Looking for a Disney vacation at the beach? Head to Hilton Head, South Carolina for a beautiful beach vacation with a touch of Disney.
Disney’s Hilton Head Resort is located at 22 Harbourside Lane in Hilton Head, South Carolina. It is actually on its own little island within Hilton Head. This private and quiet retreat is the perfect place to relax. Since it is a Disney Vacation Club property you will find studio, 1 bedroom, and spacious 2 bedroom villas throughout the property. The villas are equipped similar to the villas located on property in Walt Disney World. 
Only the main building has elevators so if you need an accessible room be sure to let your MMP know so we can make a note on the reservation.
While at the resort you may want to walk around and take in the beauty. Around the villas are little areas with picnic tables, hammocks, games and biking trails. It is truly a beautiful resort and reminded me a little of Fort Wilderness. If you want to get around by bike you can bring them or rent them. They have bikes for everyone in the family including an adult tricycle.
They have two beautiful pools. The one at the resort is called the Big Dipper pool. This pool is sort of the center of activity for the resort since its just outside the Community Hall. The Community Hall is home to the quick service restaurant, bike rentals, the mercantile, and fitness center. There are lots of activities planned at the Community Hall each day and they will all be listed in the brochure for the week.
The other pool is located at the Beach House. This is an area right on the ocean where you can play on the beach, ride bikes on the beach, swim in the ocean, fly a kit, watch for dolphins, or check out the other pool and quick service location called Signals. There are also some game tables such as pool, Foosball, and ping pong. If you want a break from the outdoors you can hang out in a beautiful indoor area there as well. There is a shuttle that will take you from the resort to the beach house and its only for Disney’s Hilton Head Resort guests. There are also bike trails if you want to ride over.
We spent a few days in Hilton Head on our way home from our Disney Cruise. A stop in South Carolina was the perfect way to break up the trip between Pennsylvania and Florida. We had a fantastic time and may even go to Hilton Head for a vacation of its own. Although there were no Disney characters walking around we were very happy with the magical customer service, Mickey ice cream bars, Disney movies, and Disney touches throughout the resort. Here are some of my recommendations.
Thursday night they have the Edmund’s Family Low Country Boil from 5pm -7pm. You DO need to make reservations ahead of time. Its only once a week. They have tables set up outside and the buffet is served outside the Community Hall. They serve boiled shrimp, smoked sausage, red potatoes, mashed potatoes, Spanish rice, gumbo, corn-on-the-cob, Edmund’s marinated pork tenderloin, fish fingers, chicken fingers, mac & cheese, hushpuppies, salad, and desserts. While we were eating we heard some great live music and then the kids had their faces painted. It was a great time. Adults are $24.95 and kids are $10.95
We also went kayaking in the inlet and saw dolphins. Right outside the Disney resort is a marina. At the end of the dock was a great boat rental location. We walked down and decided to rent 2 double kayaks. We paddled around for about an hour and a half. We saw a few dolphins (this was late October). I was told you can see them year round. It was awesome to find them and watch them just doing their thing. My husband and kids saw them in the ocean at the beach house when they went to fly a kite as well.
On our way in I stopped at a Publix (grocery store) to get what we needed for breakfast and lunches. There is a mercantile that has some basics but I think its cheaper to hit a grocery store. I was able to get enough pretty quickly.Both the 1 and 2 bedroom villas have full kitchens and laundry.
On resort there are 2 quick service locations that are only available until 5pm. For dinner there are TONS of options. The whole area is rich with restaurants. You can find most chain restaurants like Panera Bread, Outback Steakhouse, Dunkin Donuts, etc. We decided to try some other things though. We went to the The Salty Dog Cafe one night and loved it. It took about a half hour to get there because most of the way we were driving through a development and had to drive slow. We did have to pay $5 to get in too. They had a mix of options. The burger and fries I had were great and my husband got a bucket of seafood. The view was beautiful too since it was right on the water. There was also an outdoor area with music and a bar. It was a cool place. The other night we went to Ruan Thai I just a few minutes away. My dad wasn’t sure he would like Thai and I haven’t had it often. My husband loves Thai food. We all found something we liked!
We ALL enjoyed the campfire too! They were full of energy as they lead us in campfire songs with a Disney twist. We sang, laughed and had a great time. At the end we all lined up and got a marshmallow and stick so that we could make smores. Then it was off to the outdoor movie.
Overall we loved Hilton Head. The staff was smaller and the lifeguards/activities leaders got to know the kids and made everyone feel at home. If you are looking for a beach vacation with a Disney twist or the Disney quality and service in a different setting I recommend checking out Disney’s Hilton Head Resort in South Carolina. Any of our amazing MMPs would love to help you plan a vacation or a weekend getaway!
