Live room report from HHI

[beezerdave]

Fantastic trip report! Thanks for sharing. I grew up in Bucks County and live just across the river now in NJ. Heading to HHI for our first trip in 9 (8?!) days! Woot!

 

[iloveokw]

Ted:

We will be at HH in a little over a month and can't wait. Do you remember seeing if they had a Member (or any other) Wine Tasting one evening? They didn't do it last year but have in past visits. Glad you had such a great laid back trip. That is what we LOVE about HH.

Thanks.

 

[podsnel]

Truly enjoyed your report- I can't wait to see your pics!! Thanks for giving so much detailed information on alot of the activities!

 

[tedhowe]

Thanks for the awesome reports! I'm counting down until our HHI visit. Can't wait. Hope you had a good rest of the drive back home here to PA. Looking forward to pictures too! Two more question...did the resort have life vests for the kids at the pool like the WDW resorts and how much should I plan to spend for the dolphin tour? Thanks again for all the info
Carla

The drive home was pretty easy. It's always iffy when you have to drive through the Richmond-DC-Baltimore area and today was no exception. We lost about 45 minutes near Fredericksburg, but that was the only problem. We stopped when we wanted to and made it home by about 8:45.

Yes, there were life vests for the kids. I think I forgot to mention a problem that we had with the life vests - DD3, who is still wearing pull ups - needs the life vest to be safe in anything more than 3 feet of water by herself. She likes the independence that floatation devices give her in the pool, so we let her wear it pretty much all the time. The first day, we used the strap that goes through the legs and it rubbed her raw in the crook of her leg. She has a big sore (in addition to the splinters in her feet - and later bumps. bruises and scrapes, she can certainly show that we were out for an active vacation!). For the rest of the week, we didn't use the strap between the legs - she really didn't need it, but whenever she would let her pull-up get wet, it would irritate her sore and she would come in the room saying "ouchy! ouchy!"

Be careful about the strap - we should have had her wear shorts over her one-piece swimsuit when we used the leg strap.

The Dolphin Tour is $40 per person from Disney - with a 6-person maximum for a tour. There are cheaper (about $20) tours operated by other companies that launch from elsewhere on the island - those are on bigger boats (20 to 25 people on the boat I think). It is also customary to tip the captain on a Disney cruise like this - we tipped 30 dollars (about 20%) so our total for the 3 of us was $190.00

 

[tedhowe]

Thanks so much for the report, I really enjoyed it!
Where did you stay in Florence?
We're driving down next month and will be stopping there for the evening.

We stayed at the Ramada Inn in Florence. I would NOT recommend it.

About all it really had going for it was that it was cheap. It's not that it was bad, but while not "run down", I would say that the rooms were "well worn".

Everything worked and was basically clean, but it's certainly not a first rate hotel. Older buildings and mediocre services. While they had "free wireless" I was experiencing about 50% packet loss which meant I effectively had no internet service there last night until I decided to use my cell phone instead of the wi-fi.

Also, this morning, we were walking up to the front desk building to partake of the free full breakfast, and two people stopped us are recommended that we go elsewhere - that the eggs were inedible. My wife needs to eat protein in the morning, so sticking to cereal and pastries was not an option.

We went back to our car, packed up the rest of our stuff and headed to the front desk to check out. While in line there, DW also heard at least 3 other guests complain not just about the quality of the breakfast (or lack thereof) but also about the surly employee of the hotel who was responsible for the breakfast service - who was rude and obnoxious when people complained to her that the food was bad.

We went across the street to Shoney's and had a decent breakfast and then hit the road.

There are about 300 hotels in Florence - I'd recommend staying away from the Ramada.

 

[tedhowe]

Ted:

We will be at HH in a little over a month and can't wait. Do you remember seeing if they had a Member (or any other) Wine Tasting one evening? They didn't do it last year but have in past visits. Glad you had such a great laid back trip. That is what we LOVE about HH.

Thanks.

I don't recall seeing anything about a wine tasting, but we really weren't looking for evening activities. I'll see if we still have the activity sheet and try to find out for you.

 

[JVL1018]

Hey Vick,
Our friends stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Florence, SC on the way to HH. We did the overnight thing and went straight thru. They have stayed there the past 2 years and liked it. Close to 95 and lots of places to eat.

No more Lumberton Fairfield Inn? I think of you when we drove through there.

I wanted to drive a little bit farther so we can get there sooner the next day-was waffling between Florence and Santee, and Jimmy picked Florence.
We stop in Lumberton on the way home, though. We stay all day at the resort, leave around 3 or 4 and drive to Lumberton, stay overnight and drive the rest of the way home on Day 2.

PS--Where are your pics from the trip???? Email me, I have been waiting patiently!

 

[JVL1018]

We stayed at the Ramada Inn in Florence. I would NOT recommend it.

About all it really had going for it was that it was cheap. It's not that it was bad, but while not "run down", I would say that the rooms were "well worn".

Everything worked and was basically clean, but it's certainly not a first rate hotel. Older buildings and mediocre services. While they had "free wireless" I was experiencing about 50% packet loss which meant I effectively had no internet service there last night until I decided to use my cell phone instead of the wi-fi.

Also, this morning, we were walking up to the front desk building to partake of the free full breakfast, and two people stopped us are recommended that we go elsewhere - that the eggs were inedible. My wife needs to eat protein in the morning, so sticking to cereal and pastries was not an option.

We went back to our car, packed up the rest of our stuff and headed to the front desk to check out. While in line there, DW also heard at least 3 other guests complain not just about the quality of the breakfast (or lack thereof) but also about the surly employee of the hotel who was responsible for the breakfast service - who was rude and obnoxious when people complained to her that the food was bad.

We went across the street to Shoney's and had a decent breakfast and then hit the road.

There are about 300 hotels in Florence - I'd recommend staying away from the Ramada.

Good to know, thanks! I will stay away!

I did a search and found a recommendation for the Wingate Inn..from myself in 2005. I have no recollection of ever staying there. The old mind goes fast..anyway I booked there.

 

[princessesrule4]

Thanks for the report - glad you had a great trip! We live here in SC -but still go to HHI for 4 or 5 days every summer because it is such a great, family- oriented vacation! We love Vero,too!