HHI Good,Bad and UGLY

[severtlaw]

Just returned from a week at HHI and wish to report the Good, Bad and UGlY
This is our third trip to hhi and as always it was great fun for all esp with DD 7 and DS 5. It is a great time with family and very relaxing compared to WDW. The resort was well manicured and the room was clean and nice despite a friendly visit from a palmetto bug, large cockroach. The bad was the management of the facility. The lifeguards were lumps on a chair and I saw a child stand on the water slide and about break her head open with no comment from the daydreaming guard. Next on tuesday morning we went to the pool and despite only 3-5 people there nearly every chair was "reserved".
I especially liked the person who had put swim noodles on 10 chairs. NICE playing in the sandbox with your fellow members. The worst bad thing was the parking at the beach house. Twice during the week we could not find a place to park during the weekend. Notably many of the vehicles did not have disney placards.
As for the UGLY my sister went the same week but stayed in a 2bed-2bath at Fiddlers Cove from Sat-SAt for $500. Based on my points at $10 per my vacation cost $1300 more for one less night and she had tennis courts and beach access. I would have a hard time justifying using points at HHI based on the fact there are better options at a significantly better value. Oh well back to Disney in October.

 

[NMW]

Thanks for your report. Sorry your trip was not that Magical.

 

[gopherit]

Wow -- too bad about some of the things you noted. As a former lifeguard / WSI, one thing I cannot handle is non-repsonsive or preoccupied lumpguards. That said, I always felt Disney guards do a great job -- watching them guard a pool like SAB or Luna Park, I never once felt like they were shirking their duty in the least. I am actually headed to DVC HHI this weekend -- you can bet I will do some observing for myself. BTW -- did you happen to comment to any HHI personnel about your findings?

Sometimes people can be quite rude about the "reserved" thing. If there were only 3-5 people in the pool I'd have to say I would probably ask those 3-5 folks, "Where are you sitting?" I would then find a spot other than theirs (like, for example, the Noodle Zone!) and condense the "reservation" items (towels, noodles, etc) to free up at least a chair or two. Did you ever see anyone come back and claim their "saved" spots? I wonder if some of the stuff was simply left behind with no intent of ever coming back....

I am also gonig to be interested in the beach parking issue when we get there... we will take the shuttle but sometimes, we will want our car. Like you, I'd be a bit torqued if I drove over and there was nowhere to park... and I saw cars that were questionably occupying spaces. Was mgmt aware of this?

Again, sorry it wasn't stellar in those regards and thanks for the heads-up ...I'll let you know how our week fares in comparison!

Cindy

 

[sandieb]

We were also frustrated by the limited parking at the Beach House. We would drive our stuff and then return to the resort, park the car, walk to the shuttle, and then take the shuttle. That was a real hassle. Sandie

 

[cgcw]

The lifeguards were lumps on a chair and I saw a child stand on the water slide and about break her head open with no comment from the daydreaming guard.

I'm sure we were probably at the pool several times at the same time last week. I have to say, I've never seen the lifeguards unattentive. And, I have heard guards tell children not to climb on the slide. With what happened above, maybe the lifeguard was looking the opposite direction at that time. And, where was the parent? Ultimately, they should have the responsibility of their children. I have never seen the guards standing around chit-chatting as I have at our local pool. I've seen guards go in after children. I've always felt comfortable with the guards but I do not expect them to babysit my kids.

Next on tuesday morning we went to the pool and despite only 3-5 people there nearly every chair was "reserved".
I especially liked the person who had put swim noodles on 10 chairs. NICE playing in the sandbox with your fellow members

I SO agree!! I was really put off by this myself. Several times I wanted to just remove all of the towels and throw them in a hump on one chair. I would have either looked very braisen doing so or had applause from the pool. I'm not sure which. It was BAD.

The worst bad thing was the parking at the beach house. Twice during the week we could not find a place to park during the weekend. Notably many of the vehicles did not have disney placards.

One thing we've learned over the years is to not try and get a parking spot at the beach house after 11 a.m. Many people will run their car down there and then hop the shuttle back to the resort, or vice versa. It's not a large lot and it is open to the public as it's the public beach access.

 

[RumpleMom]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you needed to have a parking pass from Disney or Palmetto Dunes to use the parking area at the beach house. Technically, the beach access is open to anyone on foot, but parking your car is restricted to those staying at Palmetto Dunes and Disney, so the cars were parked legally as long as they had either parking pass.

 

[TW1]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you needed to have a parking pass from Disney or Palmetto Dunes to use the parking area at the beach house. Technically, the beach access is open to anyone on foot, but parking your car is restricted to those staying at Palmetto Dunes and Disney, so the cars were parked legally as long as they had either parking pass.

I believe you are correct. The Disney Beach House is the public access for Palmetto Dunes, so many non-Disney guests will park there. Palmetto Dunes is a very large complex with hundreds of private homes, so the lot does get filled quickly.

To the OP, if you are concerned about the quality of the lump guards I suggest an email to the HHI and/or DVC management. My experience is that they are very attentive to these messages and will take you seriously. I have been there when management is "testing" the guards and they do not take this responsibility lightly. You never know, your email may be the nudge they were looking for to make a change.

 

[quentina]

We were also there last week. We had the same issue with the chairs....come on, is it necessary to "reserve" a chair?? I cannot imagine that any of us would be chairless when we go down to the pool. If everyone just used them as they were there, it would work.

I overheard one couple saying they were going to write a note on the table that said...reserved...cancer patient. Could you imagine?? I gave him a look that should of knocked him over! Now, I agree that they do need more tables. Many of us burn and need the shade!! This comment was a little extreme. Not sure if they actually did it or not, however, the table seem to be occupied at 6am.

Otherwise, we had a great time. It is weird because I am not a relaxer, but, I love sitting on porch drinking my tea and reading my book. Calling next week for next years reservation!!!

Kim

 

[franco]

We were at HH July 4th and loved it. The only complaint was the chairs at the pool always being reserved; I had to keep reminding myself I'm on vacation and I'm not going to let myself get upset.

 

[kaw1106]

We were at HHI in June and at the Beach house the life guard at the beach (yes Disney's lifegaurd) was asleep on more than one occasion. My husband was appauled, he would ask her a question just to wake her up, the she would fall right back asleep, even at one point her head to the side, mouth slightly open and a bit of drool. I AM NOT KIDDING!!! Guess she partied a bit to hard the night before.

THe lifeguard at the pool might as well been sleeping. IT wasn't much better.

 

[JimMIA]

Next on tuesday morning we went to the pool and despite only 3-5 people there nearly every chair was "reserved".
I especially liked the person who had put swim noodles on 10 chairs. NICE playing in the sandbox with your fellow members.

I really think you folks misunderstand what is going on here.

Reserving chairs is against the rules. The nice guests who put towels/noodles on those chairs were saving them for YOU! When they show up and say, "Um...excuse me..." all you have to do is 1) thank them for the towel, and 2) point them to the sign that says saving chairs is a no-no.

If in fact, some uninformed guest inadvertently "reserved" a chair, all you have to do is go to one of the CM's and ask them to enforce their own rules. There's no need for you to get into a confrontation with another guest -- it's the CM's job to enforce the rules. It's not a favor you're asking of them...it's their JOB.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

We were at HHI in June and at the Beach house the life guard at the beach (yes Disney's lifegaurd) was asleep on more than one occasion.

The Beach lifeguards do NOT work for Disney, they are employed by the county Beach Patrol and only work at the public beach. Disney has no lifeguards at the Beach House - only at the main pool at the resort itself.

The parking area at the Beach House is a public facility since the Disney Beach House property is also a public beach access area. Parking is available there for all Palmetto Dunes residents - DVC resort guests also have access to that parking facility, but it's all on a first-come-first-served basis. The DVC Beach House also provides public bathrooms, public shower facilities and the public even has it's own access area to the Signal's Sanck Bar from outside the Beach House. There is no public access to the Beach House pool.

 

[manning]

We were at HHI in June and at the Beach house the life guard at the beach (yes Disney's lifegaurd) was asleep on more than one occasion. My husband was appauled, he would ask her a question just to wake her up, the she would fall right back asleep, even at one point her head to the side, mouth slightly open and a bit of drool. I AM NOT KIDDING!!! Guess she partied a bit to hard the night before.

THe lifeguard at the pool might as well been sleeping. IT wasn't much better.

A perfect situation for a digital camera and an e-mail to DVC. Who wants to volunteer??

 

[cgcw]

A perfect situation for a digital camera and an e-mail to DVC. Who wants to volunteer??

Hasn't it already been established that the guards at the beach are not Disney CM's? WebmasterDoc is correct. Their employment is not through Disney.

In fact, usually there aren't any guards at the beach house pool on any regular basis. Only when special activities are planned there.

I personally saw the Disney lifeguards last week in the ocean doing drills. I can tell you this, I would not have wanted to be one of them. The drills they did were VERY intense. We watched as several of them went through their "rescues". These drills lasted at least 10 minutes and it sure looked like they were timed in their efforts. This was not done during the public swimming hours -- the beach lifeguards leave at 5. This was later in the evening.

I have seen only top notch guards at HH & WDW. We've seen lifeguard drills conducted at WDW. In my experience, the guards are not just there for a summer job as I see at our local community pool. I have never seen chit-chatting going on between guards when one is sitting in the chair.


I may not speak up about all of the pool chairs being saved, but I certainly would if I ever felt that the people in the pool did not have the lifeguards full attention and confidence. For those of you who have seen less than stellar standards, it's, IMO, wrong to come back and post on these boards. The time to have spoken up was when it was happening, not later.

 

[ccw]

We had the issue with people reserving all of the pool chairs when we stayed at Vero over Easter but have only stayed at HH in the off season ...nice to not have crowds to deal with! We have been to Hilton Head in Dec., Jan., Feb, and March and just love it! Summer there is a little too congested for me!

 

[kaw1106]

Okay, I am confused. IF they are NOT disney employees, I am sure Doc is right, he knows a lot. Then WHY would they be doing ocean drills for the pool??? And drills are one thing and actuallity is another, we all know this. It happens in ALL aspects of life. I am sure we have met a DR. or Lawyer or whomever and walked out of the office thinking "how did THEY become a DR or lawyer?"

I don't like debating here, I try not to rock the boat, so I appologize for thinking the lifeguards at Disney's beach house actually worked for DIsney. Regardless, she was a lifeguard and was sleeping while children were in the ocean!!! Yes, I probably should have taken a photo and turned her in, but again, I am not one to rock the boat.

 

[TW1]

Doc is quite correct. If you were on the beach and there was a person sitting under an umbrella in a red suit with a clip board and looking like a quasi-lifeguard, they are not Disney employees. They are Public Works employees for Hilton Head Island. You will find them up and down the island at fairly irregular intervals. They, are in fact, barely lifeguards. I spent time speaking with one a few years back, lovely young person from England spending the summer here, who said the main point of the day was to rent chairs, umbrellas, trikes, etc. Watching the water was clearly secondary. In fact, during low-tide, from their seated position they can barely see the water.

Whether Disney chooses to train and/or test their employees in the ocean is another issue that has little bearing on the quality of the county employees.

 

[cgcw]

Whether Disney chooses to train and/or test their employees in the ocean is another issue that has little bearing on the quality of the county employees.

Right. And even though they are not the guards on the beach, it gave me a sense of reassurance that Disney took their lifeguard jobs seriously.

 

[manning]

Hasn't it already been established that the guards at the beach are not Disney CM's? WebmasterDoc is correct. Their employment is not through Disney.

Sorry, now where did I leave my wet noodle??