HHI LOVERS THREAD

[hhisc16]

Does anyone know how far in advance the fireworks at Shelter Cove are usually announced for the next year?
I was able to get a room at DHHIR for 4th of July and the 2nd week of June.
I know the fireworks will be going for 4th of July, but unsure about our June stay by looking at this year's calendar.

 

[Suzabella]

They usually start mid June. We were there beginning 6/19 and they were happening.

 

[hhisc16]

Does anyone know which buildings at DHHIR have the grand villas?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Does anyone know which buildings at DHHIR have the grand villas?

They're in 16, 18, 19. 28, and 30. Those 5 buildings also have the 1 bedrooms and , I think, studios. From experience I know that building 18 has a beautiful, marsh view.

 

[sleepydog25]

They're in 16, 18, 19. 28, and 30. Those 5 buildings also have the 1 bedrooms and , I think, studios. From experience I know that building 18 has a beautiful, marsh view.

Correct! Of those buildings, only 18 has a marsh view. All the GV buildings house a GV, four 2BRs, a 1BR, and 1 studio. Beyond those five buildings, the only other 1BRs and studios are found in buildings 11 and 12 (conversely, there are no 2BRs in those buildings).

 

[Simba's Mom]

Taken from building 18

 

[sleepydog25]

I agree with all of the restaurants that sleepydog25 mentioned with the exception of Scott's. A couple I would like to add is Steamer Seafood and One Hot Mama's. Steamer Seafood was our favorite meal on our last trip, and they have outdoor seating. One Hot Mama's is delicious bbq! I don't know if they have outdoor seating, but what we always do is get pulled pork to go and eat in our villa.

I sure hope you enjoyed your visit, and it seems you did! There are so many good places to eat on HHI--the overall quality here is far better than your average trip to WDW, and it's generally less expensive, too. It was wonderful getting to talk with you and your husband, as well. Tell him to stay retired...Yeah, I can't do it, either! Best wishes as you enter another school year!

Good morning from HHI !

Got some Pixie dust already yesterday when we checked in!

As I mentioned before, I broke my right foot a few weeks ago, we had booked a studio for the first night, and then a 2 bedroom for the following days.

Well, I couldn't check in on line, and ended up calling the resort directly yesterday morning, before leaving Savannah from our one night stay ( beautiful City and vibe ). This gentleman went over our reservation ,and said that he was going the make sure again, that they would assign us a building with an elevator the first night, and then a good building for the 2 bedroom ,where I did not have to walk a lot.

When we arrived and checked in, we were told that they upgraded us to a 2 bedroom from a studio for out first night!

He said that that way , we did not have to move after our fist night , and that they assigned us a building where we could just park outside and walk short distances to everything !

We have to say, we love it here already ! And can't wait to get to know this resort, our adult son is already making plans to come back with his friends! LOL

How was your bike ride? It didn't rain too much yesterday, so hopefully you had a great day after that, as well. This resort makes people believe in vacations again--no park reservations, no ADRs, no waiting in long lines (except Skull Creek Boathouse or Hudson's at 5 p.m.!)...and gorgeous scenery to enjoy, activities to keep busy, or just simply relaxing on your balcony with your favorite drink in hand. The magic of the resort and the entire area is hard to explain...until you've been here. Safe travels!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I sure hope you enjoyed your visit, and it seems you did! There are so many good places to eat on HHI--the overall quality here is far better than your average trip to WDW, and it's generally less expensive, too. It was wonderful getting to talk with you and your husband, as well. Tell him to stay retired...Yeah, I can't do it, either! Best wishes as you enter another school year!

It was great meeting you! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. It was truly a highlight of our trip. I did enjoy my visit! In fact, we came home, cancelled our WDW trip for November (may try again next November), and booked another trip to DHHIR for the same dates. We've never been in November. I am stalking the website to see if some October dates open up though. Also due to availability, we splurged and got a 1-BR for the two of us. The issue is there is a missing date in the middle of our trip. I sure hope it becomes available! Anyway, maybe we will see you again this fall!

 

[Suzabella]

It's a very different island in November. Much quieter. Are you going earlier in November or later? I ask because we thought there was a big difference in crowd levels up until Thanksgiving. Very sleepy town after turkey day.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

It's a very different island in November. Much quieter. Are you going earlier in November or later? I ask because we thought there was a big difference in crowd levels up until Thanksgiving. Very sleepy town after turkey day.

I assume this is a question for me. We are going mid-November. I know crowds will be awesome; I'm just worried about the weather. We prefer it warmer.

 

[Suzabella]

It can vary. We were there last year later in November and the week before had been gorgeous. It was great to walk the beach and even wore shorts but took a jacket everywhere. Pool is heated so there were people swimming. I wasn't one of them! ;-)

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

It can vary. We were there last year later in November and the week before had been gorgeous. It was great to walk the beach and even wore shorts but took a jacket everywhere. Pool is heated so there were people swimming. I wasn't one of them! ;-)

Totally understand about the varying weather. We actually went in December 2016. It was beautiful and warm. The only reason we went is because we had been evacuated from Hurricane Matthew in October, and we had extra points and were off for Winter Break. We knew it could be cold, but we only stayed three nights. For a longer trip, I would definitely prefer a guarantee of warm weather.

 

[sleepydog25]

It was great meeting you! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. It was truly a highlight of our trip. I did enjoy my visit! In fact, we came home, cancelled our WDW trip for November (may try again next November), and booked another trip to DHHIR for the same dates. We've never been in November. I am stalking the website to see if some October dates open up though. Also due to availability, we splurged and got a 1-BR for the two of us. The issue is there is a missing date in the middle of our trip. I sure hope it becomes available! Anyway, maybe we will see you again this fall!

Often, waitlists come through for single nights during the fall. Stalk the RAT! Be sure to look me up, as I'd love to catch up with you again! As for weather, as Suzabella mentions, it's a crap shoot at that time of year. Generally, it's warm until late November, but cool days aren't uncommon. I will say as far as busy goes, while it's not spring break or summer crazy, in and around the holidays (particularly Thanksgiving), it gets crowded. The longest time it's ever taken me to drive from work to the house happened the Tuesday before Thanksgiving day. My normal commute in the afternoon is 25 minutes give or take a few minutes. That day, it took an hour and 15 minutes with no accidents. In the words of Mickey, see you real soon!

 

[Simba's Mom]

As far as weather in November, we've been to HHI for the last 15 Novembers (Thanksgiving). As others have said, it can vary. You can find temps in the 30s, with ice and snow (that was our first year and we heard "It's not usually like this, and we kept thinking "yeah, right!"), but it hasn't been that bad for 14 years. One year it was in the 80s and even I went into the hot tub on Thanksgiving day. The most "common" weather, though has been in the 50s and 60s, not a lot of rain.

 

[vinmar4]

I sure hope you enjoyed your visit, and it seems you did! There are so many good places to eat on HHI--the overall quality here is far better than your average trip to WDW, and it's generally less expensive, too. It was wonderful getting to talk with you and your husband, as well. Tell him to stay retired...Yeah, I can't do it, either! Best wishes as you enter another school year!


How was your bike ride? It didn't rain too much yesterday, so hopefully you had a great day after that, as well. This resort makes people believe in vacations again--no park reservations, no ADRs, no waiting in long lines (except Skull Creek Boathouse or Hudson's at 5 p.m.!)...and gorgeous scenery to enjoy, activities to keep busy, or just simply relaxing on your balcony with your favorite drink in hand. The magic of the resort and the entire area is hard to explain...until you've been here. Safe travels!

Good morning,

It was very nice talking to you in person !

The bike ride was very nice, renting the 3 wheeler was a really good idea, it didn't bother my foot at all. I just had to take some Motrin the next couple of days for my legs, due to the not being used to riding a bike that much, lol.
We will for sure prepare ourselves before we go back next time.

You are right, the whole family loved it, except for the adults, they did a kayaking trip, we all booked the dolphin tour and also visited Savannah.

We could not make the fireworks on Tuesday, because my son was told that it was at 9 pm, but they started at 8 PM, and we were at dinner.

We loved the Shelter Cove area, and the restaurants, we found a place with really good spicy wings and my sister loved the jalapeño margarita from the Mexican restaurant and the live music . It was nice that that area was so close.

We were all talking about that it should be a yearly trip. Definitely felt like those old fashion vacations where you can relax as much as you want , or do as much as you want with no pressure.

I have never done a trip report, but I will post some things that we learned as first time visitors, that may help other people.


thank you so much for all your tips, we still have to visit a lot of other places that we did not have the time to visit this time.

 

[dvc at last !]

Love HHI.

 

[sleepydog25]

Currently, these are the offerings at Surfman's Sand Bar at the Beach House. Now, this can change literally overnight, but at least this will give you an idea of what to expect. Further, the bar's hours can also vary a little. Due to a couple of issues, the hours of operation last week were 11-3. They are now back to 11-4. If you're headed over to the Beach House, the best idea is to check before you go or when you first get there to see what time the food service will end that day.

 

[Neelloc]

We are currently here in HHI, staying in Palmetto Dunes. Usually we are able to get our dole whip and Mickey bar fix at the Signals window, but it’s sadly already closed for the season. We did make our way over to the resort to pop in at the mercantile and Tide Me Over, but saw only registered guests are currently allowed, so we didn’t enter the resort.
While we’re bummed that we can’t get our usual Disney fix here, it DID spur my DH into looking for a HHI resale contract.
Anyone currently here want to hook a family up with some Mickey Bars? Lol

 

[Simba's Mom]

We are currently here in HHI, staying in Palmetto Dunes. Usually we are able to get our dole whip and Mickey bar fix at the Signals window, but it’s sadly already closed for the season.

Wow! Closed? When we go in late November, it's usually open-very short hours (11:00-3:00), but at least open every day.

 

[sleepydog25]

Wow! Closed? When we go in late November, it's usually open-very short hours (11:00-3:00), but at least open every day.

Actually, Signals itself has been closed ever since the pandemic shut down the Disney resorts to include DHHIR. Once the resort opened here in June of '20, Signals did not. Now, some food (and Dole whips, of course) are offered at the Beach House via the Surfman's Sand Bar (the actual preparation takes place in the Signal's kitchen); however, the outdoor window to Signal's only opened up in late June but has now closed, likely for the season.