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]

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.

YEAH!!! Isn't it just a fantastic place? Still has the Disney magic, but feels like a vacation from it all at the same time. What did you get to eat at Steamers? Their corn fritter appetizer is really awesome. And which frosty frog did you get? I'm actually wearing my tie-dye shirt right now!!! Please keep me updated on fun things you guys do, and if you do a trip report post the link to it on here so I don't miss it! That way I can live vicariously through you. :wave:

 

[disneyrcks]

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.

YEAH!!! Isn't it just a fantastic place? Still has the Disney magic, but feels like a vacation from it all at the same time. What did you get to eat at Steamers? Their corn fritter appetizer is really awesome. And which frosty frog did you get? I'm actually wearing my tie-dye shirt right now!!! Please keep me updated on fun things you guys do, and if you do a trip report post the link to it on here so I don't miss it! That way I can live vicariously through you. :wave:

Becanya, we cannot wait to go and it is all thanks to your TR! Nicole I hope you do one when you get back!

How long out did you both have to book to get a room? We have tried twice (pretty short notice though) and they have been booked solid!

 

[onelivelygirl]

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.

Just let me know when you want to go on the next scavenger hunt and I will mail you some Mardi Gras beads. Most of mine were actually caught during parades so they are really authentic.
Glad you and the fam had a great time. We are thinking about becoming DVC members and HHI might be another big selling point for us since everyone else in my clan loves the beach so much.

 

[nicole3874]

Hi there, we are home from HHI. Had such a great time. I did forget my camera though. UGH!!!

At steamers I had the large scallops and calamari for an app. O so good. And I believe my daquari was called a fruitloop. Not too sweet, but good.

I did post a small trip report. For some reason I can't post a link, but it is titled our first trip to HHI.

There was so much to do that we didn't get to bed until at least 10 most nights, even my 2 year old. Thanks for all the info.

Have fun on your next trip. We will definitely be going back.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I'm loving your trip report!! I have only read one other account of Hilton Head Island and every time I think, what a refreshing change from WDW. Don't get me wrong, our family LOVES WDW! But HHI looks genuinely fun AND relaxing! Probably more relaxing than WDW. Can't wait to read more!

 

[becanya]

Becanya, we cannot wait to go and it is all thanks to your TR! Nicole I hope you do one when you get back!

How long out did you both have to book to get a room? We have tried twice (pretty short notice though) and they have been booked solid!

If you are trying to book through DVC you have to book at least 7 months in advance to the day! It's crazy hard to get a reservation. We were able to get a day off the waitlist though. But if you are booking through cash you can get a reservation a little easier. We are going in October and just paying cash for the room...it was only $205 per night for a suite! If you go closer to Thanksgiving you can get it for like $110 a night!

 

[becanya]

I'm loving your trip report!! I have only read one other account of Hilton Head Island and every time I think, what a refreshing change from WDW. Don't get me wrong, our family LOVES WDW! But HHI looks genuinely fun AND relaxing! Probably more relaxing than WDW. Can't wait to read more!

I completely agree with you. We LOVE Disney, but we have always loved HHI because it's so much more relaxing and everything there is just so easy. So we bought DVC at Wilderness Lodge and at HHI. That way we get a relaxing vaca every year and a crazy fun vaca every year.

We are heading back to HHI in just 4 short weeks :sohappy: so I will post more then. But in the meantime, if you want to read about more of our adventures this summer (including a scooter wreck in St. John USVI!) check out my ongoing trip report: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=740399