Lots of HHI Questions

[tinkerbellybutton]

Hi all,

We are booked at HHI for 4th of July weekend. It will be my family of 4, plus my SIL's family of 5. This will be our first time staying there and I have lots of questions. Together we have 5 kids ages 16, 13, 13, 11, 8.

First off all I know there are lots of activities and tours available throuh the resort. Are any of them recommended? Or should we book tours through another company in HHI? I think we'd love to do a kayak marsh tour. Is the one offered through Disney a good one? Worth the $? Any other tours I should know about.

How do we sign the kids up for activities? Can we do so at check in? Do we call from our room? Is there limited availability?

I read about two meals, a Low Country Boil and a Pirate BBQ. Anyone know which days of the week these are held? Do you have to book this in advanced?

Do we have to wear wrist bands for access to the pools and beach? Or do we just use our room key like we did at Vero Beach? Does the beach have rental chairs and umbrellas?

Does the resort have the refillable mug program like they have in WDW and at Vero Beach?

Any suggestions, tips, must dos, must sees, both at Disney's resort and in the HHI area? Places to eat?

I feel so lost in trying to plan this trip. We can definitely wing it and just go with the flo, but if there are special things that need to be booked ahead of time than will enhance our stay then I'd love to know about it. Thanks so much for any and all info!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Hi all,

We are booked at HHI for 4th of July weekend. It will be my family of 4, plus my SIL's family of 5. This will be our first time staying there and I have lots of questions. Together we have 5 kids ages 16, 13, 13, 11, 8.

First off all I know there are lots of activities and tours available throuh the resort. Are any of them recommended? Or should we book tours through another company in HHI? I think we'd love to do a kayak marsh tour. Is the one offered through Disney a good one? Worth the $? Any other tours I should know about.

How do we sign the kids up for activities? Can we do so at check in? Do we call from our room? Is there limited availability?

I read about two meals, a Low Country Boil and a Pirate BBQ. Anyone know which days of the week these are held? Do you have to book this in advanced?

Do we have to wear wrist bands for access to the pools and beach? Or do we just use our room key like we did at Vero Beach? Does the beach have rental chairs and umbrellas?

Does the resort have the refillable mug program like they have in WDW and at Vero Beach?

Any suggestions, tips, must dos, must sees, both at Disney's resort and in the HHI area? Places to eat?

I feel so lost in trying to plan this trip. We can definitely wing it and just go with the flo, but if there are special things that need to be booked ahead of time than will enhance our stay then I'd love to know about it. Thanks so much for any and all info!

I don't know if the summertime is different regarding pool access, but when we go you don't need a wrist band. You do, however, need to bring your own pool towel from the room with the guarantee that you can trade it in for a new, dry one at any time. If you happen to be at the pool and decide to dip your feet in, then ask for a towel to dry off, you can be in "deep Doo-Doo", as my grandmother used to say, because when it happened to me, they really balked on giving me a towel. For the older kids, there's teens' nite out, where the resort takes them to the movies and gives them pizza. Off-season, at least, you sign up when you get to the resort, not beforehand. Places to go eat are really dependent on what type of food you like-for real casual seafood, we like the Sea Shack. Black Marlin is a little more upscale, but still not too expensive (for HHI). If you like gelato, make a trip tp Pino Gelato in Wexford Village. They have a wide variety of flavors, but warning-not every flavor is available every day. I passed over the Nutella flavor the first time we went last trip, and then when we went back, they didn't have it.

 

[Cruise04]

Our first stay as a family was in July of 2003 for one night and you did need your room key to access the Beach House. Another trip we did the Low Country Boil and I'm not much of a seafood eater but it was fun, I recommend it. I don't remember when we booked it, might have been after we got there.

There is a shopping center, Caligny I think is the name if I'm remembering right, that has some neat shops and some good restaurants. There's great bikes paths all over the Island. There's a park that has soccer fields and a nice walking area.

And you are 45 minutes from Savannah and not far from some of the islands off of Georgia - Tybee Island I've heard is great. Savannah is a neat town - I love it.

There is an area on HHI called Harbortown and last I knew you paid a $5 fee to enter or you had to know someone that would have a pass for you. But I think it's worth the money. The lighthouse there is cool to go up in.

They have dolphin excursions that I recommend as well. There's all kinds of little stuff do in that area. I love HHI and the area. Oh and you're only about 2 hours from Charleston, a great historical city.

They have refillable mugs. They are filled at the area by the pool. Not sure if they've added anyplace near the front of the resort.

 

[bbn1122]

We went last year for the first time with sons...18, 14 and 12....

We did not plan....boys are too old for activities but.....they loved it....

Rent bikes for length of stay....boys would just ride all around resort....ride to the pool ....ride to get a snack....ride to the pier....

They love the billiard table at LOL (Live Oak Lodge).... Ping pong....pool...fishing pier....loved the Beach House...the beach with the pool table and ping pong, plus volleyball in the pool. We found it very relaxing.

My middle guy crab for the first time....no luck but it was fun. We did plan to do a kayak tour but do too thunderstorms it was canceled.

We went twice to Sea Pines ....had a great lunch at the Salty Dog....

I used the. PiggyWiggly five minutes from resort ....not the best selection or prices, but convenient.

I have not been to Vero, but want to go next year....good luck with your planning...

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

And you are 45 minutes from Savannah and not far from some of the islands off of Georgia - Tybee Island I've heard is great. Savannah is a neat town - I love it.

Thanks! We plan on leaving the resort early the morning we check out and head to Savannah. We were also thinking about checking out Tybee Island before the drive home.

 

[peekies722]

"First off all I know there are lots of activities and tours available throuh the resort. Are any of them recommended? Or should we book tours through another company in HHI? I think we'd love to do a kayak marsh tour. Is the one offered through Disney a good one? Worth the $? Any other tours I should know about. "


My family went to HHI last October, we had the best vacation & best Disney vacation ever, so my bet is, you all will have a blast!
We did the Secrets of the Marsh tour-excellent, Resort Nature Walk tour-just ok, Pinckney Island Wildlife tour-very good and the Beach Nature Walk tour-excellent, all were great, but if we had to miss one, it would be the Resort Nature Walk tour. Not that it was bad, having experienced it I would choose to select beach time or pool time instead. All other tours were a lot of fun and very interesting, our guide, TJ, was a native to the island and had a knack with kids.
They supply boots for the Marsh tour & it takes place at the resort, you must bring/wear socks. They supply binoculars for Resort and Pinckney tour. For the Beach tour, make sure you wear your water shoes and bring a bag if you're a shell collector. They drive you in the Disney HHI Resort van for both Pinckney & Beach tour.
I heard from other Disney guests that the Disney Kayak tour was great, people really seemed to enjoy it, and it conveniently meets and starts at the very end of the resort's parking lot.

"How do we sign the kids up for activities? Can we do so at check in? Do we call from our room? Is there limited availability? "

You can sign up for these activities at Broad Creek Rental or make a reservation from your Villa phone. I'm sure July is WAY busier than October so I'm not sure how far in advance you would be allowed to make a reservation, the earlier the better. There was limited availability, not sure at what number they cap the tours at, but they did accomodate us and another family with another Beach tour after the 1st tour booked up. I just asked my husband, he said he signed up for as many things as possible right after we checked in amd that he went down to Broad Creek Rentals so he could ask them additional questions.

"Do we have to wear wrist bands for access to the pools and beach? Or do we just use our room key like we did at Vero Beach? Does the beach have rental chairs and umbrellas?"

We used our room key for Beach access. We brought our own beach stuff beacause I had read from other Disers that rentals were expensive and I wanted to put that money toward a dinner out instead.

"Does the resort have the refillable mug program like they have in WDW and at Vero Beach?"

Yes, it's pretty centrally located, right outside next to Community Hall, Broad Creek Mercantile & Tide Me Over.

"Any suggestions, tips, must dos, must sees, both at Disney's resort and in the HHI area? Places to eat?"

Suggested must do's by the kids:
DS10 LOVED crabbing off of the Disney pier, he can't wait to do that again. DD8 loved the dolphin tour and the shark tooth necklace making, she said next time she would like to do the Mickey tie dye, which seemed pretty popular.
DD12 enjoyed Goofy Bingo and the Disney trivia nights.
They all said they would have liked to have spent more time at the beach and they would have liked to have rented bikes, we will probably do this, if we make it to HHI again, there's just so many other places to visit, DH & I don't really want to do vacation repeats, but I'll say this, HHI makes it really hard not to go back.

Places to eat, Hudson's-excellent; Skull Creek Boathouse, recommended by the locals-very good; One Hot Mama's-not good; Jim and Nick's, chain restaurant, in Bluffton-very good. My relatives who live in Hilton Head suggested The Old Oyster Factory for our next trip, if there is a next trip, but probably will be, because all of this reminiscing is making me HHI homesick.

"if there are special things that need to be booked ahead of time than will enhance our stay then I'd love to know about it."

We did the resort's Dolphin tour, I'd much rather give my money to a Disney associated business, than some random one from the island. Disney makes sure they are up to snuff. It's on a small boat, so if you have hopes to do the Dolphin tour, then sign up as soon as you get there, this does seem to fill up fast.
Hope this helps. You'll have so much fun, the CMs are awesome, the resort is amazing and quaint, the beach is stunning and the Island is gorg, I love, love, love it there and hope to return someday

 

[Boomboom27]

We will be there the week after you this year for our 3rd trip in July to HHI DVC. Most activities you can sign up the day before or the day of. The kayak tour from the resort is worth the money and will need to sign up a couple of days in advance. The Low Country Boil at the resort is ok, Alot of great resturants in the area. When you get to the resort, look for Mike, one of the lifeguards, he has a whole book of suggestions for you to do while your there. The CM's are the best out of all the resorts we have stayed at. I definitely suggest the trip to Savannah, been there 6 times over the years.