HH - Assigning Rooms - HA

[WolfpackFan]

Posting this live from HHI. We arrived around 2:30. Checkin was very slow - probably because I was being too picky. I wanted a studio in the main lodge with a water view that was non-handicap. As you all know there are not many studios. So it came down to a choice between a non-HA studio with a view of a tree or an HA studio with a water view. I went with the non-HA studio. The interesting thing though is what the CM told me. He said we were initially assigned the HA studio because they do that when there are only two people checking in, especially when the resort is close to full. I had no idea they did this. But it does explain why we seem to get so many HA rooms. I've learned to ask at checkin to make sure we can get a non-HA room. Has anyone else heard this?

The CM said it has rained a lot over the last three days. In fact as we were checking in, one family was checking out early because they said they were tired of the rain. When you walk around, it looks like flooding all over the place. Like others, I was kind of surprised (though I shouldn't have been since we've been here before) at how early the food service places close. Tide-Me-Over closes at 5:00 while the place at the Beach House at 4:00. Also, the bar at the pool was closed though the sign said it was supposed to be opened until 6:00.

Anyway, enough fault finding. We're here and have already been out on the beach. Plan to eat dinner tonight probably at Oyster Factory. If anyone has any questions while I'm down here, I'll be glad to answer them.

One good thing about our tree view room is we're right over the place where the wireless router is located, so I'm able to get a signal (albeit very weak) in our room.

[LVSWL]

I will be keeping an eye on your thread. We are heading down in a week. Bummer about the rain! Last thing I want to hear! I wonder if in a week the resort will still be as crowded with the holiday weekend behind it. Keep us posted on how your week goes.:)

[tjkraz]

The interesting thing though is what the CM told me. He said we were initially assigned the HA studio because they do that when there are only two people checking in, especially when the resort is close to full. I had no idea they did this. But it does explain why we seem to get so many HA rooms. I've learned to ask at checkin to make sure we can get a non-HA room. Has anyone else heard this?


I haven't heard it but I will say that the only time I stayed in a Studio where there were just 2 of us, we were assigned to a HA room.

Sounds like a good reason for those parties of 2 to start adding another name to their reservation. ;)

[Connears]

We just returned from our 8th trip to HHI on 8/16. We have never had to wait at check-in except maybe one person before us. We have always had our room ready and the latest we have arrived is 2pm. We may have these wonderful check-ins because all we have asked for has been non-smoking(we always have 1 or 2 bedroom). I don't know if its something they track, but we have had villas in the same builing area (29, 30) often and we have told them we loved it when we were assigned. I would think your check-in issues relate to the multiple requests that you made. I think this resort is very efficient and I have never had a problem. I also don't think the weather should be reflected in the resort review..you really can't blame Disney. My weather is august was superb...80's low humididty, sunny and fantastic.
Connears

[fishermouse]

Weather channel says HH had 6" of rain on Sat. I grew up in NJ on an island and 6" is a lot of water when your roads are at or sometimes below sea level, Hope everything dries out and you have a great trip.

[WolfpackFan]

I also don't think the weather should be reflected in the resort review..you really can't blame Disney.

Wow, did you take my comments wrong. I love the HHI resort. I was just making a comment that I didn't get the room I wanted and admitted it was my fault because I was being too picky. I know there are not many studios and the resort is full, so I shouldn't expect to get everything I wanted. I was just commenting I felt it interesting that the CM told me that they typically assign HA rooms to groups of two as a standard procedure when the resort is full. As far as the weather, of course I know it wasn't Disney's fault. Why would I blame Disney for it raining. Don't get me wrong - my comments (it wasn't a review) were not meant to be negative as much as an observation.

Moving on - we just got back from eating at the Old Oyster Factory. We had eaten there a couple of years ago and really were not that impressed. But we returned and found the food to be excellent this time. I had the crab cakes which were delicious and DW had the steamed shrimp which were very good also.

We then just walked around the marina. Has anyone ever eaten at the Little Italy restaurant? They had a large crowd it looked like. Is it a fancy place? The folks looked a little more dressed up than at other places we've been to.

Tomorrow we plan to hit the beach.

[WolfpackFan]

A quick update for what we've been doing for anyone that might be interested. Yesterday we spent most of the day out on the beach. You need to understand, this is not something I'm wild about doing, but DW loves it. She could bake out in the sun all day long. But for some reason I really enjoyed it this time. I think the difference was we had a real nice breeze and I had an umbrella over me (I have skin cancer issues) so I wasn't that hot. It was really nice just sitting there and watching the ocean and reading. We did lunch at the Beach House. Food was okay, nothing to get excited about. One suggestion - the chicken finger selection is huge. Two people could easily share it.

Last night we ate at San Miguels at Shelter Cover. Food was very good IMO. Then we rode out to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream.

This morning we drove over to Beaufort. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice little place with neat shops and restaurants. It was definitely worth the trip over. We then came back and paid the $5 to get into Sea Pines. Wandered around Harbour Town some. Then back to our room and had leftovers from last night for lunch. Then spent some time at Big Dipper pool. For supper tonight plan to go to South Beach to Salty Dog.

One thing DW and I keep discussing, is whether or not the HH studio is larger than studios at other resorts. It seems much larger than the one's we've stayed at, at VWL and BWV. We could be wrong though. I know we have plenty of room for just the two of us. Other than the view, the unit itself is excellent. One thing - does anyone know if studios at other resorts have coffee tables? I thought I remembered they did, but we don't have one here.

One final thing, you can tell a huge difference from Monday to today as far as people. I think a bunch of people must have checked out on Monday. Today the resort is very quite.

Anyway, so much for today from HH. Tommorrow morning we're doing the kayaking thing. That should be fun. DW just talked to DD27 over the phone and she said look out for snakes. Not sure what she meant by that, but I'm not sure I liked the sound of it :confused3.

[lsutigger2]

Thanks for the 'live' reports! :cool1: :cool1: For those of us who are at home and having to work everyday, it sure makes it a little easier. Thinking about being at HH. I can see all the places that you've described (that I've been) AHHHHHHH! so quiet and peaceful!

Restaurant suggestions: Sticky Fingers and/or Red Fish. Dh and I love'em both :love:

Have a great time and keep sending the reports.

[njmeisje]

Are all the HA rooms located in the main lodge? If we want a 2BR, will we be sure to avoid the HA rooms, as long as we are not in the lodge?

Thanks

[WolfpackFan]

I've run across HA rooms in the Lodge as well as the building that is connected to it. I'm not sure about in other buildings.

[LVSWL]

Sounds wonderful. I am packing a little each day to leave on Sunday. How long did it take to get to Beaufort?

[canda]

The op was not being neg. He is just letting out his frustrations from how his Wolfpack played on Sat. :rolleyes1

[WolfpackFan]

The op was not being neg. He is just letting out his frustrations from how his Wolfpack played on Sat. :rolleyes1

Haha. Yep. I can't believe Tony Baker got injured in the first game of the year and we're already moving quarterbacks around. It's going to be a long year I'm afraid.

[WolfpackFan]

A quick Thursday morning update. We had a great time yesterday morning with the kayaking. This was our first time doing it, but it really wasn't hard. We went a lot further out into the marsh than I was expecting. It was a full two hour trip. We saw a lot of birds but that was it as far as wild life went. We were hoping to see a Dolphin but I guess the tides were not right. Anyway it was a lot of fun and good exercise. In the afternoon, we just laid out on the beach. For dinner we at at Scotts. It was very good. I had the seafood platter and DW had crab cakes. We ended the night with a walk on the beach.

Then DD27 called and said she has decided to run in the WDW half-marathon in January and wants us to be there. So all of a sudden I'm scurrying around trying to see if we have enough points we could go down.

Today, we're off to Savannah. Hoping to eat lunch at Paula Deens.

[WolfpackFan]

The op was not being neg. He is just letting out his frustrations from how his Wolfpack played on Sat. :rolleyes1

Not long. Maybe 30-40 minutes. It was worth the trip over and it's an easy drive.

[LVSWL]

Thanks for the info on the time to Beaufort. We did the kayak trip a couple of years ago. We also saw a lot of birds, but did see one dolphin. It was really cool to see things from that perspective though. Hope you get in at Paula's. I am reading her book right now. It's a hoot! Love your posts! Lucky you get to go back to WDW so soon! We have to wait til summer!

[Doctor P]

A quick update for what we've been doing for anyone that might be interested. Yesterday we spent most of the day out on the beach. You need to understand, this is not something I'm wild about doing, but DW loves it. She could bake out in the sun all day long. But for some reason I really enjoyed it this time. I think the difference was we had a real nice breeze and I had an umbrella over me (I have skin cancer issues) so I wasn't that hot. It was really nice just sitting there and watching the ocean and reading. We did lunch at the Beach House. Food was okay, nothing to get excited about. One suggestion - the chicken finger selection is huge. Two people could easily share it.

Last night we ate at San Miguels at Shelter Cover. Food was very good IMO. Then we rode out to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream.

This morning we drove over to Beaufort. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice little place with neat shops and restaurants. It was definitely worth the trip over. We then came back and paid the $5 to get into Sea Pines. Wandered around Harbour Town some. Then back to our room and had leftovers from last night for lunch. Then spent some time at Big Dipper pool. For supper tonight plan to go to South Beach to Salty Dog.

One thing DW and I keep discussing, is whether or not the HH studio is larger than studios at other resorts. It seems much larger than the one's we've stayed at, at VWL and BWV. We could be wrong though. I know we have plenty of room for just the two of us. Other than the view, the unit itself is excellent. One thing - does anyone know if studios at other resorts have coffee tables? I thought I remembered they did, but we don't have one here.

One final thing, you can tell a huge difference from Monday to today as far as people. I think a bunch of people must have checked out on Monday. Today the resort is very quite.

Anyway, so much for today from HH. Tommorrow morning we're doing the kayaking thing. That should be fun. DW just talked to DD27 over the phone and she said look out for snakes. Not sure what she meant by that, but I'm not sure I liked the sound of it :confused3.

The studios at HH are substantially larger than those at the resorts at WDW. As I recall, the studios there are about 485 sq. ft. vs. about 300-400 sq. ft at the on-site resorts. In addition, the floor plan at HH is different which adds a little space, IMHO. Plus, the balconies on the studios are generally quite large at HH.

[WolfpackFan]

Well we're back from Savannah. Had a great lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant. We left HH around 7:45. We were parked and in line at the restaurant by 9:00. We were third in line but by the time they started taking lunch ressies at 9:30, there were perhaps 30 people or so in line. We got a reservation for 12:00. We than walked down to Bull St. so I could get a coffee from Starbucks. We then just wandered around for a few hours, looking at houses and then going thru the shops next to the river. The lunch was delicious. We went with the buffet and it was excellent food. After eating we went next door to the Paula Deen store and bought a cookbook. Then waddled back to the car and headed back to HH.

Got back to the resort and had a phone message that said a water main was broken and no water would be available at the resort for some period of time. DW is now upstairs watching soap operas while I'm down at Big Murggies catching up on the web. I think I just heard the person at the front desk say it might be as late as 9:00 tonight before we have water turned back on, but I could be wrong (I hope so).

Plan for rest of day is to head over to the beach around 4:00 and spend a few hours there. Since we had such a big lunch, we don't plan much for supper.

Oh one more think I wanted to add. One perk I've found for staying in the main lodge building is each morning that have free coffee available. I brought coffee to make in our room, but haven't had to use it any this week as I've been able to get coffee each morning down right across from the registration desk.

[fishermouse]

Haha. Yep. I can't believe Tony Baker got injured in the first game of the year and we're already moving quarterbacks around. It's going to be a long year I'm afraid.
Think you have problems :scared1: Try being an Eagles fan year-after year after:eek: all you Eagle fans know what I mean...Is this OFF TOPIC?:offtopic:

[GDUL]

Are all the HA rooms located in the main lodge? If we want a 2BR, will we be sure to avoid the HA rooms, as long as we are not in the lodge?

Thanks

Here's a map showing where the HA units are:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g303/GDuLong/CodedHHIMap-1.jpg

[EmyRose]

We are going there next spring.

Are there any activities we should book ahead of time? (We are not golfers.)

I seem to recall that DVC members aren't charged for local or toll free calls from a DVC resort, but I might be mistaken.

Are there phone charges at HH? If so, what are they?

[Mr.Monk]

Your update is making me sooooo homesick for our DVC home at HHI!:goodvibes

I'm definately going to request the main building from now on!

Thanks for your WWII link.

[WolfpackFan]

Well we're back home. And next June when we return, seems so far away. I forgot where I left off, so I thought maybe I'd just post some highlights -

- We spent a lot of time just laying on the beach this trip. Much more so than we have in the past. The weather was perfect. Even though the sun was always out, there was a nice breeze that kept the temp. very comfortable.

- We did the kayaking tour and had a blast. We highly recommend this tour. It was not hard to do at all and it was fun just paddling around the marshes and waterways. It was a full two hour tour (now isn't that how Gilligan started :)) but the time went by quickly. You actually go quite a distance but the paddling was easy. We thought we'd be sore the next day but we weren't. DW and I got a double kayak and did just fine for a couple of 55+ folks.

- We went into Beaufort one day and Savannah the other. I think next trip we'll skip Savannah. After you've been there 3-4 times it gets a little old. We did eat at Paula Deen's restaurant and the food was very good. I think next trip, we'll just stop by Charleston on the way home for an extra night.

- We ate out at a lot of very good restaurants. We did not have a bad meal the entire week. I would rank our favorites in the following order - Wreck of Salty Dog, Salty Dog Cafe, Scotts, Old Oyster Factory, San Miguels, Paula Deen's. We ate breakfast at Stacks this morning and it was very good also.

- Several nights we drove over to the Beach House and walked along the beach in the dark. This was a lot of fun and a great way to end the day.

- I just love walking around the marina and also stopping by the outdoor bar at Scotts. Frankly, I'm surprised that the business' there stay in business. It is always kind of quite, with not many people at all. In fact after Monday, the resort itself was very quite (except for the room next door that had a baby that did a lot of crying).

- Don't miss the free coffee as well as the free wireless Internet in the Lodge.

- Now to go out on a limb. Don't get me wrong we absolutely love the HH resort and since we have points there, plan to return every year until we are in wheel chairs (in fact DW said I could roll her down to the beach in her wheel chair when the time comes); but there are some things I wish that were different. First, I wish the food service places stayed open later. Especially Tide-Me-Over. It's ridiculous it closes at 5:00. Plus I wish it had a more varied menu and in fact had some sit-down facilities (maybe like a little Olvias). Second, for folks in the Lodge (and elsewhere) that don't have a nice water/marsh view (we did have a nice tree this time), I wish they had a place somewhere that you could go and sit in a nice rocker and watch the water. Maybe a nice deck facility behind Tide-Me-Over that folks could gather at, sit and rock, talk and meet each other. In fact, perhaps even have an outdoor bar that stayed open later. That would make a really nice place where you could meet other members.

- Anyway, that's our week. It was fantastic and we are ready to go back. I joked with DW saying it's hard to believe we actually own property on HHI (and she reminded me that it probably only amounts to a few square inches :) ).

- The only good thing about coming home is we have two (and possibly three) WDW trips between now and when we return to HHI next June. So I'll be busy planning those trips next.

[Judique]

Wow, did you take my comments wrong. I love the HHI resort. I was just making a comment that I didn't get the room I wanted and admitted it was my fault because I was being too picky. I know there are not many studios and the resort is full, so I shouldn't expect to get everything I wanted. I was just commenting I felt it interesting that the CM told me that they typically assign HA rooms to groups of two as a standard procedure when the resort is full. As far as the weather, of course I know it wasn't Disney's fault. Why would I blame Disney for it raining. Don't get me wrong - my comments (it wasn't a review) were not meant to be negative as much as an observation.

Moving on - we just got back from eating at the Old Oyster Factory. We had eaten there a couple of years ago and really were not that impressed. But we returned and found the food to be excellent this time. I had the crab cakes which were delicious and DW had the steamed shrimp which were very good also.

We then just walked around the marina. Has anyone ever eaten at the Little Italy restaurant? They had a large crowd it looked like. Is it a fancy place? The folks looked a little more dressed up than at other places we've been to.

Tomorrow we plan to hit the beach.

Little Italy restaurant - after numerous trips to HH we had a dinner there in April. It was good, homestyle italian red sauce cooking with reasonable prices. We enjoyed it and will return. No need to dress up, but I wouldn't go in a tank top.

[WolfpackFan]

Regarding restaurants at Shelter Cove - has anyone eaten at the Parrot Cove restaurant that is right next to Little Italy? I'm talking about the one to the right of Little Italy on the side not the one next to Scotts. I had never even noticed this place until about Thursday night.

[Mr.Monk]

Thanks for the HH report. You've made me so homesick. The spouse and I were just talking this afternoon about wanting more flex time with my professional requirements to enable us to visit HH on a yearly basis.

We should be hearing tommorrow if I snagged a second interview for my "dream ' job. If that comes through we'll be HH bums every year at Christmas.