"WE'RE AT MINI DISNEY!" Our First Visit to Disney's Hilton Head Resort UPDATEx2 10/31

Oh My goodness you and Preston are the cutest together!!! Georgia sounds like it was incredible!!!! I totally get your shopping impulses man. And sales? Forget it. buy everything.

Excited to hear more!
 
Hi Jess. Aww you and Preston are such a cute couple!! The grounds of the school are gorgeous. I'm glad you had your moment with the Taylor Swift song lol. That Disney outlet looks amazing. :goodvibes Looking forward to Hilton Head. :cool1: -Amanda
 
Im here jess! so glad you had such a great visit with preston! Looking forward to HH report.

Jenn
 
Sounds like a great visit! I would have cleaned out that Disney store too! I'm so sad that they closed the only Disney store I had access to. Now the only one is 3 hours away.
 


Jess!! I am here!! You and Preston are so adorable. Sounds like you were absolutely having the best time and I am so glad you got to experience that!! What a magical time that you will always treasure! I cannot wait for more!!

I feel like such a Disney Store geek now. I was like naming prices and sales that we have in our store when showing items you posted! But as a Disneyland Outlet , you got a bunch of stuff I don't see! I'm so jealous of the ToT sweatshirt! I don't know how I am making it through life without ToT clothes. I mean, I have the bathrobe but people judge when I wear that in public. Plus it is wayyyy too hot. Plus, I spilled on it :sad:
 
Loved reading about your visit to Preston's, it looks like you had an amazing time!! Can't believe how much you bought from the Disney Store haha, I want it all!! The UK Disney Stores aren't as good :sad2: we hardly have any Women's clothes or anything like that -- it's mainly kids stuff, which is totally unfair as I love Disney just as much! :p

Can't wait to read the rest!
 
I love how much you got at The Disney Store!! Those pictures on instagram just kept coming :rotfl:
I feel your pain though, ALL the Disney stores in Australia shut about 10 years ago! Ughghhh What? :confused3:confused3

You and Preston are precious together!
I love those moments of complete happiness where everything in the world just makes sense. Even better when it's connected to a song that can keep taking you back there :goodvibes
 


Oh My goodness you and Preston are the cutest together!!! Georgia sounds like it was incredible!!!! I totally get your shopping impulses man. And sales? Forget it. buy everything.

Excited to hear more!

Aww thanks girl! It really was! And gahh I know. Especially Disney sales! Might as well buy everything - it's not like I can go there often enough to spread it out. :laughing:

Thank you!

Hi Jess. Aww you and Preston are such a cute couple!! The grounds of the school are gorgeous. I'm glad you had your moment with the Taylor Swift song lol. That Disney outlet looks amazing. :goodvibes Looking forward to Hilton Head. :cool1: -Amanda

Thank you so much! They really are. Haha yeah, that was just a great night! It was AMAZING - I wish I could go back! I can't wait to post the next update!

Im here jess! so glad you had such a great visit with preston! Looking forward to HH report.

Jenn

Thank you so much! I can't wait to post the updates!

Sounds like a great visit! I would have cleaned out that Disney store too! I'm so sad that they closed the only Disney store I had access to. Now the only one is 3 hours away.

Haha I'm glad I'm not the only one! I know, that's exactly how we are! And the sick thing is that we used to have THREE of them. No fair. :sad2: At least they still exist in other places, though.

Jess!! I am here!! You and Preston are so adorable. Sounds like you were absolutely having the best time and I am so glad you got to experience that!! What a magical time that you will always treasure! I cannot wait for more!!

I feel like such a Disney Store geek now. I was like naming prices and sales that we have in our store when showing items you posted! But as a Disneyland Outlet , you got a bunch of stuff I don't see! I'm so jealous of the ToT sweatshirt! I don't know how I am making it through life without ToT clothes. I mean, I have the bathrobe but people judge when I wear that in public. Plus it is wayyyy too hot. Plus, I spilled on it :sad:

Aww thank you so much! I am so glad I did too! It was wonderful :goodvibes Thank you!

Bahahaha I'm so proud! Yeah there was a TON of sweatshirts - that's what really made my night! LOL you have the TOT bathrobe!? That is AWESOME! I need to get one of those once I get my cast member discount someday! :upsidedow

Loved reading about your visit to Preston's, it looks like you had an amazing time!! Can't believe how much you bought from the Disney Store haha, I want it all!! The UK Disney Stores aren't as good :sad2: we hardly have any Women's clothes or anything like that -- it's mainly kids stuff, which is totally unfair as I love Disney just as much! :p

Can't wait to read the rest!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I definitely did. Haha yeah for that amount of stuff I really didn't spend that much - it was AWESOME! Most of the "regular" Disney Stores are like that... this one was just WAY better because it was an outlet. I went to one in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on the way home and it wasn't as good, sadly.

Thank you!

I love how much you got at The Disney Store!! Those pictures on instagram just kept coming :rotfl:
I feel your pain though, ALL the Disney stores in Australia shut about 10 years ago! Ughghhh What? :confused3:confused3

You and Preston are precious together!
I love those moments of complete happiness where everything in the world just makes sense. Even better when it's connected to a song that can keep taking you back there :goodvibes

Haha I hope you enjoyed them! I had to buy everything - it was on sale!! :lmao: And I never get to the Disney stores so it's fine. It's not an everyday occurrence. :laughing:

Aww man I'm so sorry! That absolutely stinks!

Thank you! So do I. It's rare for them to happen lately because I have been feeling so stressed, but that trip to Georgia was full of them! I was so happy :)
 
I love the Disney outlets :)

We have a disney store in Dublin but everything is soooooooooooo expensive :sad2:

Also I want an Oswald
 

Bahahaha I'm so proud! Yeah there was a TON of sweatshirts - that's what really made my night! LOL you have the TOT bathrobe!? That is AWESOME! I need to get one of those once I get my cast member discount someday! :upsidedow

CM discounts are the best. I have used it twice already and haven't even worked a week. :rotfl: And I'm surprised it's that few! It's just a big circle of money distribution. Work --> Kimmy --> Disney and it just keeps repeating!
 


You are SO lucky you live that close! I would be there all the time. :laughing:


We go a good bit and there is a regular disney store in pineville that's even closer. You should see my family when we go shopping together and I go in the disney store they don't understand why :confused3a 32 & 33(my cousin) year old get so excited about it. I'm trying to win them over. :thumbsup2
 
Signing on! Thinking about Hilton Head for next summer and I can't wait to hear about your trip!

Welcome! That's a great idea - we loved our trip there! :goodvibes

I love the Disney outlets :)

We have a disney store in Dublin but everything is soooooooooooo expensive :sad2:

Also I want an Oswald

So do I! Aww man that really stinks! And haha I could understand why - Oswald is so cute!

CM discounts are the best. I have used it twice already and haven't even worked a week. :rotfl: And I'm surprised it's that few! It's just a big circle of money distribution. Work --> Kimmy --> Disney and it just keeps repeating!

Haha that will be me someday! Where are you working?

Count me in!! I can't wait to read more!

Awesome! Thanks for being here! :goodvibes

We go a good bit and there is a regular disney store in pineville that's even closer. You should see my family when we go shopping together and I go in the disney store they don't understand why :confused3a 32 & 33(my cousin) year old get so excited about it. I'm trying to win them over. :thumbsup2

That's really awesome! Haha don't worry - I've been there before! When I went shopping at the Disney Store Preston's Mom was with us and she probably thought I was insane for buying so much :lmao: Oh well! You gotta do what you love and not worry about what other people think! :thumbsup2
 
Update #1: ROAD TRIP!
August 17th, 2012

This morning I woke up at 8:45 and I went upstairs to get Preston up! We had to get movin’! IT WAS TIME TO GO TO HILTON HEAD!! I took a shower, packed up, and got ready to go. Then I had to go re-wake Preston up so we could leave.

His best friend Drew came over to say hi since he had been in Virginia all week. He wanted to visit again before I left since we live so far away. Since we're two of the most important people in Preston's life we need to be friends. :laughing:

We grabbed some blueberry muffins for breakfast that we bought the night before. BEST BREAKFAST EVER. They tasted absolutely fantastic.

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We were chatting and Drew mentioned how he was planning on going to McDonald’s for breakfast. So Preston was like “you know they stop serving it at 11 right…?” So he just hopped in his car and BOLTED out of there! It was already 10:30 and he needed some time to get there! Hahaha what a frump.

We hit the road at 11:15! Preston picked up his paycheck, we filled up the car with gas, and we started driving!

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WE MATCH! (But mine are better ;))

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We listened to my favorite song, “We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift a couple times because, you know, that was extremely necessary. I think the song grew on Preston, but maybe just because it reminds him of me. :upsidedow

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I kept shuffling through the songs, we listened to a bunch of stuff. Some 90’s music like NSYNC or Backstreet Boys, some musical soundtracks, some Disney music, some Beach Boys, The Beatles, Nickle Creek, The Punch Brothers, Taylor Swift, etc. I have a VERY wide variety of music on my iPod.

After a couple hours, we decided that we were getting hungry. Since we saw a sign for Panera earlier, we decided we wanted to look for one of those! We plugged it into the GPS and there was one only 13 miles away! So we drove there and got our delicious lunches.

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They had free samples M&M sugar cookies and they were SO GOOD. I had to have one.

We were slightly disappointed when no ice came out of the "ice water" spout. Fart shoes!

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I got a You Pick Two: Broccoli Cheddar Soup and a BBQ Chopped Chicken salad. That's my Panera meal of choice.

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Preston got a You Pick Two with a Turkey Sandwich and French Onion Soup in a Bread Bowl.

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Then we split the yummy cookie! It was one of the softest and most amazing cookies ever! That free sample got me and I don't regret a thing. 99 cents well spent!

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Then Preston was like "I'm trying to think of an excuse to go to Target." He's awesome. The kid reads my mind. I was like umm I ALWAYS want to go to Target! So we did!

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I wanted to look and see if there were any Disney Artist Collection clothes there and THERE WERE! They had the Tinkerbell sweatshirt that I had my eye on (IN MY SIZE!) so of course I had to buy it!

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They had some REALLY great clothes at this Target so I did a bit of shopping. I decided on a REALLY precious blue dress with white hearts and a yellow belt. Preston thought it was really cute, and even the lady who worked there said it was adorable! That was my favorite thing that I bought. There was also a navy and gray dress that I found on clearance! VERY cute!

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I found a heart sweater, too! It was frumpy and obnoxious but it looked really cute on me! I could not pass it up.

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Also on our way out, I saw the perfect Pac Man shirt (in the men's section lol) that Preston bought the other day when we were at Walmart! IT SAYS NOM NOM NOM ON IT! How much better could it possibly be?! I had to get it!!

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We stopped in the video game section before we left (of course) and then we checked out. Thankfully I had a $50 gift card that I was given as a gift last semester so it was put to good use!

We went to Bank of America for Preston to take out some money and then we kept driving! We only had about three or four more hours to go.

I cuddled with my Sorcerer Mickey and new Ariel blanket and cranked up the tunes. My iPod was getting a workout that day!

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Then a huge rainstorm suddenly began! We were driving, singing a little song, and then BAM. This HUGE wall of water just fell on us! It was the weirdest and coolest thing EVER!! We were like WHOAAAA OH MY GOD! Thankfully Preston is a good driver so he helped us survive the storm!

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The drive went by so fast. That was honestly one of the greatest days ever. I didn’t even want the 6 hour road trip to end! I was having a blast and I was SO happy. That day was just perfect in every way. Preston and I always have so much fun and I love spending time with him. Those 3 months apart really made me appreciate every moment that we have together!

Continued in Next Post
 
Update #2: Moving into our Villa!
August 17th, 2012

I know everyone is anxious to get to the Hilton Head portion of the TR, so I posted the second and third updates as well today! (Don't miss the one on the previous page!) Enjoy! :-)

Suddenly around 6 o’clock we were arriving at Hilton Head! We beat my parents there by 10 minutes so we pulled in, parked, and got out of the car.

They arrived shortly after and we were all very excited to see each other! We went to check in and I was SO EXCITED! We were at Mini Disney! FART SHOES!

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Me and my favorite boys :-)

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A cast member greeted us and I asked if I could see her pins. I said that I wanted to trade her for her Jasmine pin but I didn’t have my pins unpacked yet. She said that I could just have it and I was SO excited! The cast members at this resort were very generous with pin trading. Not a lot of guests are into it, but if you are, they notice! I got so many free pins on this trip!

What a great start to the vacation! We went inside and checked in. They had cookies and lemonade in the lobby. That was such a nice touch! They are put out every day at 3 o'clock. Today they had cranberry cookies, I believe.

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We were given all of our room information and then I found out that there was a big pin binder at the front desk! Obviously, visiting the front desk became a daily ritual.

Then I looked over and one of the cast members had on the best pin ever!!! I BOLTED to the car to dig out my pins! I traded the CM for her MONORAIL LICENSE PLATE PIN. I just about DIED. I was so happy.

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Also in the pin trading book, I found a bunch of other cute ones! Oh, and they had a dancing people pin in there. I couldn’t even believe it!! I looked for that pin for so long in May (thankfully I found it by the end) and then I arrive here and see it within a couple minutes. Of course!

Here are the pins I collected throughout my first day:

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From left to right: Haunted Mansion, Jiminy Cricket, (traded) Monorail License Plate, Horizons License Plate, WDW Survey Marker, and C for Chip! (traded)

After making some successful trades, Preston and I met back up with my family at the room.

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We were in Building 20 in room 2021 and we had a two bedroom villa.

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I opened the door and was AMAZED! The room was SO spacious! It had a Wilderness Lodge feel because of the way it was decorated. It’s a little bit like a cabin but it also had that hospitable southern feel. I loved it. The color scheme and the decorations were wonderful.

Living room/Kitchen pictures:

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The couch pulled out into a bed so that's where Preston got to sleep. He said it was a very comfortable pull out couch!

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Jonathan and my room:

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Our bathroom:

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Walkway between our room and the living room:

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MICKEY AND MINNIE CARVING! SO CUTE!

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WD for Walt Disney! :-)

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The floor tiles:

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Continued in Next Post
 
Update #3: More of the Room & The Kingfisher for Dinner!
August 17th, 2012

My parents' room!

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Their bathroom:

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The balcony:

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The view:

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We were on the top floor of the building:

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Still unpacking - Mom brought a fruit bowl!

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Our building:

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The view from the bottom of the stairs. If you walk that way, you can get to the pool!

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As you can tell, the villa was GREAT! It has the exact same layout as the DVC units in Disney World. That's what really made me feel at home! We were so happy we decided to stay at a Disney resort because we knew we would be pleased with the accommodations. No one was disappointed!

This was actually Preston’s first stay at a Disney Resort (besides one of the All Stars Resorts back in May 2011) so this was a pretty big deal for him! He was blown away! We all loved it so much!

We brought up all of our luggage and stuff from the cars. I unpacked everything into drawers, got ready, and then we went to dinner! I don’t think we ate until about 8 or 8:30 pm.

An interesting thing about Disney's Hilton Head Resort is that there are NO TABLE SERVICE RESTAURANTS on property. They have a quick service restaurant at the resort and another at the beach house, but both of them close at 5 o'clock.

The best option for dinners is going to one of the many restaurants around the resort! Many of them are actually within walking distance. Also, Disney gives you a list of recommended places and if you show the restaurant your room key, you can get a 10% discount!

We went to a place called The Kingfisher for dinner! It was a really nice spot and we were all ready to eat! It was a seafood restaurant, which sounded perfect that night.

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They gave us rolls to start off. They just came out of the oven - they were hot and tasted SO GOOD!

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One of my parents got a Caesar Salad:

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I got the endless pasta, which was fettuccine with grilled shrimp. That tasted REALLY good. At first my shrimp was cold, but they took it back and I got a fresh, warm batch within minutes. It tasted wonderful! I loved the sauce they used on the pasta. AHH yum.

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Preston also got the endless pasta, but his was linguini and meatballs. He loved it, of course! Pasta tasted fantastic to both of us after that long drive.

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Mom got the Mahi Mahi:

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Dad got the grouper:

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And Jonathan got the crab legs!

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Everything was wonderful and my whole family was happy with their dinners. We are big seafood fans and this really hit the spot!

For dessert, Mom and Dad split Key Lime Pie:

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Preston and I split their specialty - Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. YUM YUM YUMMMM it was amazing. I didn’t want that cheesecake to end!

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Jonathan completely resisted dessert… I don’t know how that kid does it. What a fart shoes.

Our server was REALLY nice and we were well taken care of! We could already tell that the people from Hilton Head were really friendly!

Once we left, we saw a little kitty that hangs out by the restaurant. She let Mom pet her!

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We walked back to the resort right after dinner.

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Everyone was EXHAUSTED so they all went to bed. Preston and I stayed up a little later and watched some of my new Boy Meets World DVD’s – Season 3. We started with the WDW Episode, of course! That’s the best one! Preston is Cory Matthews' twin. I love it.

Then I went to bed and couldn’t wait for tomorrow because the adventure was just beginning!

Continued in Next Post
 
For those of you who weren't aware, I was supposed to go to Disneyland at the end of this summer. We had to move the trip to December due to some money/attendance issues. My Dad still wanted to go on vacation in August, but he wanted something within driving distance. So that is how Hilton Head came to be! We are currently saving up for the big Disneyland trip later!

I mean, I wasn't mad we had to move the trip... but this Disneyland Outlet DEFINITELY made up for having to postpone it!!!

I basically bought out the whole store. BUT I MEAN, THE SWEATSHIRTS WERE ONLY 9.99!!!! HOW COULD I RESIST!?!?! Usually they're like $34.99 in the parks!!! Seriously, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was GREAT!

I'm guessing you all want to see what I got, right? Well, OBVIOUSLY! It's picture time!

Here are all of my Disneyland sweatshirts - like I said, each one was only $9.99!

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Jess, you are totally making me miss Disneyland right now. I only went once in 2006, you know, when they were doing the 50th Anniversary thing. And now, thanks to the new DCA, I really wanna go back! :( I totally wish I could come with you when you go to Disneyland.

Oh, well. Can't wait till the next update!
 
I am in absolute love with that Chip pin - very jealous!

The rooms look absolutely gorgeous. Would you visit again (my family and I are planning a visit to either Disney World or Hilton Head and can't decide)?
 
•You and the bf are adorable.
•Hooray for Disney Stores. <3
•Love the new Tay Swift song!
•Yayy, Disney's Hilton Head Resort looks amazing. I really wanna gooooo.
•The carvings on the bench are so cute. Love those details.
•Aww, great pins so far.
•Mmm, seafood.

I'm so excited for this report--You are so fun to follow. Can't wait for more! :thumbsup2
 

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