Hilton Head lovers....

[Disneyaholic]

I CANT WAIT!!!

You are going to do a trip report, I hope? Or at least a summary of sorts to let us know about new cast members, new activities, etc???

We have to wait till July 3 (5 weeks from today!) to go and we're all getting anxious!!

 

[kaw1106]

It seems most special events take place on the weekdays. I am wondering about weekends. We will be there a Friday through Monday in June and am curious about special events on the weekend at the resort. I am suprised there are no fireworks on the weekends.

 

[triplefigs]

The fireworks are actually part of Shelter Cove HarbourFest which is held every Tues in the summer. There are tons of activities at SC also, and it is a Blast! We went last June 4-11, and our kids loved every second of it. Shannon Tanner is in Shelter Cove as well. Definitely do not miss it!

http://www.sheltercovehiltonhead.com/

Have a great time! We'll be heading back to HHI next summer (alternating between WDW and HHI).

 

[kaseyC]

We are less than 2 weeks out from our trip and I wanted to thank everyone who particpated in this thread!

To all the First time visitors to HHI, I hope you all have a wonderful time. It really is a wonderful place to relax and spend great time with your family. Relax... take it all in, stroll about... veg....

I CANT WAIT!!!

Thanks Laura, We leave on Saturday for our first visit to HHI and we are really looking forward to a fun and relaxing time. It is also our first driving vacation with our 3 DDs (wish us luck wit that ).
This thread has been great for planning. Thanks for starting it!

 

[Laurabearz]

KaseyC.... Howdy neighbor!!! Driving to HH eh??? We toyed with the idea... it's something like 12-15 hours (without kids... lol) since the airfare is so steep from Chicago to SAV... so we are flying into Jacksonville and driving the 3 hours into HH... I say driving times without kids since our one and only long Road Trip was to Ohio which would have been 5 hours, but turned into 9 hours with the kids... I couldnt for the life of me get them all to go potty at the same rest stop... One dd would go.. the other refused... then 20 minutes later she needed to go.... then 30 minutes later the boy would poop.... So do you best to get them all to do their thing all at the same rest stop...

Bubbles are also good for rest stops...

Have a safe drive!

 

[Doug Wolfe]

I just got back on Saturday evening May 28th from a week in a two bedroom villa at Hilton Head. It was perfect.

Do Disney's Low Country Dolphin Tour. It was absolutely wonderful. The kids loved it and so did their 49 year old father.

You sign up for the tour at the community hall right next to the Big Dipper pool. It is a good idea to sign up 24 to 48 hours in advance. The boat holds only 6 people, so generally it is just your family. This tour lasts about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Tell them you want "Scott" to be your tour guide. He is very knowlegable. He also brings his dog "Woody" with him, a wonderful black lab. Woody sits on the front of the boat and is his official dolphin spotter.

 

[cgcw]

It is also our first driving vacation with our 3 DDs (wish us luck wit that ).

We did the drive 4 summers in a row. It really wasn't all that bad. The kids enjoyed watching movie after movie -- the VCR & DVD players were a God send. We always left early -- about 3 am and drove as far as we possibly could before stopping for the night. Last summer we made it all the way to Columbia before calling it a day. Driving from there to HH was a breeze.

This summer I found reasonable airfare from O'Hare to Savannah through Independence Air. We're flying in Saturday, staying at a hotel on Hilton Head Saturday night and we'll check into the resort early Sunday morning. Same thing at the end, check out of the HH resort, check into a hotel on HH and drive back to Savannah in the morning for our flight back. We'll have all day Sunday through the entire day Saturday that week to enjoy.

Have a great trip. Your going to love Hilton Head. :thewave:

 

[gopherit]

I just got back on Saturday evening May 28th from a week in a two bedroom villa at Hilton Head. It was perfect.

Do Disney's Low Country Dolphin Tour. It was absolutely wonderful. The kids loved it and so did their 49 year old father.

You sign up for the tour at the community hall right next to the Big Dipper pool. It is a good idea to sign up 24 to 48 hours in advance. The boat holds only 6 people, so generally it is just your family. This tour lasts about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Tell them you want "Scott" to be your tour guide. He is very knowlegable. He also brings his dog "Woody" with him, a wonderful black lab. Woody sits on the front of the boat and is his official dolphin spotter.

How often does the dolphin tour occur per day? Is there a risk, during the busier summer, that it sells out and if so, how far in advance? Do you have to reswrve it in person / downpayment?

We will be in SOuth Carolina a few days before we check in for our week in August... if I thought sell-out were an issue, I would try to call ahead (once I got the 10 day forecast off Weather Channel!) and book it so that we were that much ahead of the game. I get the sensation that most folks hit HHI from weekend to wkend, perhaps even avoiding a Sat night here or there if they can (those wkend pts are UP there, huh!) ANd if Scott and his pooch are in high demand... well, some pre-planning might help. ON the other hand -- if you long-timer HHI folks tell me that this isn't an issue, then I'll take ya at your word! So which is it -- hard to book, or easy? How far in advance do you recommend?

We would probably appreciate that members discount, too -- how fast would THAT day fill up (Wed, I think?) We are a fam of 5, so we pretty much take up a boat all on our own...

THANKS! (I'm getting excited about this!)

Cindy

 

[cgcw]

How often does the dolphin tour occur per day? Is there a risk, during the busier summer, that it sells out and if so, how far in advance? Do you have to reswrve it in person / downpayment?

We've never had a problem booking the tour once we are there. We've always checked in on a Sunday. I'm not certain as to how many times per day it runs but I believe it's every 2 hours. Scott has 2 boats (unless he's adding another or two ).

Wednesday is member day and offers the discount. I would suggest if you plan to do the dolphin tour that day, book it as soon as you get to the resort.

We are a family of 4 and have always had our own tour.

 

[klabold]

Went for the first time this past April and we loved:

Camp fires
Pool
Beach - we had an awesome sandbar
Scavenger hunt
Bunny Hunt
Shuffle Board
Bikes - rent for length of stay
RELAXING!!!!

My kids are 4 and 8.

Enjoy!

Kim

 

[Tanya]

Just got back on Friday from Hilton Head... we had a nice, relaxing trip...

Hey Doug - we were there the same time as you!... I wanted to do the Dolphin tour with Scott so bad but my parents never would have done it and I didn't just want to leave them.... Maybe we will try it next year...

Thank God the weather was great.... My restaurant choices got alittle screwed up because my son kept crying and my dad was freaking that he had to go to a restaurant with him...

Basically hung out.... didn't go to the pool at the resort at all... we did the beach house..... pool/beach. Just basically hung out...

Hopefully next year we will do more and not have my parents (or should I say dad)... ha! with us.

 

[cinderella97]

We're leaving in 2 weeks. Just booked our flights into Savannah on Friday from Detroit. We were driving, but DH had back surgery. Looking forward to some R&R. I can't wait for the fireworks, dolphin cruise, relaxing on the the beach......DD who is 8 was so excited that we are now flying instead of driving. In a way, so am I!!

Laurabearz-Hopefully we'll meet up this time, since we missed each other at Halloween Party last year!

 

[westjones]

Can you request a guide for the dolphin cruise that does not take a dog with them? I have a DD with allergies to dogs AND she has asthma. When she has a reaction it means a week in bed with breathing treatments.

Are we able to request that our guide not take a dog with them, we would love to do this cruise, but I never thought about there being a problem with my DD's allergies.

DJ

 

[Doctor P]

There are numerous providers for dolphin cruises in the area. I am sure some of them, especially the larger boats, would be sans dog.

 

[triplefigs]

Can you request a guide for the dolphin cruise that does not take a dog with them? I have a DD with allergies to dogs AND she has asthma. When she has a reaction it means a week in bed with breathing treatments.

Are we able to request that our guide not take a dog with them, we would love to do this cruise, but I never thought about there being a problem with my DD's allergies.

DJ

We used Adventure Cruises (their office is in Shelter Cove marina). Kids under 3 are free. It was great! We saw tons of Dolphins, and the kids loved the big boat. There was no dog, and they even do a Tues night fireworks cruise.

Here's the link. Have fun! http://www.sheltercovehiltonhead.com/activities/cruises.html

 

[Laurabearz]

Laurabearz-Hopefully we'll meet up this time, since we missed each other at Halloween Party last year!

HH is not insane like MNSSHP so I am sure we will run into each other.... Me.. fat lady with wild hair (multi colored pinks and purple, but alas, the lime green faded) with 3 kiddies... 2 girls and stinker boy (in a lime green swim trunk) Plus I am lame and will have lime green ribbons on most of our stuff!

Sad isnt it....

 

[Laurabearz]

Can you request a guide for the dolphin cruise that does not take a dog with them? I have a DD with allergies to dogs AND she has asthma. When she has a reaction it means a week in bed with breathing treatments.

Are we able to request that our guide not take a dog with them, we would love to do this cruise, but I never thought about there being a problem with my DD's allergies.

DJ

If you do opt to use Scott... I would have him wipe down the boats for stray dog hair, just to be on the safe side..... ((((Hugs))))

 

[westjones]

We used Adventure Cruises (their office is in Shelter Cove marina). Kids under 3 are free. It was great! We saw tons of Dolphins, and the kids loved the big boat. There was no dog, and they even do a Tues night fireworks cruise.

Here's the link. Have fun! http://www.sheltercovehiltonhead.com/activities/cruises.html

Thanks for the link! The fireworks cruise sounds great too! I also like the idea of the larger boat. I bookmarked your link!
DJ

 

[WDWNewbie]

Laurabearz--
Thanks for starting such a great thread! Wow--3 months ago this started and now you are almost leaving for your trip!

Have a fantastic time--and please let us know about whazzup with the activities/naturalist when you get back!

 

[sgtpet]

Have a great time, just got back from HH. Another wonderful trip there.