"It's a Disney-fied island". A Disney Hilton Head DVC trip report June 21-28

[ProudMommyof2]

Great tip about the bikes - i will have to look into that rental place.

FYI- i followed your last trip report as we stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in April and did Universal and Disney (as well as Kennedy Space Center). You had tons of great tips in that report that we used, including getting a room at Royal Pacific for Express Pass. Thanks to your experience, we packed a day bag and used the room for a mid day break and to use the pool. Worked great!

 

[BigEeyore]

Thanks for sharing your TR! We are headed to HHI in just over a week and I cannot wait!

 

[Chelley00]

FYI- i followed your last trip report as we stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in April and did Universal and Disney (as well as Kennedy Space Center). You had tons of great tips in that report that we used, including getting a room at Royal Pacific for Express Pass. Thanks to your experience, we packed a day bag and used the room for a mid day break and to use the pool. Worked great!

I'm so glad. Sometimes I feel like I do trip reports for nothing and no one reads them (or at least no one comments) so it's nice to know something helped!



June 22
Taking a Dip

Being steps from the pool stinks because of noise but is awesome in convenience. Plus, we didn't feel the need to schlep a bag of bottled water or anything. If we wanted it, it was a 1 minute walk back to the villa to get it.

It was around 11am when we got to the pool and we had plenty of chairs to chose from. The covered tables were all taken though. The pool is a decent size and the kids loved the pool slide. I was blackmailed into trying it later in the week and it's a lot faster than you think it is!

The kids swam for over an hour before deciding they needed lunch. We went back to the villa for sandwiches on the balcony and then I ran next door to the Mercantile to pick up desserts. It's the first day of vacation so don't you have to eat something Mickey shaped??

The kids wanted to go back to the pool but they quickly got vetoed. We live in the Midwest. We came to see ocean. We are going to the beach!

 

[Chelley00]

June 22
But, you're too far away from the ocean!

When doing my research I had read many reviews of people who complained that the beach was too far away. I honestly was afraid this would bother me too. I mean, we are from the Midwest. There is no way we can take a day trip or even a weekend trip to the beach, so the ocean was a major part of why we were in Hilton Head.

However, I found that I really liked the beach being so far away. It made the resort quieter and more peaceful and secure. The ocean became a destination outside of the resort and something else to do, not just the reason we were there. After we left HHI, we went to Topsail Island, North Carolina for 3 days to spend time with our "other son". The only thing to do outside our condo was the beach. Now, for 3 days it was ok, but I think the kids would have gone stir crazy if that was the only thing we could have offered them....especially since it rained 2 of the 3 days!

Plus, a couple of us are pretty pale and burn easily so spending an entire day at the beach isn't quite possible. It was great to just pack a bag, catch a shuttle, head to the beach for a few hours, then shuttle back to do other things.



We decided to drive to the beach since we had left our beach chairs and umbrella in the car when we arrived. It was around 3 and we had no problems finding a parking space. However, this is the only time we ever saw an empty space. The parking lot is way too small for the resort, and if you can't park there, there is no other place to go. You have to drive back and take the shuttle. Trust me. It happened to us on day 2.

So, back to our first beach trip. We parked the car and headed up to the Beach House. (this picture is actually of us leaving on another day, which is why DS is calling for the shuttle)

Inside the Beach House are chairs and tables where you can sit in the air conditioning

Outside there is an area with foosball and table tennis and a little splash pad

The pool

and arcade

and then the walkway to the beach. This is actually walking back towards the Beach House from the beach. Just before the screen door there are showers

At the end of the walkway

The view from the end of the walkway

We got our chairs set up, decided not to set up the umbrella because it was cloudy and we weren't planning on staying long and then headed towards the water.

Well, three of us did...................

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Funny, part of the reason I was resistant to this trip a little is that we live in the Ocean State. We go to the beach all the time in the summer. But, my husband grew up outside Philly and summers on the Jersey Shore are great memories for him. I am hopeful HHI will be a good compromise for us. A beach vacation for him but "other stuff to do" for me and the kids.

 

[missx0xdelaney]

Wow, Hilton Head is such a beautiful island! As much as I love going to Disney, I think I could really go for a nice, relaxing beach vacation! I'm glad things got better after you made it to the resort! I was reading about your drive while we were in the car on the way to Florida and I was nervous about running into something like that! I can never sleep in on vacation either. I always wake up far too early out of excitement or worrying that I've overslept and missed rope drop! Your pictures are great! I really appreciate all of the details you've included about the resort. Almost makes me feel like I'm there! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Chelley00]

I am hopeful HHI will be a good compromise for us. A beach vacation for him but "other stuff to do" for me and the kids.

I think you will be really happy. We loved that the resort is so contained and that the beach was a day trip type thing.

As much as I love going to Disney, I think I could really go for a nice, relaxing beach vacation!

This was perfect, because there were still enough Disney touches around so we had a little "magic" without the parks.



June 22
I am NOT going in there!
And the best meal of the week

As we were leaving the resort for the beach, one of the lifeguards asked us about our plans and DS said we were going to the beach. Somehow they started talking about fish, which led to other ocean animals, like sharks and jellyfish and horseshoe crabs and sand dollars.......

which led to DS deciding he was NOT swimming in the ocean.

Now, DS is the one that we have to talk into everything, but once he does it we can't get him to stop. Apparently the ocean was one of those things. I almost had to drag him out in the water kicking and screaming, but once he got in, we had to drag him out kicking and screaming

He and his sister were most happy just jumping waves for hours

We finally convinced them we needed to find some food. The counter service and the Beach House both close at 5 and it was way past that, so we had to leave. Once we drug them out of the water, dried off and packed up it was getting pretty late. We drove back to the resort, showered and then headed out for dinner at what would turn out to be our favorite meal of the week.

We decided to go to SkullCreek Boathouse because of the reviews I had read and that they have a gluten free menu. When we got there it was an hour wait, which really isn't too bad on a Saturday in June.



The area outside was super kid friendly during the wait. They had a picnic table with crafts you could buy and have your kids make (wooden masks, tshirts etc) There were hula hoops, sidewalk chalk and a sand table as well. For the adults, there was an outside bar. Plus you can walk down and see the boats in the marina area

The food was the best we had on vacation, lots of fresh seafood, the prices were very reasonable and the desserts were great. We actually considered going back again later in the week we enjoyed it so much.

The kids both passed out on the way home but woke up when we pulled in the resort. We parked the car up front, picked up the bikes that had been delivered earlier in the day and rode our bikes back to the villa. DH walked back to pick up the car and park it closer to the villa while I got the kids ready for bed.

And so ended our first full day at HHI.

Up tomorrow: Bikes, Beach and few Monsters

 

[Chelley00]

I finally have some time to catch up. I've been working on a musical since after work since we got home so my life has been crazy. Now that the production is over, I've got a little time to update (and hopefully finish my scrapbook)

June 23
Biking It

We slept in a little and made a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon. We all leave at odd times each morning so we rarely have big breakfasts together. We like to do it on vacation because it gives us time to plan our day.

One of our kids favorite things turned out to be the tic tac toe game. Every day they flash 2 characters on the screen in the Live Oak Lodge. They give the kids a paper with 9 characters on it and Mickey stickers to cover them. Once you get a tic tac toe you can take it back to the Live Oak Lodge and get a trading pin. My kids are pin hogs, so of course we had to play. It became a tradition of getting up every morning, riding our bikes to the Live Oak Lodge for the character, before we did anything else.

Today was the first day we had our bikes, so we rode instead of walked like we had before. We paid $100 for the week for 4 bikes with 2 locks and 3 baskets through Bike Doctor. The bikes were all in great shape and well taken care of and the seats were extra comfy. They deliver and pick up.

After we had gotten the characters, we took a quick ride to Shelter Cove to look around. King Neptune is a sun dial

It was getting hot, so we decided it was time to head to the beach.

 

[Chelley00]

June 23
We might get to the beach

Today is the day we made a mistake. We loaded up our car and drove to the beach. At noon.

First, it's really easy to miss the turn off to the Beach House. The lady who let us in didn't tell us where to turn and we went right past it. We turned around at the end of the lane and came back and found it finally.

Then, there were no places to park. I mean at all. It's a small lot and if there aren't parking spaces in it, there is no other place to go. We ended up driving back to the resort and parking by Live Oak Lodge then catching the shuttle. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for the shuttle at all, and it was only a mile drive back but it was making the kids extra impatient because they just wanted to get in the water already!

Goofy DS finally on the shuttle

We got our spot set up

sunscreened the kids and turned them loose

Now, just an FYI. Pale Midwestern people still burn even reapplying 100 SPF every 30+ minutes. Ugh.

DD was lucky enough to find a sand dollar

The kids both checked it out before returning it back to the ocean

A view up the beach

A little digging for clams

We decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at Signals in the Beach House. Mistake. I called before we left and was assured that there would be gluten free bagels and gluten free bread available. Apparently those things aren't available at Signals, only at Tide Me Over. The lady taking my order thought gluten free was a type of salad? This was our most disappointing part of our trip. Disney is always so amazing with food allergies and HHI is totally not equipped at all.

DS was happy though that his food was served in a sand pail

View from outside Signals

A quick picture of the days happenings

After lunch/dinner everyone was tired and sunburned, so we decided to pack it up and head back. We left the kids in the Beach House pool while we walked back to pack up the chairs and umbrella.

On the shuttle, the kids were asked to wave at people with the Mickey hands

After coming back to the villa, everyone showered and we decided to impose a "mandatory naptime" before dinner.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Great update. No sand dollars up north here, so it wil be fun to look for them. Did you come across any jellyfish?

 

[Chelley00]

Great update. No sand dollars up north here, so it wil be fun to look for them. Did you come across any jellyfish?

The sand dollars were everywhere. We didn't see any jellyfish at Hilton Head, but when we went north to Topsail NC we saw a dead one on the beach one morning.

 

[Chelley00]

June 23
Monsters and Mushrooms

After our return from the beach, we showered and changed and headed out to watch Monsters University. No pictures even though I really thought about it. We went to Park Plaza Cinemas. It was pretty small, and we could hear the sound effects from whatever action packed movie was beside us through the walls, but it was clean and the staff was nice and the popcorn was really good

Afterwards we headed to Mellow Mushroom for pizza. We don't have one near us and they have a gluten free pizza. We opted for the patio, which would have been nice except there were people smoking outside it. DD has asthma and smoke can bother her. We have very strict smoking laws here so it was odd to see people smoking near restaurants (also even odder for us to see how many places have family bars.....nowhere here can we sit in a bar with someone under 21!)

Pizza was decent. We were able to watch the guy walk across the Grand Canyon, so that kept us busy while we were waiting.

We also enjoyed the full moon behind DH

Tomorrow:
Hanging around the resort and date night for Mom and Dad!

 

[Chelley00]

June 24
a little playing

We all slept in this morning which was so nice. After breakfast, we rode our bikes down to check for the tic tac toe characters.

On the way back we stopped off to play foosball in the pool area. The pool was closed for routine maintenance so two of the lifeguards were doing Disney trivia for candy

We did very well, but they ended up just telling anyone who had answered a question could come get 2 pieces of candy

Once they opened the pool back up, we went on in to play foosball where the girls won

and ping pong (once again, girls win)

and then decided to try out the playground

The kids decided they were ready for the pool, so we went back to the villa to change. DD was taking her time so we told her to just meet us at the pool (10 steps away) When we came out they were getting ready to play a game on the shuffleboard court and one of the lifeguards insisted DS and I come play. Found out a little too late it was water balloon toss Which we lost. Badly.

Defeated we took our damp selves off to the pool for the afternoon

 

[Chelley00]

June 24
Pool time and learning to juggle.....sorta

The kids and I grabbed one of the inflatable beach balls that the lifeguards throw in and played monkey in the middle for way too long

At 2, DS and I went to the shuffleboard court to see what the activity called "Catch Me if You Can" was all about.

Well, unfortunately for my uncoordinated self, it was B'Lou teaching juggling. Grrrrrr

Now, in my defense, when learning to juggle against a bunch of 7 and 8 year old kids, I looked really really good

Can I just say how much I adore B'Lou? By the end of the week the kids were asking if there was anything he couldn't do. He's so patient with the kids (and with moms who can't juggle) and really interested in people. He gave us a sheet on juggling techniques to bring home. It was fun, but embarrassing

We eventually had to drag the kids out of the pool for a snack and then get everyone cleaned up and changed for our big night out.

Or, their big night in.

 

[Chelley00]

June 24
Kids Night In
Date Night Out


We walked the kids over to the community hall for Kids Night In at 6pm. There were 4 lifeguards there and maybe 10 kids? They had ordered Papa Johns pizzas and were taking the kids to the refillable mug station for sodas. I had to sign a form and leave a cell phone number and then was told to enjoy my time off

The kids recognized the other kids from various activities and pool time earlier in the week so they already had "friends" there. I didn't want to embarrass DD by taking a picture.

From what the kids told us later, they went to the playground for awhile, played games in the hall, B'Lou came in and did magic tricks (DS was given a coin and B'Lou magically took it from him.....DS is still stumped!!!!), they had popsicles for snacks and then watched Incredibles.

The kids had a great time. DD said the lifeguards played with them constantly and they were always laughing. They even found a rhino beetle (or something) to show the kids which DS begged me to post a picture of

Part of the reason we booked Disney was because of Kids Night In. Our anniversary was right before we left and we really wanted a night out alone on vacation. I knew we didn't have to worry about a Disney sponsored childcare. The kids loved it and it was worth every penny.

As for DH and I, we went to WiseGuys which is on Main Street. A total must do. Great ambiance, the food was fabulous (huge gluten free menu for those who care) the wine/cocktail list was enormous and the service was crazy fantastic.

They even put a candle in DH's dessert when the waitress heard me saying something about our anniversary

After dinner what did we do? Went to Publix to pick up more sunscreen and boogie boards for the kids. Do we know how to rock an anniversary or what??

 

[BigEeyore]

Happy anniversary! What a great place to celebrate.
Was the parking full underneath the beach house too? The outside lot is pretty tiny but there is another lot under the BH.
Love your pictures and TR! I am getting so excited to be back there in just a few days!

 

[Chelley00]

Was the parking full underneath the beach house too? The outside lot is pretty tiny but there is another lot under the BH.
Love your pictures and TR! I am getting so excited to be back there in just a few days!

It was full under the beach house too, plus we weren't the only people driving around looking for a spot. The small amount of parking was probably our biggest complaint about the resort.



June 25
Divide and Conquer

DD had one request for vacation. She wanted to try kayaking. I kept an eye on groupon for weeks before our trip and scored a cheap guided kayaking tour. DH would take DD there and I decided to let DS pick a resort activity. He was all about meeting Shadow, so we found the "Shadow Tales with B'Lou" on this day and then booked DH and DD's tour for the same time.

DH and DD arrived at "On the Water Hilton Head" the requested 30 minutes before their tour time. The guy said he could take them out for their 45 minute tour or they could just take the kayaks out for as long as they wanted alone. They opted for the unattended take as long as you want session and set out alone. I thought it was very nice of the On the Water people to give them the option.

Since I wasn't there, I can't give you all the goodies, and neither DH nor DD are picture takers, but they did take a few for me to scrapbook (they know better than to come home without any pictures at all!)

While they were gone, DS and I rode our bikes to Live Oak Lodge to check for the tic tac toe board (DS wins. Here he is picking out his pin)

We decided to play a quick game of checkers while we were waiting for B'Lou. DS mentioned to a CM that he wished there were checkers in our room because the table in their room has a checker board painted on it. The CM grabbed a box of checkers, handed them to DS and told him to bring them back when we checked out. Ah, little Disney happiness.

B'Lou and Shadow arrived and B'Lou began to tell stories about how they found Shadow, where she slept, how she is taken care of etc. The kids loved it, she is a total sweetie and B'Lou is funny. We all got autographed postcards with Shadow's picture on it and the kids got to feed her a treat.

DS was thrilled. She put her paw on his leg

DD and DH were still gone when we got back, so we went to the pool. We hadn't been there very long when they had to close it because of a storm.

DH and DD got back and we had sandwiches on the balcony watching it storm

After lunch we made the kids lay down and watch TV, which for them is a vacation in itself since we don't have cable and they were thrilled to be able to watch Phineus and Ferb. I had some work to do (payroll) but the internet wasn't working so I had to call into the office and payroll company to work. We were scheduled for the Secrets of the Marsh tour at 3pm so I was really hoping the weather cleared up.

 

[Chelley00]

June 25
The secret is that it hurts

We were really looking forward to the Secrets of the Marsh tour. The kids were fascinated with watching the tide come in and out. We could see the fiddler crabs all over the ground in front of our balcony. But, the weather had us worried.

Luckily it did clear up about 30 minutes before we had to report to the campfire pit for the tour. We checked in with TJ the naturalist and were handed our fancy rubber boots.

It hurts #1. Make sure you bring socks that cover your ankle. I still have a scab from where I got a horrible blister on my ankle from the rubber boots rubbing.

Once everyone was booted up and checked in, we headed out to the marsh. We were with 2 other families so the group wasn't too big you felt like you were being left out. There were 2 other groups that went out after ours.

It hurts #2. The marsh smells. A lot. Like sewer. DS said "It hurt his smelling brain".

We were asked not to try and pull the mussels up or step on them because it can kill them. They were everywhere.

TJ then explained the differences between female and male fiddler crabs. The males have a big claw, the females do not. He encouraged us to try and catch one because they are really fast.

It hurts #3. The males pinch. That hurts.

We walked all the way out to the waters edge. There were thousands of fiddler crabs

DD was smart and caught a female

There are more than just fiddler crabs out. TJ showing us where a stingray had burrowed

Oysters

It hurts #4. Wear sunscreen. It's hot and you do get close to the water and DS ended up with a little burn on the back of his neck

And just a helpful hint: one of the people with us was surprised we got as muddy as we did, even if you don't try to touch or catch anything, and she was not happy. Be prepared. They do hose your legs off when you get back to turn in your boots, but our group had mud on their legs and some on their bottoms where it flings when you walk. Could just be our tour because it had stormed so much before we went?

 

[Chelley00]

June 25
Dinner in

This night was the Pirate Pool Party and we knew it was a must do. We thought about doing the buffet that the resort offered, but considering my food allergies and the lack of safety so far, we were afraid to chance it and have me get sick. We decided to grill dinner and had bought hamburgers and brats at Publix.

DS and I hung out on the hammock while DH cooked.

View from the hammock

If you want to make friends, grill We had so many people stop by to say hi, ask what we were grilling, tell us it smelled good etc. We had thought about eating at the picnic table but really didn't want to haul everything else over there, so we just ended up on our balcony. It was actually really nice to just chill out on the balcony. However, I do wish I had remembered to bring paper plates. I ended up doing dishes way more times than I wanted to!

Next up:

Pirate Pool Party
AKA the highlight of the kids vacation

 

[BigEeyore]

Great update! Don't you just love B'lou and Shadow? We did the secrets of the marsh tour last time as well and we had a great time. I was a biology major so I just love that kind of stuff, and my kids learned a lot!