Disney Hilton Head Resort

[missangie]

Has anyone been to the Hilton Head Resort? I'd love to hear info from someone who has visited. We are going in the spring and want to fill the trip with fun stuff to do. We might even head over to Savannah to eat at The Lady and Sons restaurant. I'm a fan of Paula Deen--I think it would be cool to eat at her place.

[SunshineGirl]

Hey, I didn't know you were goin'. :rotfl:

I think we already had a volunteer in the area offer to show us some places to get margaritas. YEA!!

[missangie]

Are you joking? Is it because I haven't paid my deposit yet?

[jakeandsophiesmom]

Yep the margarita lady would be me!! I don't have much time this morning, but when I get home from work tonight, I'll tell ya about the island and surrounding areas. :)

[SunshineGirl]

I'm getting excited already and we aren't going until April. LOL!

And if anyone lives between Indiana and Hilton Head and has some neat suggestions for places to stop on the way down and back, we need those, too.

[jakeandsophiesmom]

Okay i'm back and ready to fill you in on Hilton Head. Just to warn you, this will probably be long cuz I don't want to leave anything out. A few things about the resort -- it's not on the beach but on Broad Creek. I got a chance to walk around a bit after my interview and it is really nice. The resort is bordered by a marina, shops, and restaurants. There is a beach house on 3/12 acres oceanfront that you can take the shuttle to. Haven't checked it out yet. The resort has several activities planned every day. Some of these are nature tours, dolphin tours, fishing tours, beach walks, crafts for little ones, games in the community hall, campfires at the beach house, there's a low country boil one night, and bedtime stories. Plenty to keep you busy. You can also rent bicycles to get around if that's your pleasure (but it seems too much like exercise to me). They do have some cute bike sets which a child's bike attaches to the back of an adults bike. I have a few things from the resort -- the newsletter, a sample of a weeks activities, a map of the resort, and a menu for one restaurant -- if you'd like I can send them to you. Let's see, the resort does not have any of the characters, but they do have a "mascot", a dog named Shadow. They also have B'Lou Crabbe, who does dinner music and tells stories. One last thing about the resort--there is not a so called table service restaurant, but there are so many great places to eat on the island.

Now on to the island itself. Things to do around here, golf, tennis, golf, bike, golf, beach, golf. You get the picture. There are lots of fishing excursions, dolphin cruises, if I'm not mistaken I think there is a cruise that goes to Savannah. There is Sea Pines, which is a private resort but you pay $5 to get in, and they have restaurants, shopping, a small lighthouse, a marina. If I start getting a lot of family and friends wanting to go there, I might have an annual pass to get in. The Salty Dog Cafe is my favorite in Sea Pines. If you like seafood, they have an awesome seafood pot pie. And margaritas!! There is the Coastal Museum which has some neat learning experiences like teaching you how to go crabbing, how to throw shrimp nets, they have a loggerhead turtle tour. On that note, where as most beach communities are all lit up at night, the beaches here are not b/c of the turtles. It's against the law here to have bright lights on the beach b/c the turtles seek the nearest light and get turned toward land if they see lights. So the beaches are almost completely dark at night, so everyone brings flashlights to the beach. What else is there? Oh, the surrounding areas. To the north is Bluffton, where I live, and we have 2 Tanger outlets, restaurants, shopping, etc. but not too much b/c this area is just starting to build up. We have Beaufort, Hunting Island State Park, Parris Island (the Marines boot camp, but I'm not sure if you can actually go there). Savannah is to the south and I would strongly recommend a map for there. My husband and I got lost there and drove around for an hour in circles. The downtown district is absolutely gorgeous. They have River Street, lots of parks, bus tours galore, ghost walks, cruises, restaurants -- Lady and Sons, I think Mrs Wilkes Boardinghouse is still open, and Pirates House. If you've read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, they have a tour about it. And even though it's kind of creepy, the Bonaventure Cemetary is a good stop. Tybee Island is just a few miles down the road also. They have a lighthouse and an old fort that's neat. You could literally spend a few days there and still not have seen it all.

All right, I think I am done. If I think of anything else, I'll post it on here. If you find anything on here that interests you, let me know and I can pick up some brochures and mail them to you along with the Disney info. Just let me know!! i think you'll have a wonderful time here. And we'll definitely have to meet up for that margarita!!:cheers:

[missangie]

Okay, now I'm excited! I really need a vacation. Of course, I say that about every two weeks! LOL

[bs4free]

Wow thanks for all the info on Disneys HH

[jakeandsophiesmom]

I guess we are sort of lucky living in this area b/c there is so much to do, every weekend is like a vacation of sorts for us. I'm actually going to Savannah this weekend with my sister for a Wiener Dog Race:rotfl: I hope the newness never wears off!

[missangie]

A Weiner Dog Race.....Just when you think you've heard it all!

[jakeandsophiesmom]

I know!! My sister is a serious Dachshund girl and does rescue and adoptions. I just think it's gonna be hilarious to see two or three hundred of them running their short little legs off!:rotfl:

[SunshineGirl]

Thank you so much for all of the info!! Angie and I are going to be like planning fools trying to figure everything out months in advance and make sure that we don't miss anything. Of course, we promised that this was going to be our "relaxing" vacation and that we were NOT going to overplan this time. We'll see how that works out....

[jakeandsophiesmom]

Wow thanks for all the info on Disneys HH

Thank you so much for all of the info!! Angie and I are going to be like planning fools trying to figure everything out months in advance and make sure that we don't miss anything. Of course, we promised that this was going to be our "relaxing" vacation and that we were NOT going to overplan this time. We'll see how that works out....


No Problemo!! I am officially ambassador of HH on SR Forums!! Maybe I should take this post and hand it to the nice lady that told me I hadn't lived here long enough to work for their resort b/c I wouldn't know the area well!!:(

[bs4free]

No Problemo!! I am officially ambassador of HH on SR Forums!!
I think you might have earned yourself a tag!!!!

[jakeandsophiesmom]

woo hoo!! I like being tagged!!:cooldance:

[bs4free]

we will just have to see if the tag fairy got my hint!!!

[missymouse]

We went to Hilton Head last summer for vacation to the Disney Resort. We had a really good time at the resort. We were in a two Bedroom and it was very nice. Beds were comfortable and the kids thought it was great having 3 TVs for 5 people on vacation. Don't miss the campfire or the Party on the night of the barbeque. My DH is still singing the campfire songs 3 months later. We went outside Disney for our dolphin cruise because I wanted to let the kids experience sailing on a catamaran. The boys loved fishing from the pier that juts out from the resort into Broad Creek. They caught several sharks and many crabs. The beach and the Disney Beach house were both very nice. The frozen adult drinks really hit the spot. We rented a couple of Banana Peels for the boys and took a nice walk down the beach. We used $150 of our Disney GC on souveniers and other stuff at the resort. Other events we enjoyed were Make a Shark Tooth Necklace and Goofy Bingo. There are other things including making Jewelry boxes for princesses and treasure chest for boys, Mickey Tye-Dye, and the one I wanted the kids to do but they wouldn't is Gyotaku (I think that is right) where you put paint on a fish and then put that on a T-shirt. I saw some that people did and they were very cute.

I second Salty Dog as a great place for seafood. We actually didn't go to Salty Dog but rather Wreck of the Salty Dog which seemed a bit more casual and had less of a wait. I can't comment on the Margaritas though. The Sea Shack was good also but we thought for the price that the Wreck of the Salty Dog was better. The Pirate mini golf was fun for a change of pace also.

[SunshineGirl]

The resort takes Disney gift cards???

[missymouse]

Yep. At check in we gave them $150 of Gift cards to fund our account. Then we just charged everything to our room against that amount. The other way is to charge things to your room and then when you go to check out use GC's. They recommended the first option for us but it was pretty seamless all in all.

[jakeandsophiesmom]

I just thought of something else that we came across since moving to this area. There is a drive in theater about 30 minutes away from us, so i would guess about 45 minutes or so away from Hilton Head. It's $5.00 for adults and $1 for kids and the concessions aren't bad either. They have two screens that show two movies a night and admission lets you see both movies on that particular screen. We would have seen Transformers and Spiderman 3, but we had to leave early b/c son had football game the morning after. I think they try to do one new movie a week and then the rest are older movies. It's really neat if you have never been to a drive in before. This was a first for all of us and we will definitely do it again. Just be sure to bring bug spray!

[SunshineGirl]

How cool!! We have a drive-in here but didn't seem to make it this past summer for the first time in a long time. We'll definitely have to check out what is playing when we are down there.

[bs4free]

I just thought of something else that we came across since moving to this area. There is a drive in theater about 30 minutes away from us, so i would guess about 45 minutes or so away from Hilton Head. It's $5.00 for adults and $1 for kids and the concessions aren't bad either. They have two screens that show two movies a night and admission lets you see both movies on that particular screen. We would have seen Transformers and Spiderman 3, but we had to leave early b/c son had football game the morning after. I think they try to do one new movie a week and then the rest are older movies. It's really neat if you have never been to a drive in before. This was a first for all of us and we will definitely do it again. Just be sure to bring bug spray!
Why would you need bug spray.....

[jakeandsophiesmom]

Why would you need bug spray.....

a lot of people bring lawn chairs or blankets and sit outside and the mosquitos and gnats can get bad sometimes even when they spray.

[bs4free]

a lot of people bring lawn chairs or blankets and sit outside and the mosquitos and gnats can get bad sometimes even when they spray.
Oh ok, because we had a drive-in when i was a young kid and we got the audio via FM radio so we were in the car with the windows up so no bugs....

But that would make sense...

[piglet-for-me]

I'm getting excited already and we aren't going until April. LOL!

Boring Sunday afternoon around here so I'm visiting other areas of the boards and found this one. I know it's from a couple of months ago, but since your not going until April, maybe your still in the planning stages.

We've been to Disney's Hilton Head the last 7 summers and have plans to go back again this year. :sunshine2:

Over the years, we've found some good restaurants not on the beaten path and not as tourist-y as others. We enjoy going to lunch at the Sea Shack and last year we went to a place called Just Pasta. Both are good but their locations are small, so you have to either go early when they open or at an odd time.

Are you taking kids with you? My kids love to fly kites on the beach. There is a kite shop in Caligny Plaza - by Just Pasta - that is very helpful in selling easy to fly kites. We've tried all kinds over the years and had the best luck with these. Be sure and hang on to them as we've lost more than one over the years getting a burst of wind and the kids not being able to hang onto them. Nothing like chasing your kite down the beach. :rotfl:

Renting and riding bikes around is another of our favorite things to do. The paths are well marked and a lot of them are on concrete, rather than gravel, which makes for a smoother ride.

My kids love to fish from the pier at the resort and have caught all sorts of things. Crabs, sharks, sting rays, flounder. One year we saw a manatee swimming in the creek. It's not like any creek I've ever seen before, it's huge and spans quite a distance.

If you do a dolphin tour, we've had really good luck with Scott from Low Country Nature Tours. Tours can be arranged either through the resort or directly with him. I believe the price is the same either way.

We've enjoyed the dinner events the resort has done - usually on Tuesday & Thursday's during the summer. I'm not sure if they are already doing it in April or not, but if they are, we've enjoyed both. In the past, Tuesday is usually a BBQ and Thursday is a more typical low country meal. Both are good - we love the Thursday night dinner.

If you have any other specific questions, I'd be happy to help if I can.

Have a great trip!

[SunshineGirl]

Awesome!! We are starting to get in the serious planning stages right now. It turns out one of my PTO mom friends is also taking her family there the same week. I'm wondering how many people we might run into that we know? I need to check out the Internet access in the hotel because I'm definitely still going to have to work some of the time down there.

I really hope that the girls like this vacation. They are so used to going to Disney. But we needed something more laid back this time. I need a vacation where I am not expected to be doing something at all hours of the day. I just want to "exist"!!

[piglet-for-me]

Awesome!! We are starting to get in the serious planning stages right now. It turns out one of my PTO mom friends is also taking her family there the same week. I'm wondering how many people we might run into that we know? I need to check out the Internet access in the hotel because I'm definitely still going to have to work some of the time down there.

I believe the only internet access is in the lodge area. It might have changed and since we don't bring a laptop with us, we've never had the need to get online but I think that's where you need to get online. I bet if you call the resort, they will be able to give you all the information you need.



I really hope that the girls like this vacation. They are so used to going to Disney. But we needed something more laid back this time. I need a vacation where I am not expected to be doing something at all hours of the day. I just want to "exist"!!

I suppose it depends on the kids, but given a choice between a trip to Disney World and a trip to Disney's Hilton Head resort, both of my kids would chose Hilton Head over WDW. It's such a different vacation from Disney World. We kick back and actually relax and feel like we're on vacation.

They love the nature feel of the resort. The resort is really good about planning activities for the kids - and families - to participate in. Over the years, my boys have painted bat houses, bird houses, row boats, crab nets, tshirts and so many other things. They do nature walks with the kids. There is also a kids-night-out event where they feed the kids dinner and then take them to a movie to allow the adults to have some grown up time or a dinner out. In April,the events will probably be more scaled back, but they will still have some. The campfires are a lot of fun and in the summer, I think they do them twice a week.

Our youngest was 17 months the first year we went and loved the idea of the ocean. I was just talking with my 13 year old about our upcoming trip and he still is excited and at 13, he hardly ever gets excited about anything Mom & Dad come up with that might be "fun".

Are you booked in a studio, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom? The two bedrooms have a lot of room to spread out. I love to sit on the balcony and listen to the nothing sounds or the birds or a boat go by. I also love to sit at the end of the island where the boats come out of the Shelter Cove Marina. If your lucky, dolphins will swim by as your relaxing in the chairs.

One thing you might want to pack is some bug spray. The one year we took a trip in the spring time, the no-see-ums were nasty and by the time we realized they were biting us, it was too late.