Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

DSCF8318Have you ever visited Disney’s Vero Beach Resort?

This week on the blog I tried to help you extend your summer vacation a little bit longer, by showing you creative ideas to remember your summer beach vacation with a touch of Disney.  Today I’d like to close the week by telling you about a beautiful pearl of a Disney vacation resort, that is sandwiched between fields of orange groves and the foaming blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  Sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?  Well, it truly is.

The Walt Disney Resort is my family’s favorite place to vacation.  So much so, that we call it our home away from home.  For how much fun it is to vacation at Disney, it’s also equally exhausting.  Adding a couple of days before or after our WDW vacation is a relaxing treat. The resort sincerely exemplifies all that I love about The Walt Disney Resort.  The cast members are some of the most “Disney” people I have met.  The resort’s cleanliness is exceptional and the beauty of the resort is breathtaking.  There are even Hidden Mickeys you can find!  The difference is Vero Beach is quiet.  Unless you are visiting in the summer months, it’s possible that there will be times that your family may only be sharing the beach or pool with a few other people.  These photos were taken in the month of April.  As you can see, we were the only one’s on the beach!  One of the best features of the resort is it’s literally right on the beach.

IMG_0139

Your trip can be as relaxing as you’d like, or full of adventure with fun family activities that are organized and run by the resort’s cast members.  Here are some of the resort’s amenities that your family can use during your stay.

  • Soccer fields
  • Tennis courts
  • Port Holes miniature golf course
  • Bocce ball court
  • Playground
  • Arcade
  • Campfire pit
  • Horseshoe pit

The Tiger Lily Wet Play Area was my son’s favorite place to play.  I think it had something to do with the water canons!

Disney Easter Disney Birthday 252Disney Easter Disney Birthday 251

 

 

 

 

 

The accommodations at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort can sleep parties as large as 12 in their beach cottages.  The smallest rooms are referred to as Studios and there are two different types, an “Inn” or a “Villa” room.  Although the “Villa” room is an additional 15 square feet, we prefer to stay in the “Inn” rooms, otherwise known as in the Main Building.  It’s nice to be close to the store, restaurants and guest services.  Since the resort is part of the Disney Vacation Club family of resorts, each room offers at kitchenette or a full size kitchen and a bunch of other features.  You don’t have to be a DVC member to stay at this resort.  Check out the link below to Disney’s site to learn more about the resort’s accommodation offerings.

http://www.disneybeachresorts.com/vero-beach-resort/accommodations

Vero Beach view from balconyHere is the view from an “Inn” room.  The buildings in the photo are the three bedroom cottages.

There are four different types of dining offerings at the resort and they are all delicious!  They even offer a character dining experience on Saturday mornings, Goofy’s Beachfront Breakfast.

IMG_0146  If you’re one for dining in, of course they offer in-room dining, complete with Mickey shaped butter!

If you’ve ever visited Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, what’s your favorite thing to do there?

Finding Nemo’s Peach Starfish Cookies

Sept. 2012-May 2013 296When You Wish Upon a Star

Ok, so that’s a different movie.  All kidding aside, from Magic Wand toppers to Peter Pan’s 2nd Star to the Right, there are so many ways to use a star-shaped cookie cutter to make fun Disney Inspired food creations.  This week on the blog I’m keeping our Summer fun around a little bit longer, by showcasing how to bring our memories of the Beach to our homes, Disney Inspired of course.

Today I’m showing you a super easy tutorial on how to bring a touch of the Disney Ocean to your kids’ dessert plates  Below is the tutorial on how to make a cookie of our Nemo Friend, Peach the starfish.

 IMG_2172Supplies: sugar cookies mix, star cookie cutter, Wilton candy eyes, black icing, Wilton Sprinkles~ pink sugar pearls, and pink icing.  I’ve included the photo of the Wilton products that I used for this cookie project.  The sprinkles are fantastic!  They’re worth the money.  The cookie icing is not my favorite product to work with but used it for convenience.  I purchased this product for a quick royal icing result.  The icing was really runny and hard to work with at first.  I had to mix the icing outside of the bottle and then use a funnel to get it back into the container.

IMG_2160Before you start icing your sugar cookies, make they’ve cooled.

If you choose to use the icing that I used, begin by outlining the star with your icing. Don’t start too close to the edge.  The icing will spread and will go right off the side of the cookie if you’ve gotten too close.

 

IMG_2157Fill the inside of the cookie by adding a little bit of icing at a time.  If you shake the cookie as you’re doing this you’ll see the icing spread easier and it will take out the air bubbles.

EyesIMG_2159

While the cookie icing is still liquid, add your eyes and the pearls. Then leave your cookie icing harden for about an hour.  Add the star fish’s mouth after the cookie icing has solidified.

Make a wish on your Peach Starfish before your first bite!

Remembering A Special Beach Vacation In My Disney Baby’s Nursery

DSC_2194One of the Most Magical Moments in a Woman’s Life is Finding Out She’s going to Be a Mom.

As the summer days become shorter, I’ve been reflecting on magical summer vacation moments.  If you’re like me, you treasure those moments and hold them close to your heart.  How do you and your family preserve those special moments?  Do you collect sea shells?  Make a scrap-book?  Buy a special T-shirt?  Have you ever thought about theming a room in your house?  That’s what my husband, Gary and I did, with some help from my father.

Seven years ago, Gary and I had a very special beach vacation that we’ll never forget.  We were staying at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort when we found out that I was pregnant with our first child.  When it came time to decide on the theme of the baby’s nursery, I knew it had to be a water theme with a touch of Disney to pay tribute to that special day.  I found the perfect unisex nursery concept aboard Disney’s Cruise Line.  Their nursery is called Flounder’s Reef Nursery.  I printed out some photos of the murals that I found on-line and went to work on Gavin’s nursery.

Here is a break down on how we created the mural in his room.  Please excuse the quality of the next few photos, as you can see, they were taken six and a half years ago with a point and shoot camera.

img008If you look close, you can see where I began the project by drawing the underwater scene on the wall. Then I used tracing paper to transfer the fish images onto a piece of wood.

Fish Parts

My Dad cut the fish out of the wood and adhered the fins of the fish at different angles to make the mural come to life.

img005I painted each wooden fish and we hung them on the painted “Ocean” wall.  After they were all hung, I added some bubbles and friendly starfish.

The twins Sea TurtleDSC_2190

My dad added some lighting to create a cool effect where it looks like the sun shining through the water.  Here’s what it looks like in the evening.

photo (37)

The finished nursery was a hit with my now, six-year-old fish in water!  I offered to change out his fish and convert the wall to a pirate or plane scene.  I was surprised to hear him say, “No Mommy, I like my fish”.  Not only has he enjoyed his room, but I love the reminder of our special beach vacation.

Have you ever themed a room after your favorite vacation spot?  Could that possibly be called your Disney Room?

A peek into Disney Vacation Club’s newest resort, The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

DVC 1Disney Vacation Club’s Newest Resort is Almost Done!

As some of you may already know, at one time my husband and I worked for Disney Vacation Club and we are also very happy Disney Vacation Club “Members”.  We own points at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and also own points at our favorite place to stay, Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.  On August 8th, DVC members were offered a special on-line “First Glimpse” to see “Behind the Grand Design” with Samantha Brown.  After viewing the video, now I want stay there too!  It’s simply stunning.  I’m not going review the resort at this time, as I haven’t stayed there yet, but I do want to tell you about a couple things that really stood out during their presentation.

The Disney character touches found throughout the resort feature Dumbo or Mary Poppins.

Mary Poppins fountain

Located in the Grand Atrium Lobby of The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, you’ll find this Mary Poppins’ Penguin Fountain.  I can’t wait to see it in person!  I found this image on WDW News Today.  They have a few other images you could see of the fountain. This link will take you to their site to view the other photos.

http://wdwnt.com/mary-poppins-penguin-fountain-to-grace-the-villas-at-the-grand-floridian/

The sleeping arrangements are a bit unique in this DVC resort.  They sleep an additional person!  There is a pull down bunk size bed in a studio, so it sleeps five and the 2 bedroom sleeps 9 people.  Check out Disney’s website to see their floor plans.

http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/destinations/resorts/grand-floridian-villas/

The Villa’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa are scheduled to open October 2013.  Here are some additional photos of the current state of it’s construction.  My friend, Jodi Diamond, took these photos a few days ago and she so kindly said that I could share them with you!

DVC 2 DVC 3

 

 

Mouse Ears Mom’s First Giveaway- Mickey Mouse Icon Craft Punch

       Teachers Gift Idea  Mickey AmericanaMouse Ears Mom 012

I’m so excited to give one of you my FAVORITE craft punch!  Of course, it’s a Mickey Mouse Icon Punch!

From the 4th of July flag garland, to the summer watermelon place mat, to yesterday’s post tutorial on how to make Mickey Mouse pocket-sized flash cards,  I’m certain its obvious to all of you that this crafting tool gets a lot of use in my house.

mickey punchThis is a photo of what you will receive in the mail, if you’re the lucky winner!  To enter this giveaway, please click on the link below that says “a Rafflecopter giveaway” .  If you’re not familiar with Rafflecopter giveaways, don’t be scared, it’s relatively easy to enter.  There are a series of ways to enter to win, such as liking Mouse Ears Mom’s Facebook page, following on Pinterest, commenting on a post and more.  With each thing you do, you’ll be adding up your entries.  The contest is open to all United States residents and you must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  It will run for one week and I’ll email the winner within 48 hours of it’s completion.  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Don’t forget to share this contest with your friends on Facebook!