Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort

Settle into the unhurried rhythm of the vacation community that embodies southern hospitality and the legacy of "Carolina charm." with Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. Stay in a spacious home away from home with colorful decor, numerous amenities and spectacular views. Enjoy ocean breezes, cozy nooks, nature trails and outdoor recreation at an alluring resort rich with history.

Disney's Beach House, a spacious 13,000-sq.-foot recreational facility located on 3.5 acres of oceanfront with access to 12 miles of wide sandy beaches, features heated swimming pool, sand tot-lot, children's wet-deck play area, pool games, arcade, changing rooms, covered parking, Surfman's Sand Bar, and poolside bar.

Rooms

The Hilton Head Disney Resort offers 123 studios and villas in 20 three-story, gray-wood buildings with red and green roofs. The main building includes an elevator; other buildings have exterior corridors and no elevators. All guest units feature private porches furnished with wooden rocking chairs. Rustic decor inspired by vacation lodges of the 1940s and 1950s includes colored-tile entries and carpeted interiors, green furniture, lantern light fixtures, bathroom floors made of terra-cotta tile, and sand-colored walls with accents walls of maroon or green. Units all provide both air conditioning and wood-paddle ceiling fans, and TVs and VCRs; movies are available for rent. A folding playpen/crib (infant bed) is included in each guest unit.

The one- and two-bedroom villas offer bathroom suites with two-person jetted tubs separated from bedrooms by folding shutters. Vanity sinks adjoin the jetted tubs, and separate rooms contain stall showers and pedestal sinks. All villas contain fully equipped kitchens with four-burner ranges, microwave ovens, full-size refrigerators, and dishwashers, as well as stacked washer/dryers. Vintage fishing creels, rods, and photos are arranged in decorative displays.

Studios units provide bathrooms with shower/tub combinations, and wet bars with microwave ovens, compact refrigerators, and coffeemakers. Plates, cups, and utensils are paper and plastic. Studios do not include washer/dryers, but complimentary machines are available in a common laundry room for use by all resort guests.

Recreation

The resort has three pools (heated in winter), including two at the main resort and another 1.5 miles away at the 13,000-square-foot Disney's Beach House, which faces three miles of Atlantic Ocean beach. The main-resort pool complex is composed of a long, irregularly shaped pool with a spiraling, 70-foot-long waterslide; a large toddlers' pool; and a 25-person spa tub. On the second floor above the pool complex, an air-conditioned Community Hall contains a big-screen TV and features activities such as bingo. Complimentary shuttles zip guests to the 3.5-acre Disney's Beach House complex, which includes a 50-foot-long, H-shaped pool; a toddlers' area with a soft floor and water-spurting beach balls; and a Coast Guard–themed clubhouse with a big-screen TV and table games, a small room with coin-operated video games, and a covered area with ping-pong and foosball tables.

Fishing and crab netting is available off the end of a long, weathered-wood dock that juts out over a marsh to Broad Creek, the estuary running through Hilton Head Island. (Rental gear is available and no license is required.) The resort's naturalist leads complimentary tours of the marsh and also offers bird-watching excursions and after-dark astronomy lessons. Shuffleboard, horseshoes, and bocce are available at the main resort. In addition, the Disney Resort also rents out adult, child, and adult-child tandem bicycles with fat tires suitable for the beach and the island's hundreds of miles of bike paths. Rental kayaks are available for use on Broad Creek and nearby lagoons. At Disney's Beach House, an independent operator on the beach rents chairs, umbrellas, and boogie boards as well as ocean kayaks, AquaBikes, sailboats, and low-slung three-wheel beach buggies.

The 2,000-acre Palmetto Dunes residential/resort community, of which Disney's Beach House is a part, features three golf courses: the Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront, the George Fazio, and the Arthur Hills. Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center offers 23 clay and two Nova ProBounce courts (eight are lighted for night play). Instruction is available. A half-mile away on Broad Creek, the Mediterranean village–style Shelter Cove Harbour offers deep-sea and inshore fishing charters, sport crabbing, sailboat and power-boat rentals, sightseeing and nature excursions, and dinner cruises.

Shuttle service is provided between the Resort and Disney's Beach House.

Dining at the Hilton Head Disney Resort includes the Signals snack bar with salads and sandwiches, the Surfman's Sand Bar, a poolside bar, and Tide Me Over, a quick-service pick-up window offering breakfast and lunch.

How do you get there? From I-95 North/South: Traveling I-95, take Exit 8 -- Hilton Head Island/Bluffton. Follow signs for Hilton Head Island and Route 278 East. Cross over the Hilton Head Island bridge and continue straight on Route 278 East BUSINESS (William Hilton Parkway). After approx. 8 miles (approx. 10 traffic lights after bridge), turn right into Shelter Cove Harbour and follow the road straight back to the harbor. Veer right and follow the road across the bridge to Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort.