Here at Hilton Head until 4/11

[5forDiz]

Great trippie

Time spent at HHI always seems to fly by much too quickly, enjoy rest of your trip

 

[pixie08]

Does Disney still do these private dinner events?

 

[VMS]

No more of the "A Private Affair" dinners. I think Simba's Mom snagged maybe the last one (if not the last, one of the last). Glad I got my share of Chef Gordon's famous crab cakes!

 

[msabol01]

Ironically enough I ran into Chef Gordon in the Mechantile this morning. Anyway, he did mention that he still does private affairs but it is seasonal.

Anyway we were sad to leave today. It looks like the weather is going to be great. We already have 7 hours of driving under our belts and 5 more to go.

Overall, a really enjoyable vacation. Wife wants to buy points at HHI, she is claiming it as her favorite resort. I think I would prefer it a little later in the year.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Ironically enough I ran into Chef Gordon in the Mechantile this morning. Anyway, he did mention that he still does private affairs but it is seasonal.

Overall, a really enjoyable vacation. Wife wants to buy points at HHI, she is claiming it as her favorite resort. I think I would prefer it a little later in the year.

Great news about the private affairs, although I wonder what seasonal means-probably not when we're there. But if anyone can find out more,we'd love to know.
msabol01, your wife has excellent taste. And if you can afford it now,this is the time to buy, IMO. We just bought 50 points at HHI for $60/point, our Christmas gift to each other.

 

[VMS]

Well, today is our check out day. It is always sad to leave. We will get a little bike riding in and then some pool time. We always then eat at Fuddrucker's for lunch and then head on the road, and drive half way, and then finish up tomorrow.

We went to dinner at Sea Shack last night. We got there about 10 minutes before it opened, and the line was so long. It took us an hour to get in, but the food was really good, as usual. Everyone was happy with their meals. Then we went to Flamingo donuts -- something we only discovered on our last trip. Two of my kids got the "sundae donut", my DH got 2 -- the Almond Joy and Snickers, one DS got the sticky bun, and I got the French toast donut. Glad we went on the last day -- otherwise I think I would be making too many trips there. My DH and DD did go to the campfire and it was MUCH less crowded than Wednesday night. They really enjoyed it last night -- she said they were able to do more since it was smaller.

I will ask Chef Gordon about the "seasonal A Private Affair". I had been under the impression that it was totally gone, and have here on the boards never read in the past couple of years of anyone being able to do it. I may have to plan the next trip accordingly!

 

[dallastxcpa]

I loved your trip report. Thank you sooooo much for sharing with us.

 

[VMS]

Well, we just got home a little while ago. After some bike riding and time by the pool, we left at about 1PM yesterday. The weather was perfect, we were so sad to leave. I never saw the resort so crowded on a Saturday, but I guess that was because of the Easter holiday. We had our traditional burgers at Fuddrucker's (we don't have them near here), and then hit the road. We drove up until just south of Richmond and spent the night. No problem getting home today either.

I did speak to Chef Gordon before we left. There definitely are no longer any "A Private Affairs" at any time during the year. I would be changing my vacation plans if there were! There must have been some misunderstanding in what masbol01 heard.

We also got to meet Dottie in the Mercantile. We had read so much about her son CM Harry this summer, but he was gone by the time we got there in August. She seems so nice, I bet Harry must take after her!

Well, that is it. No trip until next April, and that will be with one less DS.

 

[pixie08]

Well, we just got home a little while ago. After some bike riding and time by the pool, we left at about 1PM yesterday. The weather was perfect, we were so sad to leave. I never saw the resort so crowded on a Saturday, but I guess that was because of the Easter holiday. We had our traditional burgers at Fuddrucker's (we don't have them near here), and then hit the road. We drove up until just south of Richmond and spent the night. No problem getting home today either.

I did speak to Chef Gordon before we left. There definitely are no longer any "A Private Affairs" at any time during the year. I would be changing my vacation plans if there were! There must have been some misunderstanding in what masbol01 heard.

We also got to meet Dottie in the Mercantile. We had read so much about her son CM Harry this summer, but he was gone by the time we got there in August. She seems so nice, I bet Harry must take after her!

Well, that is it. No trip until next April, and that will be with one less DS.

Awww that sad about the private affair thing- it sounds romantic! VMS how long does it take you to drive down? We are coming from Long Island and I am just trying to gage where we should stop overnight. TIA!

 

[JCLNJ]

BOth of my kids dd 16 and ds 14 loved going kayaking with the teens. They wish it had been earlier in the week as most of the group stayed together all day on Thursday hanging out. They were texting their new friends on the ride home and finding out when others would be back at HH or down at disney the same time as them. I wish there was more activities for the teens.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks for the trip report - we were at HHI for our spring break and got home a week ago. We miss it.

 

[msabol01]

I did speak to Chef Gordon before we left. There definitely are no longer any "A Private Affairs" at any time during the year. I would be changing my vacation plans if there were! There must have been some misunderstanding in what masbol01 heard.

Hmmm, very strange indeed. Sorry to get some folks hopes up about the private affairs. When I asked him about it he just said he wasn't doing them now and that it would be a seasonal thing and to speak with the activities desk...maybe he's hoping enough requests will bring it back.

Anyway, I think I am finally recovered from the drive back. Why does it always seem so much longer going back? By the clock it was about 2 1/2 hrs longer as we got caught up in the DC area. Aside from that I felt more worn out from the drive. It was a nice first visit and we will definately be coming back!

 

[VMS]

Hi Pixie08. It usually takes us about 12 1/2 hours if we don't have traffic. My husband and I both grew up on LI and our families are still there, so we go down there often. Yesterday we ended up (for the first time ever) taking the Palisades Parkway over to the Tappan Zee. There was a backup on the GW. Otherwise, we had no problems with traffic coming home. Sometimes the northern VA area is awful, but we were by it early and it was Easter morning.

JCLNJ -- we definitely noticed there were many more teens there this week than in any other time we were there. Gwyneth was talking to us about it and about how many she had kayaking.

 

[pixie08]

Thanks VMS! That is good to hear...I mapquested it and it was coming up at 14-15 hours...and we live in western nassau county We figured that was estimated at 55 mph

 

[oilheadbob]

HI VMS,

My wife and I are thinking about a short get-a-way to HH this summer. I have a question, did you rent bikes there or bring your own. We are trying to decide which to do.

Thx,

Bob and Nancy
Gainesville, Va

 

[VMS]

We rent them -- we need 5 and with driving and stopping overnight it is just easier. Plus, the bikes we have at home are not the heavy-duty ones like they have there -- the kind you can ride on the beach. They are $25 each for the length of stay for DVC members. This is an increase -- they used to be $25 each for the first two, and then $10 for any additional, so it did go up quite a bit for us, but we still find it worthwhile to use Disney's. We do bring our own helmets.