Hurricane Matthew vs HHI....

[lvdis]

Has anyone with upcoming reservations heard from Disney? It's being reported on the DHHIR facebook group page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/DHHIR/), that DHHIR isn't opening until 10/21/2016 at the earliest. That's cutting it really close for me. I'm supposed to check in on 10/23.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Has anyone with upcoming reservations heard from Disney? It's being reported on the DHHIR facebook group page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/DHHIR/), that DHHIR isn't opening until 10/21/2016 at the earliest. That's cutting it really close for me. I'm supposed to check in on 10/23.

I was really surprised by that-October 21st!

 

[lvdis]

I was really surprised by that-October 21st!

I'm just curious, surprised that is not happening until then or surprised it's that soon?

 

[Dean]

The infrastructure had significant damage. Palmetto dunes is just getting functional and as of yesterday, still had sewer line issues. We did get word from the management company that our condo (next door to Disney's beach house) was unmanaged.

 

[da Yooper]

Has anyone with upcoming reservations heard from Disney? It's being reported on the DHHIR facebook group page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/DHHIR/), that DHHIR isn't opening until 10/21/2016 at the earliest. That's cutting it really close for me. I'm supposed to check in on 10/23.

We are scheduled to arrive on the 23rd as well. My last contact with MS (Tuesday, 10/11) indicated their plan to reopen on Monday, 10/17. Planning to contact them again today. Reopening on the 21st doesn't leave me with a warm n fuzzy feeling for our trip.

 

[lvdis]

We are scheduled to arrive on the 23rd as well. My last contact with MS (Tuesday, 10/11) indicated their plan to reopen on Monday, 10/17. Planning to contact them again today. Reopening on the 21st doesn't leave me with a warm n fuzzy feeling for our trip.

Please report back what you hear.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm just curious, surprised that is not happening until then or surprised it's that soon?

Mostly surprised that it's not happening until then. From what I've heard, the Shelter Cove area weathered the storm relatively well (at least not TOO bad) and some of the restaurants are open. But now I'm thinking that since the resort is mostly wood, Disney is being very cautious on the safety of everything, like railings and balconies, besides everything else. Just imagine if a wobbly railing or an insecure balcony led to someone falling and getting hurt. Also, the water and sewer problems may be minor, but at a resort, they could become a real issue!

 

[da Yooper]

Please report back what you hear.

Here's what I found out .... The MS Advisor I chatted with confirmed they are "striving to reopen on the 21st of October". He followed this up with "Right now, Members with a check in date after October 21st may cancel a room reservation. However, the regular cancelation policies would apply as we hope to have the resort open after October 21, 2016." I pushed back explaining that "striving" and "hope" do not leave me with comfort in knowing I will have a vacation in a weeks time, and finding out next Thursday that they wouldn't be able to make the Friday reopening would not leave much time to replan a family vacation.

The end result was that the Advisor offered to cancel the reservation if we wanted to with no penalty. Points would be returned to this use year account and could be banked, and our cash nights would be refunded.

We (unfortunately) decided not to risk it and cancelled. I had to call MS to get the cash nights we had refunded, but there was no problem at all. MS did all my cancellations, including the point nights. They said the team that handled the points movement were a bit behind and it might take 7 to 10 days, but offered to have them bank the points directly instead of just back into the account and me have to call back and bank them.

We had really been excited and looking forward to this trip as we had never visited HHI before. Just hate to risk it and have a poor experience. Not knowing the condition of things and what other Island businesses/facilities would be open, in addition to the DVC facilities, we just decided not to take a chance. Anyone else still going, I hope you have a great time!

 

[CarolMN]

Here's what I found out .... The MS Advisor I chatted with confirmed they are "striving to reopen on the 21st of October". He followed this up with "Right now, Members with a check in date after October 21st may cancel a room reservation. However, the regular cancelation policies would apply as we hope to have the resort open after October 21, 2016." I pushed back explaining that "striving" and "hope" do not leave me with comfort in knowing I will have a vacation in a weeks time, and finding out next Thursday that they wouldn't be able to make the Friday reopening would not leave much time to replan a family vacation.

The end result was that the Advisor offered to cancel the reservation if we wanted to with no penalty. Points would be returned to this use year account and could be banked, and our cash nights would be refunded.

We (unfortunately) decided not to risk it and cancelled. I had to call MS to get the cash nights we had refunded, but there was no problem at all. MS did all my cancellations, including the point nights. They said the team that handled the points movement were a bit behind and it might take 7 to 10 days, but offered to have them bank the points directly instead of just back into the account and me have to call back and bank them.

We had really been excited and looking forward to this trip as we had never visited HHI before. Just hate to risk it and have a poor experience. Not knowing the condition of things and what other Island businesses/facilities would be open, in addition to the DVC facilities, we just decided not to take a chance. Anyone else still going, I hope you have a great time!

I would do the same in your situation. IMO, the resort may be OK to reopen, but it sounds like there is quite bit of the Island's infrastructure that is bad condition - i.e., broken water and sewer mains, tress down, etc. I'd be worried about getting to the resort, too.

Hope you can reschedule for a better time.

 

[Ellie123]

Deleted

 

[lowe@massed.net]

Here's what I found out .... The MS Advisor I chatted with confirmed they are "striving to reopen on the 21st of October". He followed this up with "Right now, Members with a check in date after October 21st may cancel a room reservation. However, the regular cancelation policies would apply as we hope to have the resort open after October 21, 2016." I pushed back explaining that "striving" and "hope" do not leave me with comfort in knowing I will have a vacation in a weeks time, and finding out next Thursday that they wouldn't be able to make the Friday reopening would not leave much time to replan a family vacation.

The end result was that the Advisor offered to cancel the reservation if we wanted to with no penalty. Points would be returned to this use year account and could be banked, and our cash nights would be refunded.

We (unfortunately) decided not to risk it and cancelled. I had to call MS to get the cash nights we had refunded, but there was no problem at all. MS did all my cancellations, including the point nights. They said the team that handled the points movement were a bit behind and it might take 7 to 10 days, but offered to have them bank the points directly instead of just back into the account and me have to call back and bank them.

We had really been excited and looking forward to this trip as we had never visited HHI before. Just hate to risk it and have a poor experience. Not knowing the condition of things and what other Island businesses/facilities would be open, in addition to the DVC facilities, we just decided not to take a chance. Anyone else still going, I hope you have a great time!

I called MS yesterday after getting no answer at the resort. As of yesterday afternoon, they are now hoping to open on the 21st. If you want the most up to date information, call MS. The person I spoke with told me that they are getting updated regularly. We had to cancel our reservation for the 18th-22nd, but all of our points were returned and some that we had banked in were applied to an upcoming WDW reservation. I'm disappointed to miss this trip, but OTOH, given the damage, it's not the best time to be there anyway.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

Wow, sad to hear of all of the damage to the island.

 

[lvdis]

I called MS yesterday after getting no answer at the resort. As of yesterday afternoon, they are now hoping to open on the 21st. If you want the most up to date information, call MS. The person I spoke with told me that they are getting updated regularly. We had to cancel our reservation for the 18th-22nd, but all of our points were returned and some that we had banked in were applied to an upcoming WDW reservation. I'm disappointed to miss this trip, but OTOH, given the damage, it's not the best time to be there anyway.

Do you think they'd be able tell me anything if I called MS to ask? We are scheduled to stay 10/23 - 10/28 on a cash reservation. We are not DVC members. Thanks!

I guess I'd need to know how to contact them too.

 

[Dean]

Do you think they'd be able tell me anything if I called MS to ask? We are scheduled to stay 10/23 - 10/28 on a cash reservation. We are not DVC members. Thanks!

I guess I'd need to know how to contact them too.

Doubtful but you're likely far better off calling the resort directly.

 

[lvdis]

Someone reported in the DHHIR facebook group that they were able to move their reservation to check-in on this Thursday, October 20, 2016. She says they are for sure re-opening that day!

 

[bom_noite]

I'm very concerned too. We are supposed to fly into Savannah on 10/21, staying for 2 nights, and then head to Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort for a 5 night stay on 10/23. I'm not sure what to do.

Living in Atlanta you will love Savannah - very special town. I love to antique shop there. Food is out of this world.

If you do end up going, or for anyone else, can you snoop around and ask the CM's on what problems they experienced there and report back. I am just curious.

I read today all of the Electric and Sewer have been fixed. The Harbour Town / Sea Pines area (by the Lighthouse) is doing much better and many of the merchants are re-opening.

I have heard many people got the tree Issues taken care of and Emergency repairs were done, but, waiting for an available contractor is the problem.

Disney has deep pockets and I would assume that they rounded up tree people and contractors from Atlanta, Charlotte and other bigger cities to be available post storm. They also may have flown some CM's up to help.

That said - I am not sure I can provide any advice. I hope it works out no matter what you decide.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I love Hilton Head and.... if I had a reservation for this weekend I would cancel.

Just because Disney is open doesn't mean the rest of the island is close to normal. A friend of mine posted a video of her neighborhood yesterday... It's like driving down a Grand Canyon of tree debris on her street.

 

[lvdis]

I still don't know what to do.

I just got off the phone with someone at Disney reservations and she assures me that they will be re-opening on 10/20/2016. She said they just had a big team meeting about it because they've been getting a lot of calls. She couldn't answer my question about whether there would still be bike rentals or water activities though. She was very helpful and tried to get me an answer, but said the only way to know is to call them directly. I've tried their number and it never rings through to anyone. She said they just got power up and running today? She advised me to keep calling the resort number and eventually I should be able to get them.

This is 5 days out from our reservation and if I don't cancel today I could lose my 1 nights deposit if we decide not to go. If the bike trails aren't usable, that eliminates one of the main things we planned to do while there. I've never been there before, but heard they had an amazing bike trail system. I said before I was going to hang in there and see what happened, but now that I'm at the 5 day mark and still not getting concrete information, I'm getting concerned.

 

[lvdis]

Just wanted to update my earlier post; I'm feeling better about my upcoming reservation now. Since I couldn't talk to anyone at the resort, I decided to call one of the bicycle places I was considering renting from and I talked to them about the condition of the bike trails and the island in general. He said most businesses/resorts will be open by this weekend and that the bike trails were all usable. There might be a branch or 2 you have to ride around, but no big blockages. He thinks the island is ready for business and said it was kind of surreal how good things are looking and getting back to normal. The weather has been beautiful there too. It made me feel a lot better after talking to him.

In case you're wondering, this is the place I talked to and plan to rent from; Bicycle Billy's - http://www.bicyclebilly.com/.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just read another update that may explain DHHIR's delay in opening, even though they're not in bad shape now. For one thing, the town fathers won't let any resorts reopen until they're checked and approved. Also, lots of employees at resorts are still having BIG issues at home, meaning the resorts may not be fully staffed as employees are taking care of their own houses.