Still unpacking, but here's a quick report:
Check-in on Thursday, August 26 was smooth (nice "welcome home" from the CM; first time we've ever gotten that). Given the "right before the usual Friday checkout flee" timing, the only one bedroom that was available was in the Live Oak Lodge building, on the first floor. Family walks over to check it out, and finds it to be far from the pool, and with a not particularly great view (of the boardwalk and what my son called "the swamp.")
So we called the desk and requested a room change. CM was nice, and she called back within five minutes stating another one bedroom villa in bulding 19 would become available Saturday. Fine, we said "you have a deal" (we can live with that given a nine night stay).
Subsequently enjoyed the pool and a trip to the Beach House (which is great, very user-friendly setup, perhaps the nicest of any North American beach resort I've ever been to).
Over the next eight days, we managed to avoid a hit from both Tropical Storm Gaston and Hurricane Frances. Gaston actually helped, as he moved past us to the east on Friday, the surf on the beach on was huge (7-8 feet) which resulted in hours of fun on the boogie boards (yes, some rip currents, but nothing terrible). Same thing happened the following Friday afternoon when the effects of Hurricane Frances began to be felt. Literally got some 100 yard rides on those waves, given how far out they were breaking.
On that subject, believe it or not a large number of Floridians fleeing the hurricane began flooding Hilton Head the middle of last week; all of the cheaper motels (Red Roof Inn etc). were packed with them by the time we left yesterday (in particular, anyplace that accepted pets was sold out).
But back to the resort and the island in general:
The good news:
- Per what others have mentioned, CMs at the resort were generally very, very nice - particularly those at the beach house. Beach is wide, clean and has great conditions for bodysurfing and boogie-boarding. The crowd there was very "family" and laid back. Many complemented me and my son on the huge, complex sand castles we build (for info on how we got the tools and learned how to do that, check out:
http://www.unlitter.com
- The HHI property is in generally great shape. Landscaping is wonderful, rooms and public areas clean. Great place to let a kid ride a bike around.
- Lots of nice dining in Shelter Cove right across the harbor, as well as scores of other options within 10-15 minute drive. Salty Dog is strongly recommended. A well-stocked Piggly Wiggly is a four minute drive away, so groceries are also readily available (we enjoyed cooking out on the grills).
- Resort Family events (campfire, ghost storytelling time) were enjoyable. This is definitely the place to go for a taste of 1950s-era "not-in-your-face" Disney. Enjoyed the fact that the staff put on the Shrimp boil (boy, that shrimp was HUGE and that roast pork was incredible) despite the fact the eveing weather that Tuesday was so-so (thank heavens the pool staff was NOT involved in this event; more on that below).
- Crabbing and fishing at the pier. Great fun for kids.
- The "Pirate" mini-golf down the highway is also a great break for the kids, as well as the ice cream place at the far end northern end of Shelter Cove.
And now, the not-so-good news:
- Pool management: the current "save-a-buck-if-we-think-the clientele-won't-notice-it" Disney Resort mentality reared it's ugly head here: since the pool slide can only be open when a lifeguard is in attendance --and since the SMALL four person lifeguard staff must manage BOTH the pool and rental desk -- slide hours are quite SHORT (10 to 6 supposedly, but in reality during our stay more like 11 to 2). Given our prior experience at the Boardwalk (where slide is open much, much longer) this was annoying.
Also, in event of thunder, pool obviously closed, but was supposed to re-open 20 minutes after last thunder was heard. However, almost EVERY afternoon we were at the resort, lifeguards used the first thunder as an excuse to shut down the pool for the rest of the day, even when the clouds disappeared and the sun came back out.
- Smoking clientele: this resort apparently attracts the rude, rude, RUDE variant of the current smoker (lots of license plates from New York and New Jersey in the parking lots - wonder if there's a connection here....). Building 19 - which we were in for 7 nights of our stay -- was NON-SMOKING. However, the two women in the studio next to our villa INSISTED on chain smoking on their balcony, and some grossly overweight JERK in the Grand Villa above our room did the same thing, but with cigars. Both parties made it almost impossible for us to enjoy our baclony at night. In addition, almost every evening several men lit up cigars at the pool, stinking up the entire area (I lost count of the number of people I heard complaining about that).
- Savannah: if you are planning a visit to HHI and are thinking of doing a day trip here, DON'T. Our flight yesterday wasn't until 6:30pm, so after we checked out we drove to Savannah "to see the sites."
The problems started right away: the directions the front desk at DVC HHI provides to Savannah are a joke, full of errors (distances are wrong, directions give wrong turns, etc). We managed to find our way there anyway, and upon arrival, were greated with a hot, tired and relatively worn-down southern city. The "tourist" area down by the river has some interesting dining and shopping, but other than that, Savannah is generally unattractive and this side trip was a waste. If you want some real fun, do Charleston instead (longer drive but a cleaner, prettier and much more interesting city).
Did those issues ruin our vacation? Of course not - but they did affect our general sense of the resort. But all in all, this was an relaxing, enjoyable trip, and HHI is definitely now on our list of places we'll likely return to.
Check-in on Thursday, August 26 was smooth (nice "welcome home" from the CM; first time we've ever gotten that). Given the "right before the usual Friday checkout flee" timing, the only one bedroom that was available was in the Live Oak Lodge building, on the first floor. Family walks over to check it out, and finds it to be far from the pool, and with a not particularly great view (of the boardwalk and what my son called "the swamp.")
So we called the desk and requested a room change. CM was nice, and she called back within five minutes stating another one bedroom villa in bulding 19 would become available Saturday. Fine, we said "you have a deal" (we can live with that given a nine night stay).
Subsequently enjoyed the pool and a trip to the Beach House (which is great, very user-friendly setup, perhaps the nicest of any North American beach resort I've ever been to).
Over the next eight days, we managed to avoid a hit from both Tropical Storm Gaston and Hurricane Frances. Gaston actually helped, as he moved past us to the east on Friday, the surf on the beach on was huge (7-8 feet) which resulted in hours of fun on the boogie boards (yes, some rip currents, but nothing terrible). Same thing happened the following Friday afternoon when the effects of Hurricane Frances began to be felt. Literally got some 100 yard rides on those waves, given how far out they were breaking.
On that subject, believe it or not a large number of Floridians fleeing the hurricane began flooding Hilton Head the middle of last week; all of the cheaper motels (Red Roof Inn etc). were packed with them by the time we left yesterday (in particular, anyplace that accepted pets was sold out).
But back to the resort and the island in general:
The good news:
- Per what others have mentioned, CMs at the resort were generally very, very nice - particularly those at the beach house. Beach is wide, clean and has great conditions for bodysurfing and boogie-boarding. The crowd there was very "family" and laid back. Many complemented me and my son on the huge, complex sand castles we build (for info on how we got the tools and learned how to do that, check out:
http://www.unlitter.com
- The HHI property is in generally great shape. Landscaping is wonderful, rooms and public areas clean. Great place to let a kid ride a bike around.
- Lots of nice dining in Shelter Cove right across the harbor, as well as scores of other options within 10-15 minute drive. Salty Dog is strongly recommended. A well-stocked Piggly Wiggly is a four minute drive away, so groceries are also readily available (we enjoyed cooking out on the grills).
- Resort Family events (campfire, ghost storytelling time) were enjoyable. This is definitely the place to go for a taste of 1950s-era "not-in-your-face" Disney. Enjoyed the fact that the staff put on the Shrimp boil (boy, that shrimp was HUGE and that roast pork was incredible) despite the fact the eveing weather that Tuesday was so-so (thank heavens the pool staff was NOT involved in this event; more on that below).
- Crabbing and fishing at the pier. Great fun for kids.
- The "Pirate" mini-golf down the highway is also a great break for the kids, as well as the ice cream place at the far end northern end of Shelter Cove.
And now, the not-so-good news:
- Pool management: the current "save-a-buck-if-we-think-the clientele-won't-notice-it" Disney Resort mentality reared it's ugly head here: since the pool slide can only be open when a lifeguard is in attendance --and since the SMALL four person lifeguard staff must manage BOTH the pool and rental desk -- slide hours are quite SHORT (10 to 6 supposedly, but in reality during our stay more like 11 to 2). Given our prior experience at the Boardwalk (where slide is open much, much longer) this was annoying.
Also, in event of thunder, pool obviously closed, but was supposed to re-open 20 minutes after last thunder was heard. However, almost EVERY afternoon we were at the resort, lifeguards used the first thunder as an excuse to shut down the pool for the rest of the day, even when the clouds disappeared and the sun came back out.
- Smoking clientele: this resort apparently attracts the rude, rude, RUDE variant of the current smoker (lots of license plates from New York and New Jersey in the parking lots - wonder if there's a connection here....). Building 19 - which we were in for 7 nights of our stay -- was NON-SMOKING. However, the two women in the studio next to our villa INSISTED on chain smoking on their balcony, and some grossly overweight JERK in the Grand Villa above our room did the same thing, but with cigars. Both parties made it almost impossible for us to enjoy our baclony at night. In addition, almost every evening several men lit up cigars at the pool, stinking up the entire area (I lost count of the number of people I heard complaining about that).
- Savannah: if you are planning a visit to HHI and are thinking of doing a day trip here, DON'T. Our flight yesterday wasn't until 6:30pm, so after we checked out we drove to Savannah "to see the sites."
The problems started right away: the directions the front desk at DVC HHI provides to Savannah are a joke, full of errors (distances are wrong, directions give wrong turns, etc). We managed to find our way there anyway, and upon arrival, were greated with a hot, tired and relatively worn-down southern city. The "tourist" area down by the river has some interesting dining and shopping, but other than that, Savannah is generally unattractive and this side trip was a waste. If you want some real fun, do Charleston instead (longer drive but a cleaner, prettier and much more interesting city).
Did those issues ruin our vacation? Of course not - but they did affect our general sense of the resort. But all in all, this was an relaxing, enjoyable trip, and HHI is definitely now on our list of places we'll likely return to.
