Becanya's HHI "boy did I need another vacation" trip report...

I wanted to post a special trip report separate from my ongoing one because that is just how special Disney's HHI resort is turning out to be. Seriously, this place is amazing, and we are already on the waitlist for December points. Fourth on the list, unfortunately! We got here yesterday (Sunday) around noon, and amazingly our room was ready already! Can you find the hidden mickey in our check in photo?

We are staying in a deluxe studio, which is the smallest DVC room option. I honestly had pretty medium expectations...since this is our first stay. Let me just say...the rooms are huge. 375 sq feet is a lot bigger than I expected. And everything is super well-maintained and clean. I love our room. Here are a few pics to give you an idea of how things look...although the photos don't come close to doing justice.

First...the room from the hall:

Looking in through the front door across the kitchen and into the bathroom. If you take a left in front of the bathroom you will be looking at the previous picture's view.

Luggage cart for transporting things from the car...including children:

View of our building from the balcony side (our balcony is the recessed one on the bottom):

The hammock below our balcony:

All in all, the accommodations are perfect and far exceed my expectations. More to come on the grounds and facilities...

 

[becanya]

On to the awesome facilities. There are two pools at the resort...one right outside our building and the other at the beach house. The one closest to us has a waterslide, a hot tub, and a kiddie pool with little frogs that squirt water at the kids. McKenna, the 2 year old, actually has been doing the waterslide no problem. Actually the first time my husband had to push her down it screaming the whole time...but after the made it to the end she promptly jumped out of the pool and ran for the slide again. We haven't been able to get her off it since. I have heard others say that they think the pool is way too small, but honestly it's just as nice as any other hotel I've stayed in at HHI...just smaller than the Disney resort pools at WDW. Honestly, the resort is so small that even though it is fully booked, nothing that we have done has seemed crowded. Here are a few pics of the Big Dipper Pool:

The other pool is at the beach house, with is a 1.3 mile walk/bike ride away. Essentially the resort is on Broad Creek...a beautiful body of water...but not directly on the beach. But the beach house is amazing and well worth the trouble to get over there. This is the interior/lounging area of the beach house:

Views of the beach in front of the beach house:

And the pool at the beach house:

 

[becanya]

Besides the swimming options, they have a full assortment of fun activities for the kids to do. Most of them have been for kids older than ours (2 and 6), but we have just done them anyways and told them we would help the kids. Honestly, they were completely cool with that. The lifeguards here are amazing party planners, and it has been super fun to get to know them. IN fact, after the bonfire last night, our first experience, they all know Keegan's name and growl at him when he passes because he was a GREAT Rex for the story. :sohappy: Seriously, it's like being in a small town, because when we pass people they smile at us and say hello because they remember us. Even remember my kids' names after one day. That's Disney magic...pure and simple.

The kids making tie-dyed Mickey t-shirts:

Birthday balloons that Mickey dropped off for us...they also called and left us a birthday message (for McKenna's 3rd bday this week):

Keegan got to ring the bell to start the bonfire last night because he answered a trivia question correctly (well...I answered it correctly and whispered it in his ear):

After a full day, the kids have all their stuffed animals ready for bed...even if it took 2 hours for them to all be quiet and go to sleep. Huey, Dewey, and Louie sure are trouble makers in a hotel...

Notice that Keegan's name is misspelled on the pajamas that Mickey "sent" us for our trip. I told him that Mickey didn't do that well in his spelling class in school and that he is working on it. The Disney store refunded our money, but since the PJs were sold out, we had to settle for the misspelled ones. :lol:

We only have 4 more full days and one half day before we head back home. I'll try to get on here at least one more time and update you on how it has been!

 

[foreverbelle]

This is awesome. My DH and I hope to check out the HHI, we have been members and have tried to get reservations but up to this point haven't had much luck, but it looks fabulous and we will dif. have to try to get in there. We just need to be a patient....Hope you guys are having a fabulous vacation and enjoy!!

 

[madswithano]

HHI is one of my favorite places on earth. When we don't do disney, we do Hilton Head, but we haven't been in so long. I suppose I'll have to live vicariously through your TR. Do they still have the golden retriever (or maybe it's a lab...can't recall) that takes residence at the resort and hangs out around guests checking in? Loved that special disney touch!

 

[becanya]

This is awesome. My DH and I hope to check out the HHI, we have been members and have tried to get reservations but up to this point haven't had much luck, but it looks fabulous and we will dif. have to try to get in there. We just need to be a patient....Hope you guys are having a fabulous vacation and enjoy!!

Foreverbelle...we had to go on the waitlist, but after about a month it opened up. Now that we are here we see why...the place is incredibly small. And if you're trying to get a deluxe studio, there are so few of them! There are only 30 buildings with 4 suites each, and a lot of those buildings don't have studios. I've heard you have to own here and book right at the 11 month window.

HHI is one of my favorite places on earth. When we don't do disney, we do Hilton Head, but we haven't been in so long. I suppose I'll have to live vicariously through your TR. Do they still have the golden retriever (or maybe it's a lab...can't recall) that takes residence at the resort and hangs out around guests checking in? Loved that special disney touch!

Madswithano...they do still have Shadow, and my kids are obsessed with him! He's super gentle and sweet. This afternoon they are doing a "hunt" with him where he's going around the resort to find Brer Rabbit. :animwink:

 

[becanya]

Today way just plain awesome. Seriously...you know that feeling you get on vacation where you sit back and look around and think..."boy, it's doesn't get any better than this..." I had it multiple times today. We went to the beach this morning, where we dodged jellyfish for a while and played in the sand. Finally, we decided to come back to the resort pool and spend a few hours. As in 3 hours. Two super fun things happened this afternoon at the pool. First, we made friends with another couple that we have been seeing everywhere. Turns out we have tons in common, and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the day. Even went to dinner with them. Second, Keegan (6) developed his first vacation crush. Now, I don't encourage those types of things with little kids...but who among us can't remember that young vacation/camp crush? Keegan met the cutest little girl, Carly, on the waterslide, and they were glued to each other the rest of the night. He totally didn't say he had a crush on her, but he would help her out of the pool (she has a broken wrist and is in a cast), wait for her at the bottom of the slide before getting out, and they watched fireworks together. In fact, our two families closed out the pool at 10PM tonight, which is way later than I have ever let my kids stay up. But it is vacation after all, right?

Here they are getting on the slide:

And watching fireworks together at the end of the night:

See the cute parrot on his shoulder? B'Lou Crabbe (seriously, that's his name) made it for him at the pool party tonight:

After spending all afternoon at the pool, we decided to go on a treasure hunt. First, we made the loot bags:

Then we got our treasure maps and went on the hunt:

Now let me say, right after I fussed at Adam that everything didn't have to be a competition, we ended up behind this totally crazy competitive family. Like seriously, they would sprint from spot to spot to stay ahead of us...which was difficult since we were on bikes and they were on foot. So after fussing at Adam I threw all scruples out the window and tried my hardest to beat these people! The treasure at the end was seriously mardi gras beads...and I got all sweaty just to beat the other family to them. :lol:

After our sweaty treasure hunt we went to Marley's Island Grille for dinner with our new friends from St. Louis. Super fun...and delicious food. After dinner we hopped over to Frosty Frog which is the best Daiquiri bar I've ever encountered. They give you the daiquiris to go in styrofoam cups. Seriously...doesn't get any better than that.

 

[becanya]

After dinner and Frosty Frog, we headed back to the resort for a pool party. They kept the water slide open super late, and all the summer interns threw a smashing dance party. It was my first DVC pool party, and I haven't had that much fun since college parties. The music was awesome...things like 10 year old little boys singing the words to Justin Beiber songs while everyone in the pool cheered. They had all the moms dance, then they made all the dads do the YMCA dance song. Couldn't get Adam up there, but totally had a blast laughing at the other dads:

They had a congo line that wrapped all the way around the pool deck:

And lots of nighttime swimming action:

The lifeguards were hilarious and excellent dancers. This is a picture of our favorite cast member...she is always remembering my kids and giving them special treats:

The night ended out by the dock where we watched fireworks. A magical ending to a magical day.

 

[Audrey9505]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this! I've been considering a trip to HHI and this definitely makes me feel better about doing it. Thanks again and enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[disneyrcks]

Looks amazing! We have wanted to head to HHI since the spring but it was booked up when we tried to get a room! It's great to get a look at it. Would you recommend it for a couple that does not have kids though? Right now it is just me and my husband (29 and 35).

You have a lovely family BTW, the pic of your son watching the fireworks with his new friend was sooooo cute!

 

[becanya]

Looks amazing! We have wanted to head to HHI since the spring but it was booked up when we tried to get a room! It's great to get a look at it. Would you recommend it for a couple that does not have kids though? Right now it is just me and my husband (29 and 35).

You have a lovely family BTW, the pic of your son watching the fireworks with his new friend was sooooo cute!

Thanks for reading! Actually, I think it would be an awesome place to come as a couple. There are kids everywhere, but if you love Disney you are used to that. It's such a relaxing and magical place. I honestly feel a tranquility the second we drive back on the resort after going to dinner. Hilton head in general is a big family island, but they have great nightlife, great restaurants, and a great environment for adults. Adam and I actually came here for our first anniversary, 9 years ago, and loved it.

 

[nicole3874]

Thanks for the wonderful info. We are going to HHI next month 8/21-8/26 with our 3 children (DS 6,DS 4, & DD 1). I was worried about weather they would enjoy it, but you convinced me that they would. We are driving down from NJ. Do you have any packing tips or items we should not forget?

 

[becanya]

Thanks for the wonderful info. We are going to HHI next month 8/21-8/26 with our 3 children (DS 6,DS 4, & DD 1). I was worried about weather they would enjoy it, but you convinced me that they would. We are driving down from NJ. Do you have any packing tips or items we should not forget?

You know, everyone likes different things on their vacations...but I can tell you this. I wish I had packed way fewer clothes. In fact, I wish I had only packed a swimsuit/coverup, pjs, and two outfits per person. For a week-long stay. I ended up doing laundry almost every day for various reasons and I wish now that I had just packed enough clothes for two days and washed them. It was super convenient to do laundry, and we didn't even had a washer/dryer in our unit. It's not like at Disney where you never stop long enough to put in a load. It would have saved us soooooooo much room to just not pack as many clothes.

Second...something we will change next time...I packed tons of water/juice boxes/cokes for us to have in our room. We drank all of it...so it's not like it went to waste. But next time I will just buy the resort refillable mugs and use those for our drinks...again saving so much space in our car! They have the drink stations in major central locations, including the beach house and the pool area. It would have been so much cheaper and easier than the path I took.

As far as eating goes, I was really impressed with how we managed it and how cheap we were able to eat on this trip. We had breakfast in our room (pop tarts, granola bars, yogurt). Then we ate lots of healthy snacks during the day (popcorn, granola bars, beef jerky, trail mix, pb crackers). They have all the normal grocery stores in Hilton Head, including Harris Teeter and Wal-Mart, so you can either bring your dry goods/snacks or buy them there. We had to go at least buy milk for the kids. We ate dinner around 4PM every day, which is a very strategic choice because almost all the restaurants in Hilton Head have happy hour specials, and they are way less crowded at that time. By the time we would leave restaurants at 5ish, they would be packed to the gills. So by eating early we could save money and avoid the hassle of waiting for a table with little kids. We actually had a table for 8 most nights, because we ate with our friends, and it was never hard to get one. We never spent more than $40 a day on food. And we ate some goooooood food.

Here are our favorite restaurants if you want to look them up. I listed the thing we ordered in parenthesis after the restaurant. They are listed in order of awesomeness...all were within 5 minutes of the resort:

1) Marley's Island Grille (Tortilla Encrusted Tilapia and Mango Salmon)...go for the early dining menu...between 4:30 and 5:15. A $20 entree, soup, and drink all for only 15.99!

2) Steamers Seafood (Big Bitewich and Carpet Bagger Sandwich)...go before 4PM when they are still serving the lunch menu. it's the same food and like half the price of the dinner menu. Kids meals are served on a frisbee that the kids get to keep.

3) Kenny B's French Quarter (Gator Bites, Gumbo, Grouper melt, fried okra)

4) Wild Wings Cafe: it's a chain but one of our favorites on the island. You can get this huge platter of wings, chicken strips, and chicken nuggets in different flavors for $21.00. Your whole family can eat off it...we just added some fries. Bathrooms are nasty though, so go before you leave the hotel!

5) Frozen Moo Ice Cream: Cash only. Like 40 unique flavors of ice cream. The kids loved it.

6) The Frosty Frog Daiquiri Bar. Oh my gosh, I can't say enough about this awesome place. You walk in, order a daiquiri to go, then they give it to you in a big styrofoam cup. It stays frozen for hours, no joke. Great to get it then walk around and shop in Coligny Plaza. Our favorites: Mango Colada and the Dirty Monkey.

Let me know if you have any other questions! We loved it so much that we are going back in October, and we added onto our DVC membership with points from this resort. We've decided it will be a yearly trip for us. Can't say enough good things about it!

 

[becanya]

Oh! One other tip I forgot. At the gift shop, they have a different trivia question every day. Easy question, and they will help you get the right answer. If you get it right, you get a Disney pin. So you can get a Disney pin every single day for each of your kids if you guys both answer the question (I would answer it then get adam to go answer it too). In fact, some days she would just give me two pins because she knew I had two kids.

As far as activities go, do anything that B'Lou Crabbe is hosting...he's really a character and such a nice guy.

 

[nicole3874]

Thanks for the info and dinner ideas. I am printing it out to take with us. We are so excited to go. We are driving down so I do plan to pack minimal. Probably just a pair of khaki shorts and Jean shorts for all and then a couple shirts and we will mix and match. I think I am only bringing 2 pair pjs and 2 swimsuits as well. We have a 2 bedroom with a washer/dryer in the room. Thanks for the tip on the early dinner. We usually eat early anyway so 4 works for us.

I saw a picture of your kids making tye die shirts. Do they supply the shirt and do they have little sizes like a 2T?

I also didn't realize they had resort refillable mugs either. That is good to know so we won't stock up on juice and soda either. Walmart here we come for our breakfast foods and fruits and snacks

I cant wait for a daiquiri either. That sounds sooo good!

Thanks so much for all your info. One last question. Do we need to bring our own swim vests and towels? How about beach toys?

Thanks again soooo much! 32 days to go!

 

[becanya]

Thanks for the info and dinner ideas. I am printing it out to take with us. We are so excited to go. We are driving down so I do plan to pack minimal. Probably just a pair of khaki shorts and Jean shorts for all and then a couple shirts and we will mix and match. I think I am only bringing 2 pair pjs and 2 swimsuits as well. We have a 2 bedroom with a washer/dryer in the room. Thanks for the tip on the early dinner. We usually eat early anyway so 4 works for us.

I saw a picture of your kids making tye die shirts. Do they supply the shirt and do they have little sizes like a 2T?

I also didn't realize they had resort refillable mugs either. That is good to know so we won't stock up on juice and soda either. Walmart here we come for our breakfast foods and fruits and snacks

I cant wait for a daiquiri either. That sounds sooo good!

Thanks so much for all your info. One last question. Do we need to bring our own swim vests and towels? How about beach toys?

Thanks again soooo much! 32 days to go!

Hey! Yes, they have several different sizes on the shirts, all the way from XXS (fits my 3 yr old well and she's tiny) up to XXL in adults. I made one for myself too. :lookaroun

They supply beach towels, and you can trade them in daily. One for each person in your party. They also have vests at the resort pool...can't remember seeing them at the beach pool. We brought our own. Definitely bring your own beach toys. So jealous you are getting to go so soon! I hope you guys have a blast! :wave:

 

[me_stitch]

is the hidden Mickey the phone?

 

[becanya]

is the hidden Mickey the phone?

You got it. The dialer and the bells. :ROFLOL:

 

[nicole3874]

Thanks for all your info and help. I am really looking forward to this trip thanks to your trip report. Sounds like so much fun and relaxation!

I'll let you know how we did.

 

[nicole3874]

Hi! We are in HHI right now and enjoying every minute. We went to steamers tonight for dinner. It was great food! I also stopped at the Frosty Frog! OMG! I will be heading back for another one soon. Thanks for all the suggestions. We made tie-dye t-shirts today too. What fun! Let you know how the week goes. We are here til Friday. Somuch to do so little time.