Disney Hilton Head resort or Sea Pines?

[katie111]

Has anyone been to either of these resorts? Did you like them? We are thinking of going there for our summer vacation with DD5, DS4, and DS1. The Disney property seems like it has lots of activities but it is not directly on the beach. Sea Pines seems nice but it seems huge & I have no idea which area which would be best. We'd like to be able to walk to a pool & the beach.

Any advice from anyone who has been to either resort?

 

[goofygal531]

We've been to both and I liked Disney's property better.

It's small, yet quaint. The only downside is that there's no on site restaurant. The children's activities are great, the property is very well maintained and convenient to the grocery store and other things on the main strip. Disney has a nice beach house with a complementary shuttle. It's like you're own private beach. I wouldn't take the resort not being directly on the beach as a downside, you do have beach access.

Sea Pines is HUGE, no ENORMOUS! We seriously got lost in there once for over an hour! I think Disney is more family friendly - just my opinion. Lots of retired golfers in Sea Pines (my Uncle being one of them!)

 

[Harley-Mouse]

If you want to be close to the beach Rent a hous in Sea Pines. You will save $ and beclose to beach. Ther are a lot of rental places. The coast will be the Less the Disney Resort and Sea pines resort. I had a 5 bed room home with inground pool for 7 nights 3min walk to beach 6th row home. For $3100 for the week that was with insurance.

Disney is a lot of fun. I love the resort But if you would like to be close to the beach go wuth a house in Sea pines. Thay also have kids activites to do.

 

[lpoeppelman]

We've been to both areas, but had our best luck (and convenience) by going to a condo in a different area of Hilton Head. I liked being directly on the beach... I don't like walking far with the little ones to/from our room to the beach.

If you choose sea pines, make sure you can walk it. The parking lot was horrid when we were at the beach area... LOTS of cars were crammed in there. The beach was also packed with people compared to our beach at our hotel which was much more spread out. But that trip we went over the 4th of July and it might have been more crowded.

One thing we did the last time was rented bikes and took them around Sea Pines. I thought this was the best place to ride bikes. Especially with little kids just learning. The scenery is beautiful!

You can still go to Disney's resort for the free entertainment (I can't remember the guys name) he sings songs to the kids. They have something similar at Sea Pines too. Our condo resort had lots of activites for the kids. Almost as nice as Disney's resort.

Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[Emilora]

We stayed a couple of years ago in Palmetto Dunes in a house. If you rent a house be very careful, our AC didn't work the first 5 days (ugh) and even though it was hot and muggy out the pool was in the shade and ice cold! The "bike trails" in Palmetto Dunes are actually the road shoulders and VERY narrow (scary with little ones riding) The trails in Sea Pines (we went there a couple of times) looked much nicer, wide and not actually on the side of the road.

 

[blessedby3]

We have been to HH 3 times and we always stay at the Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Club Resort in a condo. We stay in Admirals Row, 2BR 2BA Condo. They have tennis villas, but are not right on the beach. The Resort is in the Folly Field area of HHI. They also have the largest pool on the island. Its huge. A second pool is also located right beside of Admirals Row- just a normal size one. I wouldnt stay off from the beach either. Too much trouble to have to lug everything plus the kids and shuttle or walk a distance. I love Disney, but at the beach I want to be right on the beach. We also rent through www.vrbo.com when we go to Hilton Head.

 

[Rylee]

Has anyone been to either of these resorts? Did you like them? We are thinking of going there for our summer vacation with DD5, DS4, and DS1. The Disney property seems like it has lots of activities but it is not directly on the beach. Sea Pines seems nice but it seems huge & I have no idea which area which would be best. We'd like to be able to walk to a pool & the beach.

Any advice from anyone who has been to either resort?

While I have not visited either location you asked about... I do have 5 children, have had many, many beach vacations, and reseached the Disney resort.

With the ages of your children, my advice is to stay oceanfront... directly on the beach.

 

[alloyd1170]

I used to live in Shelter Cove (right next to the Dis DVC) and my dad has a villa on the beach in Palmetto Dunes that we go to every month. We never go to Sea Pines (the fee alone to get in is ridiculous). There isnt much there for our family that we couldnt find elsewhere on the island. You can walk all over Shelter Cove Harbour. There are neat little shops, a few restaurants, and many tours leave out of Shelter Cove. On Tuesday nights in the summer they have (I think they still do it) vendors set up all over the place, music for kids, and fireworks. There is also a little playground between Harbourside II and III. To get over to the beach (Dis has their own beach clubhouse) there is a shuttle. Its a short trip across 278 and through Palmetto Dunes to the beach. You could walk it, but it would be quite a hike! You can also rent bikes and ride around Palmetto Dunes and on to the beach.

If you have a car, Shelter Cove is pretty much the middle of the island. Theres a mall, and strip mall with a Piggly Wiggly, Fudruckers, pizza and ice cream places just up the street. Theres a mini golf right nearby too. The outlet malls are off the island (a must hit for great deals on kids clothes-Carters, Gymboree, Childrens Place, Osh Kosh.......). Google Tanger Outlet malls for Hilton Head for store listings.

Feel free to email me if you have any other questions about the island. I will try to answer them!

 

[dis-happy]

We live in Sea Pines during the summer months, but have also stayed at the DVC. With your kiddos, I would stay at DVC for all the wonderful activities. It's not that big a deal to drive over to the beach (or take the shuttle)...go in the morning and spend most of the day there. DVC has 2 pools, one located on the property with the rooms, the other located at the beach, so you can have the best of both worlds at once (along with being able to order lunch right then and there).

Unless you spend a lot of $$$$$ to rent a private house on the beach at Sea Pines, you're going to have a walk or drive to get there anyway. It's a huge pain to be slugging down a beach access path with young kids and lots of stuff during the hot, humid summer months. For the sake of convenience, go with DVC. The bike paths at Sea Pines are the nicest though.

 

[james'mommy]

We stayed at DVC in Hilton Head a few years ago. It was really nice. The pool is very nice also. We went into Sea Pines and the place was huge. I think Disney is more user friendly.

 

[emma'smom]

We loved all of the family activities at Disney that had that special Disney quality to them. We had no problem going back and forth between the main resort and the beach house. We usually drove....but the shuttle was always running. We did the marsh walk---really fun. We also did the beach walk...there was so much to do! Also, the special "nights" (like Star Spangled Tuesday w/fireworks and the campfires were really fun). I liked the fact that there were so many cast members all of the place who functioned as professional "camp counselors". It really made it an all-inclusive family vacation.

We did leave to go explore the island on our own as well. We went into Sea Pines on two different days. Once to hear Gregg Russell and eat dinner at Crazy Crab (did the Harbour Town shops, etc). On a different day, we went to Salty Dog for lunch and did some shopping. Parking was really hard....but my point is that you can still enjoy Sea Pines while still taking advantage of all that Disney HHI has to offer!