take a couple of hours. When I finally turned off the interstate, I had to drive through some no-so-nice looking parts of the area before crossing a big bridge into luxury land. It was so nice to be able to see the VB resort from that bridge.

The resort at VB is very small--it seemed even smaller than one of the areas of SSR. But it's nice. I had a (regular) studio: VB has "deluxe inn" rooms in the main building that are more like a hotel-type room (with two queen beds, although they do have a kitchenette, I think). The "vacation homes" are located in separate buildings. There are also a number of super-cute looking beach cottages scattered about the property.

I was glad to be separated from the main building. My studio was on the top floor, and the balcony (I enjoy DVC balconies; they are nice places to sit and have breakfast) had a wonderful view of the ocean. The studio had almost an identical layout to OKW studio, except for the sleeper sofa in place of the second queen sized bed. But, as with OKW, the balcony does also look directly into the 1BR living area next door.

Here are some pictures of the room:

The room had a very subtle Finding Nemo theme.

And the balcony:

**MatterhornMiss** · 07-04-2010,03:04 PM

And now for some pics of the resort itself:

This was taken from across the highway. There is a walkway going underneath to link up to the tennis courts/basketball court and lake on the other side (the setup is similar at Kidani Village, except you have to cross the road there--but it isn't a major FL hwy).

Inside the lobby:

(Deluxe Inn rooms are located in this building)

The small store (where you can also rent movies):

Children's lobby:

Hallway to the restaurant Shutters (sorry I don't have a picture of the interior):

I think that's all I have of the interior of the main building.

**DisneyGeek** · 07-05-2010,03:50 PM

Nice pics- thanks from another non-beach person!

**MatterhornMiss** · 07-05-2010,06:44 PM

Okay, I this is really weird. I swear I posted this on the "Other Disney Destinations" board, since I'm now discussing the part of my trip at Vero Beach, not at WDW.

**DisneyGeek** · 07-05-2010,08:23 PM

Did ya' try PMing Mar (or Tim) to ask them to move it? I doubt anyone around here is gonna' come after you too harshly though...

**MatterhornMiss** · 07-06-2010,03:27 PM

I haven't PM'd anyone--maybe there is a reason the thread was moved. Anyway, I'll go on. Since I was by myself in VB, and really only took pics around the resort, I will intersperse my TR with pics.

Tuesday afternoon, after checking in and feeling almost immediately I had made the right decision to keep my ressie at VB, I headed into "town" to Target to get some things--like a big box and packaging tape so I could ship all the things I bought on the trip home! (Since I have OL, I just travel with a carry-on. It has spoiled me to not having to check baggage. Just a plug--OL is completely worth it, IMO--but more on that later.)

I walked around the resort (which didn't take long, since it's small) and checked out some movies from the resort store. I checked out the activity schedule, and made plans to enjoy myself.

The beach was closed while I was there--Vero Beach's beach was undergoing a major refurbishment to replace all the sand that had erroded away over the years. It really didn't bother me much.

**MatterhornMiss** · 07-06-2010,09:02 PM

Here are some pics from the beach. The private access from the resort requires a key card to enter/exit. The lock was put on to keep guests from entering the beach while heavy machinery was out.

The Green Cabin normally is open for beach rentals, but since the beach was closed. . .