A little bit of this and a little bit of that! VA Beach, Vero, WDW and Spirit of the Swamp Airboat ride June/July 2020 -**updated 7/8

Day 3... A day at Vero's Beach
We sunscreened and suited up...and headed to the STORE...Island Grove Packing Company for their 9 am opening. DD saw a bucket hat that she wanted for the beach on one of the many you tube videos we watched from the June 15 resort opening. DH wanted a hat for the beach too. We were successful in purchasing both hats plus a TShirt that I saw that I liked. $82 spent already and that was with our dvc discount.
Then we headed back to the room to drop off my shirt and grab our chairs and umbrellas that we brought with us. We were at the beach front row...just down a bit so that we could have our space. I just can't believe that we haven't been here before! We have been to wdw more things than I can count and this place is simply amazing!
The water was 80 degrees and more blue than I imagined it would be! The only thing missing was someone bringing me drinks on the beach like at Castaway Cay!😂

Everyone seemed to be giving everyone their own space and I felt very safe...except for that one family who let their kids run all over yelling and screaming. The whole family actually was not social distancing and they made me feel uncomfortable. It was about 3:45 and we just decided to pack up and come back to our room for showers,
Obviously, we simply could have packed our things and moved down the beach a bit but we were ready after 6 hours at the beach. However... That one family was our deciding factor. Grrrr.
We have a 6:30 pm ressie at Wind and Waves tonight and I can't wait to eat! Haha
Gotta go get my refillable mug filled up to get my $20 worth!
It won't let me add pictures now...I'll try again after dinner!
 
Good morning! Looking forward to your report of Vero Beach! We loved our stays there!. We really enjoyed renting bikes and riding the Jungle Trail, and the pool and beach and the Green Cabin room! Hope you had a blast!
Thanks so much for your info! This is our first time here and we are here now for the next 3 nights so any info you have I can use!!
 
Wow, love your reports. Please keep them coming I have an upcoming reservation for July 20-26 which I was lucky to secure about a week ago.
 


Day 3... Finishing up our night!
Just before we walked out the door or phone rang. It wad the front desk. They noticed that we had 2 nights in another category room and offered to keep us in the studio room we are in. While on the phone I asked my family and we all agreed that we would like to switch to our Inn room ( standard view) because of the two real beds vs a roll out. I am sure I disappointed someone else who was hoping to keep their room vs switching but we just really want to try out the inn rooms despite the pain of packing up, being homeless all day and cleaning a new room. When I think about it now maybe I just should have said yes...but this studio room is super small and I just want to stay in the inn!
We left the room to go full up our mug and decided to grab some drinks at Wind and Waves bar. We sat at one of the seating areas their and enjoyed our drinks mask free. There were only 2 others there doing the same. We normally could have for 8-9 people in the area where we say but instead it was just us.
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The music was playing by the pool and it felt so normal! So normal...that we had a second round! My favorite was their 4th of July blueberry drink... It was a raspberry puree, pina coloda mix and blueberry vodka. It was wonderful!
We had a dinner reservations at 6:30 at Wind and Waves and just decided to walk around the resort as we only had about 10 minutes. DS was itching for a have of mini golf but I didn't think 10 minutes was enough time so we promised him that we woukd after dinner but before the movie on the green at 8:30 pm...tonight was Newsies and we have never seen it!
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We arrived at Wind and Waves with about 3 minutes to skate and were seated right away in the sunroom area. They really were keeping their promise of distancing and we felt very comfortable in the restaurant. Be sure to make a reservation ( I did on Open Table) because they were turning people without a reservation away.
DS had the burger, I had the shrimp and grits, DD jag the taco Flatbread which was a special for the day and DS... Who eats next to nothing ordered the kids Mac and cheese. We all loved our meals... Especially me! I mean I can tell you that the shrimp and grits had a bit of spice to it and was very flavorful! I woukd consider getting it again tomorrow night! That's how much I loved it! DS ordered the kids sugar for dessert but the rest of us were all stuffed so we decided that we woukd just enjoy since microwave popcorn at the movie .
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Of course as if that were a cue... The skies darkened...the winds picked up and thunder clattered. We decided that we would just go back over to the store and pick up a DVD ( free for dvc members) and head back to the room.
Once we walked into the store at looked over the lists and saw that they had Newsies...the movie that should have played on the lawn...it started absolutely downpouring and the rain was coming in sideways. Of course we have a studio room for these 2 nights so we bag to wait for a lull in the rain and make a run for it!
It wad 7:45 and we all changed into our pj's, cuddled in the one big bed and settled down for a Disney Musical! It was a fantastic finish to a fantastic day!
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What an awesome day!!! At least it rained during the night and you were all able to enjoy you beach day. Curious how is the pool and the pool deck area? Are people social distancing? Thanks for your Wind and Waves review. Those shrimp and grits look delicious. We will definitely make reservation.
 


What an awesome day!!! At least it rained during the night and you were all able to enjoy you beach day. Curious how is the pool and the pool deck area? Are people social distancing? Thanks for your Wind and Waves review. Those shrimp and grits look delicious. We will definitely make reservation.
We just went to the pool this afternoon for the first time. It is most crowded between 10 and 4. If you want to spend the day I would suggest going at 8 am when they open and ask for a table under an umbrella. You can grab lunch right at the market or wind and waves bar and make a day of it.
The chairs are all set apart and you can't move them. As you cone to the pool deck they ask if you want a table or chairs and then sign you to them. When you leave they ask that you simply put the chair up chair the table or to flip the lounger so they can sanitize them. I watched them spray then down and I must say they every inch of the chairs and table. That made me feel good
Somethings you have to ask kids to move away in the pool. I know it is hard for done of them to understand but it is a good conversation to have with your kids if you aren't going to be with them.
My son also came off of the slide telling us that other kids weren't standing on the "stand here" markers while in line.
Overall, I would say people are social distancing. It's just the occasional family that doesn't feel the rule applies to them.
Overall at the resort their are many who do not where their masks or wear them under their noses. I see many walking to the beach or to the pool ( where they are not required) without their masks on our holding them in their hands.
Obviously, Disneys rule is to keep your mask on all public areas ( except while eating, at the pool and on the beach) and people should respect that.
 
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Day 4...breakfast, room switch, mini golf, beach and pool
I Havertown slept well for the past few nights but last night I slept like a baby! We algebra the last 2 nights in a studio room that was small and cramped. When we decided not to go to Hilton Head I lucked out and was able to add on 2 nights to our stay in the studio.
The shake off the room was weird abs the airflow was not good. DH and I were hot sleeping on our side of the room and the kids were freezing on their room out. Last night I switched with my son and slept great with the cool air!
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The room or is to the left in this picture. Like I said this room was a weird shape.

DH abs I were up by 6:30 am and walked out to the Boardwalk area to stare at the ocean until we could go get our morning coffee at 7 am. It was still just as beautiful as it was yesterday. But those no-see-ums were killing me this morning!
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At 7 we got our coffee and headed up to the outside deck of the Green Cabin Room for the ocean view while enjoying our cup of morning caffeine. It was just the two of us there and it was so beautiful to just sit and listen to the waves pounding on the shoreline.
We had a 8 am breakfast reservation today at Wind and Waves so we needed to get back to the studio and wake the kids to get ready. I opened my email while they were getting ready and there it was... Or room was ready! This was a game changer. We planned to pack up and load everything but the beach stuff into our car at 11 am and then head down to the beach. But now we could just swap all of our belongings directly to the inn room. Yeah!!!!
We headed off to breakfast all happy our new room would be welcoming us when we were finished eating. DS and I both said we were excited for Mickey Waffles. But neither of us ended up getting them.
DH and I had omelets, DS had a kids meal with scrambled eggs and DD had the chicken and biscuit sliders. Everything was fantastic...the service, the distance between tabkes and the food. I was super jealous of her chicken sliders!
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We have another breakfast reservation on Friday... I think I want her sliders...or that mickey waffle!!!
After breakfast we played a game of mini golf. Our son loves mini golf...or any have honestly...but he begs to play mini golf all the time! It was brutally hot, hot, HOT!
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We are so glad we switched to this room! It is so much bigger and had the 2 real beds plus Ahhhh...the air works so well! Of course, the cleaning started but with 4 of us now cleaning for the third time it seemed to go lots faster!
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By 11:30 we were at the beach where we hung out in the water just bobbing along for the next 4 hours. High tide is around 3 pm and the ocean really starts to get rough where DS can stand. Today 2 big waves cane in and rocked the kids and DH! Like it really really rocked their world!
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We stayed a bit just to dry off, took our beach stuff back to the room and headed to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The cat member leaf is to our loungers and wet hopped in...it was so refreshing! The kids and I did the slide a few times and before we knew it was time to head back to the room for showers and getting ready for our 6:30 wind and waves reservation!
It's storming like crazy right now...so I can't go get my blueberry drink to enjoy before dinner but at least we are now at the INN and we don't have to run through the rain to get to the restaurant!

Just look at that beautiful resort! We absolutely love it here!
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your review of vero makes me even more excited for our stay this weekend. We added fri night a few days ago and it was an Ocean View inn room and luckily today a standard came thru so hopefully they will let us stay in the same room. I am glad we now got the inn room instead of studio.
 
your review of vero makes me even more excited for our stay this weekend. We added fri night a few days ago and it was an Ocean View inn room and luckily today a standard came thru so hopefully they will let us stay in the same room. I am glad we now got the inn room instead of studio.
I would book an inn room always over the studio room. Maybe our studio was just an odd one? But it was 1/2 the size of our current inn room. And honestly...though we could see the ocean from our studio balcony I would rather have the extra space and a view of the parking lot!
 
We just went to the pool this afternoon for the first time. It is most crowded between 10 and 4. If you want to spend the day I would suggest going at 8 am when they open and ask for a table under an umbrella. You can grab lunch right at the market or wind and waves bar and make a day of it.
The chairs are all set apart and you can't move them. As you cone to the pool deck they ask if you want a table or chairs and then sign you to them. When you leave they ask that you simply put the chair up chair the table or to flip the lounger so they can sanitize them. I watched them spray then down and I must say they every inch of the chairs and table. That made me feel good
Somethings you have to ask kids to move away in the pool. I know it is hard for done of them to understand but it is a good conversation to have with your kids if you aren't going to be with them.
My son also came off of the slide telling us that other kids weren't standing on the "stand here" markers while in line.
Overall, I would say people are social distancing. It's just the occasional family that doesn't feel the rule applies to them.
Overall at the resort their are many who do not where their masks or wear them under their noses. I see many walking to the beach or to the pool ( where they are not required) without their masks on our holding them in their hands.
Obviously, Disneys rule is to eat your mask on all public areas ( except while eating, at the pool and on the beach) and people should respect that.
 
7/1 dinner time!
We just got back from our Wind and Waves reservation. Definitely make a ressie on open table...you might be able to call now too but you couldn't when I booked for our stay...because they were turning people away without a ressie.
We started with some drinks at the restaurant since we didn't get our before dinner drinks at the outside bar. The Green Cabin Room isn't open since bars had to close in Florida so there isn't an indoor option. I had a Relax on the Beach..it was OK. Tasted more like juice than an alcoholic drink though. DH had the Kentucky Mule. He said he really liked it.
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I didn't get the shrimp and grits like I planned but only because the Flatbread looked like something I was interested in tonight. So ended up getting the lettuce wedge and the summer Flatbread. It had chicken, squash, cherry tomatoes and red peppers. It was very good... But didn't beat my shrimp and grits!
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Both kids also got a pizza. We found out tonight that you can also just get a cheese or pepperoni pizza anytime.
DH got the catch of the day. It was a mild white fish wrapped in bacon served with dumplings and creamed spinach. He enjoyed it...i tried it but still woukd pick the shrimp and grits!!
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It's still raining outside so no movie on the lawn again. We decided to head over to the market for a Mickey ice cream sandwich, a dole whip and a bread pudding. We took it all back to the room, made a lot of decaf Ave are currently devouring it all!
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This bread pudding is enough for 2 or 3 to share! My picture is only 1/2 of it. It is very sweet but definitely delicious!
Tomorrow is our last full day here at Vero and for the first time in my life I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to going to WDW! I want to stay here!
 
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7/2...our last full day at Disney's Vero Beach Resort
DH abs I got up late today and didn't step outside of the Inn until 6:55 am. First up...caffeine! We filled up out mug with some French roast and then took a nice long walk on the beach. We saw about 5 or 6 fresh sea turtle tracks on the beach.
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It was going to be another beautiful but hot day!
We headed back to the room and woke up the kids. I just had to watch the Disney Nature channel some more and we made bagels and cream cheese for breakfast.
The kids were slow moving today but we lotioned up and made it into the beach by 9:30. We like to set up below all of the resort umbrellas and chairs so that we have our own space. It is almost like we have our own piece of the beach... And ocean!
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We spent 5 hours on the beach today and DH and DD spent about 4 hours and 45 minutes of that time in the ocean! DS STILL loves to play in the sand so I spent time in my chair reading. While out in the water early we saw a sea turtle pop up out of the water! Yeah... I finally got to see my turtle! I forget to say that on Tuesday we saw an eagle ray literally fly out of the water! It was a stunning sight!
DS made me a foot bath and I floated around in the water... and it was wonderful!
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We planned to go back to the room at 2:30 so we could take the beach stuff back to the room and cross over the Peter Pan tunnel and go explore across the street before having some pool time. It was right about 2:30 when the dark clouds moved in and we watched it rain out in the ocean. We decided it was time to head back and go exploring. After dropping off our beach stuff in the room the sky was still dark and we decided not to venture out to far so we headed right to the pool and we're lead to our 4 chairs. We were only in the pool about 10 minutes before it started down pouring but it felt good and well... We were already wet! But not long after thunder rolled in and the pool was closed. Is say we only spent about 25-30 minutes at the pool today but the kids were happy.
We left the pool, grabbed a refill and headed up to the outside area of the Green Cabin Room. We watched the storm roll in from nearly all directions. We were surrounded! The thunder thinkers and the lightening spiked towards the ocean. The music played and I truly could have closed my eyes and imagined that we were on our balcony of a Disney Cruise! Have I mentioned how much I love this resort?
We headed back to the room to shower and change. It was early and we had extra time to watch some TV and scour fb. I saw some covid19 numbers and it really got me thinking about our stay in Savannah next week. Then it off the blue my phone rang and it was one of the savannah restaurants calling to cancel our ressie because they were closing again to sanitize. WOW! THAT was some odd timing! Right?
We headed down to Wind and Waves for our 6:30 ressie and it wad much more crowded tonight. DH ordered the fish and chips ( there was more than pictured but I forgot a picture) and said he couldn't believe that he didn't get them earlier! DS went back to his Mac and cheese and it was huge tonight! DD got the burger tonight and couldn't finish it! And I ordered my two favorite... The lettuce wedge and the shrimp and grits! Yummo!
For dessert we ordered 2 of the Turtle sundaes to share. I haven't tried any other dessert in that restaurant but I can highly recommend that sundae! It was excellent! Lick the side of sundae cup delicious!
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We were going to go grab our blanket and watch the movie on the lawn tiburon but then we thought about sitting outside for 1 abs 1/2 masked up while watching the movie and decided to just debt a movie... We got Zootopia, made some decaf and are currently watching the movie in the comfort of our own room!
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It truly was a magical day! I can't believe we have to leave tomorrow. I don't want to go!!
 

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7/3.... Disney’s Vero Beach check out day
DH And I woke up early this morning and went to the outside area of the Green Cabin room to watch the sunrise. I loved hanging out with just DH . We spend all of our time together as a family. Really, we are rarely without our kids and we cherish our alone time together.
i just can’t get enough of this sunrise!
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At 7 am we went to get our morning coffee and headed back to the room to wake up the kids. This was our last morning here and we were going to make the most of it! By 8 am we were the crazies standing in line for the pool. We didn’t care where we were because we knew we only had an hour and a half before heading back to the room for showers and to pack up.
We were honestly the first ones in the pool... actually I was the first one in the pool as the rest of the family headed to the slide! DS said he was going to ride it 18 times! HeDid ride it a lot but I don’t think he made his goal! I do love the slide too... and you can’t beat that view from the top of the slide! I didn’t take any pics while we were at the pool but someone posted one online this morning and we are the ones in the pool!
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At 9 am we walked over to pick up some mini golf clubs and played a round! Definitely, play early because it was so much nicer than when we played later in the morning earlier this week! Then we jumped into the pool to cool off and DS did a few extra slide runs before we headed back to our room at 9:40 for showers and to pack up! We took everything to our car and then went back to Wind and Waved for the last time for an late breakfast. They were rubbing a bit behind and we waited about 20 minutes but while we waited I just enjoyed the view out to the ocean. It just never gets old! The only problem was that their were 2 families waiting who let their kids run back and forth, back and forth, down the hallway and then back for 20 minutes straight. OMG!
One we were seated all that went away and my biggest problem was what to order! Pixie dust was sprinkled upon us as a bread basket including warm cinnamon roll was delivered to our table. They wanted to apologize for our long wait. The pastries were simply delicious ( we even boxed up the blueberry muffin). I finally ordered the breakfast burrito, DH and DD got the chicken biscuits and DS got the Mickey waffles!
It was the perfect end to our Vero Beach stay!
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We hot up the bathrooms... filled up our mug and bought a chocolate Whoopi pie before we headed out! And just like that our Vero trip was done and we were already thinking about when we can come back!
Off to Saratoga’s Springs we headed!
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Thank you for your Vero Beach review..Enjoy your time in Saratoga Springs. Let us know how that portion of your trip goes. We happened to have gone to Universal about 2 weeks ago and went to Disney Springs for dinner two times. One night we ate at Terralina‘s and the other night at Morimoto’s both restaurants had limited menus. We originally had our week stay in AKL but changed it to Vero Beach a couple weeks ago. You have a beautiful family have a great time..
 
Thank you for your Vero Beach review..Enjoy your time in Saratoga Springs. Let us know how that portion of your trip goes. We happened to have gone to Universal about 2 weeks ago and went to Disney Springs for dinner two times. One night we ate at Terralina‘s and the other night at Morimoto’s both restaurants had limited menus. We originally had our week stay in AKL but changed it to Vero Beach a couple weeks ago. You have a beautiful family have a great time..
Awww... thank you so much! We have ac reservation at Terralina later this week. Another restaurant we have never been to so I am hoping even with a limited menu we will enjoy it!
We just absolutely loved Vero Beach!
 
July 3... we are at WDW!
The drive only took about about an hour and 35 minutes despite leaving in a downpour. I checked my email and saw that our room was ready at Saratoga Springs . I had made 2 requests... Congress Park and Close to walking Path. Our room is in Congress Park and we are in building #1 so both of my requests were met! I was also hoping for a great view of Disney Springs... fingers crossed! We checked in at the booth while entering the resort but still had to send one masked person in to get our magic bands since that system was down the week or so before our trip and I could order any.
DH came back out with a resort map and Our 4 great magic bands. I never had great before but I must admit that they blend in on my wrist and match my clothes😉
We pulled in front of our building and carried all of our luggage to the elevator, popped out on the 3rd floor and found out room! I opened the door and my eyes bulge for a second or two. In front of me was a flyer table and dining table! We had been had to a 1 bedroom from our studio! I just really wanted a We room but this was a magical surprise ! These new rooms are stunning!
It was a lot of room to clean but with DD's help I was able to get it all done quickly.
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I do have to remember to start taking pictures horizontally!
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And it's a beautiful view!
We just hung out and relaxed in our room awhile, and then decided to change our vacation around again!
We feel safe at Disney so we decided to cancel our two nights in Savannah. The deciding factor wad the restaurant that called us to let us know they would be closing again during our stay. To us... That says stay away right now.
So we added on a night at Kidani in a studio and decided that we would get a good sleep that night and wake up and leave very early on that Wednesday morning and try to drive 16 hours all the way home!
I also made a new reservation for Sanaa!

It was pouring outside so we facetimed both of our parents and told them about our new plans and have them a room tour. By 4:30 the rain spec and we easily walked over for our reservation at Paddlefish. It was very nice inside and I'm glad that our editor was excellent because it made me forget about the 3 girls greeting everyone who obviously didn't want to be there.
DH and I each ordered a beer and we added on the crab fries add an appetizer for our family. They were yummy!
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I forgot to Mentone that when we were seated we were given those little brown bags in the photo to put our masks in... I really liked that idea and took mine to keep in my bag.
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DH ordered the crab blt,I had the fish tacos (I highly recommend, DD had the clan chowder and 1/2 achicken Caesar wrap and DS couldn't wait to get his hands on the kids pasta with chicken! All of our meals were very good. We couldn't eat dessert because we had a reservation at Beaches and Cream for ice cream in a few hours!
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We walked to the Vera Bradley store to get done new face masks ( a little big for my 14 year old daughter but they work great with an adjustable ear saver) and we went to the Levi store where DS was looking for something special but couldn't find it. So we headed back to the room for just a bit and then billed into the car and headed to Beach Club.
Our then was at 8 but they were running behind and we got in around 8:30. It was worth the wait for my No way Jose! I didn't take photos of the other sundae we ordered because I only cared about my favorite one obviously!
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We walked over to Boardwalk to work of some of our food that we are today and it was just as beautiful as ever... Just very quiet!
It was quite a great day yet again! Disney does it right!
 
That was great that you were upgraded to a one bedroom and a renovated one too. We had stayed there in December also in a one bedroom. I find that the studios are tight for 3 adults. If you guys go back to Disney Springs stop by Sprinkles cupcakes it’s one of our favorite. Our favorite is the Salted Caramel. When we went a couple of weeks ago they had the actual bakery closed and were only taking preorders made online for pickup. Other favorite restaurants are Frontera and Jaleo. Many years ago we also went horseback riding at Tri Circle D Ranch in Fort Wilderness not sure if it’s currently opened at this time. I think it was a smart move to cancel Savannah at this time and I totally agree that I feel Disney will make every effort to keep there guests safe. I am not sure if you have the time if they have the availability and it’s expensive is going to Discovery Cove for the day. It’s a like a private oasis we’ve gone several times. My girls swam with the dolphins at the time but don’t think they are currently offering an actual swim more of an interaction experience. But even without the dolphin swim it’s a great day its all inclusive
To get your money worth go early in the morning and start off your day with breakfast ....
 
Thank you for sharing this awesome TR! I have really been enjoying following along. Vero looks amazing!! :)
 

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