Disney's Vero Beach Resort — Hotel in Orchid Island

As DVC Direct owners this was our first time staying here after making it one of our home resorts. Our daughter and her family have stayed a few times but this was our first time. We booked a 2 BDRM dedicated at the 11 month window to celebrate multiple birthdays that were close together (son and granddaughter) because we knew it was going to be hard to get a room later if we waited. The resort was beautiful and amazing right off the beach we could have asked for a better location. The housekeeping staff were genuinely concerned with making everything amazing for our stay. With that said unfortunately other staff were not quite the same. Wind and Waves reminded us a lot of Olivia's at Disney's Old Key West Resort. The food was very much like other table service restaurants' that Disney has. The negative was we made a reservation and said we were doing celebrations like it asked and no one acknowledged it at the restaurant. Then our server asked if we had any celebrations and we said yes and the she did nothing to acknowledge the celebration either until at the end when she asked before giving the bill if everything went ok and we said yes but were disappointed in the fact no acknowledgement for the celebration, so then she did something to acknowledge it by bringing my grandaughter a cupcake. So we truly felt this place didn't care either what we were celebrating to them it was just a empty question that was asked just to be asked. The front desk staff did not acknowledge our celebrations in any way in fact that acted as if they were not thrilled that we had booked this room using our DVC Direct points even though we were owners at the resort. This was an ongoing theme while we were there which was weird, in other words everyone that was front desk seemed to want to know how and when we booked the room and when they found out we were owners and used our points at the 11 month window it seemed to be an issue. We even got to the point to where we questioned it and of course they said no they were just asking. The cast member who took care of our room was the only person at the resort who acknowledged our celebrations and brought cards to the room for my son and granddaughter which they were thankful for and loved. The other big thing that happened at the resort was there was no parking and we were told to park across the street at some other complex so this is an issue with the resort if you are driving. On the day of check-in (we arrived at 11 am) for some reason the whole resort lost power and it stayed that way until 8 pm that night. This made it so nothing could be bought to eat or drink until the power was restored to the resort which was an issue for us, but luckily we had stuff with use to eat and drink in the end. It was just extremely weird because it was sunny out and no bad weather in the area with the exception of it being hot. We thought the resort would have backup generators for situations like this and found it odd that it didn't seem to have any due to the length of time we were without power. As DVC Direct Owners in this resort, we still feel like this is an amazing resort and worth owning points at for the 11 month window because of what we get in return. There were a lot of issues but it didn't make us regret ever buying points here and we will definitely...

This was the 90th birthday dinner of the matriarch of our entire family and we chose to spend it with none other than Disney. It was the worst dinning experience ever. We had family fly in from Georgia and NYC and some drove from Melbourne/PalmBay, Florida. When we entered we were advised we could not be seated until the entire party arrived. That meant we could not sit and have drinks and appetizers until the rest of the guests arrive. But had to sit in the lobby. Then when we were seated the seating had one table for part of our party and a separate table for the other guests not intimate but weird. We tried to politely ask if we could all sit and dine together but we’re advised we could not(as a former new store opener/trainer/hostess/server of 14 yrs) there were other options, many tables in the back could have provided a pleasant intimate experience but we were not offered anything else and we were not here for anything to go wrong this was about having a night of joy and being with family. The bread was 5 tiny pcs per basket but our table had more than that we were never offered more bread and we never asked. The drinks were left empty and never refilled or asked if we wanted refills throughout the entire evening. I ordered the steak w au gratin potatoes and broccoli $40+ no salad no soup included. We also ordered the Fish n Chips. the Chicken w stuffing, nachos, French onions soup and more. My steak ordered med was served completely raw. The au gratin potatoes.we’re not recognized when they arrived I had to wonder what I ordered it looked like a pastry when I cut into it there was grease and the taste was horrible, I could get better from the box of fake potatoes in the grocery store. The broccoli HOW COULD they mess that up???? Somehow when they grilled it whatever they used they did not allow the gas to burn off it tasted like a grill that was just lit and the lighter fluid has not burned off and they added the broccoli to the open flame and it tasted like gas or lighter fluid NOT grilled. The Nachos were so bland we had to take the lemon served w the water and add it to the chips for flavor. The fish and chips HOW CAN THAT be messed up??? Drop and serve but out of the 7 ppl who ordered none ate it because they all said it tasted rotten. We were never offered dessert. My bill for steak, chicken, French onions soup 2 sodas and 1 nacho was $125 the waitress took and never returned we had to ask for our change so we could provide her $25 tip not $75. To let you know we never ONCE COMPLAINED while there because this was about family being together and making her 90th birthday amazing but I as a human HAD TO LET YOU KNOW w my busy schedule had no time but I made time. This was horrible the way a black family was treated on what was supposed to be an unforgettable evening. I being the only white person in the group saw how my family was treated from the moment we walked in. We had better treatment from the guests who were dining from all over the world the ppl chimed in as we sang happy birthday and they all were shocked to see such a beautiful 90 yr old woman and all made sure to compliment and make her feel special this I speak of were the guests not the staff and we as a family made the best of what Disney...

The beach is beautiful and for the most part the staff was good. Very quiet resort. Unfortunately I ended up cutting my stay short and decided to fly back home to Texas early. I had two nights- Inn ocean front view and the next 4 nights in a deluxe suite. The website wasn’t very clear that Inn was on the main lobby (hotel feel all inside) and the deluxe was outside which gave a motel feel. The picture def didn’t show that! What’s worse is that I could hear everything people next to me did & said. Felt like they were in my room. The delux gave me a creepy vibe and my room faced the main road. Yes they have security in front and some bushes but that doesn’t stop people from being able to walk the property. The suites are EXTREMELY close to the main public road. The first night my room wasn’t ready until 4 pm: when I was moving to the delux I had a notification it was ready @ 11:30 am and than they called me panicking at 1:30 that that was not the correct room and to not go in it. When I finally for the correct room I ended up asking them to move me from the current deluxe to a different room hoping I would get some peace from the noise next to me since the rooms connect by a door. Once moved, my phone & tv were not working. Mind you that morning the electric went out…. The number Disney gave me directed me to security who didn’t have the front desk number so I ended up having to walk through the windy cold rain to see what was going on. I had already gone to the front three times. (One of those times was when when they notified me my correct room was ready, they said it was in the same building, which it was not. Another waisted trip). Don’t get me started on the parking situation. I was so frustrated and ended up just canceling the stay and they didn’t hesitate to cancel. I had to practically begged them to move in the Inn at least for the night since they said they were booked the following nights. Half the resort is updated . My first room the water barely came out and the current room has a updated shower head. The front told me “please acknowledge that I am moving you back to the Inn at your request”. I don’t understand the issue if I feel safer and you have rooms available…

I would say stay @ the inn at least. Felt a bit more safe and def quiet. Yes, The weather wasn’t the best and unfortunately that messed with my stay as well, but overall Disney dropped the ball on this one. I feel like if the service and overall room situation was better I would have stayed. I have been to a few Disney resorts and this one fell short. Don’t think I’ll be recommending this resort to my family who are regular Disney vacation peoples. They gave me a koozie for all...