Just returned from an incredible week at HH. This was our first trip on points (our home resort is VWL), and we could not have had a better experience. We drove all night and with stops the trip took about 16 hours. We stayed in a 1 bedroom - 3012. The entrance to our unit faced the marina/parking area at the very end of the resort, and the balcony (with charming rocking chairs and picnic table) faced a courtyard and (in the distance) the pool area. I had requested a unit near the pool, but as many of you know, there aren't many 1 bedrooms outside the main building. I was initially disappointed to not be closer to the pool (since that's where we spent a significant amount of time) but quickly decided I liked where we were - close enough to the pool to run back to the room for something, but far enough away to not hear the pool noise. Our unit was immaculate and well maintained. The only slight annoyance was that I could never seem to get it light enough - there were plenty of lamps around, but maybe they need brighter bulbs or something. It was dark inside this unit even during the day, because it was shaded by beautiful trees.
The CMs were great. We got a "Welcome Home" when we checked in and then had a message from our guide. The staff knew my 3 yr old by name after just a few days, and Cathy (sp?) was just terrific. When the campfire circle got flooded, she got out some rubber duckies and wading boots, and sent the kids in to play. She put on a pair of boots herself and took my DD by hand into the water. (We had one night of rain the whole week, but it was enough to flood the campfire, many of the paths between buildings and underneath most of the buildings - no wonder they're on stilts!)
We did Dolphin Discovery - our guide was Mike, who we really enjoyed. He told us that until recently he had a contract with Disney to do the dolphine cruises, the fishing trips and one other of the activities, but that he has now entered into a partnership with Disney - he wears a Disney name badge and told us he had to let some of his employees go because of tatoos and piercings, but that he was happy with the new arrangement. We saw dozens of dolphins and liked hearing about some of the quirky island inhabitants - human and otherwise.
DH did the nature kayak trip and loved it. This was his first kayaking experience and he's hooked. He saw tons of birds, black tipped sharks, etc.
We went to a storytime in Big Murgie's and on Friday night we went to an Oyster Roast where Disney had live entertainment. Very fun - laid back, small, casual. The campfire was lit and we did s'mores for dessert.
We rented bikes for a half day and biked along 278 on the bike path, mostly to get a feel for the area.
We spent two afternoons at the beach, and didn't use the beachhouse pool at all. I didn't find having drive to the beach at all inconvenient, and if we didn't have to drive there, we probably never would have left the resort - not necessarily a bad thing, but at least we saw some of the other resorts/timeshares at Palmetto Dunes. I loved the beach - I liked it much better than Vero Beach, and I think it's my new east coast favorite. The only thing missing was the blue green water of Bermuda or Hawaii. DD and DS (9mos) could run and crawl all over the packed sand, the outgoing tide left huge "puddles" that the kids played in by the hour, and there was plenty of room to spread out. One of the afternoons we were there it was pretty cloudy and we almost had the beach to ourselves - the kids could run and run. It was wonderful.
We wished Tide Me Over stayed open to 6 - with two little ones it was tough to try to go out to eat after they'd had a long day of playing. We went to Giuseppe's for pizza one night, we ate in one night, we had "take out" from Scott's Fish Market one night, we went to Tony Roma's one night and otherwise we had sandwiches in the unit.
We did Tommy's treasure hunt and since our kids are so little, we enjoyed it much more than they did.
Overall an excellent first experience and now I'm counting the days until our next trip in May!
The CMs were great. We got a "Welcome Home" when we checked in and then had a message from our guide. The staff knew my 3 yr old by name after just a few days, and Cathy (sp?) was just terrific. When the campfire circle got flooded, she got out some rubber duckies and wading boots, and sent the kids in to play. She put on a pair of boots herself and took my DD by hand into the water. (We had one night of rain the whole week, but it was enough to flood the campfire, many of the paths between buildings and underneath most of the buildings - no wonder they're on stilts!)
We did Dolphin Discovery - our guide was Mike, who we really enjoyed. He told us that until recently he had a contract with Disney to do the dolphine cruises, the fishing trips and one other of the activities, but that he has now entered into a partnership with Disney - he wears a Disney name badge and told us he had to let some of his employees go because of tatoos and piercings, but that he was happy with the new arrangement. We saw dozens of dolphins and liked hearing about some of the quirky island inhabitants - human and otherwise.
DH did the nature kayak trip and loved it. This was his first kayaking experience and he's hooked. He saw tons of birds, black tipped sharks, etc.
We went to a storytime in Big Murgie's and on Friday night we went to an Oyster Roast where Disney had live entertainment. Very fun - laid back, small, casual. The campfire was lit and we did s'mores for dessert.
We rented bikes for a half day and biked along 278 on the bike path, mostly to get a feel for the area.
We spent two afternoons at the beach, and didn't use the beachhouse pool at all. I didn't find having drive to the beach at all inconvenient, and if we didn't have to drive there, we probably never would have left the resort - not necessarily a bad thing, but at least we saw some of the other resorts/timeshares at Palmetto Dunes. I loved the beach - I liked it much better than Vero Beach, and I think it's my new east coast favorite. The only thing missing was the blue green water of Bermuda or Hawaii. DD and DS (9mos) could run and crawl all over the packed sand, the outgoing tide left huge "puddles" that the kids played in by the hour, and there was plenty of room to spread out. One of the afternoons we were there it was pretty cloudy and we almost had the beach to ourselves - the kids could run and run. It was wonderful.
We wished Tide Me Over stayed open to 6 - with two little ones it was tough to try to go out to eat after they'd had a long day of playing. We went to Giuseppe's for pizza one night, we ate in one night, we had "take out" from Scott's Fish Market one night, we went to Tony Roma's one night and otherwise we had sandwiches in the unit.
We did Tommy's treasure hunt and since our kids are so little, we enjoyed it much more than they did.
Overall an excellent first experience and now I'm counting the days until our next trip in May!
) and boy did it hurt. Had to go to the ER to get checked out and a tetanus booster (and some pain killers). I still have a small red welt on my foot 4 months after the fact. It just had me worried the rest of the trip for the little guys - I was stung in ankle deep water.
