The ultimate split-stay thread

[thisismyusername]

Split stay fans here! Usually, we do two resorts but this time we are doing three.

Here is something we could discuss, perhaps: booking FP+ and split stays. The little information out there about accessing your entire trip at your first 60 day window is contradictory...some people can, other people can't. If you have had a split stay in 2014, I would love to hear about your experience. Most importantly, did you have a package for your first stay or did you link tickets from WDW or a reseller like Undercover Tourist. My theory is that the difference lies there.

We were able to for our July trip (6 resorts--all RO/DVC points reservations). We did FP+ at 60 days, and we all have APs, so they're Disney-issued tickets. Interesting theory!

 

[mort1331]

Split stay here too, but only when we have more then 3 days at each resort. I know of some and read of more that have done a stop at each resort and for one night only, thats ok if no kids. We like the split so we can be near 3 of the parks out of 4 most times.
Hint I will add, if you have a car you can either drive you bags over( we always have bell service do it, quicker and easier), but at least drive your car to the new resort and walk or catch the bus to the park of the day. Then when your done for the day you dont have to go get your car.

 

[jenjersnap]

We were able to for our July trip (6 resorts--all RO/DVC points reservations). We did FP+ at 60 days, and we all have APs, so they're Disney-issued tickets. Interesting theory!

Ah, APs are another option! I hope you don't mind me gathering anecdotal evidence to this question in your thread. Have attempted to asked on the TPAS, have asked "experts", read other message boards, etc without any general agreement at all.

This trip we will not have a rental car so I intend to move our things by taxi. Disney's luggage transfer once sent our bags on a split stay of their own when they went missing for 16 hours so, though I know it had to have been an unusual event! I don't want to chance it. We like to change clothes before dinner.

 

[thisismyusername]

Ah, APs are another option! I hope you don't mind me gathering anecdotal evidence to this question in your thread. Have attempted to asked on the TPAS, have asked "experts", read other message boards, etc without any general agreement at all.

Gather away! That's why I started the thread.

 

[wdwagain518]

we're doing a split stay for the first time in November. 11/15-20 at CSR with free dining and then 20-24 at AKL room only. Since we're planning to visit Universal for one day and will have a rental car, my plan right now is to do that on our move day...get up early, check out, drop the luggage at AKL, check in and be on I-4 by 8:15 or so. Since the two resorts aren't all that far apart, this should be do-able without having to get up at 4am

We're going to use the first part of the trip to spend more time in the parks, do MVMCP and the Osborne Lights, and then the AKL part will be more relaxing and enjoying the resort with some park time mixed in. Looking forward to what will probably be the first of many split stays!

 

[kiwi0621]

Split stay fans here! Usually, we do two resorts but this time we are doing three. Here is something we could discuss, perhaps: booking FP+ and split stays. The little information out there about accessing your entire trip at your first 60 day window is contradictory...some people can, other people can't. If you have had a split stay in 2014, I would love to hear about your experience. Most importantly, did you have a package for your first stay or did you link tickets from WDW or a reseller like Undercover Tourist. My theory is that the difference lies there.

We are going in October and doing a split stay at 2 resorts - i was able to book Fastpasses at 60 days for the entire length of our trip. So it worked for me! Both are RO reservations and tickets are through UnderCover Tourist.

Hope this helps!

 

[Jing]

Great post! We are doing a split stay next October and am so excited!

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Ughhhh I can't decide if I want to do a split (Disney) stay for my next trip.

So far our plan is to do 2 or 3 nights at Hard Rock Hotel, then go over to WL for 8-10 nights in September 2015.

But now I kind of want to do a split stay and either save money by going to BCV (renting points) or we were thinking of saving even more and going to OKW, or splurging and going to GF on some kind of RO discount… depending on what money we can set aside for this vacation.

We've been to BCV before and enjoy it but the bus situation is the worst to me, and I hate having to sleep on the pullout couch. At OKW, at least there will be two beds but it's also a large resort which isn't good for a non-driver. Although, we've always wanted to try OKW and if we have a rental car for the Universal part, it wouldn't be much more to add a few more days and use it at OKW.

GF is something I've always wanted to try but it'll still be a lot and for what? A room? The monorail means nothing to me because I don't enjoy it, so WL to me is better in terms of transportation, and about the same in terms of location. And we've stayed there and LOVE it. But we still really want to try it, and it's kind of hard to resist a chance to try it for 2-3 nights.

And the thing I have to consider is how much I hate unpacking and packing over and over. If we do a split Disney stay, it'll mean three different resorts. We've done this before over a 9 night span, stay at Pop for one night, BC for 3 nights, and BW for 5 nights. It was good and bad. I loved trying different resorts because this was the first time we had been to either BC or BW, but the unpacking and repacking

What would you do?

 

[CaliTex]

Unfortunately, no. Each reservation needs a minimum 2-day ticket to get free dining. But what I would do is switch your BC CL to a RO package and change your VWL reservation to include a 6-7 day ticket. You will be able to pick up your VWL tickets early from Guest Relations since it's not more than 3 days before that reservation begins. That should definitely save you some money.

Unless you are huge eaters, I think DDP and CL is a bit of food overkill, so that's a perfect opportunity to get some savings on the room, take advantage of the CL offerings and just fill in with light meals OOP.

Oh my gosh! Thanks to this tip, I just saved over $800.00!!! (Do I sound like a commercial? LOL)

AND I added an extra day to our tickets, so there is no non-ticketed day!! Thank you SO much! You are awesome!

I agree about the CL and the DDP. We will likely just walk over to EPCOT and grab one of the many great CS options there. We are doing Beaches n Cream but OOP is fine for that. I am really hoping it will be warm and sunny enough to spend some time in the awesome sounding pool, swimming and building sandcastles with the grands, so looking for more resort time at the BC--not wanting too many ADRs. (Haven't stayed BC yet and am so looking forward to it!)

I feel like we just got pixie-dusted and we haven't even left yet!

 

[CaliTex]

I M Fearless, thank you for taking time to reply! See above, please, to my reply to thisismyusername. Super happy about this!

I am usually pretty good at working the various options to make our Disney trips come in at a fairly reasonable $$$ amount, but this longer ticket thing completely escaped me, so I am HUGELY grateful!

Love DISers!

 

[CaliTex]

La Crosse Lady; I think you just have to be honest with yourself about how much you dislike being uprooted vs. being able to get a "fresh" stay. Will checking-in and out bother you, especially if there are some hiccups in the process? It is such a personal preference, no one can really advise you there. We pack pretty light and I try to keep our room organized so re-packing is a 15 minute thing. The grands are older now so they can handle the potential roomlessness but when it was diapers and mandatory naps we stayed put.

We love the WL so much, too! I can tell you that for us, the GF was an epic fail. Disliked the room that was highly touted and a so-called upgrade, disliked the CM attitudes, disliked how crowded and busy the lobby was at Christmastime, which is when we go, heck! we didn't even like V&A! But our stay there has given us a lot of funny stories. I disliked it enough so that when the management promised us that if we would stay there again they would make things right I said, "no thanks". But we are all so different, and you may love the GF.

We are doing split stay specifically at BC and WL to take advantage of being able to walk to EPCOT and take the boat to MK.

 

[thisismyusername]

Oh my gosh! Thanks to this tip, I just saved over $800.00!!! (Do I sound like a commercial? LOL)

AND I added an extra day to our tickets, so there is no non-ticketed day!! Thank you SO much! You are awesome!

I agree about the CL and the DDP. We will likely just walk over to EPCOT and grab one of the many great CS options there. We are doing Beaches n Cream but OOP is fine for that. I am really hoping it will be warm and sunny enough to spend some time in the awesome sounding pool, swimming and building sandcastles with the grands, so looking for more resort time at the BC--not wanting too many ADRs. (Haven't stayed BC yet and am so looking forward to it!)

I feel like we just got pixie-dusted and we haven't even left yet!

That's awesome!! I'm so glad we were able to help--that's a ton of money! Have a great trip!!

 

[thisismyusername]

Ughhhh I can't decide if I want to do a split (Disney) stay for my next trip.

So far our plan is to do 2 or 3 nights at Hard Rock Hotel, then go over to WL for 8-10 nights in September 2015.

But now I kind of want to do a split stay and either save money by going to BCV (renting points) or we were thinking of saving even more and going to OKW, or splurging and going to GF on some kind of RO discount… depending on what money we can set aside for this vacation.

We've been to BCV before and enjoy it but the bus situation is the worst to me, and I hate having to sleep on the pullout couch. At OKW, at least there will be two beds but it's also a large resort which isn't good for a non-driver. Although, we've always wanted to try OKW and if we have a rental car for the Universal part, it wouldn't be much more to add a few more days and use it at OKW.

GF is something I've always wanted to try but it'll still be a lot and for what? A room? The monorail means nothing to me because I don't enjoy it, so WL to me is better in terms of transportation, and about the same in terms of location. And we've stayed there and LOVE it. But we still really want to try it, and it's kind of hard to resist a chance to try it for 2-3 nights.

And the thing I have to consider is how much I hate unpacking and packing over and over. If we do a split Disney stay, it'll mean three different resorts. We've done this before over a 9 night span, stay at Pop for one night, BC for 3 nights, and BW for 5 nights. It was good and bad. I loved trying different resorts because this was the first time we had been to either BC or BW, but the unpacking and repacking

What would you do?

I'm the wrong person to ask because I would definitely not want to stay in one place for 8 days (unless it were the GF RPC ). I would likely want to wander over to the Epcot circle for at least the end of my vacation. What if you only did 2-3 nights over at BCVs so you could focus on Epcot/HS at that point (to avoid the busses) and just relax at the pool? That would give you the majority of the time over at WL where you prefer the transportation to the parks.

 

[dphie28]

I am subscribing to this! We are DVC owners and decided on a short pre-cruise stay 12/29-1/2. With it being a busy time of year and not that far out, we are having trouble securing room ressies. As of now we have three of the 4 nights booked...each at a different resort! I think it will be fun...my husband is afraid. Night #1 2br @BLT lake view, night #2 ?? Night #3 1br at BCV and night #4 AKL JH 1br savanna view. The 2nd night of our stay is still up in the air so I hope I get BLT or BCV. we have never stayed in any of those resorts so I am excited. We always do MK first so being at BLT is perfect! I want to do Epcot on NYE so BCV is great then! I think the kids will enjoy the animals at AKL so I am happy ending and checking out from our land portion there. I just hope we get something that works for day #2.

So, are we nuts?

 

[thisismyusername]

I am subscribing to this! We are DVC owners and decided on a short pre-cruise stay 12/29-1/2. With it being a busy time of year and not that far out, we are having trouble securing room ressies. As of now we have three of the 4 nights booked...each at a different resort! I think it will be fun...my husband is afraid. Night #1 2br @BLT lake view, night #2 ?? Night #3 1br at BCV and night #4 AKL JH 1br savanna view. The 2nd night of our stay is still up in the air so I hope I get BLT or BCV. we have never stayed in any of those resorts so I am excited. We always do MK first so being at BLT is perfect! I want to do Epcot on NYE so BCV is great then! I think the kids will enjoy the animals at AKL so I am happy ending and checking out from our land portion there. I just hope we get something that works for day #2.

So, are we nuts?

I almost think that one night stays are easier than 2-3 night stays since you don't unpack. We usually use the toiletries the hotel provides, unzip the suitcase just to take out fresh clothing for the day and put the dirty away, etc. You don't get too settled knowing that you're moving in the morning.

The only thing that stinks with DVC is that you have to get out early, and I find that our rooms are ready later--usually closer to the 4 p.m. check in.

If you guys plan to use the pools, also, your suits may not fully dry in between moves. Make sure you have a plastic bag handy to pack up the wet suits to get them to your next hotel.

Have fun!

 

[loves to dive]

I've been going to DW for over 30 years, at least once every other year, sometimes we would get lucky and go two years in a row. We have always stayed on site. Our first stay was at what is now Shades of Green but was called something else back in the 80s and wasn't a military only resort. We then decided we hated buses and stayed at the Poly twice, Contemporary, and GF. As my son got older, we discovered we spent more time at Epcot than anywhere else so Yacht Club/Beach Club became our only choice. We even got his wife hooked on it. I got the opportunity to take a short 4 night trip in April, by myself for my birthday and because it felt selfish to go without my son and DIL, I decided on a split stay, first 2 nights at POP and last 2 nights at Boardwalk Villas in a studio (it was less to stay there than my beloved Yacht/Beach Club). I drive down from Ga. so it's about a 6 hour drive and it seemed a waste to spend the first night in a deluxe knowing I would just sleep there. The second night was mostly just somewhere to lay my head so a value made sense. I loved the split stay, not POP so much but the split stay was great. Having my car, I simply drove over to Boardwalk first thing in the morning and checked in, as it happens my room was ready but had it not been I had a Studios morning planned anyway so I was just going to park the car and take my bag to my room in the afternoon. I took two small carry on bags with my toiletries in one of those hanging bags that I could just transfer from bag to bag. Work out clothes, swim suit and computer in a smaller carry on since they were for both resorts. I'm going back again by myself 9/20-24 for food and wine and again doing a split stay. I was able to rent DVC points the nights of 22-24 at OKW. I then purchased an annual pass through AAA since I could get a discount (going back in Dec. with son and DIL for son's bday for a week) so it was cheaper to get an AP since I like to park hop. Using the AP discount and AAA discount I got a room at POR for almost value price for the nights of the 20th and 21. I'm a little worried about relying on buses for the whole trip but I'm game to try. I plan on checking out of POR whenever I wake up and get moving and driving over to OKW, parking the car and checking in then heading off to the studios. I'll do on line check in for both hotels, so the check in process won't take long and if my room isn't ready, it won't matter since I have the car and easy access to luggage if needed. I had no problems making ADRs, fast passes, linking my two rooms or booking FW seminars with split stay. I used to get DDP but have discovered that the child's meal is usually more than enough food for me and we tend to snack around the world at Epcot for more than one meal.

 

[sturg23]

Disney has changed a lot when it comes to split stays (I think because of all the magic bands). Both times I have been to Disney (both split stays) the above post was exactly how we had to book or stays (2 different reservations, 2 deposits, 2 meal plans-or 1 meal plan 1 RO, etc.). This year when I booked our split stay trip for march 2015 everything had changed (for the better). I booked a 3 night stay at ASMo with the dinning plan and a 6 day base ticket AND a 3 night stay at POR with the dining plan still attached. All of this is under 1 reservation (with only 1 deposit required). I double & triple checked with the CM who was helping me that this was indeed now possible. I have since received a confirmation e-mail and snail mail

 

[CTLeslie]

Love this thread. Trying my first split stay 10/29-11/1 at beach club then 11/1-11/8 at wilderness lodge. This thread is so helpful especially in assuring me I made the right decision

 

[Kristin3021]

Disney has changed a lot when it comes to split stays (I think because of all the magic bands). Both times I have been to Disney (both split stays) the above post was exactly how we had to book or stays (2 different reservations, 2 deposits, 2 meal plans-or 1 meal plan 1 RO, etc.). This year when I booked our split stay trip for march 2015 everything had changed (for the better). I booked a 3 night stay at ASMo with the dinning plan and a 6 day base ticket AND a 3 night stay at POR with the dining plan still attached. All of this is under 1 reservation (with only 1 deposit required). I double & triple checked with the CM who was helping me that this was indeed now possible. I have since received a confirmation e-mail and snail mail

glad to hear! I was worried about booking our first split stay, but this sounds was less complicated

 

[mjohnson96]

This is a great thread My family is very used to hotel changes during vacations but this is our first time doing a split stay at WDW. My husband laughs at my books since sometimes we have 3 or 4 different hotels and I try to keep everything together.

This trip we are staying at OKW in a studio for 2 nights RO and then moving over to AKL Arusha view for 7 nights with the tickets and dining. The only thing I did not like about the split with a package on the 2nd stay is that you can't book FP+ for the days prior to your package since WDW will tell you when you call you cannot pick up your tickets early (even though you can). But we got a good deal at OKW and it makes it easier for my parents to not pick us up from the airport late at night.