Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort - 2014 Roll Call!!!

[Dreams0308]

We are here now too sitting at the Big Dipper pool. It's starting to get windy and cloudy but I've been hearing the storm isn't going to really come through here. What were hearing is light rain but not a lot.

Ok and now it just thundered and there was a big bolt of lightening. Looks like the rain is coming! It won't be for long though

 

[Mhahnster]

Happy 4th from hhi. Sitting at the beach house while the kids play pool games. Hope everybody is having a safe and happy day wherever they are!

 

[Judique]

We were supposed to check in today but are stuck at the BTV airport due to the bad weather. EWR to SAV flight was cancelled. Trying again tomorrow...

Hope you made it! We just got back and we met a great Canadian Cast Member from Quebec City. Everyone say 'hello' to Gabrielle while you are there!

 

[csharpwv]

We are getting excited for our trip in 14 days!!!!!

We will have a packed house with 12 people in a Grand Villa - we have requested building 28 (same as year before last) or building 18 (for the Marsh View) - I hope we get one or the other!

IF not, no big deal - but having requested 2/5 of the total Grand Villas, we stand a 2 out of 5 chance of getting one of them!

So excited!!!!!

Then we are headed down to Orlando for our first stay at the Villas at the Grand Floridian! So much to be excited about!

 

[bbn1122]

We are getting excited for our trip in 14 days!!!!!

We will have a packed house with 12 people in a Grand Villa - we have requested building 28 (same as year before last) or building 18 (for the Marsh View) - I hope we get one or the other!

IF not, no big deal - but having requested 2/5 of the total Grand Villas, we stand a 2 out of 5 chance of getting one of them!

So excited!!!!!

Then we are headed down to Orlando for our first stay at the Villas at the Grand Floridian! So much to be excited about!

Wow!....have a great time. I hope you get your request.

I am jealous that you will be at the Grand Floridan.....

 

[okw2012]

Hope you made it! We just got back and we met a great Canadian Cast Member from Quebec City. Everyone say 'hello' to Gabrielle while you are there!

We finally made it - and met Gabrielle - but this trip was not a huge success. It took us 80h to *fly* to HHI from Montreal. So much stress. Our initial United flight on July 2nd BTV->IAD->SAV was changed to BTV->EWR->SAV but could not land in Newark because of thunderstorms. We ended up back in Burlington and stayed at a Best Western on points. We even had time to go to the beach in Lake Champlain and eat in a great pizza restaurant with a live jazz band.

Next day we were handed over by United to Delta and flew from BTV to LGA on schedule and hopped on a plane to SAV. We stayed 3h in that plane before being told that the flight was cancelled because of Arthur. With all the cancelled flights and the 3-day weekend we could not find decent accomodation near LGA. We decided to rent a car and drive a bit out of town to find a hotel. Even finding a car was difficult - we had to go to JFK and were asked to pay 200$ per day for a subcompact. Well, that night we ended up driving to Albany!

There were no flights available on the 4th of July so we spent the day in Albany and went to the science museum as well as to the *real* Saratoga Springs. I managed to change the flight with Delta so as to leave from ALB and avoid driving back to LGA. Dollar rent-a-car charged us a 300$ penalty for dropping the car in ALB!

Our flight on the 5th was at 6am, we showed up at 4h30. Could not print the boarding passes so waited in line at Delta counter to be told our tickets were no good and that we needed to go back to United. Pleaded with security guard at United to let us pass in front of a huge line. Lady at United was super nice and fixed the problem but now it was 5h30. Security line was so loooong we had to ask multiple people to let us pass ahead of them. We showed up at the gate at 6am sharp, they were still waiting for us. Flight to SAV was uneventful that day.

We spent three marvelous days at the resort but that was way too short. At least we did not miss the pirate party.

We also had delays on the way back - a five hour wait at EWR - but made it back on the 9th.

So next time I believe we will drive to Hilton Head.

 

[jerseygal]

We use Newark and are looking at trying to get a reservation at the 7 month mark for HHI for next May...

The hurricane along the east coast during July 4th weekend presumably had something to do with the problematic travel? Many flights were delayed and I know that many were cancelled from Newark..

We are thinking of flying into Charleston and out of Savannah to and from Newark...Anyone have any knowledge of flights on US Air in and out of those cities from Newark? Are there traditionally delays or was this a case of bad weather and backups during the time this trip was taken?

Thanks for any feedback! Sounds like you had an AWESOME VACA once you finally arrived!

 

[okw2012]

We use Newark and are looking at trying to get a reservation at the 7 month mark for HHI for next May...

The hurricane along the east coast during July 4th weekend presumably had something to do with the problematic travel? Many flights were delayed and I know that many were cancelled from Newark..

We are thinking of flying into Charleston and out of Savannah to and from Newark...Anyone have any knowledge of flights on US Air in and out of those cities from Newark? Are there traditionally delays or was this a case of bad weather and backups during the time this trip was taken?

Thanks for any feedback! Sounds like you had an AWESOME VACA once you finally arrived!

Like all busy airports Newark is a victim of the domino effect: with delays come more delays. After speaking quite a bit with staff at Newark it seems like delays at EWR for summer afternoon southbound flights are very common due to thunderstorm activity. I suggest flying first thing in the morning if possible.

You are right, once we were there we had a blast. This is a great resort for relaxing. If you enjoy a quiet pool, my suggestion is to hit the beach at 4pm. The pool at the beach house is very quiet and the bar is still opened.

 

[jerseygal]

Sounds NICE at that time of day! Always nice to have a SUMMER DRINK!

 

[tnbeth1972]

We'll be staying at HHI for the first time August 1-3. We had it waitlisted and it came through! Yay! We live in SC so this will be a short weekend trip for us! I am so looking forward to it!

 

[tinkerbell7749]

 

[Simba's Mom]

tinkerbell7749, my sympathies are with you. We're going to WDW in October and HHI in November (annual Thanksgiving trip). The only reason we're as excited for our October trip is that our DGDs are going with us for their first WDW trip. Otherwise, we'd definitely be more excited for HHI. Like you, we own there. We initially bought 100 points for every other year trips, then decided we wanted/needed more points! So actually we own twice there!

 

[bakerworld]

Anybody know where the ice machine is ??

 

[KristiMc]

Anybody know where the ice machine is ??

Just looked at a map. There is an ice machine near the laundry in building 12.

 

[bakerworld]

Just looked at a map. There is an ice machine near the laundry in building 12.

Thank you - DD is there - so hard to describe stuff from PA to GA (sc)

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just looked at a map. There is an ice machine near the laundry in building 12.

I think that's the only ice machine. It so happened that I asked CMs once. Also, there were no ice cube trays in our studio and when I asked for them, they were hard for the front desk to find. I think that might be because they use plastic ones, which break very easily when frozen.

 

[libeachs]

Just booked two two- bedroom units for mid Feb. 2015. We will have ten people ranging from 2yo to 92yo ( grandma is incredibly active and you'd never guess her age! ). My wife and I visited HHI once before in August, and swore we would never go that time of year again. Day trips to Savannah and Charleston were unbearable in that heat!
I didn't expect our next visit to be during the near dead of winter, but we are forced to work around the school calendar. I'm sure our day trips will be very nice this cooler time of year, but will HHI remain active? Will there be enough to keep the young adults in our group entertained?
Can't wait to get back to that beautiful part of the country.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

We are here now and want to do a kayak tour tomorrow. The price is the same for here at the resort or Outside Hilton Head at shelter cove marina. Anyone make a suggestion?

 

[amandaC]

We are here now and want to do a kayak tour tomorrow. The price is the same for here at the resort or Outside Hilton Head at shelter cove marina. Anyone make a suggestion?

We did the one at Disney last month. We loved it. The guide was great and the group was small. Haven't done one at Outside Hilton head, so I can't compare.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We are planning a very informal vow renewal on the beach next July for our 25th anniversary. It falls on a Tuesday. We are trying to plan times for everything. What we would like to do is have the ceremony, do a photo session, go to dinner maybe at Alexander's, then head back to the resort for the fireworks. I can't remember what time the fireworks start though. Can anyone there right now tell me about what time they begin. I also wonder if we will have trouble getting back to the resort due to traffic. Any advice?