Just back from a full week at HHI....it was so great we extended the trip by an extra night!! Here goes:
We arrived on Sunday evening just in time to check into room 1111 in the lodge and do a quick resort tour. We were initially disappointed to be so far from the pool, but the walk turned out to be pretty quick and we liked having access to the elevator (stroller) and covered parking. Also, we had easy access to complementary lemonade and cookies every afternoon and easy treks to the activities in Big Murgie's Den. Finally, there is a small Mickey Mouse figurine (about three feet high) that we walked by everyday and my two year old would give it a hug. So...for us...the house came with the mouse!
The room was very clean (a studio) with lots of room. The balcony was very large with two rockers and a table. There was lots of green around..it was very private. I would sit out here in the morning, but it was hot later in the day...so we didn't use it much.
Our only concerns...it was a handicapped room...which we did not request...but the resort was pretty full and it was what they had on the first day...and we didnt' feel like moving again. This was only a problem because it did not contain a tub...just a walk-in shower and we have young children who are used to baths. We made it work....but my two year old reminded us all week that "we don't have a bathtub". We could have moved the second night, but again, chose not to.
My DH wished the beds were a bit updated as the fold-out was the old "bar in the back" style and the actual bed seemed to have seen better days. I was so tired at the end of the day that I would just fall asleep wherever I was.
Sunday Evening-
Went to main pool area to look around and rent a bike for DD5. They had small ones with training wheels and a lock...25.00 for the length of stay. We only rented one for her since DH and I aren't really confident bikers and we were navigating the stroller as well.
Took a quick dip in the pool. It was a bit warm, but still refreshing. DD5 loved the slide....but it did close pretty early. We didn't really mind...it was a good excuse to get out and get cleaned up for dinner/evening activities. We picked up a couple of refillable mugs (10.99) each and this was our best purchase all week! Unlike WDW where we only really used them at night...we used our mugs all day long because we could fill them at the pool in the resort and at the beach house.
After swimming, we went back to the villa and cleaned up and reviewed the activity list. I was so impressed with the number of activities for families, children of all ages, etc. We went to the campfire and loved it! The CM's were really like camp counselors and led the group in an hour long sing-a-long using many traditional camp songs with a Disney twist. The firepit was shaped like a mickey head. The kids sat on benches around the fire ring and parents/other adults sat on chairs and picnic tables around the outer edge. At the end of the campfire, everyone lined up on the pier to get marshmellows on skewers that we roasted and then took over to another table to make them into s'mores. There was no additional charge for this event. It was a blast...just like my old camping days....but the CM's did all the grunt work and when it was over...we went back to pleasant, air conditioned rooms instead of the pop-up trailers of my childhood. We didn't have time for dinner before all of these exciting events, so we ordered a pizzza and a buffalo chicken weggie from Giuseppie's (10% discount for DVC). It was ok...I liked the weggie more than the pizza. They did deliver...so it was a good first night, quick meal.
Monday-
We did a marsh walk in the morning that was lead by the resort's naturalist. They had marsh walking boots set out for everyone and once we were ready, the naturalist led us on about an hour trek through the marsh looking at various flora and fauna. I liked that the activities were all really kept to the publicized amount of time.
After the walk, we headed over to the Beach House for lunch. We drove to the Beach House everyday...and found that we were able to find a space easily or with just a bit of a wait. We chose not to take the shuttle very often because we had so much "beach gear" and those towels. We really liked the Beach House pool...and spent a lot of time here. We had lunch at Signals (typical burgers/fries fare....and the refillable mugs). It was fine...but didn't stand out has fantastic....just convenient. I wish there was a place to eat in air conditioning, but we did find a shady table. We didnt' have any problems with beach chairs (at either pool). In fact, it seemed a bit uncrowded for the last week of June.
We hit the beach after lunch. It was very, very hot! We had an umbrella and I spent most of the time hiding under it while the kids dug in the sand. We went in the water for awhile, but it was moving toward high-tide and my dd5 was a bit intimidated. DD2, mind you, thought it was great.
We finished up at the beach and headed back to the villa to clean up and then went to Harbour Town in Sea Pines for dinner. We didn't fully get that this was a town within a gated community until we got to teh gate where we had to pay 5.00. This was all well and good, but I think I would have planned to go earlier in the day and do the light house to get more for my money. Oh well...live and learn. We did find a parking place right in Harbour Town and walked around a bit admiring the yachts and lighthouse. We put our name in at Crazy Crab and let the kids watch Greg Russell until our name was called at the restaurant. The atmosphere and food ws great. I had the fried seafood platter and it was quite good. DH had the steak and the kids had hot dogs.
Tuesday-
More of the same beach/pool during the day. We liked the pool games at teh Beach Club pool during the day.....the highlight of the day was the Star Spangled Tuesday BBQ and Pool Party. This was a BBQ dinner at the resort (we had to make reservations for this event in advance) with ribs/hot dogs/burgers/chicken, etc. They passed out flag bandanas and bracelets and had a number of games (jello jigglers, ice cream drop, bean bag toss, etc). There was also a balloonist (B'Lou crabbe) and face painting. After the BBQ, there was night swimming with the slide open and lots of pool games.Also, the CM's led dancing to popular party songs (and HSM) on the pool deck. At 9pm exactly, everyone went up on the deck or on the marsh banks for fireworks. It was a very Disney 'Camp" experience.
Wednesday-
We did the nature walk at a local nature preserve. It as a 2 1/2 hour event with the naturalist and the only event that I didn't think was worth our while. It was very, very hot and most of the people on the walk (four families) were unprepared- no bottled water, etc. Most of the information was the same as what we were told on the marsh walk. We walked around Ibis pond, but the naturalist only pointed out a few ducks...maybe I'm biased because we have somany ducks at our summer house in the adirondack mountains, but we really didn't get a lot out of it and the naturalist didn't seem all that enthusiastic on this day.
We did the Salty Dog Cafe for lunch....this was fun, but I was pretty tired of fried food by then. It was fun to pick up tee-shirts and see more of Sea Pines.
Swimming/Beach in the afternoon and then back to the resort for fishing in the late afternoon. A CM led my dd5 and dh (and many other families) through an art activity about teh "Legend of Big Murgie" and then they went fishing off of the pier. My DD5 caught a shark...which shocked her (and DH). They had to go running to find a CM to help them to figure out to cut the line. It is the story she loves to tell...about the "shark that got away".
We tried to go to Aunt Chilada's for dinner...but the wait was an hour and we wanted to make it back in time for the camp fire (the resort was so much fun). After the camp fire, we ordered in greek food from "It's Greek to Me". Very good...lots of great dips and gyros...yum!
Thursday-
Hit the pool again...and then Beach House for activities. My dd5 made a pillow and then learned how to make/cook s'mores in a solar oven. A bit more beach and then back to resort to change and come back to the Beach club for the Low Country Shrimp Boil. This was a bit more low key than the BBQ. I'm not sure i would do it again..only becasue there weren't as many kids there. There was a "Kids Nite Out" scheduled for the same time which seriously reduced the number of kids at the shrimp boil. My kids were too young for "Kid Nite Out" and we wanted to spend time as a family anyway. They did have face painting and did a rythm band, but it was more for adults. They did a nice job with the meal...many options...great gumbo and lots of big shrimp. Also, they tables were set with each family's name on a bucket...just a bit more formal than the BBQ...but still very casual.
Friday-
This was supposed to be our departure day...but we extended the trip by paying cash for this extra night. We did a beach walk that morning whihc I was sort of on the fence about after our nature preserve walk. However, it turned out to be well worth it. Sandy was our CM who took us off-site to a beach where there was huge tide pool. She walked us along the tide-pool pointing out various animals and then around to creek...again giving us the history of the area...information about the natural life, etc. She was very kind to our two young girls and really seemed to be enjoying what she was doing. She helped the girls look for shark teeth and shells as well.
We had lunch at Tide Me Over and sent dd5 off to the UnBirthday Party. She loved this event and we loved having some time to chill with just dd2 by the pool. We swam until about 4:30 and then headed back to change in time for the magic show with B'lou Crabbe. My dd5 loved this so much she wanted to come back for the story telling later in teh evening. We opted to just order pizza in again so she could do this. The story telling was a bit over her head (and it was advertised for ages 10 and up) and there were "ghost" stories...but she seemed to enjoy being there. I'm not sure we would have stayed if she had been paying more attention because the content was really for older kids, but she was more into just hanging in the den watching B'Lou play his fiddle..and as I said, most of it just went over her head.
Saturday-
Check out day....we packed up and headed over to the Beach House for lunch /swimming. DD5 wanted to do the sand sculpture activity at 2pm ...so we stayed for this and hit the road afterwards. Sandy led this as well and many families turned out. We made a starfish...a small starfish as it was hard to get a 2 year old and a 5 year old organized on this kind of project. It was all about the process though, right?
We hit the road after this event....but we'll be back next year!!
Summary- We were so surprised at all of the great activities and the CM's who were so much like super friendly camp counselors. It was the perfect summer family experience....I call it "Camp Disney" adn can't recommend it enough!
We arrived on Sunday evening just in time to check into room 1111 in the lodge and do a quick resort tour. We were initially disappointed to be so far from the pool, but the walk turned out to be pretty quick and we liked having access to the elevator (stroller) and covered parking. Also, we had easy access to complementary lemonade and cookies every afternoon and easy treks to the activities in Big Murgie's Den. Finally, there is a small Mickey Mouse figurine (about three feet high) that we walked by everyday and my two year old would give it a hug. So...for us...the house came with the mouse!
The room was very clean (a studio) with lots of room. The balcony was very large with two rockers and a table. There was lots of green around..it was very private. I would sit out here in the morning, but it was hot later in the day...so we didn't use it much.
Our only concerns...it was a handicapped room...which we did not request...but the resort was pretty full and it was what they had on the first day...and we didnt' feel like moving again. This was only a problem because it did not contain a tub...just a walk-in shower and we have young children who are used to baths. We made it work....but my two year old reminded us all week that "we don't have a bathtub". We could have moved the second night, but again, chose not to.
My DH wished the beds were a bit updated as the fold-out was the old "bar in the back" style and the actual bed seemed to have seen better days. I was so tired at the end of the day that I would just fall asleep wherever I was.
Sunday Evening-
Went to main pool area to look around and rent a bike for DD5. They had small ones with training wheels and a lock...25.00 for the length of stay. We only rented one for her since DH and I aren't really confident bikers and we were navigating the stroller as well.
Took a quick dip in the pool. It was a bit warm, but still refreshing. DD5 loved the slide....but it did close pretty early. We didn't really mind...it was a good excuse to get out and get cleaned up for dinner/evening activities. We picked up a couple of refillable mugs (10.99) each and this was our best purchase all week! Unlike WDW where we only really used them at night...we used our mugs all day long because we could fill them at the pool in the resort and at the beach house.
After swimming, we went back to the villa and cleaned up and reviewed the activity list. I was so impressed with the number of activities for families, children of all ages, etc. We went to the campfire and loved it! The CM's were really like camp counselors and led the group in an hour long sing-a-long using many traditional camp songs with a Disney twist. The firepit was shaped like a mickey head. The kids sat on benches around the fire ring and parents/other adults sat on chairs and picnic tables around the outer edge. At the end of the campfire, everyone lined up on the pier to get marshmellows on skewers that we roasted and then took over to another table to make them into s'mores. There was no additional charge for this event. It was a blast...just like my old camping days....but the CM's did all the grunt work and when it was over...we went back to pleasant, air conditioned rooms instead of the pop-up trailers of my childhood. We didn't have time for dinner before all of these exciting events, so we ordered a pizzza and a buffalo chicken weggie from Giuseppie's (10% discount for DVC). It was ok...I liked the weggie more than the pizza. They did deliver...so it was a good first night, quick meal.
Monday-
We did a marsh walk in the morning that was lead by the resort's naturalist. They had marsh walking boots set out for everyone and once we were ready, the naturalist led us on about an hour trek through the marsh looking at various flora and fauna. I liked that the activities were all really kept to the publicized amount of time.
After the walk, we headed over to the Beach House for lunch. We drove to the Beach House everyday...and found that we were able to find a space easily or with just a bit of a wait. We chose not to take the shuttle very often because we had so much "beach gear" and those towels. We really liked the Beach House pool...and spent a lot of time here. We had lunch at Signals (typical burgers/fries fare....and the refillable mugs). It was fine...but didn't stand out has fantastic....just convenient. I wish there was a place to eat in air conditioning, but we did find a shady table. We didnt' have any problems with beach chairs (at either pool). In fact, it seemed a bit uncrowded for the last week of June.
We hit the beach after lunch. It was very, very hot! We had an umbrella and I spent most of the time hiding under it while the kids dug in the sand. We went in the water for awhile, but it was moving toward high-tide and my dd5 was a bit intimidated. DD2, mind you, thought it was great.
We finished up at the beach and headed back to the villa to clean up and then went to Harbour Town in Sea Pines for dinner. We didn't fully get that this was a town within a gated community until we got to teh gate where we had to pay 5.00. This was all well and good, but I think I would have planned to go earlier in the day and do the light house to get more for my money. Oh well...live and learn. We did find a parking place right in Harbour Town and walked around a bit admiring the yachts and lighthouse. We put our name in at Crazy Crab and let the kids watch Greg Russell until our name was called at the restaurant. The atmosphere and food ws great. I had the fried seafood platter and it was quite good. DH had the steak and the kids had hot dogs.
Tuesday-
More of the same beach/pool during the day. We liked the pool games at teh Beach Club pool during the day.....the highlight of the day was the Star Spangled Tuesday BBQ and Pool Party. This was a BBQ dinner at the resort (we had to make reservations for this event in advance) with ribs/hot dogs/burgers/chicken, etc. They passed out flag bandanas and bracelets and had a number of games (jello jigglers, ice cream drop, bean bag toss, etc). There was also a balloonist (B'Lou crabbe) and face painting. After the BBQ, there was night swimming with the slide open and lots of pool games.Also, the CM's led dancing to popular party songs (and HSM) on the pool deck. At 9pm exactly, everyone went up on the deck or on the marsh banks for fireworks. It was a very Disney 'Camp" experience.
Wednesday-
We did the nature walk at a local nature preserve. It as a 2 1/2 hour event with the naturalist and the only event that I didn't think was worth our while. It was very, very hot and most of the people on the walk (four families) were unprepared- no bottled water, etc. Most of the information was the same as what we were told on the marsh walk. We walked around Ibis pond, but the naturalist only pointed out a few ducks...maybe I'm biased because we have somany ducks at our summer house in the adirondack mountains, but we really didn't get a lot out of it and the naturalist didn't seem all that enthusiastic on this day.
We did the Salty Dog Cafe for lunch....this was fun, but I was pretty tired of fried food by then. It was fun to pick up tee-shirts and see more of Sea Pines.
Swimming/Beach in the afternoon and then back to the resort for fishing in the late afternoon. A CM led my dd5 and dh (and many other families) through an art activity about teh "Legend of Big Murgie" and then they went fishing off of the pier. My DD5 caught a shark...which shocked her (and DH). They had to go running to find a CM to help them to figure out to cut the line. It is the story she loves to tell...about the "shark that got away".
We tried to go to Aunt Chilada's for dinner...but the wait was an hour and we wanted to make it back in time for the camp fire (the resort was so much fun). After the camp fire, we ordered in greek food from "It's Greek to Me". Very good...lots of great dips and gyros...yum!
Thursday-
Hit the pool again...and then Beach House for activities. My dd5 made a pillow and then learned how to make/cook s'mores in a solar oven. A bit more beach and then back to resort to change and come back to the Beach club for the Low Country Shrimp Boil. This was a bit more low key than the BBQ. I'm not sure i would do it again..only becasue there weren't as many kids there. There was a "Kids Nite Out" scheduled for the same time which seriously reduced the number of kids at the shrimp boil. My kids were too young for "Kid Nite Out" and we wanted to spend time as a family anyway. They did have face painting and did a rythm band, but it was more for adults. They did a nice job with the meal...many options...great gumbo and lots of big shrimp. Also, they tables were set with each family's name on a bucket...just a bit more formal than the BBQ...but still very casual.
Friday-
This was supposed to be our departure day...but we extended the trip by paying cash for this extra night. We did a beach walk that morning whihc I was sort of on the fence about after our nature preserve walk. However, it turned out to be well worth it. Sandy was our CM who took us off-site to a beach where there was huge tide pool. She walked us along the tide-pool pointing out various animals and then around to creek...again giving us the history of the area...information about the natural life, etc. She was very kind to our two young girls and really seemed to be enjoying what she was doing. She helped the girls look for shark teeth and shells as well.
We had lunch at Tide Me Over and sent dd5 off to the UnBirthday Party. She loved this event and we loved having some time to chill with just dd2 by the pool. We swam until about 4:30 and then headed back to change in time for the magic show with B'lou Crabbe. My dd5 loved this so much she wanted to come back for the story telling later in teh evening. We opted to just order pizza in again so she could do this. The story telling was a bit over her head (and it was advertised for ages 10 and up) and there were "ghost" stories...but she seemed to enjoy being there. I'm not sure we would have stayed if she had been paying more attention because the content was really for older kids, but she was more into just hanging in the den watching B'Lou play his fiddle..and as I said, most of it just went over her head.
Saturday-
Check out day....we packed up and headed over to the Beach House for lunch /swimming. DD5 wanted to do the sand sculpture activity at 2pm ...so we stayed for this and hit the road afterwards. Sandy led this as well and many families turned out. We made a starfish...a small starfish as it was hard to get a 2 year old and a 5 year old organized on this kind of project. It was all about the process though, right?
We hit the road after this event....but we'll be back next year!!
Summary- We were so surprised at all of the great activities and the CM's who were so much like super friendly camp counselors. It was the perfect summer family experience....I call it "Camp Disney" adn can't recommend it enough!
Great trip report - thanks for sharing! 
