Owners of Hilton Head - why is this your 'home'?

[dcibrando]

I'm still debating entering the disney vacation club... in fact I am staying a Disney's Hilton Head (1 bedroom suite) in May 2006 for my honeymoon to check it all out.

Me and my fiance just got back from our second disney trip this year (stayed at pop both times) so I see us as being disney nuts.

One thing keeping me debating it is the dining plan. When we went a few weeks ago we took advantage of the dining plan and WOW how awesome! Our first meal was $92 at Wolfgang Pucks at DTD

so anyways... with Hilton Head only being about a 6 hour drive away from me (so it would be easier to drive there more often than fly to Orlando)... why did you as an owner of Hilton Head purchase there as your home resort?

 

[NCRedding]

I bought at Hilton Head because I also live about 6 hours from there, and I want to go some during the summer, so I felt I needed the 11 month booking window. I also felt that if we ever tired of WDW, then we could always go to HH. At the time, they were running incentives to sell HH, so I was able to buy at $62 a point, when all the other DVC (except Vero) were selling for $75 a point Thus far, I have always been able to book exactly what I want at WDW. I did do a 50 point add-on at BCV so I could do a short trip there with the 11 month booking window.

 

[CarolA]

I bought because they were selling it when I had some extra money. Those 50 points are going to be sold sometime soon. HH really disappointed me. When I go to the beach I want to WALK to the beach. I don't want it on the other side of a major road.

 

[dcibrando]

yea that is one of the things that I am worried about if I will like or not (no ocean view)

 

[WolfpackFan]

We did our add-on at HHI because my DW really loves the beach. Sure I wish the resort was right on the beach, but with the high cost of real estate on HHI, I can understand why they did it the way they did. Plus the way it is, they can give alot more units a water view than if they had put the resort on the ocean. Anyway, we love HHI and look forward to going back year after year.

 

[tiffany123]

Our initial DVC purchases (directly from DVC) were two 150 point contracts at HH. HH is a 12 hour drive from our home and we LOVE the resort. We travel only during summer vacations as DH is a teacher and coach so we knew that the 11 month window for reservations would be important for us. We don't mind the beach being on the other side of the road as we usually spend only early mornings or more likely, evenings on the beach and parking during those hours has never been a problem. While we love WDW too, I can see us making many more trips to HH than WDW----both because we can drive to HH easily and also because we are empty nesters who enjoy the more quiet atmosphere of HH. Since buying HH, we have bought two contracts at OKW also so I guess you could say we love both areas!

 

[Daitcher]

I bought because they were selling it when I had some extra money. Those 50 points are going to be sold sometime soon. HH really disappointed me. When I go to the beach I want to WALK to the beach. I don't want it on the other side of a major road.

I can't understand why you bought HH in the first place? It obviously isn't on the beach and doesn't claim that it is. It sounds like VB would be more your style. Why did you buy HH? Just curious.


DAVE

 

[justcruisin]

The maintenance fees were the lowest (at the time).

 

[Y-ASK]

We bought 50 pts recently and plan to stay there on the way down to WDW in order to break up the trip some (7 hours to HH, probably another 6 to WDW?). Couple days in HH and then on to the Kingdom!

Y-ASK

 

[TW1]

*****

 

[canda]

We bought HHI because we like to go to the beach every year. We like to go to WDW every 3-4 years. This way, there is always something new to see each time we visit. We bought HHI because it was in HHI. If it was in myrtle beach or virgina beach, we would not have purchased. We chose DVC over Marriott because we love Disney. In 1998 when we bought, alot of DVCer's would not even consider HHI. It was bad mouthed and called a waste of points and a failure. Well because of these boards and people actually staying at the resort, it has become a DVC favorite.

 

[walter]

We purchased points at OKW & VB in 1997 & 1998. We went to WDW once or twice a yr since then. But a funny thing happened around three yrs ago, we tried a visit to HHI. We are from Western NY and fell in love with the beaches and the laid back feeling we have when we visit. We will be staying next month for 11 nights (6 at DVC & 5 at the Marriott Monarch at Sea Pines). Last year we purchased a week at the new (still under construction) Marriott Surf Watch Resort on HHI (access right to the beach).

 

[Disneyaholic]

It's our home, because it's the place we visit most often. We're only about a 5-hour drive from HH (about 8 from WDW). We first visited the resort in 1996, the year it opened, and immediately fell in love with it. We like to go during the busier times -- 4th of July, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and want to make sure we can get our reservation the way we want it and when we want it.

We plan to retire to that area in the future and even then, I don't think we'll sell off all our HH points, so we can still get a "fix" of the resort every now and then!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I don't think anyone's mentioned that DVC members aren't eligible for the dining plan (grumble, grumble!!), at least not now. That COULD change at some point in the future, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[CarolA]

I can't understand why you bought HH in the first place? It obviously isn't on the beach and doesn't claim that it is. It sounds like VB would be more your style. Why did you buy HH? Just curious.


DAVE

I got a very good deal on the points. I have never used them at HH.... Stayed there once (on cash) and decided that I would rather rent the points and stay at a resort inside the Plantations. I spent all my summers growing up in HH and have to say I thought I would like the Disney resort. I don't... so if you are like me and want to be on or at least near the beach this is not the resort for you. I decided that if I was to use points to stay there I would just rent the points and book a rental that I liked.

And as for Disney being "late" that's thier fault, plus Marriott has built at least two new resorts since Disney so there was ocean property available.

Wasn't this resort origianlly suppose to be much larger?

That said, I have never let the points go to waste... I am the QUEEN of last minute bookings and it's pretty easy to get in at OKW or SSR to use those points in the off season... (currently thinking of trying for few days in late September!)

 

[dcibrando]

what about other disney resorts during the off season.. is it hard to book at others if it's not your home resort

 

[CarolA]

I have not had as much success booking at BCV, BWV or VWL at the last minute. Now keep in mind that I rarely even get the 7 month booking... I am thinking of going to Disney for my Birthday, late Sept and I have not booked yet.... So, when I say late I mean late.

I think it is easier to get SSR and OKW late simply because they are so large. It also helps that I want a studio.

 

[bnlbebes]

We added after we stayed with family in a 2BR one summer. It's on the way if we drive to WDW from NJ, and we thought that it would be a relaxing stop on the way back home.

Note: We haven't driven to WDW since we've purchased HH and I am not sure that we ever will, so selling our interest here may be in the future.

 

[CharlesTD]

This is our home because when we bought in they had a buy back option of 13 dollars a point for your first years points so when we purchased it was a huge factor they also offered subsidised dues for the first year or so. We had signed a contract for VWL but then when our guide called us back and let us know about the new bonus for HHI we switched our contract to there.

 

[DiznNut]

We chose HHI because it is only a 41/2 hour drive from home and figured that we would rotate between HHI and an onsight property every other year. Plus, we love the beach and we understand that this property isn't on the beach, but time away from home with the kids having fun is all that we need for a great family vacation.