Just came back from HHI and was looking through my receipts. I should preface by saying my new user name sould be "Frugal Frankie" since I need to stretch a buck pretty far these days.
HHI is very reasonable, that's why we bought there versus WDW, or even the much closer Jersey shore.
As far as out-of-pocket expenses it's cheaper than WDW only because of the park tickets. Food wise, HHI is cheaper only in that a regular grocery store is so close.
At WDW or HHI we cook in or get take-out for every meal. We make breakfast in the room, pack sandwiches, water and drinks for the day, and dinner is on the cheap.
Restauarants are 'aplenty and all off-site in HHI, but not many are what I consider 'budget' friendly. We always frequent the closest pizza/pasta place (Guiseppie's) and also buy the prepared foods or microwaveable stuff from the grocery store. At check-in you'll receive a lengthy list of places that will give DVC's a 10-20% discount. Believe me, I'd much rather eat out, but it wan't in the cards this year. And frankly, the time spent getting ready for dinner, than waiting in often crowded restaurants takes away from our beach and pool time. You can sit on your balcony at HHI, after enjoying a perfectly good meal and glass of wine and listen the the Shelter Cove Restaurants calling our "Smith Party of 5, Smith" all night long.
Now the kicker are the activities. There are numerous events every day that you will want to do and should do. This is where we must decide and plan in advance.
This year we did the dolphin watch with Capt. Scott. On Members day (Wednesday) its 10% off ($27/person vs. $30).
Other years we did Kayaking (see other post), and beach combing on Daufuskie Island (nice but probably not again).
Our kids like movie and pizza nite out with the CM's ($20 per), 8 and under may like Gyotaki ($10 or $15 per), making bird houses or crab traps (~$10/) and other arts & crafts.
The nicer family events that are free I highly recommend They include all the events with the Naturalist, beach combing, star gazing and the marsh walk. Do the Naturalist events as soon as you get there and you'll have more fun at the beach and in the Marshes 'cause you'll know what you're looking at. We do them every year and always learn something new.
There are two weekly campfires, the Star-Spangled Tuesday events (pool games), ghost stories and other events with B'Lou Crabbe, and of course meeting Shadow, the nicest 4-legged CM ever.
HHI also offers two special, all-you-can eat dinners a Crab & Shrimp Boil and the All-American Cookout (both about $29/adult and $9/kid). Personally, I don't find the food all that good for the price but the comraderie is nice and its a nice way to meet members and other guests.
Fishing and crabbing off the pier is also a good time. At the resort a crab net is $5 and bait (frozen shrimp) is $2. You can get the same net at Wal-Mart for $2.50 and bait at the grocery store (either a fish head or chicken necks) for a buck. If you're lucky you can even catch enough to eat, saving you another meal out, though we gladly give our's away.
At the beach, renting the three-wheeler trikes is fun for kids and adults. Go at low-tide, early in the morning. 30 minutes is just $10/ and that's plenty of time. You can rent the chairs and umbrellas on the beach as well. I think 2 chairs are $10 and another $5 for the umbrella. Again, much cheaper at
WalMart.
Trips we'd like to make are the shark fishing and parasailing. We'll budget for those some year.
Oddly, gas is just as cheap on the island as along I-95.
The best features of HHI are free, the pools and the beach!
