Never doing a split stay again

[nuhusky123]

First time doing a split stay

started at poly and moved to akl

we are early birds and want to rope drop, we wake up at 5 so we can drive and drop off bags at akl As we have our car. Everything goes well and bell hop at akl is awesome

then kid starts to feel sick and of course we have no where to go. It’s either sit in lobby of akl or push through. Not having a hotel here was a massive black dot on a split stay and enough on its own to convince me split stays are a bad idea.

we Managed to make it through the day but it was close to being a total disaster as I walked through the park all day with a vomit bag in my pocket, got back to akl and by 4:20 our room still isn’t ready. I have to repeatedly ask front desk to get us a new room which they finally agree to do

if everything goes well a split stay seems like it can be a great way to enjoy dvc but if one thing goes south, not having a room is a massive problem

unfortunately this was one and done for us. Never doing a split stay and would add a massive disclaimer to anyone considering a split stay with kiddos.

one virus and it’s game over

 

[legler2250]

Sorry to hear that your split stay experience was not that great. Split stays were a really great strategy 15 years ago when trying to sample all of the Disney Resorts but now that mission has been accomplished I see little reason to add variance. However this all depends on multiple different kinds of strategies that people employ to navigate their Disney experience.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

First time doing a split stay

started at poly and moved to akl

we are early birds and want to rope drop, we wake up at 5 so we can drive and drop off bags at akl As we have our car. Everything goes well and bell hop at akl is awesome

then kid starts to feel sick and of course we have no where to go. It’s either sit in lobby of akl or push through. Not having a hotel here was a massive black dot on a split stay and enough on its own to convince me split stays are a bad idea.

we Managed to make it through the day but it was close to being a total disaster as I walked through the park all day with a vomit bag in my pocket, got back to akl and by 4:20 our room still isn’t ready. I have to repeatedly ask front desk to get us a new room which they finally agree to do

if everything goes well a split stay seems like it can be a great way to enjoy dvc but if one thing goes south, not having a room is a massive problem

unfortunately this was one and done for us. Never doing a split stay and would add a massive disclaimer to anyone considering a split stay with kiddos.

one virus and it’s game over

Sorry to hear that
It is definitely unfortunate not to have a room when you need it!

Hope kiddo is feeling better.

 

[robinb]

I hate split stays for that very reason ... I hate to be "homeless". For some reason I end up with at least one split stay every trip and sometimes even 3 resorts!

 

[McCrae]

It‘s the early start that caused the problems. A 5am start with Kids is just asking for problems. I bet a later start and you would have had a great day. You could have left your bags at bell services and collected your car at the poly later in the day. Split stays are fine with kids, it’s how you manage it.

 

[nuhusky123]

It‘s the early start that caused the problems. A 5am start with Kids is just asking for problems. I bet a later start and you would have had a great day. You could have left your bags at bell services and collected your car at the poly later in the day. Split stays are fine with kids, it’s how you manage it.

Don’t see how starting early resulted in a stomach bug

besides my kid wakes up at 5am every day

appreciate you telling me I did it wrong though

 

[Toolulu22]

We’ve done split stays in the past when we wanted to check out different hotels, but because rooms seem to be ready later rather than sooner nowadays and we like to have mid afternoon access to our room to rest, get changed, whatever, they don’t appeal to me anymore. We’ve done the mid~vacay tired lobby ‘wait’, when we just wanted to get into our room, which wasn’t quite ready yet. I’m with you OP- no more split stays. But I get why people do them!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Yeah we had something of the same experience, just without a sick kid. Two little kids up at 4 am to travel and then waiting around in a lobby, everyone sleepy and cranky, until after 4 pm. It was not the magical start to our vacation that we envisioned. Also we just swore off AKL since it's too far from everything. But I vowed that if I ever had to do a stay where I switched rooms it'd be at the same resort at least!

 

[nuhusky123]

I have found by way of my split stay that we love akl and prefer it to poly. Poly was ok, location great for the monorail but otherwise the resort felt blah

akl and the savanna is next level and so peaceful.

i will say though the key to really loving akl is having your own car. Parking under kidani and driving to the parks is a godsend. The busses from akl suck, but having a car makes akl just as easy to get to the parks (save mk) than any other resort

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Yeah we didn't have a car so we relied on the buses which were terrible. I felt that most days we spent 2+ hours waiting for the bus or on the bus to and from the resort.

 

[HerRoyalHighness]

then kid starts to feel sick and of course we have no where to go. It’s either sit in lobby of akl or push through.

it was close to being a total disaster as I walked through the park all day with a vomit bag in my pocket, got back to akl and by 4:20 our room still isn’t ready. I have to repeatedly ask front desk to get us a new room which they finally agree

one virus and it’s game over

Yes. Glad the last two years has taught you that it's okay to drag a sick child and their germs around everyone in the park.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Yeah we didn't have a car so we relied on the buses which were terrible. I felt that most days we spent 2+ hours waiting for the bus or on the bus to and from the resort.

Omg. That’s crazy!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Sorry to hear ur little got sick OP. Hope it was one of those 24 hour things! We did try a split visit. It didn’t work for us either. We found that having to unpack, get settled, re pack to move then unpack and get settled again was just too much effort and time. In addition, that room wait.. dvc or otherwise just didn’t work for us either.

I do agree with those that said … years back when prices were (mostly)more reasonable to try deluxes, it made it nice. But those days are long gone imho. I just can’t justify the Disney deluxe prices … the “ resorts” are not deluxe enough for $600 and up a night. Our experiences at Poly were not as great as I thought it’d be …Except for CL, which was awesome… but that too is just no longer justifiable lol.
I do happen to love AKL ( tho I literally hated it when we did it the first time) … the long walks, so dark n the weird food.. but over the years Savannah AKL is our updated fav “ home” now. Times change lol. I find it ohh soo peaceful!

Hope the rest of ur vacation went well and you made some great memories. as far as some of the other … comments not worth responding… have a great nite!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

1) Def. understand the inconvenience of not having a hotel room to go into

2) I would not share on a public forum you brought your obviously sick child into the parks much less carried around a bag for them to throw up in (and it wasn't caused by motion sickness).

Ewww gross and yeah we know it happens but your take away from your experience is going to be that you took your sick kid to the parks not that you didn't have a place to put your sick kid in instead of being in the parks. IDK about you but park going can put my body through the ringer, being sick would be the worst and I would have begged to just stay put not be pushed through a park when I'm feeling like I'll be throwing up any minute.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Too packed like sardines n too many hectic stressed people.

We liked driving from park to park in part because of this. We like to be in control of our own travel but def. they pack people in those buses. I can only imagine at the end of the night is like these days..eek!

 

[nuhusky123]

1) Def. understand the inconvenience of not having a hotel room to go into

2) I would not share on a public forum you brought your obviously sick child into the parks much less carried around a bag for them to throw up in (and it wasn't caused by motion sickness).

Ewww gross and yeah we know it happens but your take away from your experience is going to be that you took your sick kid to the parks not that you didn't have a place to put your sick kid in instead of being in the parks. IDK about you but park going can put my body through the ringer, being sick would be the worst and I would have begged to just stay put not be pushed through a park when I'm feeling like I'll be throwing up any minute.

That’s the point of this post. Due to a split stay you have no where to go when someone gets sick and why I’ll never do a split stay again. It not worth the hassle or stress

some of the posts are interesting because as I walked around disney this last trip a good majority of the adults were sneezing, coughing, had red runny noses and none were wearing masks. My family at least wore a mask our entire trip, including before the tummy issue

this is how people go to Disney, now and pre covid. I picked up the flu in dec 2019 off a Disney trip

anyone expecting Disney to be germ free is fooling themselves. People don’t pay $$$ a day and not go to Disney. If Disney didn’t want sick people in the parks they need a policy to refund ticket prices, otherwise NO ONE will stay home when sick. Disney is too expensive and that’s too much money to lose over covid, the sniffles, stomach flu, the flu, Ebola etc. this is 100% of Disney’s making, but I again would have hung out in my room had we a room to hang in

as it turns out after a lunch stomach settled and there were zero incidents and was acting 100% normal

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That’s the point of this post. Due to a split stay you have no where to go when someone gets sick and why I’ll never do a split stay again.

Uh sure but the solution isn't to go to the parks instead. Look I'm just saying wouldn't share that stuff publicly and doesn't help when you're just like here's what others do, you control you not others. You made the decision don't shift blame to others. You don't see an issue being sick in the parks but I would expect blowback from having that clear stance coming out through your comments hence wouldn't share it. If Disney is too expensive to miss out having a room won't solve that you'd still be missing out.

Glad you've figured out split stays just don't work out for you, hope your next trip is sans illness. Enjoy the rest of your day

 

[jo-jo]

I wonder if your child was dehydrated. Stomach issues could be a symptom. Maybe that's why he felt better after lunch.

 

[Wedgeout]

Dissecting the trip, it seems like a good split stay, if of course that darn illness didn’t spoil it. Glad all recovered. Nice though having that car. It can be a mobil rest device too during the transition day. This is a great post to show what can happen to help those considering split stays. Split stays are not preferred by myself but we did one to test it. Really enjoyed it. Just the two of us with no hiccups. Having the two resort locations enhanced the trip plans. Thanks for sharing the experience and I understand split stays aren’t for everyone.

 

[nuhusky123]

Dissecting the trip, it seems like a good split stay, if of course that darn illness didn’t spoil it. Glad all recovered. Nice though having that car. It can be a mobil rest device too during the transition day. This is a great post to show what can happen to help those considering split stays. Split stays are not preferred by myself but we did one to test it. Really enjoyed it. Just the two of us with no hiccups. Having the two resort locations enhanced the trip plans. Thanks for sharing the experience and I understand split stays aren’t for everyone.

Exactly. Another data point. For me and my family split stays don’t work especially if disaster strikes.

Others may be great option and if I didn’t have kids I’d probably be all over split stays