12 days of Disney Resorts and the Pisgah Inn Road trip

[Dizney73]

We miss Disney.
We miss traveling.
We miss adventures and exploring the world.
Our 2020 Disney Cruise to Alaska was canceled.
Like many Disney lovers we canceled 2 trips to the Disney Parks in 2020.
We DID, however, drive to Disney for a non-park & Vero Beach Resort Covid road trip in July 2020 and had an absolutely fantastic time!
It seems as though things may never go back to normal.
We aren't willing to risk lots of money on flights (we have $3,000 worth of flight vouchers already) or get tested for Covid three days prior to leaving and crossing our fingers that our results come back in time -so we rescheduled our Hawaii cruise (NCL) and canceled our Aulani stay for summer 2021.
We NEED something to look forward to this summer!

We had a great time last summer and so we decided to use our DVC points to once again do a Disney Resort-No Park Road trip! Let the planning begin!


Photo from our 2020 Covid Road trip to WDW and Vero Beach Resort

 

[Dizney73]

Planning our Road trip Links!
Meet the Cast
Our first stop... 4 nights at Disney's Hilton Head Resort
A room change already... and our 2nd stop, 4 nights at ...
Stop # 3...4 nights at Disney's Vero Beach Resort
Stop #4... The Pisgah Inn
Finally... some Dining Reservations!
One day tickets turn into Universal passes
And we buy Magic Kingdom passes, too! More dining reservations made!
WDW dining reservations complete
Wind and Waves Dining Reservations Made
Special Father's Day Gift Activity booked!
Changes to Father's Day lunch reservation
23 days... and 2 NEW countdowns!
T Minus 1... Here we go! Follow along as we experience the magic!

The Trip Report
Day 1... Travel Day and HHI

 

[Dizney73]

Meet the Cast
Jami- That's me! Teacher of 23 years... and feeling like a first year teacher all over again! After teaching as a Library Media Career Specialist for 22 years I was given the task to teach ELA and Social Studies to our all virtual 6th grade class this year! I am up to my eyebrows in learning new curriculum and creating interesting and interactive virtual lessons and I NEED a vacation!


Scott- My firefighter husband who loves traveling the world and enjoying Disney just as much as the rest of us do! Note: As of today, he is fully vaccinated for Covid. Scott will be our driver for this road trip.


Jenni- 15 year old lover of traveling the world! She is definitely a princess and loves to be treated as such! She has visited the WDW more than 25 times and has sailed on 13 cruises.


Anderson- Our 12 year old who would always choose to go on a Disney Cruise over WDW! Why? WDW has too MUCH WALKING! He is our picky eater and literally lives on pasta of any kind.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Dizney73]

Our first stop on our road trip- 4 nights at Disney's Hilton Head Island

We will be driving from PA and wanted a great destination on the way to Florida! Of course, since we cancelled two DVC vacation stays in 2020 we had quite a few points which need to be used so we decided that Disney's Hilton Head Resort would be the perfect stop for a few nights. We tried to book this resort last summer but we changed our plans so many times we were way past the 7 month mark and I ended up booking 2 nights at the Omni resort. Unfortunately, a few weeks before we left we read about the lack of mask wearing on the island, panicked and cancelled. So we still have NEVER been to Hilton Head!
This was the perfect opportunity to try to book Disney's resort again and this time I made sure that I was booking 7 months to the day! Of course that day was a weekday and that meant it was a work day teaching on Zoom starting at 7:50 am! I set up the website and logged on BEFORE class started and then welcomed my 30 kids as they popped into class, played the morning news and began them on their warm up. It took a bit of extra planning but I was sure to be sure to create a warm up for my virtual learning class that was completely interactive and engaging allowing me the few minutes I needed to grab our room! I was able to grab the 4 nights I wanted in a 1 bedroom villa ... woo hoo! ( I mean, I really wanted a studio but it wasn't available so I was sure to grab the 1 bedroom.) I texted my husband "woo hoo, GOT IT!" and was ready to start class by 8:04 am.... took attendance and started class at the normal everyday time. All that stress for absolutely nothing! What a great start to the day! And since I was on a Disney high...that energy made our class super enthusiastic!

I already couldn't wait to get home and start planning where to eat and what to see while at Hilton Head!
Our drive to the resort will be about 12 hours... plus an extra hour for all of our stops along the way. We are planning to leave in the middle of the night for easier travel and less traffic. It will also help us get to the resort with time to grab some dinner and do some exploring before we pass out from being overtired! Do you drive?
What time do you leave?
What restaurants on the island are your favorites? Outside seating is a must!
Of course, we want to go to the beach but what else should we NOT miss?


I can't wait to finally see this sign and take my own photo!


Wow! This resort looks absolutely beautiful! We can't stop watching our favorite Vloggers give their resort and room tours!

 

[Dizney73]

A room change already... and our 2nd stop on our road trip- 4 nights at...
Once the weekend came it was time to book the next stop of our trip at the Walt Disney World Resort! Last year we stayed at Saratoga Springs Resort in a preferred studio. We loved the location of our room and the fact that it was renovated was wonderful! We spend lots of time eating and hanging out at Disney Springs during our non-park trips and SSR was an easy walk away making it super convenient to enjoy lunches and dinners each day! So... we truly planned to book this room once again for our 4 night stay in 2021 but in a matter of minutes that plan was out the window and my fingers were rebooking our stay at DHHI!

A bit before 8 am on our 7 month booking window date I was browsing availability for our next 4 nights and lo and behold saw that our dates were open for a studio at The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian... choice of Lake view or standard studio! I have stayed with some friends at GFV a few years ago but the family has never stayed here. The problem... it is a lot more points to stay at Grand Floridian Villas than to stay at SSR. Hmmm... How DO I SWING THIS?

My first thought was to modify my DHHI stay and cut off our first night... we could leave later in the morning, arrive late and just book a nearby stay for the night . But when I went to modify, I saw that there was now a studio available for our dates! I quickly made the modification and YES, I was able to secure our same 4 nights at DHHI in a studio which freed up plenty of points to book our room at GFV! By this time, it was 8:02 am and I was hoping I was still able to grab those next 4 nights in a lake view studio at the Grand. I was nervous because I know how quickly those rooms book. Once I selected the nights and saw that the room was still available I felt my heart skip a beat or two! Finally, I was able to breathe... our next stop on our road trip will be 4 nights in a lake view studio at the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian!

When Scott came home from work (overnight shift last night) I told him about my last minute switches and he was just as excited as I was! For the rest of the morning, we literally watched review after review, and room tour after room tour on Youtube!

We are very much looking forward to our stay here at the GFV and plan to spend all of our time enjoying the resort pool, surrounding resort restaurants and watching the Electrical Water Pageant each night from our balcony. I have my fingers crossed that fishing trips will start up again by this summer because I know that my son and husband would love that!

What do you love about the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian?
What other resort restaurants should we not miss while staying in this area?


A family photo taken in 2017 at the Grand Floridian


The lake view Studio room at the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian.


Oh yes! We are so very excited to stay here!

 

[Dizney73]

Covid Vaccine Update...
We are hoping that as more and more people start receiving the Covid vaccines that this entire crazy time starts coming to an end. As a professional firefighter, DH, Scott received his second dose of the vaccine this past week. We are one step closer.

I, on the other hand, have not yet qualified for the vaccine. I was hoping that as a teacher that I would have the vaccine by the summer. My fingers are crossed.

We have a Disney Cruise booked for Thanksgiving this year that we will most likely move to 2022. Even if cruises do come back before November, we have decided that we would not feel comfortable on the ship. (Anderson is so very upset! He is a true cruise lover!) We have booked a room at our home resort of Animal Kingdom Villas for that entire trip time at this point and we are throwing around the idea of visiting Universal for 2 days. Perhaps we will invest in some Universal annual passes since we let our WDW passes expire 2 summers ago. The kids, who are technically teens, are very interested trying the Universal Parks and who am I to say No? That's another pre-trip report once we decide what we are actually doing!

 

[martikus]

Following! My parents fell in love with Hilton head and retired there! It’s fantastic. Our favorite thing is riding bikes and mini golf - legendary golf offers great shade! And the beach at low tide is incredible how much sand.

And then I’m also sucked in because you said Pisgah Inn! We have done day trips to eat lunch there pre-covid and the views are INCREDIBLE. Your kids will love all the tunnels en route to it.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am following along! We live in South Jersey and had talked about going to Vero Beach at some point.

We DID, however, drive to Disney for a non-park & Vero Beach Resort Covid road trip in July 2020 and had an absolutely fantastic time!

I would love to see some pictures! How long of a drive was it?

I am up to my eyebrows in learning new curriculum and creating interesting and interactive virtual lessons and I NEED a vacation!

As a mom of a 12 year old and a 10 year old. I thank you!!! All of this isn't easy but virtual teaching/learning is rough!!!

Jenni- 15 year old lover of traveling the world! She is definitely a princess and loves to be treated as such! She has visited the WDW more than 25 times and has sailed on 13 cruises.

She is beautiful! I am not ready yet for 15! 12 is already kicking my butt.

Anderson- Our 12 year old who would always choose to go on a Disney Cruise over WDW! Why? WDW has too MUCH WALKING! He is our picky eater and literally lives on pasta of any kind.

I love that he doesn't want to walk! 2nd kids... I tell ya!

I already couldn't wait to get home and start planning where to eat and what to see while at Hilton Head!
Our drive to the resort will be about 12 hours... plus an extra hour for all of our stops along the way. We are planning to leave in the middle of the night for easier travel and less traffic. It will also help us get to the resort with time to grab some dinner and do some exploring before we pass out from being overtired! Do you drive?
What time do you leave?

The farthest we have driven from South Jersey is Myrtle Beach. And we left I want to say 4AM to make sure we got past DC before rush hour. It worked out perfectly!

We can't stop watching our favorite Vloggers give their resort and room tours!

Who do you watch?

Finally, I was able to breathe... our next stop on our road trip will be 4 nights in a lake view studio at the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian!

That will be amazing! We have never stayed at Grand Floridian. Maybe one day.

We are hoping that as more and more people start receiving the Covid vaccines that this entire crazy time starts coming to an end

Please! I so hope so! I am planning a trip for Thanksgiving of this year for us to go. And I am already starting to worry about it.

The kids, who are technically teens, are very interested trying the Universal Parks and who am I to say No? That's another pre-trip report once we decide what we are actually doing!

I am waiting for my girls to get interested in Universal. They aren't big Harry Pottery fans, though. So we will see.

All of your plans sound great so far.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Meet the Cast
Jami- That's me! Teacher of 23 years... and feeling like a first year teacher all over again! After teaching as a Library Media Career Specialist for 22 years I was given the task to teach ELA and Social Studies to our all virtual 6th grade class this year! I am up to my eyebrows in learning new curriculum and creating interesting and interactive virtual lessons and I NEED a vacation!

This is my 14th year teaching, but my 2nd in the library. I love it! They were *THISCLOSE* to reassigning specialists to classrooms for this school year, but we dodged that. I was going to be assigned to Kindergarten. Yes, they were close enough that they'd identified grade assignments.

I'm also not yet eligible for the covid vaccine. I, too, am hoping I'm vaccinated before my summer trip, which is planned for late July.

 

[Dizney73]

Following! My parents fell in love with Hilton head and retired there! It’s fantastic. Our favorite thing is riding bikes and mini golf - legendary golf offers great shade! And the beach at low tide is incredible how much sand.

And then I’m also sucked in because you said Pisgah Inn! We have done day trips to eat lunch there pre-covid and the views are INCREDIBLE. Your kids will love all the tunnels en route to it.

We are excited about visiting Hilton Head as it certainly is a well known area and beach. I hope it does not disappoint since our expectations are set so very high! Anderson loves mini-golf... I think that another reason he loves the Disney cruise so much... Goofy's Golf all day long!

And the Pisgah Inn... that will be a first for us too! I can't wait for the views! As much as we love beaches... we love a great mountain view!

This is the view from our front porch... we live for grand sunsets!

 

[Dizney73]

I am following along! We live in South Jersey and had talked about going to Vero Beach at some point.
Thank you so much! We were so reluctant to visit especially with everyone talking about the no see-ums! We loved our time there, covered in bug spray, so much that it is literally calling us back! You need to try it at least once. It is just such a relaxing... no hustle and bustle place!

I would love to see some pictures! How long of a drive was it?
I'll post some next! I promise... it will be great to highlight some of our pictures in my Vero post! We live about an hour and a half north of Philly... Took about 19 hours with stops (we stopped once in South Carolina, once for dinner at a Cracker Barrel in VA, and a quick stop in PA ) when we drove straight through coming home. On the way down we actually spent a night at Virginia Beach (we do love it there) before driving down to Vero. It was very doable but it was a VERY long day of driving as VA Beach was a wee bit out of the way!

As a mom of a 12 year old and a 10 year old. I thank you!!! All of this isn't easy but virtual teaching/learning is rough!!!
Thank you. I take my job very seriously and teach virtually just as I would if I were in person with my class. I was very happy because I just had my annual post-observation meeting and was told that they have not seen so much interaction and excitement while observing a completely virtual class all year! I have 60 students (2 classes of 30) and my co-teacher (teaches math and science) and I work so well together! We bring our classes together every Friday afternoon for fun, games and social time with their friends. My son is actually in one of my classes... I see first hand how much he misses the social aspect of going to school and vowed to do everything I can do to make it happen virtually!

She is beautiful! I am not ready yet for 15! 12 is already kicking my butt.
She is... I look at her every single day and can't believe what a beautiful young woman she has grown to become! We adopted Jenni from China when she was 8 months old. We always say that she gets her love for travel because she traveled halfway around the world to make us all her forever family. (Anderson was adopted from Taiwan)

I love that he doesn't want to walk! 2nd kids... I tell ya!
This kids seriously cracks me up! If he had his choice he would spend all of his time in a hotel room playing X-box and watching movies!

Who do you watch?
We are addicted to Here With the Ears, Super Enthused and Paging Mr. Morrow. We live vicariously through them right now!

I am waiting for my girls to get interested in Universal. They aren't big Harry Pottery fans, though. So we will see.
I was a library media teacher for over 20 years (my fingers are crossed that I will return to that job again next year)... my kids have no way to escape Harry Potter!

 

[Dizney73]

Stop #3... 4 nights at Disney's Vero Beach Resort... Ocean View Inn room
Last year we spent 4 nights at Disney's Vero Beach Resort and we truly left our hearts there when we left! The resort is just so remote, relaxing and simply care-free. Ahhh.... just thinking about it makes me feel better right now (despite the snow that is falling once again outside today). Last year, we pieced a reservation together (because we had changed our vacation plans so many times) and we had to book 2 nights in a studio and 2 nights in a standard view inn room. To us... the studio just seemed so crammed for our family of four. The layout reminded us of Old Key West... but a MUCH smaller version. We did have a nice view from our balcony though!

Deluxe Studio at Vero Beach... an odd shape and a bit small


Our view from our standard studio... we loved seeing the ocean through trees and just past that beach house!

After 2 nights we packed up and moved to our standard view Inn room... and we absolutely loved it, despite not having a view of any water besides the puddles that were left from the daily afternoon thunderstorms! The room was just a better size for a family of 4 and we loved the 2 beds vs a bed and a roll out (especially since we sleep boys and girls and I ALWAYS get stuck on the roll out!).

Standard Inn room... We loved this room, even the view! Seriously, we watched the storms roll in every afternoon from that balcony!

This year I was sure to book exactly 7 months out and was able to book 4 nights in an Ocean View Inn room! We are excited to have the larger room, 2 REAL beds, and of course, that ocean view! We honestly don't spend a ton of time in our room and Scott and I love to be out on the beach for the sunrise but perhaps if we crack the curtains before we leave the blinding sunrise will wake the teens from their slumber earlier than they prefer! hahaha

Why do we love this resort? Let me show you!

That beautiful resort peaks over the dunes at sunrise!



We love beautiful days on the beach. We did find that the water was quite rough at high tide... we learned to escape those waves BEFORE they started crashing down on us!


The pool! That slide is super fast!


Chilling with some drinks before dinner...


All you want to play MINI GOLF!!


Wind and Waves Restaurant... we enjoyed breakfast twice and dinner all 4 nights of our stay! We truly enjoyed the variety and the safety protocols that were in place inside the restaurant.


We loved everything about this resort... the sand, the shells, the sunrises, the food, the cast members and the activities! We have so much that we didn't do and look forward to exploring even more of this resort! It's going to be hard to leave!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I went to Vero Beach last summer and really enjoyed it. I had an Ocean View Inn Room and it was glorious. You're right about that slide - very fast and so fun!
The only downside, and the reason I don't know if I'll go back again, were the no-see-ums. I got eaten alive, even with bug repellent.

 

[Dizney73]

Stop #4... NOT Disney! 2 nights at the Pisgah Inn

It is going to be hard to leave Disney's Vero Beach Resort... no See-ums and all! We love just relaxing at the resort and on the beach. Last year, we drove straight through to home to avoid stopping at a hotel on the way home. It was doable but a seriously long day of driving! This year we wanted to break up the drive and started looking for somewhere to stop between Florida and Pennsylvania. We wanted a destination vs just a stop. It seemed as though most of the popular destination places were beaches... but we just visited two beaches on this trip so we kept looking. Finally, I came across Ashville, North Carolina on the BlueRidge Parkway. One of our favorite travel destinations are National Parks ... and this sort of fit that category. I looked at a few hotels in Ashville but didn't make a decision. A few days later and advertisement came up on my FB page for the Pisgah Inn located just outside Ashville, NC! This is definitely proof that everything technology we use is spying on us! Of course, I couldn't resist. The ad was way to appealing. Everything about this place looked like a destination that we would love... no hustle and bustle, a restaurant on property, rooms with a view, hiking, no air conditioning... wait, what? After reading some reviews about the property we decided that we should give this place a try and cross our fingers that at the end of June the high altitude of this resort would serve as natural air conditioning!
The drive from Vero to the Pisgah Inn is about 9 and 1/2 hours without stops. We will grab some breakfast at the resort and then be on our way. It pretty far out of our way... but it will cut our drive home into two 10 hour drives.

We booked 2 nights in an upstairs double room in the Treetops building. Fingers crossed that the weather is clear so we can enjoy sunsets, views and some hiking while we decompress from all of our Disney resort excitement.


Not the Grand Floridian for sure but it's the view that we are interested in!


There are views from all of the balconies!


Hoping for clear skies so we can enjoy the view!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Okay, I just went to the Pisgah Inn website. The photos they have on their site - AMAZING! It looks like a beautiful place!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Your whole trip sounds great! Totally jealous of your plans.

I have to ask, whatt is See-ums?

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Your whole trip sounds great! Totally jealous of your plans.

I know, right?! I was thinking the same thing about OP's plans.

I have to ask, whatt is See-ums?

"No-see-ums" is a colloquial term for a type of flying biting midge/sand flea that lives in the sand at Vero Beach Resort (and other places). Their bites are SO itchy. They were worse than most mosquito bites for me. They reminded me of fire ant bites in that they seemed to itch more the more you scratched. I got SO MANY bites, even with repellent. I went to the doctor for something else after my trip and they were like what are these?! and prescribed medicated cream for me. It helped, somewhat.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

"No-see-ums" is a colloquial term for a type of flying biting midge/sand flea that lives in the sand at Vero Beach Resort (and other places)

Ahhh!! Got it now! That is sadly a deal breaker for my family. They are not big beach people. Andy and Morgan (my oldest) mostly. And the bugs would get them to NEVER go to another beach. Sigh... We went to Disney in May for Morgan's Actual birthday and the love bugs almost did them in!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Ahhh!! Got it now! That is sadly a deal breaker for my family. They are not big beach people. Andy and Morgan (my oldest) mostly. And the bugs would get them to NEVER go to another beach. Sigh... We went to Disney in May for Morgan's Actual birthday and the love bugs almost did them in!

I took a day trip to Cocoa Beach from Disney World one day in 2019. I did not get eaten alive. They appear to be worst at dawn and dusk, so I think that may have played a part.

Also, I got bit far worse than my friend, so I think they have a preference in who they bite, just like mosquitoes. I'm always getting bit.