HH Trip report

[WDWNewbie]

We just returned from 2 glorious weeks at DVC Hilton Head!

This was our 3rd trip in the past 3 years and here are the highlights...

We arrived in Hilton Head on a Saturday after driving for the better part of 2 days. We are pretty organized shoppers, so we had our grocery list split into two parts. One part was refrigerated/frozen food that we would pick up on HH after we checked in, and then another list for the rest of our groceries. We remembered that there is a Super Walmart just off the island (on the way in, about 1/2 hour from the resort) so we stopped there and picked up more than half of our groceries--anything that didn't need immediate refrigeration. This was a nice break in the drive and it meant only a small grocery shop after we checked in. There is also a Walmart on HH island, but it isn't a SuperWalmart.

Finally we had arrived!! The drive into the resort is so pretty--the trees and broad creek are really lovely! There is some pretty topiary of Bambi & Thumper surrounding the sign as you go toward the checkin building, Live Oak Lodge.

This was our first time staying two weeks in HH, and I remember thinking on the first day--I can't believe we are actually here for TWO WEEKS!!

We had really enjoyed Christopher the Naturalist over the last two years, and thought that his programs were excellent, so we were unsure of what to expect knowing they now had someone new. They now have 2 Naturalists, Gwyneth and Suzanne--both very pleasant young women who really enjoy presenting their programs! Right now there are 11 Naturalist activities and Suzanne mentioned they hoped to double this within the year. My DD (10) adored both of these young ladies.

One of the first things we did was to sit down and carefully read the activity sheet for the week. One look at the sheet and we knew we were in for a wonderful time there!

 

[WDWNewbie]

During our stay we participated in:

Pickney Island Wildlife Adventure. My DH and DD went on this. The naturalist (Gwyneth) drove them in a van to Pickney Island Wildlife refuge, which is about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour from the resort. They were supplied with binoculars and taken on a 3 mile walk of Pickney Island. From start to finish this activity was 2.5 hours and both my DH and DD said it was wonderful!

Secrets of the Marsh. Again, DH and DD went on this and they were given huge rubber boots to put on and then the Naturalist took the group to learn about the ecology of the marsh. There's lots to see and they enjoyed this one too.

Another similar activity is the Beach Nature Walk. They had done this last year so didn't do it this year, but in this activity you are taken to Burke's beach explore the wildlife of a less populated (by people) beach.

Other Naturalist activites include:

Meet the Naturalist, Shark's teeth (we learned about sharks and then the kids all made a necklace with beads and a real sharks tooth. Last year they charged for the necklace but this year it was included at no charge).

Meet the Naturalist, Sea Turtles (after a presentation on Sea Turtles they had a fun boardgame for families to play, relating to sea turtle survival)

Meet the Naturalist, Butterflies (presentation followed by a simple butterfly colouring craft--the kids made a butterfly on a popsicle stick)

Meet the Naturalist, Alligators (presentation on Alligators)

Meet the Naturalist, "I Know Whoooo You are, (and what you ate last night)!". A presentation on Owls followed by the opportunity to dissect an owl pellet (the feathers/bones or indigestible parts of their prey regurgitated by an owl after eating). The pellet has been sanitized, and it was fascinating to do this! We found a very large (intact) rat scull and bones, and were given a sheet to identify the bones. At first I thought it sounded absolutely gross, but in reality it was an amazing experience! I think the charge for the pellet was $5, and most families seemed to take one pellet/family. Otherwise all the above activities were no charge.

We missed two of the Naturalist presentations, one was on Birds and the other on Astronomy (but we had done the latter last year).

There were 3 craft activities at around $10 to 12 each (making Boats, birdfeeders, and Gyotaku--using a dead frozen fish to make a cool t-shirt). My dd had done this before so we skipped it this trip. I do recommend trying the Gyotaku at least once though!

While there are no 'characters' at this DVC resort, there is a different kind of 'Character'-- entertainer B'Lou Crabbe and the resort's mascot, a gorgeous Golden Retreiver named Shadow. aw:

Our DD just adores B'Lou and wants to go to anywhere he is! B'Lou does two magic shows throughout the week, and leads a fun activity called Shadow's Funny Bunny Hunt (basically a bunch of people follow B'Lou and Shadow around the resort looking for rabbits and listening to stories). He also does Music and Lore of the Low country (HH history and music--he's a talented guy!) and entertains at the Shrimp Boil. He does a program 'Catch Me if you Can' and teaches 3-ball juggling. My DD just LOVED this and has been practicing every day since learning! The activity we enjoyed most with B'Lou is the Pirates of the Calibogue scavenger hunt. Kids (and adults) put on pirate hats and eye patches and are set up in teams and given a team flag to follow clues to find the treasure.

During October, the campfire is offered 3x/week. The campfire consists of 2 or 3 CM's leading songs, dances and stories and finishing up with making smores. It's nice because they change up the CM's throughout the week on this, and so it's a little different each time. CM's Rich, Sam and Bradford were particularly animated and made it really fun for kids and adults alike!

Goofy Bingo tests your Disney movie knowlege. Now in our house we watch a movie once and then we have seen it and that's it. Apparently we are unique and most DVC members and guests have seen Disney movies many times and really know their Disney Trivia! The first night we played our family sat with 2 13-year old boys from New Jersey who were a lot of fun. At the end of the evening though one of them looked at us and said 'You know, I just have to say this to you--I think you guys are quite possibly the worst Goofy Bingo players ever'! Well, we probably are (Gracerlm if you are reading this, we obviously haven't improved much over the past two years!)

The Unbirthday party is for kids up to 12 (one party for kids age 3 - 6 and one for 7 - 12) to celebrate the 364 days when it's not your birthday! The kids make a placemat, play games like musical chairs and have a Southern Snowball Fight and eat cupcakes 'like Shadow' aka--no hands! My DD loves this and did it once each week while we were there.

 

[WDWNewbie]

DH and DD rented bikes and there's a path they rode on that goes to the beach. They also got the refillable mugs and would ride to the beach (around a 15 minute ride, I think) and fill up their mugs for a nice drink-break during their bikeride. The refillable mugs could be refilled both at 'Tide Me Over' at the main resort or at Signals at the Beach House.

The Beach House is about a mile to a mile and a half from the main resort. It's a very pretty drive and takes just a couple of minutes to drive there--the fact that we weren't right on the beach was no big deal at all to us. Heck, we live thousands of miles from any kind of ocean, so a couple of minutes drive on our vacation was no big deal! We went to the beach every few days for a total of 4x during our trip. We saw a couple with a a really cool kite and asked them where they got it. We then went and got one (the Kite Store in Coligny--or something like that). It cost $12 and folded into a tiny pocket and had no sticks. It flew easily and we enjoyed taking this to the beach for our final two trips.

The beach is wide and flat. Awesome for bike riding. Bike riding tip: Figure out which way the wind is blowing and ride INTO the wind on your way out and enjoy the wind at your back on the way back from your bikeride! In the summer there's a bar called 'Surfman's Sand Bar', but it was closed for the season.

The beach house has a heated pool, and the week we were there it was a little warmer than the pool at the resort (although both are heated). The pool at the resort has a 'Big Dipper' waterslide which was open until 4pm each day. I think it's open longer in peak summer season.

We didn't take part in the Dolphin Tours, Kayaking or HH Tours, all of which were available to book through the resort for a fee. They all looked like wonderful activities, but we had enough to keep us busy so didn't try them this time. We also didn't take part in the Shrimp Boil, which is described on the activity sheet as "Enjoy an authentic low country shrimp boil and live entertainment at Disney's Beach House". This activity was Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

My DH and DD went golfing twice in Palmetto Dunes. Kids up to 10 play free. They played one round on the the RTJ course and they played 9 holes on the Fazio course. Both courses had kids tees which was nice. My DH said the Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront course was particularly beautiful with the 10th hole being oceanfront. We had planned to go mini-putting and picked up some 'kids play free coupons' from Brusters but before we knew it the vacation was over and we hadn't done this yet!

We ate breakfast and lunch in the room (sometimes lunch at the pool--they had a few umbrella tables and chairs) and went out for dinner each night. Our favorite place was the Shelter Cove Giuiseppis for Italian food/pizza, followed by Brusters Ice Cream for dessert next door. We went to Giuseppis 4x to try different menu items. Their subs and salads were particularly good! (and they gave a 10% DVC discount). My DD liked Sticky Fingers (ribs) and I liked Longhorn Steakhouse (this is a chain but we don't have them where we live).

Having said all those wonderful things about DVC HH, I do know that this resort isn't for everybody! DVC HH is a very very different experience from WDW!! If you prefer the pace of themparks, and wouldn't enjoy laid-back, low-key, campy, homey types of activites then this would not be the place for you! I LOVE it though, and lucky for me, it's my family's idea of an awesome time too!!

 

[Cinderelli]

What a great report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I love hearing about the fun things at HH. Just makes we realize - I wish we had more points, tee hee!

Lissa

 

[NYMomof4]

Excellent report! Makes me want to plan another vacation....Our family also likes those type of activities-we regularly rough it camping (in a cabin) and the kids spend hours just playing. Imagine!lol

 

[JoEllen]

Thank you so much for the great report. I am printing them now to use for future trip planning. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time.

 

[TinkHappy]

Great trip report!!

 

[lisareniff]

Wonderful report! Thank-you!

 

[gracelrm]

WDWNewbie: Sounds like you all had a great time. Sorry we didn't run in to you more than once. We were only there a short time and had a bit of illness while we were there. We wanted to do more activities at the resort, but swimming, biking and miniature golf kept getting in the way. We hope to go back next October - we'll look for you then. You all can sit with us at Bingo - we'll help you out!

 

[mittelst]

Wow - what a great report! My DD (9) was not looking forward to our upcoming HH trip thinking she'll be bored. I'm going to print out your report to show her how many great things there will be to do. We'll only be there for 3 days, but I hope we'll be able to participate in some of the activities.

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!!! Can't wait to go back!!!

 

[WDWNewbie]

mittelst,

I recommend requesting a building that's close to the pool and Community Hall where most of the activites are held. These are the ones that are closest to the 'action'.

Pool View: 23 or 26 (25 is right behind the slide, so I don't recommend this one)

Pathways/buildings view: 21 or 28 and closest to parking.

Marsh view: 24 or 27 (on either side of Community Hall/firepit and close to pool)

We really liked the pool view (26, but 23 is the same) that we had 2 years ago--our DD could see whenever any of her 'friends' were in the pool and hop out to meet them! Also a very quick hop to the Community Hall & fire pit.

Also, the soundproofing isnt the best from second floor to first floor. We had a first floor unit and could often hear the families above us walking (or sometimes running!) around or having a jacuzzi. If you don't mind the stairs, 2nd floor would be quieter!