Just back from DVC HHI......here's some feedback

[Kim&Chris]

We just returned last night. I'll try to make this report as "short and sweet" as possible.

The resort: The resort, as with any other Disney resort, is spotless. The Big Dipper pool was a blast, but the pool at the Beach House was freezing (CM's said that they forgot to turn the heater on).

Activities: There were TONS of things for kids of all ages. We saw alot of kids & adults participating in birdhouse painting, bird watching, campfires, the shrimp boil, and more. The only activity we did was the dolphin discovery, which I would highly recommend. The boat is small, so only about 8 - 10 guests go out at a time. We saw three groups of dolphins, two of which came right up to the boat to say "hi"!!! Well worth the $$$.

Private Affair with Chef Gordon: Worth every penny. I highly recommend this to any couple that wants a quiet, romantic dinner for two. Gordon had everything set up by the time we arrived at Signals, along with having the doors open to give us a spectacular view of the ocean. The meal was fantastic.

Our Studio Room: The only disappointment in our trip. I had originally requested a room that was NOT in the Live Oaks Lodge, but they gave me one anyway. No big deal, because I know that no request is guarateed. The room number was 1212 and it was almost right next to Big Murggie's Den. Beginning at around 7 am, kids ran up and down the corrider to get to the Den, which woke us up every time . Also, the room had the world's smallest refrigerator....definitely NOT the standard studio refrigerator. It was one of those tiny cube refrigerators. This room seemed to be the only studio on the floor with this type (we peeked into some other studio's while mousekeeping was cleaning, and all had the standard fridge). Also, the one and only shelf in the fridge was broken and kept falling out everytime we opened the door. There was no point in complaining because the resort was totally full, so they couldn't move us. Because we had brought groceries with us, we had to run out to WalMart and buy a cooler to store almost all of our purchases. Very frustrating, but that was really our only gripe.

 

[LindaDVC]

Hi--

We are heading to HH on Sunday April 13th.
We are looking forward to the trip!
We always enjoy relaxing at HH and will be returning for our annual summer trip in July.

Linda

 

[canda]

I am glad you had a good time. I could be wrong, but I think all the studios are in Live Oak. I bet Doc knows the answer.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

There are 21 studios, 5 are beneath the GVs and there are a few that overlook the marsh and boardwalk from the lodge. The rest are in the lodge/lodge area. We had studio 1221 a couple of years ago and while it was not in the lodge in was in the bank of villas off to the left of the lodge if you are facing the resort. It was HCA and was connected to the main lodge by the front balcony.

 

[KLR-wlv]

I understand about the lodge - we made reservations day by day at 11 months and requested Bldg 18 or marsh view - and we got the lodge. It was a bit noisy but we had a bigger fridge...I loved the resort so much that I ended up no caring too much about the location....

 

[VMS]

We also check in on Sunday. We have our Private Affair reservation for one night while we are there -- we did it last year and loved it. We had snow (luckily not as bad as forecasted) on Monday, so the kids were sent home early that day, and had a delayed opening yesterday. We have shoveled snow in each of the past six months!! We are soooo ready for this vacation!

 

[tas190]

The Dolphin trip is definitly worth the money we never left the inlet where the resort is and saw dolphins the whole time we were out.

 

[Friend Owl]

Did you do the dolphin watch with through the Disney resort or through someone else? We are a group of 8 and would like to do this trip.

 

[Kim&Chris]

We booked the trip directly through the Disney resort. I called approximately 3 days in advance and reserved it.

Just call the resort a few days prior to arrival and explain that you'd like to book a boat for your group only. They should be able to book it for you with no problem.

It's a little more expensive than the other trips on the island; Disney's cost is $30 per person. I didn't mind at all because the boats that Disney uses are significantly smaller than the other island dolphin excursion boats (dolphins are more likely to approach the smaller boats and the guests can get a super close-up look at them).

We had one that swam up to the boat, peeked up at us, then proceeded to swim around, under, and beside the boat. It was a blast! Because the boat is small, everyone got a chance to get close to the dolphin.

 

[tas190]

Through Disney the boat was right in front of the resort so you do not even have to drive anywhere

We had 6 of us (4 children - 2 under 3) and all loved it.