Hilton Head trip report

catshea

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 21, 2001
Messages
18
Trip Report
June 9 to 16, 2007
DVC – Hilton Head Island

This was our second trip using our DVC membership and our first trip to Hilton Head ever. We arrived by car about 230PM and given our room right away. We asked to be near the pool, but were told that was unlikely and were given room 1221, a one bedroom on the second floor of the lodge. This turned out to be a good location and since we went to the beach every day, we were glad we were close to the entrance. There was also covered parking and elevator access.

Our room was very clean and had a huge porch which was hidden by trees so it was very private. The room was very similar to the VWL in color and set up. I think the set up of the bathroom at the VWL was better, in HH the tub part of the bathroom was very open to the bedroom and the shower door kept getting hit with the door to the bathroom. It was an awkward arrangement.

Since our group was three adults, we did not do any of the activities planned each day. We rented bikes the first day and kept them for the week. The bike trip to the beach was short enough to be fun and long enough that we felt we were getting exercise. We also drove to the beach a lot and only once had difficulty parking. The Beach House is great; it was my favorite place at the resort. My only criticism is the short hours of the snack bar, only open to 4. The bar was open until 6, but closed all day on Sunday.

We bought a mug for refillable soda and felt that we got our money’s worth. Due to our distance from the resort’s pool area, we did not use the snack bar there. The mercantile and snack area are on the second floor above an activity area behind the pool. This seemed kind of remote to me, and there is no indoor seating for eating at either the beach or the snack bar by the pool. The lack of a restaurant/bar was something that kind of bothered me, but I was not sure how much I would have used one.

Overall, I liked the resort. There is no question that it is run by Disney, from uniforms to food to soap, it is 100% Disney. There is even a character for the resort. There are dolphins, sunset cruises, biking on the beach and lots of great restaurants on Hilton Head, but I do not know whether I will go back again, since it is a 16 hour drive from my home. The DVC resort is in a convenient location, mid-island, close to restaurants and stores; we give it “thumbs up”.
 
Thanks for the report! We've also had that villa and I agree, it's so convenient. I love the subtle Disney touches. Did you notice the Hidden Mickeys in the murals?
 
How much is it at HH for the Refillable mugs? Where do you get the refills?
 

thanks for the report....

No bar open on Sunday:scared1:

Is there a restaurant?
Kerri
 
Trip Report
June 9 to 16, 2007
DVC – Hilton Head Island

This was our second trip using our DVC membership and our first trip to Hilton Head ever. We arrived by car about 230PM and given our room right away. We asked to be near the pool, but were told that was unlikely and were given room 1221, a one bedroom on the second floor of the lodge. This turned out to be a good location and since we went to the beach every day, we were glad we were close to the entrance. There was also covered parking and elevator access.

Our room was very clean and had a huge porch which was hidden by trees so it was very private. The room was very similar to the VWL in color and set up. I think the set up of the bathroom at the VWL was better, in HH the tub part of the bathroom was very open to the bedroom and the shower door kept getting hit with the door to the bathroom. It was an awkward arrangement.

Since our group was three adults, we did not do any of the activities planned each day. We rented bikes the first day and kept them for the week. The bike trip to the beach was short enough to be fun and long enough that we felt we were getting exercise. We also drove to the beach a lot and only once had difficulty parking. The Beach House is great; it was my favorite place at the resort. My only criticism is the short hours of the snack bar, only open to 4. The bar was open until 6, but closed all day on Sunday.

We bought a mug for refillable soda and felt that we got our money’s worth. Due to our distance from the resort’s pool area, we did not use the snack bar there. The mercantile and snack area are on the second floor above an activity area behind the pool. This seemed kind of remote to me, and there is no indoor seating for eating at either the beach or the snack bar by the pool. The lack of a restaurant/bar was something that kind of bothered me, but I was not sure how much I would have used one.

Overall, I liked the resort. There is no question that it is run by Disney, from uniforms to food to soap, it is 100% Disney. There is even a character for the resort. There are dolphins, sunset cruises, biking on the beach and lots of great restaurants on Hilton Head, but I do not know whether I will go back again, since it is a 16 hour drive from my home. The DVC resort is in a convenient location, mid-island, close to restaurants and stores; we give it “thumbs up”.

Glad you had a good stay. 16 hours is a lot. It's 11 for us and it does cause us to limit our visits there. We prefer to take our car to Vero Beach... a 20 hour trip.... on the Amtrak Auto Train! :rotfl:

We were there (HHI) a few weeks ago and were very happy in the lodge. Even though we went to the beach only twice, we had a spectacular view that occasionally had dolphins below our balcony. And since we had bikes too, we used them for our back and forth to the main pool.
 
Thanks for the report! We are looking to go next year.

There is no restaurant on property b/c of building and zoning ordinances/ food & beverage lisence stuff. I understand that there are many within walking distance.
 
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I agree with the criticism on how early they close the snack bars. I really don't get that about HHI.

It is about money. Not enough people would eat there after 5 to justify keeping it open. I have also heard that Shelter Cove Merchants Assc. made that a rule when Disney first built to make sure we come over there to eat.
 
It is about money. Not enough people would eat there after 5 to justify keeping it open. I have also heard that Shelter Cove Merchants Assc. made that a rule when Disney first built to make sure we come over there to eat.

Not sure I agree with either. I think plenty of people would eat something past 5pm. I'm not saying stay open to 9pm, but 6 or 7pm for sure.
 
We have also just returned from our first Hillton Head trip.
We went with our 3 grandchildren and daughter. It was a blast.
We will definitely go again. As our 2 youngest grandchildren called it "Disney Summer". They are already asking to go back. Lots of activities for the kids and grandparents. It was one of the best vacations we've had.
OKW owners since 2000 and we love everything Disney.
 
Sounds like a good time. You must be similar in distance to Hilton Head as we are as it's about that long for us as well. We love to fly there, but it's hard to find airfare that's economical between Chicago & Savannah.

No bar open on Sunday:scared1:

And......the liquor stores also close at 7 p.m. So, for those of you in the market for something other than beer & wine (which you can buy at the grocery store), make sure and shop early and not on Sunday. Something about a law in SC. :rolleyes1 The front desk will tell you there is nothing open between there and GA during the restricted times. :eek:
 
Glad you had a good stay. 16 hours is a lot. It's 11 for us and it does cause us to limit our visits there. We prefer to take our car to Vero Beach... a 20 hour trip.... on the Amtrak Auto Train! :rotfl:

We were there (HHI) a few weeks ago and were very happy in the lodge. Even though we went to the beach only twice, we had a spectacular view that occasionally had dolphins below our balcony. And since we had bikes too, we used them for our back and forth to the main pool.

Hi, Rob, we have always flown down to Orlando...so I would love to hear about your autotrain experiences :flower3:

I have lots of questions, so I hope this isn't too much of an imposition:

Do you reserve a cabin (do you think one is necessary)?
Is the train ever crowded or chaotic?
Are the bathroom facilities clean and convenient?
And how are the meals?
How much do you usually pay for your trip on the autotrain? Is it possible to book a one way fare (I might consider renting a car to go down and then fly home out of MCO, rather than taking the train in both directions).
Is it a fun trip?
Have you experienced any delays? If so, how long of a delay, and are delays common occurrences?

My DH is all about getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible, so I'd say six or seven hours in a car is about his limit. That's probably just about how much time I'd budget for us to drive to Lorton from where we are outside of NYC :car:

Our five year wedding anniversary is coming up next May, so we're planning on some sort of week long vacation to celebrate (was really leaning towards HH, but haven't ruled out Vero, and trying the autotrain on the way down seems like it could be a little romantic :love:

Thanks! :goodvibes
 
Hi, Rob, we have always flown down to Orlando...so I would love to hear about your autotrain experiences :flower3:

I have lots of questions, so I hope this isn't too much of an imposition:

Do you reserve a cabin (do you think one is necessary)?
Is the train ever crowded or chaotic?
Are the bathroom facilities clean and convenient?
And how are the meals?
How much do you usually pay for your trip on the autotrain? Is it possible to book a one way fare (I might consider renting a car to go down and then fly home out of MCO, rather than taking the train in both directions).
Is it a fun trip?
Have you experienced any delays? If so, how long of a delay, and are delays common occurrences?

My DH is all about getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible, so I'd say six or seven hours in a car is about his limit. That's probably just about how much time I'd budget for us to drive to Lorton from where we are outside of NYC :car:

Our five year wedding anniversary is coming up next May, so we're planning on some sort of week long vacation to celebrate (was really leaning towards HH, but haven't ruled out Vero, and trying the autotrain on the way down seems like it could be a little romantic :love:

Thanks! :goodvibes

Hey Mrs. Nick, Glad you asked. Not an imposition at all.

All our trips to VB are now on the Auto Train (AT from now on)...

We love the AT. We board the train at around 3:30 it leaves at 4pm. Our car is on board and everything we want to bring is in the car... no restrictions, no baggage limits, we just walk in, check-in and board.

The first time down we went coach.... never again... like being on a bus. NOISE never ending and very chaotic. Our trip back and ever since has been in the mini sleeper compartment. This is real small, but it is your space.... quiet, and comfortable compared to sleeping in a seat.

It is not cheap, but when you compare the costs of gas, (or airfare) car rental, having to rent chairs, umbrella, boogie board, etc. the cost becomes reasonable. The cost for us has averaged just under $800 (round trip) for the two of us and our car.

We have come to understand that the AT is a primary transportation for "Snow Birds" (retired folks migrating). Going south it is very busy in the fall and coming north it is very busy in the spring.

If you are in a sleeper car you get a very, very, good dinner... Sit down... and you choose between four or five excellent entrees. Including vegetarian if you wish. I almost always get the prime rib... except once I got Salmon.

You have the choice of eating at 5, 6 or 7pm. We always choose 5pm. After that they show a current movie at 7pm and 9pm in the lounge car. We watch the 7pm movie and go back to our cabin to hit the bed.

And, by the way... the AT is the only train that has a smoking lounge. We have had some of the best times playing cards with fellow smokers in the smoking lounge.

We have experienced a couple of delays... one when the tracks were overwhelmed by freight trains and we had to wait our turn, and another when someone put a shopping cart on the tracks and we ran over it. In both cases we experienced about a 3 hour delay in arrival. This is out of about 15 trips.

Typically though, we board the train at 3:30, eat dinner at 5pm, watch the movie at 7pm and go to bed at around 9 to 10 pm. The first couple of times you don't sleep like you do at home because of the swaying and noise, but after that you become accustomed to it and sleep pretty well.

Breakfast is available at 6 am. This is a "continental breakfast"... cereal, muffins, fruits, bagels, etc. At 8 am (if all has gone well) you arrive at Sanford, FLA. (about 2 hours to VB).

We now consider going the AT a part of our DVC vacation. It is an experience in itself... I really love seeing all the different sites and towns along the way. You really get to see how people live in remote locations.

They also have the sightseeing car that has windows in the roof. When you get out into no-where you can really see a lot of stuff in the sky.

Having gone back and read your questions... I see I did not answer the question about the bathrooms... Strangely, DW has a better opinion of these than I do. They are very much like bathrooms on an airliner. Early in the trip they are quite clean, but by the end of the trip some of them are not so clean. They have about 6 per car and I always choose the one furthest away. I have not ever experienced an unacceptable situation, but sometimes I am careful about what I touch. Nonetheless, I brush my teeth and take care of all other needs in the bathrooms. DW has also used the shower and she said it was actually very nice.

Bottom line... pack everything you need in your car... board the train... eat dinner... watch a movie... sleep... eat breakfast (or take a shower and then eat breakfast)... and you arrive... get your car, and you're at VB by 11 am (or WDW by 10 am). Hopefully "Room Ready". We have only experienced not getting room ready 2 times at VB. Even then we just enjoyed the pool while waiting.

We have had many wonderful experiences travelling the AT to VB... We won't ever do it any different.

Hope I answered all your questions...

For us AT to VB is :thumbsup2
 
Rob, thank you so much for taking the time to post such a detailed description of your experiences on the AT.

Now I know to make sure to get a sleeper if we elect to try the AT (any recommendations on type of sleeper?). DH would be beside himself trying to sleep in the noisy environment you described in the coach section. And if I know him, he wouldn't be able to relax because he'd feel like he had to watch out for me (I love him for this, but sometimes I wonder how he thinks I got along in the world before I met him :rotfl: )

Oh, I have a question about showering...do they provide toiletries like soap and shampoo in the rooms like a hotel, or do you bring your own? Based on your assessment of the bathrooms being cleaner earlier in the trip, if we decided to take a shower on the AT, I think we would probably attempt to do that before going to sleep. We both have a kind of high skeeve factor at sharing bathroom facilities with others :crazy2: (snobby I know, but at least we're honest with ourselves - funny, this didn't bother me so much when I was in Europe in my twenties). This sort of reminds me of Starbox's aversion to buffets, lol. But, I digress. Eh, I'll have to remember to bring a can of lysol. On the other hand, maybe we could wait to make it to VB before showering.

Excellent to hear that the meals are good :thumbsup2 We are not fussy eaters, but we'd bring sandwiches if we heard otherwise.

That's sort of cool that they have the smoking lounge :smokin: . DH is a night owl (since he works second shift), so it's good to know that if he were feeling restless he would be able to find a place to unwind. Do you know if they allow cigar smoke (and even if they do allow cigars, if it would be rude to smoke one?)? DH does like to smoke a cigar now and then, especially on vacation, so being able to smoke a cigar would be one more reason for us to try AT, but he always tries to be considerate of others, so just wanted to know the proper ettiquette, lol.

I like the idea of getting to Florida in the morning and being at VB by 11 AM. We would have to leave home by 8 AM to make it to Lorton in time to board, but I think I'll be able to get DH in the car, as long as I drive and let him sleep.

We're going to be at VB in 3 weeks, and my airfare is already booked for this trip, but I will definitely think about trying AT for our next trip based on your positive experiences! Now, just to convince DH :rolleyes1 Thanks again :goodvibes
 
Not sure I agree with either. I think plenty of people would eat something past 5pm. I'm not saying stay open to 9pm, but 6 or 7pm for sure.


I go several times are year to HHI. at least spring, summer, and early fall. All during swimming season. THe pool was full and Tide Me Over had very few customers. Plenty of people use the refill mug, but lunch orders were very few. At 12:30 there were only 3 families with food from Tide Me Over. I was the only person upstair getting food. I asked Nate if they have been busy and he said no. All of the tables were being used by people with food they have packed from their units. I had to ask to share a table to eat my burger.

At the beach, most people are gone by 4pm. As high tide rolls back in the place clears out. Its a great time to be there, the water is cooler than the pool and the waves are just a tad larger. Again not enough people aroung to keep Signals open. We are lucky to have Signals open until 5. Disney could justify a close at 3 and have everyone get drinks at the Surfmans Sand Bar.


It did seem that over half the resort did eat at the Tuesday night BBQ. There were alot of people there and it really smelled good. It looked like alot of fun. We had pizza and then went to the pool party. We did not go because our little boys just wanted pizza and rest a little longer so they could stay up for the fireworks.
 
(any recommendations on type of sleeper?).

In the past we've taken the mini, but are getting close to splurging to one with our own toilet. :)

Oh, I have a question about showering...do they provide toiletries like soap and shampoo in the rooms like a hotel, or do you bring your own?

They have soaps, but it is sort of industrial strength.

Based on your assessment of the bathrooms being cleaner earlier in the trip, if we decided to take a shower on the AT, I think we would probably attempt to do that before going to sleep.

Frankly, DW is the only one to do that. I feel I can go a night without a shower.

We both have a kind of high skeeve factor at sharing bathroom facilities with others :crazy2: (snobby I know, but at least we're honest with ourselves - funny, this didn't bother me so much when I was in Europe in my twenties).

I understand

This sort of reminds me of Starbox's aversion to buffets, lol.

I Didn't know that.... I'll have to tuck that one away.

I digress. Eh, I'll have to remember to bring a can of lysol. On the other hand, maybe we could wait to make it to VB before showering.

Actually, they have that in each bathroom.

Do you know if they allow cigar smoke (and even if they do allow cigars, if it would be rude to smoke one?)? DH does like to smoke a cigar now and then, especially on vacation, so being able to smoke a cigar would be one more reason for us to try AT, but he always tries to be considerate of others, so just wanted to know the proper ettiquette, lol.

The smoking lounge is not a real big area. If it is the wee hours of the morning and nobody else around I'd say okay, but if anyone there I wouldn't.

We're going to be at VB in 3 weeks, and my airfare is already booked for this trip, but I will definitely think about trying AT for our next trip based on your positive experiences!

Your welcome.... have a great trip. :beach:
 
Catshea,

I was wondering. Is the character you are speaking of in your HH report shadow the dog or an actual Disney character? We were at HH last thanksgiving weekend and filled out a questionaire when we returned home. In it, I recommended that Disney start having 1 or 2 characters at HH once a week. They could be flown in from Orlando for 1-2 days a week. It would be nice for the young and "young at heart" alike. It would especially be nice if Chip and Dale could make it to the campfires at HH once in a while. If Disney can have characters at Vero Beach, why not occasionally at HH. Just my $.02 worth. :surfweb:
 



















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