Help..Split Stay or Moderate

[Poohbear03]

We would like to go for 8 nights and considering a split stay. In order to stay deluxe we would have to do 3 nights value and 5 nights deluxe. Having trouble deciding which deluxe...BC, Contemporary Garden Wing or Poly. Of course Poly is the most expensive.

Or, all 8 nights at French Quarter, which still comes out cheaper than the split. Are deluxe resorts really worth it? Never stayed at one except AKL and I didn't care for it. It wasn't really anywhere to walk around outside and it was dark, just my opinion.

We would be going at the end of April into the first week of May, just two adults no children.

Thanks!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

If you care about the extra hours in the parks staying deluxe gives you, and the proximity to the parks then do the deluxe split stay, if those things are t important don’t waste the money and effort of switching hotels

 

[DeeBee3]

As 2 adults, I would pick the 3 days value and 5 at Beach Club. Great location, don't have to rely on buses. Plenty of food/entertainment to check out.

 

[_19disnA]

I like to unpack ONCE for the entire vacation so we have never switched hotels in the middle of a vacation. Mostly a matter of personal preference. Some on here enjoy doing that but others do not.

I repack the night before we plan to depart for home.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Poly is not my favorite Deluxe in general but I’m glad it was the first Deluxe we stayed at in WDW. It has a true you are in Disney feel and we loved being so centrally located to MK, Epcot and AK by public transport. Great be nearby nighttime light shows And firework displays. Never stayed at a Moderate or Value but if we did I suspect the French Quarter would be a first choice. Love it’s easy access to Disney Springs.

 

[Disneylover99]

I would just stay at POFQ and visit the deluxes.
That would be more relaxing to me.

 

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

I’m not a fan of changing hotels during a vacation. FQ is also amazing!

 

[Eastern]

What about All Star/BWI or YC? I like the Epcot resorts area for 2 adults no children because you have easy access to WS and can walk to two parks. I also am a big fan of POFQ but their pool may be closed if that's important to you-

From January 2024 through April 2024, the Doubloon Lagoon pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter will be closed for routine maintenance. Guests may see or hear construction work during day time hours. During this time, Guests are welcome to swim in the Ol’ Man Island pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside.

I would do the split stay with any deluxe you choose. The first day or two is spent decompressing so a good time to be at the cheaper resort.

(I like the walkability to MK, monorail, and convenient food choices of CR. I like the theming and food choices of Poly. I like the whole boardwalk area of the Epcot resorts, day and night, for atmosphere.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

AS/BC. As 2 adults easy access to EP is great and being able to stroll to the Boardwalk in the evening is lovely. Easy access to all the restaurants at BC/YC/BWI/Swolphin is nice too.

I tried POFQ and was very happy I did it as a split, couldn’t wait to leave. Too noisy, pool was slammed (which btw will be under construction/finishing major construction during your trip so you may or may not have to go to POR to pool) and the boat to DS took so long we switched to using the bus. At least at AS or Pop I know it’s going to be noisy and I’m paying less because of that. For some reason POFQ just really got me as I spent the time thinking I could have saved money and just done a preferred room at a value or spent this money off-site and had a much nicer room.

I don’t mind split stays & do them all the time- just did an AS/CSR/YC split lol. Disney transfers my bags and I don’t plan on hitting my new resort until around check-in, bags show by 6pm.

Do check Swolphin rates. If you want one hotel it might be the middle ground you’re looking for.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I love the feeling when you have finished unpacking and don’t need to repack for over a week, so I would never do a split stay. Another thing to bear in mind is that a split stay makes your dining reservations trickier, as you will not be able to book for the whole 8 days 60 days prior to your arrival at the first resort.

 

[loves to dive]

AS/BC for my vote. I often do split stays for even shorter stays then you are doing. I'll do one or two nights at a value then switch over to an Epcot resort for the rest of the stay. I've been staying at Dolphin more lately on those splits just because it is cheaper but I have been able to find BW with an AP discount for even less than Dolphin when you factor in their resort fee and the daily parking (I drive down). BC is my least favorite of the Epcot resorts but just because most of the rooms don't have a full balcony. I just pack a packing cube and my toiletry bag in a backpack for those first few nights and don't even take my suitcase into the room. If you are flying, obviously you can't do that but you could do a packing cube for the first few nights and only take that out of the suitcase, put the dirty clothes back into the cube and there isn't really a lot of packing/unpacking to do. I use a hanging toiletry bag and never unpack it, just hang it on the towel rod or hook on the door if there is one and work out of it, putting stuff back in as I use it. I don't like clutter on the bathroom counters. Again, no packing unpacking required for that.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

The one time I did a super long Disney trip, my family of 4 stayed at Caribbean Beach in the spring of 2019. We went with another family. I'm glad we went moderate. It was a full 10 days and we drove, so we brought our pickup truck. We got a decent price on the room. We had APs at the time, so we drove to the parks some days, took the buses other days. We had several pool/rest days and took advantage of the food court several times. The adults spent plenty of time at the pools, hot tubs. We spent some time going out to bars on property, etc. while the kids had a sitter. The values and moderates are really kid and family focused too. So that may not be the vibe you want.

I'm not sure I'd want to do a split stay at a value without kids. We've done a few trips where we spent one night at a value or moderate and then transferred to a DVC. That went okay because we just needed a place to sleep after flying in to Orlando. The pools at values are not good. The rooms aren't my favorite either. Really, values aren't great if you're going to spend time at the resorts.

But I have enjoyed my stays at DVCs and Deluxe hotels too. A monorail hotel makes for really nice evening options, but so does a Crescent Lake hotel. I love a comfy bed and a nice room. Nice pools. Really good restaurants. Water transportation or walking distance to the parks is amazing. Beautiful gardens if you're just chilling out at the resort. Nicer stores.

If I was in your situation and had to do a split, I'd look at Pop or AoA for the Skyliner access at least. And any of the deluxes you suggested, I imagine you'll enjoy. Being able to just stroll up to Epot and HS is the best.

 

[SG131]

What about All Star/BWI or YC? I like the Epcot resorts area for 2 adults no children because you have easy access to WS and can walk to two parks. I also am a big fan of POFQ but their pool may be closed if that's important to you-

From January 2024 through April 2024, the Doubloon Lagoon pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter will be closed for routine maintenance. Guests may see or hear construction work during day time hours. During this time, Guests are welcome to swim in the Ol’ Man Island pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside.

I would do the split stay with any deluxe you choose. The first day or two is spent decompressing so a good time to be at the cheaper resort.

(I like the walkability to MK, monorail, and convenient food choices of CR. I like the theming and food choices of Poly. I like the whole boardwalk area of the Epcot resorts, day and night, for atmosphere.)

I agree with this. You get the proximity of epcot and a lot of restaurants, but less chaos. Yacht club is much more a convention hotel and boardwalk is fairly low key. Beach club is a family resort and was too loud for me. I definitely wouldn't pick it for an adult only trip.

 

[Robber Baron]

Some are 'Split stay' people, and some aren't. I'm not.

I'm sometimes pretty picky on room location and such and I really don't want to go thru that twice on one trip. Though, we go enough where if I want to stay somewhere in particular, I'll just stay there next time.

Poly was our fave resort for a long time but I guess we grew out of it for various reasons. I hate standing at the exit of a longhouse waiting for the pounding rain to stop so I can get to the Ceremonial House. Also, the popularity of the restaurants brings masses from elsewhere to clog up the bars where I want to stroll over to for a drink.

Contemporary and Yacht Club are a couple of current favorites, if I was forced to do a split I'd pick one of those.

BUT, since I've never stayed French Quarter and have always wanted to try it, that would be my choice.

 

[danceintherain]

I don't enjoy split stays. We have done it our last 2 trips, and it's just time consuming. I like to unpack, and be done with it.
Granted, it's harder with small kids. We had so many "accidents" on our last trip. I also find it difficult to plan trips around a split stay. Typically, I like going to the parks near the hotel, while I'm staying there. But, we also typically end up changing our itinerary after dining or other schedules drop.
We DID love the Beach Club, but I wouldn't want to switch there after somewhere else.
Also, I didn't particularly care for POFQ, so that wouldn't be my top pick for a Moderate. I would either want to try Riverside, or go back to Caribbean Beach

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was in a similar position to yours. I did a split stay, but I did 4 nights in a value (All Star music) followed by 4 nights in a deluxe. At the time, that came out to about the same price as 8 nights at POR. I had never stayed at a deluxe before, and once I experienced the balcony at the deluxe, I never wanted to go back to a moderate. You may be the same or different. Either way, I was very happy with my split stay and voted for All Star/Beach Club.

 

[Bostonjetset]

The All Stars hold little appeal to me but if it meant I could stay at Poly I would suck it up for a few nights for sure!! I’ve never done a split stay but if Disney will move your bags and you plan a park day for the day of the move it should be seamless. As long as you don’t need to be in your room between 10am-4pm I don’t know why it would be a big deal. Just hang out at MK for the day or something.

 

[Marthasor]

For an 8-night stay, I enjoy a split. I like experiencing different resorts and a 3/5 or 4/4 split works nicely for that. With two adults, splits are easy IMHO. I love POFQ, but I think I would get board there after 5 nights. I like the split that includes BC because that area offers a TON of options for an adults only trip - lounges, a boardwalk to stroll and easy access to EP for dinners/strolling, etc. Would your budget allow a 4/4 or 5/3 POFQ/BC split? That would be best of both worlds, IMHO. I also agree with others that YC is more adult friendly than BC. We just stayed at BWI and I can't recommend it - it is SO loud and all of the dining options are accessible by going outdoors which doesn't work well if it is raining.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We did a couple of split stays before children because it is just so much easier and enjoyed them. Only you can determine if Deluxes are worth it. We do not find the "worth" in staying deluxe as much anymore and will only stay at a deluxe if we want to splurge. Balcony and indoor hallways (not at all deluxes) is nice but not a big deal for us. You still have to take a bus to 2 parks and at EPCOT resorts, we do not consider an extra mile walk (to HS) as a big benefit. LOL
The plus of a split stay is that you get to experience 2 resorts on one trip which is really nice. I will say that POFQ is our favorite Mod resort and have never found it any nosier then the deluxes that we stayed at, we actually found it to be very quiet especially when walking around the resort and walking by the river was very nice. We find that BC, POLY and GF to be busier with visitors than we have ever had at any of the Mod resorts. So as you can see there are +/- at any of the resorts, just look at photos and videos of the resorts that you're interested in to help you decide.

Added: For us we drive to WDW and we bring a lot of stuff so re-packing our van is a pain. If we only had suitcases that would not be to bad but we have snacks, water, pillows etc. so much more time consuming and work.

 

[CynBeth]

I would stay at PO the entire trip.