How I love to linger here- a HHI trip report -Complete 4/27

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Thursday March 25

I decided to ride over to Hilton Head Social Bakery for pastry for breakfast. When I opened my door, I was super surprised to see a present hanging on my doorknob- I had won a prize for trivia from the previous day.

The trivia question had been: What Disney Legend is responsible for the art on the concourse of the Contemporary Resort? I was surprised to hear that there had only been 3 correct guesses before I made mine. Do you know the answer???

I got a cute handwritten note, the HHI Magnet, and some chocolates & stickers. So always play trivia when you are going to the Mercantile or Tide Me Over- it's not a big prize, but free stuff is always nice!

Wow, that's really neat about the trivia! We played when we went in September, but they weren't doing prizes at that time. I hope they keep it up!

Also, I agree about the trike bike being a confidence booster. It had been so long since I rode a bike, but after the trike, I felt I could probably use a regular bike next time....maybe! haha....

 

[hhisc16]

I had no idea that there was a fire at the Beach House. How fun!

Do you remember what your room number was that had a large balcony?

Hope you had a wonderful trip as well- feel free to jump in with your thoughts/impressions- and thanks for following along!

Room 1136 had the double length balcony.
It was a studio on the 3rd floor in the main lodge.

 

[StayAwake]

Friday March 26

It was time to say goodbye to Hilton Head. I packed up the car and checked out, after being reassured that I would still be allowed to access the Beach House for the full day of my checkout. I always like to get a breakfast on a travel day, as often I'm eating at times I wouldn't usually prefer. I chose Stack's, which is a 5 minute or so drive from the resort.

The portion size for the price was very good, but the food was just OK. It sounded better than it tasted. I had the low country omelet: Omelet folded over lump crab & avocado topped with hollandaise and capers. They did let me substitute grits for the home fries.



I headed over to the beach house for one more morning of pool time. They have lockers in the restrooms which are available for free, which made it easy to shower and change into traveling clothes after getting into the pool.

I was able to order from the pool bar since it was a Friday and they were serving more than just snacks- I grabbed a cheeseburger & fries.



Nothing fancy, but it hit the spot. I also had to have one last snack.



Oh, Dole Whip. You are always delicious and never disappoint.

Then it was off to the airport to get gas, return the rental car and get checked in. The airport is so small that they wouldn't let me go through TSA security to the gate because I was there too early, and then they closed the checkpoint for about 30 minutes. Which of course led to a long line when they reopened and everyone rushed the security line.

Flying back to Atlanta was very turbulent, but then from Atlanta to home was much better. No airport delays this time, so I got home right about as planned, with enough time to get a load of laundry in before bed.

I'm going to finish this up in the next post with some overall thoughts. Thanks again to everyone for reading along!

 

[StayAwake]

Wrap-up/Overall Thoughts

It was fun to try another DVC resort. I enjoyed Hilton Head as a destination, but it paled in comparison to Aulani/Hawaii. I'll try to keep from comparing the two in my overall summary.

Things I enjoyed @ HHI:

• Food Scene on the island
• Different vibe of Beach House & Resort areas
• Rocking chairs on the balcony
• Ability to order Tide me Over from the room to have it ready when I arrived
• Activities available
• Cast members
• Affordability of the room

Things I didn't enjoy @ HHI:

• Noise in the room (especially people in the room above me)
• Short hours of Tide me Over
• Limited hours and services at Beach House
• Terrible layout of main pool/mercantile/Tide Me Over area
  • To not have a bathroom on the same "floor" as the pool area is just asking for disaster.
• Steps to everything- very few elevators and nothing at the resort or beach house is on the same level your car is

This trip was overall very relaxing and enjoyable, but I'm not dreaming of going back there like I was after I went to Aulani. Still, I'm glad I went and tried it out.

 

[hhisc16]

Wrap-up/Overall Thoughts

It was fun to try another DVC resort. I enjoyed Hilton Head as a destination, but it paled in comparison to Aulani/Hawaii. I'll try to keep from comparing the two in my overall summary.

Things I enjoyed @ HHI:

• Food Scene on the island
• Different vibe of Beach House & Resort areas
• Rocking chairs on the balcony
• Ability to order Tide me Over from the room to have it ready when I arrived
• Activities available
• Cast members
• Affordability of the room

Things I didn't enjoy @ HHI:

• Noise in the room (especially people in the room above me)
• Short hours of Tide me Over
• Limited hours and services at Beach House
• Terrible layout of main pool/mercantile/Tide Me Over area
  • To not have a bathroom on the same "floor" as the pool area is just asking for disaster.
• Steps to everything- very few elevators and nothing at the resort or beach house is on the same level your car is

This trip was overall very relaxing and enjoyable, but I'm not dreaming of going back there like I was after I went to Aulani. Still, I'm glad I went and tried it out.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip to DHHIR!
I have not been to Aulani, but it sounds like the two beach resorts are completely different.
I read that DHHIR has around 100 rooms vs. Aulani has around 800 rooms.
I completely agree with the issue short hours of Tide Me Over/Beach House.
I also wonder why Disney did not originally put more rooms into a building comparative to the Live Oak Lodge since it has an elevator.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Wrap-up/Overall Thoughts

It was fun to try another DVC resort. I enjoyed Hilton Head as a destination, but it paled in comparison to Aulani/Hawaii. I'll try to keep from comparing the two in my overall summary.

This trip was overall very relaxing and enjoyable, but I'm not dreaming of going back there like I was after I went to Aulani. Still, I'm glad I went and tried it out.

Thanks so much for this trip report, it was fun reading along!

I agree with your overall takeaways, too. I wish food service hours were longer, and less steps would also be nice (I think the buildings are elevated for flooding purposes). Aulani sounds amazing. I also really want to try Vero Beach!

 

[StayAwake]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip to DHHIR!
I have not been to Aulani, but it sounds like the two beach resorts are completely different.
I read that DHHIR has around 100 rooms vs. Aulani has around 800 rooms.
I completely agree with the issue short hours of Tide Me Over/Beach House.
I also wonder why Disney did not originally put more rooms into a building comparative to the Live Oak Lodge since it has an elevator.

Yes, that is a good point- Aulani has a ton more rooms than HHI. With social distancing requirements, the line for an elevator was very long at peak times.

And understand why things are built up on "stilts" but more accessibility would have been nice.

Thanks for reading along!

 

[StayAwake]

Thanks so much for this trip report, it was fun reading along!

I agree with your overall takeaways, too. I wish food service hours were longer, and less steps would also be nice (I think the buildings are elevated for flooding purposes). Aulani sounds amazing. I also really want to try Vero Beach!

Thank you for reading along!!

Aulani is amazing- I would highly recommend.

I wasn't sure I was interested in Vero Beach, but the more I read about it, the more interesting it becomes. Maybe one day? I still have to hit all the global Disney Parks, but after that can turn my focus to staying at all the DVC resorts at least once. Always need to have some Disney goals, right?

 

[cruisehopeful]

Enjoyed your report. I often think about a stay like that. To me, it's similar to going on a little cruise. Plenty of time to decompress which is a big contrast to spending all day at theme parks. Not sure if I will ever make it to HHI, but it does like a nice little break.