DisDaydreamer
I have this DIS-ease
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
- Messages
- 6,164
We drove down from Virginia staying one night in a hotel (yuk) on the way down. We arrived on Saturday at around 11 am and they had a room ready (1 bdrm) and we were very happy and thankful because tropical storm Barry was in full force that day. The rain poured all day Saturday and half of Sunday. We really didnt mind the bad weather because we know how badly the rain was needed in the southeastern states.
The room we got was simply (I think) the best possible room we could have gotten. It was 1128 on the 2nd floor of the lodge.
It was a corner room facing the eastern marina inlet and the marsh.
Our balcony was HUGE! 8-ft. by 45 ft.
and from it we could see both sunrise and sunset
The room was great. Clean and very nice layout. Just a couple minor maintenance items, but nothing worth mentioning here. I did give the desk a shortlist of items to pass on to maintenance when we left.
After we unpacked, we headed back out to the Piggly Wiggly (grocery store) which just about a mile or two from the resort. They had everything we needed. Some of their vegetables were a bit in rough shape, but we were able to pick out what we needed. Also, got the fixings for Margaritas and Bloody Marys from the liquor store in the same shopping center. They also had a TJ Maxx store there and a number of other small independent shops.
On Sunday the storm had cleared out by noon with scattered clouds for the rest of the day. We went down to the pool/community center and rented bikes for the week ($50 for 2). We didnt need our car again until departure. It was very nice riding bikes in and around the resort. There is a passage under the highway that takes you to and from the resort side to the beach side of the island. It is a bit narrow I wouldnt recommend anyone with a double wide stroller cross it.
Monday morning we took the dolphin tour which we booked at the same place we rented the bikes. We booked a 9 am tour because it was getting into the 90s in the afternoons. The tour is $35 per person and they take up to 6 people on the small boat with a canopy for shade. It was scheduled to last 1.5 hours, but there was no booking in the slot after us and we ended up staying out for over 2 hours. We did indeed get to see dolphins pretty close up along with much other wildlife. In all, we really enjoyed the cruise and would do it again.
In the afternoon we headed to the beach. We have been to HHI once before about 7 years ago, but DW and I both have very little memory of the stay and so most everything seemed like a new adventure to us. We got to the beach house and the parking lot was nearly full and we found 1 of only 2 spaces available. The beach house property is like a rectangular (maybe 2 acres) portal to the beach for DVC guests. The pool (IMHO) is too small for the crowds and we didnt stick around it for long. When we emerged from the tall vegetation onto the beach DW and I both had gaping jaws . As far as the eye could see in both directions umbrellas 3 and 4 deep. I cant say exactly what we were expecting, but this was not it. We walked a ways and setup camp. It was near high tide and the storm after effects were providing rideable waves. So I rode waves for about an hour until they became too small to work with. We sat on the beach for a little while longer and headed back to our room. We went back to the beach Wednesday morning at low tide and walked the beach looking at the wildlife in the pools left between the beach and the sand bar. These were the only times we went to the beach. This beach is much like Myrtle, or Ocean City and I think we have just become accustomed to the sparse number of people you find on Vero beach.
Monday evening we had dinner at the Kingfisher Seafood & Steakhouse. This is the closest restaurant to the resort and is just a short stroll. It is a casual family atmosphere. I had the Seafood Medley for $19.95 and DW had the special ($14.95) which you are allowed to choose from 4 entrée selections (she chose Beef tips). I thought my meal was very good and DW was not overly happy with hers. Part of this had to do with the beef having a sweet sauce on it and she doesnt like sweet flavors much. All the meals come with mashed potatoes and vegetable medley. The service was very prompt and attentive.
We spent most of our time at the main pool. As with the beach house pool, I feel the main pool and deck area are too small for peak times. Otherwise, there is a nice waterslide and the lifeguards and CMs seem very attentive to and playful with the kids. There are only 6 tables/umbrellas and if you dont get down there like at 8 am youre not likely to get one. I burn easily and always have an umbrella on the beach to limit my exposure, so I was diligent about getting down there early. I was really angered to find daily that multiple tables had towels on them at 8 am and people did not show up until 10 am or even until noon. The lifeguards go on duty and the slide opens at 10 am. I was tempted to take all those towels to the office and say here someone left their towels behind, but DW talked me out of it.
The pool has a large container full of life jackets for children.
Most types of toys and floatation devices are allowed except for rings, boards, and rafts. The lifeguard explained to me that those items make it too hard to see under them. You are allowed to take these items in after 5 pm when the lifeguards are off duty.
The rooms do have the pool/beach towels in them. They are bigger and thicker than the towels you used to get at the pool. This seems like a good idea and is likely saving a fair bit of labor and energy. You can trade in your used towels for new ones at the pool if you wish. In our 1 bdrm we received 5 of these towels.
I really love the grounds and the tree canopy that provides a shady walk around most of the resort.
And there some REALLY cool trees.
There are a plentiful number of picnic tables and grilles throughout the resort. We cooked hamburgers one evening on this one. It is a great spot for watching the sunset.
We found at Piggly Wiggly this perfect little bag of charcoal. You set the bag in the grille and just light the bag. Perfect
We are bird lovers and felt like we were in bird heaven. Even from our balcony we saw many cool birds. This Anhinga was drying its feathers after the storm. The Anhinga doesnt have oiled feathers so they have to dry them by spreading out their wings in the wind.
We also saw dolphins right under our balcony on a few occasions. I apologize about the picture. I saw the dolphin and grabbed my camera from the cool dry room and took it out into the warm moist air and the lens fogged up without me realizing it.
The room had a digital thermostat, but it didnt seem to be the motion sensor type. We never had any problems or complaints with the cooling/heating.
Wireless Internet can be picked up in Murggies Den and on the adjoining patio, and at the pools. I really wish DVC would get with the program and extend wireless to the rooms. It really wouldnt be very expensive at all to do.
I was a bit surprised to not find a recycling container in the room. I asked a mousekeeper about this and she said they used to recycle, but they dont have anyone to pick it up anymore. I dont get this and plan to write Disney about this. This is just too much waste to not be recycling.
The following topic is about smoking. I am just passing on the conditions and accommodations experienced, and do not want any discussion about it. Please do not respond to this topic and turn it into a discussion.
Keep in mind, we checked in on June 2nd, the day after the policy took effect. During our check-in process we asked about the smoking policy and the girl told us we could smoke on the balcony. Someone in the other room corrected her and she recalled that there was a new policy in effect. It took a few minutes for the CMs to find a map with the smoking stations on it. They didnt have one to give us, but showed us on one somebody had taped up in the office. There are 4 smoking stations (see the sticky carolmn has posted) and all are out in the open except for one is under the eve of Murggies Den. None of them were suitable for use during the rains. Fortunately for us we had the garage in our building, which we used. One of the stations is next to the grille in the photo above, another is between 2 buildings and both were very nice areas with seating. The one in the main pool area was just a pot with sand setting next to a walkway with no seating and forces anyone or people using it to stand in the walkway. It was a very awkward arrangement, and it didnt get used. We did on a number of occasions see people smoking on their balconies. I dont think many people even know about the policy change. I only knew about it because of DIS boards. There was no announcement or info given at check-in and the rooms still indicate smoking or non-smoking. The ashtrays did not get cleaned out daily. I did see someone smoking a cigar at the pool. He was one of those who towel reserved his table and didnt show up until 11 am so I didnt like him to start with. I am happy to say that a Disney rep approached him and made him extinguish it. They talked for about 15 minutes. All in all it seems that HHI is not completely ready or maybe even caring about the policy change. A work in progress I suppose.
We really enjoyed our stay and will be going back again. For us, we wont use HHI as a beach resort, but more as our wildlife resort.
I have also scanned the recreation activities calendar into a pdf file. If anyone wants a copy to see the typical summer schedule just pm with your email address and I'll send it to you.
The End.
The room we got was simply (I think) the best possible room we could have gotten. It was 1128 on the 2nd floor of the lodge.
It was a corner room facing the eastern marina inlet and the marsh.
Our balcony was HUGE! 8-ft. by 45 ft.
and from it we could see both sunrise and sunset
The room was great. Clean and very nice layout. Just a couple minor maintenance items, but nothing worth mentioning here. I did give the desk a shortlist of items to pass on to maintenance when we left.
After we unpacked, we headed back out to the Piggly Wiggly (grocery store) which just about a mile or two from the resort. They had everything we needed. Some of their vegetables were a bit in rough shape, but we were able to pick out what we needed. Also, got the fixings for Margaritas and Bloody Marys from the liquor store in the same shopping center. They also had a TJ Maxx store there and a number of other small independent shops.
On Sunday the storm had cleared out by noon with scattered clouds for the rest of the day. We went down to the pool/community center and rented bikes for the week ($50 for 2). We didnt need our car again until departure. It was very nice riding bikes in and around the resort. There is a passage under the highway that takes you to and from the resort side to the beach side of the island. It is a bit narrow I wouldnt recommend anyone with a double wide stroller cross it.
Monday morning we took the dolphin tour which we booked at the same place we rented the bikes. We booked a 9 am tour because it was getting into the 90s in the afternoons. The tour is $35 per person and they take up to 6 people on the small boat with a canopy for shade. It was scheduled to last 1.5 hours, but there was no booking in the slot after us and we ended up staying out for over 2 hours. We did indeed get to see dolphins pretty close up along with much other wildlife. In all, we really enjoyed the cruise and would do it again.
In the afternoon we headed to the beach. We have been to HHI once before about 7 years ago, but DW and I both have very little memory of the stay and so most everything seemed like a new adventure to us. We got to the beach house and the parking lot was nearly full and we found 1 of only 2 spaces available. The beach house property is like a rectangular (maybe 2 acres) portal to the beach for DVC guests. The pool (IMHO) is too small for the crowds and we didnt stick around it for long. When we emerged from the tall vegetation onto the beach DW and I both had gaping jaws . As far as the eye could see in both directions umbrellas 3 and 4 deep. I cant say exactly what we were expecting, but this was not it. We walked a ways and setup camp. It was near high tide and the storm after effects were providing rideable waves. So I rode waves for about an hour until they became too small to work with. We sat on the beach for a little while longer and headed back to our room. We went back to the beach Wednesday morning at low tide and walked the beach looking at the wildlife in the pools left between the beach and the sand bar. These were the only times we went to the beach. This beach is much like Myrtle, or Ocean City and I think we have just become accustomed to the sparse number of people you find on Vero beach.
Monday evening we had dinner at the Kingfisher Seafood & Steakhouse. This is the closest restaurant to the resort and is just a short stroll. It is a casual family atmosphere. I had the Seafood Medley for $19.95 and DW had the special ($14.95) which you are allowed to choose from 4 entrée selections (she chose Beef tips). I thought my meal was very good and DW was not overly happy with hers. Part of this had to do with the beef having a sweet sauce on it and she doesnt like sweet flavors much. All the meals come with mashed potatoes and vegetable medley. The service was very prompt and attentive.
We spent most of our time at the main pool. As with the beach house pool, I feel the main pool and deck area are too small for peak times. Otherwise, there is a nice waterslide and the lifeguards and CMs seem very attentive to and playful with the kids. There are only 6 tables/umbrellas and if you dont get down there like at 8 am youre not likely to get one. I burn easily and always have an umbrella on the beach to limit my exposure, so I was diligent about getting down there early. I was really angered to find daily that multiple tables had towels on them at 8 am and people did not show up until 10 am or even until noon. The lifeguards go on duty and the slide opens at 10 am. I was tempted to take all those towels to the office and say here someone left their towels behind, but DW talked me out of it.
The pool has a large container full of life jackets for children.
Most types of toys and floatation devices are allowed except for rings, boards, and rafts. The lifeguard explained to me that those items make it too hard to see under them. You are allowed to take these items in after 5 pm when the lifeguards are off duty.
The rooms do have the pool/beach towels in them. They are bigger and thicker than the towels you used to get at the pool. This seems like a good idea and is likely saving a fair bit of labor and energy. You can trade in your used towels for new ones at the pool if you wish. In our 1 bdrm we received 5 of these towels.
I really love the grounds and the tree canopy that provides a shady walk around most of the resort.
And there some REALLY cool trees.
There are a plentiful number of picnic tables and grilles throughout the resort. We cooked hamburgers one evening on this one. It is a great spot for watching the sunset.
We found at Piggly Wiggly this perfect little bag of charcoal. You set the bag in the grille and just light the bag. Perfect
We are bird lovers and felt like we were in bird heaven. Even from our balcony we saw many cool birds. This Anhinga was drying its feathers after the storm. The Anhinga doesnt have oiled feathers so they have to dry them by spreading out their wings in the wind.
We also saw dolphins right under our balcony on a few occasions. I apologize about the picture. I saw the dolphin and grabbed my camera from the cool dry room and took it out into the warm moist air and the lens fogged up without me realizing it.
The room had a digital thermostat, but it didnt seem to be the motion sensor type. We never had any problems or complaints with the cooling/heating.
Wireless Internet can be picked up in Murggies Den and on the adjoining patio, and at the pools. I really wish DVC would get with the program and extend wireless to the rooms. It really wouldnt be very expensive at all to do.
I was a bit surprised to not find a recycling container in the room. I asked a mousekeeper about this and she said they used to recycle, but they dont have anyone to pick it up anymore. I dont get this and plan to write Disney about this. This is just too much waste to not be recycling.
The following topic is about smoking. I am just passing on the conditions and accommodations experienced, and do not want any discussion about it. Please do not respond to this topic and turn it into a discussion.
Keep in mind, we checked in on June 2nd, the day after the policy took effect. During our check-in process we asked about the smoking policy and the girl told us we could smoke on the balcony. Someone in the other room corrected her and she recalled that there was a new policy in effect. It took a few minutes for the CMs to find a map with the smoking stations on it. They didnt have one to give us, but showed us on one somebody had taped up in the office. There are 4 smoking stations (see the sticky carolmn has posted) and all are out in the open except for one is under the eve of Murggies Den. None of them were suitable for use during the rains. Fortunately for us we had the garage in our building, which we used. One of the stations is next to the grille in the photo above, another is between 2 buildings and both were very nice areas with seating. The one in the main pool area was just a pot with sand setting next to a walkway with no seating and forces anyone or people using it to stand in the walkway. It was a very awkward arrangement, and it didnt get used. We did on a number of occasions see people smoking on their balconies. I dont think many people even know about the policy change. I only knew about it because of DIS boards. There was no announcement or info given at check-in and the rooms still indicate smoking or non-smoking. The ashtrays did not get cleaned out daily. I did see someone smoking a cigar at the pool. He was one of those who towel reserved his table and didnt show up until 11 am so I didnt like him to start with. I am happy to say that a Disney rep approached him and made him extinguish it. They talked for about 15 minutes. All in all it seems that HHI is not completely ready or maybe even caring about the policy change. A work in progress I suppose.
We really enjoyed our stay and will be going back again. For us, we wont use HHI as a beach resort, but more as our wildlife resort.
I have also scanned the recreation activities calendar into a pdf file. If anyone wants a copy to see the typical summer schedule just pm with your email address and I'll send it to you.
The End.
