Andrea_loves_Disney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 16, 2006
- Messages
- 592
Hello people! 
Just thought I'd give a little report on our trip last week to the Disney Resort at Hilton Head Island! We had a great time, despite 2 1/2 days of rain!
We arrived Tuesday June 5th around 3:00 after an easy drive from Savannah in our awesome rental -a Ford F150 truck! It was a "free" upgrade from Thrifty and we actually weren't going to take it until we got in the mid size car they gave us and it was so smoke stinky we couldn't take it. So F150 it is! My kids loved it. (DD16 and DS12)
Our room was in the main lodge - we had a 1 bdrm unit with a partial marsh view... which was fine. I loved the unit itself...so roomy, the balcony with the rocking chairs..aahhh my coffee in the morning was heaven there! Also I have to mention my kids had to share the pull out bed which I was a little worried about...but according to my daughter it was VERY comfortable. She said it was better than the king bed in the bedroom!
We did our grocery shopping at Publix (prior to checking in) but we did also visit Piggly Wiggly during our stay for something we forgot.
I won't detail what we did everyday but I will say the first 2 days with rain we were fine with exploring and checking out the area. The 3rd day when we got up and it was overcast and drizzly we were starting to get a little sad...thankfully that afternoon it cleared up beautifully and we spent the rest of the day at the pool Evan discovered crabbing that afternoon and happily spent the next 3 afternoons on the pier with his crab net, watching the water birds and tiny crabs skittering through the mud when the tide was low.
Our kids didn't do any of the resort activities but I did think they looked fun (from what I saw) and well organized. I can echo what others have said about wishing there was a table service restaurant on site, but I guess I understand why they don't...there are lots of nearby restaurants and all the rooms have a kitchen of some sort.. and as far as the 2 counter service places go...they were fine but they have the exact same menu at both places! A little more variety would be nice.
I LOVED the beach pool set up and the beach. It was perfect for me..I prefer to lay by the pool, but having the option to go for a stroll on the beach was awesome. We had a great day there on Friday.
Saturday morning we did the Dolphin Excursion from the resort. It was pricey at $40 per person, but it was a private trip for us (just 3 of us went) so I can't complain! We only saw one dolphin, but we saw him around the boat numerous times. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it. The tour guide Scott was great and answered all our questions.
I thought I would just list the restaurants we went to with comments...
Jalapenos - Mexican - just ok. It was late and we were starving!
Salty Dog Cafe - The kids loved it. We ate outside and the cornbread hushpuppies are to die for!! Otherwise the food is good, not great, but it was a fun place to eat lunch.
Crazy Crab - DD16 and I loved the seafood. DH is not a seafood eater and he had a steak which he said was just ok. The service was great and we had a nice table looking out on the water. It was a nice dinner.
One Hot Mama's - This restaurant is in a complex with 3 other restaurants (I think) The first time we tried to eat there the wait was an hour and a half at 8 pm! Yikes! We could not wait that long. We ate at one of the other places (can't remember the name but it was kind of a brew pub type place) and it was good! There's live music in the complex and it is a happening place!
We went back the next night and got a table at One Hot Mama's in about 20 minutes. They have mostly BBQ and we all liked it! Nothing to rave about, but it was good.
Stacks Pancakes - Good breakfast! Good service. The rest of our trip we ate breakfast in our room.
San Miguels - Excellent Mexican food. Chips and salsa were SO good. It is in walking distance and highly recommended!
Oh, also thought I'd mention... while we certainly didn't go to HHI to shop...there is some decent shopping there! 2 outlet malls, and of course your typical souvenir shopping in the marina areas. We like the shops at Harbour Town and also South Beach where Salty Dog is. When it rains, we shop! So we did a fair amount of shopping on those days.
In conclusion, I will say that our vacation at HHI was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Enough to do, but relaxing and low key. We are big Disney people and we have gone to WDW almost every summer for years and we just thought we'd try something different! We loved the natural surroundings, walking along the marsh, watching the birds, etc. The Disney touches are very understated, but they are there! We did a little pin trading and enjoyed the Disney quiz on the board in the shop every day. (BTW, the shop is tiny! I guess I understand it though since the resort is small too!) They put out cookies and lemonade in the lobby every afternoon which we would pick up and enjoy with our ice cream later in the evening. All the CM's were very personable.
I'd be happy to answer any questions! Thanks for reading!
Just thought I'd give a little report on our trip last week to the Disney Resort at Hilton Head Island! We had a great time, despite 2 1/2 days of rain!
We arrived Tuesday June 5th around 3:00 after an easy drive from Savannah in our awesome rental -a Ford F150 truck! It was a "free" upgrade from Thrifty and we actually weren't going to take it until we got in the mid size car they gave us and it was so smoke stinky we couldn't take it. So F150 it is! My kids loved it. (DD16 and DS12)
Our room was in the main lodge - we had a 1 bdrm unit with a partial marsh view... which was fine. I loved the unit itself...so roomy, the balcony with the rocking chairs..aahhh my coffee in the morning was heaven there! Also I have to mention my kids had to share the pull out bed which I was a little worried about...but according to my daughter it was VERY comfortable. She said it was better than the king bed in the bedroom!
We did our grocery shopping at Publix (prior to checking in) but we did also visit Piggly Wiggly during our stay for something we forgot.
I won't detail what we did everyday but I will say the first 2 days with rain we were fine with exploring and checking out the area. The 3rd day when we got up and it was overcast and drizzly we were starting to get a little sad...thankfully that afternoon it cleared up beautifully and we spent the rest of the day at the pool Evan discovered crabbing that afternoon and happily spent the next 3 afternoons on the pier with his crab net, watching the water birds and tiny crabs skittering through the mud when the tide was low.
Our kids didn't do any of the resort activities but I did think they looked fun (from what I saw) and well organized. I can echo what others have said about wishing there was a table service restaurant on site, but I guess I understand why they don't...there are lots of nearby restaurants and all the rooms have a kitchen of some sort.. and as far as the 2 counter service places go...they were fine but they have the exact same menu at both places! A little more variety would be nice.
I LOVED the beach pool set up and the beach. It was perfect for me..I prefer to lay by the pool, but having the option to go for a stroll on the beach was awesome. We had a great day there on Friday.
Saturday morning we did the Dolphin Excursion from the resort. It was pricey at $40 per person, but it was a private trip for us (just 3 of us went) so I can't complain! We only saw one dolphin, but we saw him around the boat numerous times. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it. The tour guide Scott was great and answered all our questions.
I thought I would just list the restaurants we went to with comments...
Jalapenos - Mexican - just ok. It was late and we were starving!
Salty Dog Cafe - The kids loved it. We ate outside and the cornbread hushpuppies are to die for!! Otherwise the food is good, not great, but it was a fun place to eat lunch.
Crazy Crab - DD16 and I loved the seafood. DH is not a seafood eater and he had a steak which he said was just ok. The service was great and we had a nice table looking out on the water. It was a nice dinner.
One Hot Mama's - This restaurant is in a complex with 3 other restaurants (I think) The first time we tried to eat there the wait was an hour and a half at 8 pm! Yikes! We could not wait that long. We ate at one of the other places (can't remember the name but it was kind of a brew pub type place) and it was good! There's live music in the complex and it is a happening place!
We went back the next night and got a table at One Hot Mama's in about 20 minutes. They have mostly BBQ and we all liked it! Nothing to rave about, but it was good.
Stacks Pancakes - Good breakfast! Good service. The rest of our trip we ate breakfast in our room.
San Miguels - Excellent Mexican food. Chips and salsa were SO good. It is in walking distance and highly recommended!
Oh, also thought I'd mention... while we certainly didn't go to HHI to shop...there is some decent shopping there! 2 outlet malls, and of course your typical souvenir shopping in the marina areas. We like the shops at Harbour Town and also South Beach where Salty Dog is. When it rains, we shop! So we did a fair amount of shopping on those days.
In conclusion, I will say that our vacation at HHI was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Enough to do, but relaxing and low key. We are big Disney people and we have gone to WDW almost every summer for years and we just thought we'd try something different! We loved the natural surroundings, walking along the marsh, watching the birds, etc. The Disney touches are very understated, but they are there! We did a little pin trading and enjoyed the Disney quiz on the board in the shop every day. (BTW, the shop is tiny! I guess I understand it though since the resort is small too!) They put out cookies and lemonade in the lobby every afternoon which we would pick up and enjoy with our ice cream later in the evening. All the CM's were very personable.
I'd be happy to answer any questions! Thanks for reading!
