Split stay worth it?

[wendybeth75]

So we are not anywhere near booking our next trip seeing how we just got back from our last one but I'm just getting ideas. I'm thinking of doing a split stay but I would like to know the pros and cons. My thinking is do 8 days and 4 days stay at AOA and those days be our DHS and AK (probably do DHS 2 days) one day for also for pool time and downtown disney and then the remainder of our trip be MK and EPCOT staying at The Contemporary utilizing the walking distance and monorail service. Looking at going either end of August or end of Sept.

We have done this once before. I would say start with the value and then go to the deluxe next that way you are moving up and not down . Also Disney makes it pretty easy, they will transport your luggage for you! Something we did to make our life easier on our last vacation (as read on the disboards!) was to use a hanging shoe rack on the back of the door for all of our stuff. Everyone had a few pouches and it kept everything super organized and off the sink. It also made it super easy to move and unpack at the next stop! Just roll it up and then get it back out!!!

 

[kmb584]

So we are not anywhere near booking our next trip seeing how we just got back from our last one but I'm just getting ideas. I'm thinking of doing a split stay but I would like to know the pros and cons. My thinking is do 8 days and 4 days stay at AOA and those days be our DHS and AK (probably do DHS 2 days) one day for also for pool time and downtown disney and then the remainder of our trip be MK and EPCOT staying at The Contemporary utilizing the walking distance and monorail service. Looking at going either end of August or end of Sept.

We have done split stays before and the actual switch doesn't bother me in the least. Our luggage is left with the resort's bell services to be delivered to the new resort; we then proceed to our park of choice. What I do not like about splits is having to settle in again. Unpack, hang up clothing, basically organize the room to meet my OCD standard.

I wouldn't even consider a split unless we had, at the minimum, 8 park days. I like to be settled into our resort before moving to another. A while back someone did 3 resorts in 5 nights and my head just about spun. It was a scenario that worked well for them, but I'd have anxiety simply knowing that we'd be in resort #1 for 1 night, resort #2 for 3 nights, resort #3 for 1 night. I'd have spent my entire trip unpacking, packing, unpacking, packing, etc. As I mentioned above, I'm a tad bit OCD when it comes to organization and keeping things in their appointed areas. There is no way I would have been able to do so in that scenario.

I had a good chuckle when I saw what resorts you're considering for a split stay; not more than 2 hours ago I priced out almost the same vacation (for us it would be 5 nights at AoA in a Nemo or LK suite followed by 5 nights in a 2 bedroom unit at BLT or a 2 bedroom unit at BC). My little one has been pestering me to stay at AoA ever since she saw pictures of the resort. I fully admit that AoA intrigues me as well...

But I've always sworn we'd never go Value again. In 2011, the little one and I spent one night in an ASMu standard. The room was small to begin with but felt claustrophic once our luggage and pack 'n play were delivered. Once her BOB Revolution stroller was in the room I threw my hands up. The next morning I inqured with the front desk as to whether any Mods had availability; in just under 3 hours we were settled in at CSR. I watched the building of AoA via the internet and the more that I saw, the more that I read, I was intrigued. We'll definitely be booking the first part of our May '14 at AoA as I know the family suites will be more than adequate for us.

If they're done right (ie: NOT switching to 4 different resoorts for an 8 day vacation) split stays are a lot of fun! You get to experience 2 different resorts with different amenities. If done properly, you could easily experience all of the WDW resorts over the courses of your vacations.

No matter what you decide upon, I hope that you have a fantastic vacation!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

We were never going to do a split stay. But we'll be there Jan 3-9. Well, the discount doesn't start until the 5th, so I just thought, why not stay elsewhere the first 2 nights?

We're also driving, so we'll have a car. If we didn't have a car, I don't know how I'd feel about my luggage being delivered. But people do it allllllll the time

 

[ZehnJahren]

I love a good split stay!

Pros:
1) Multiple hotels mean you get to discover more places to stay and find a favorite.
2) You can mix it up - stay at CR to walk to MK, then head over to YC to walk to Epcot and HS! Or stay with the hustle and bustle of BWI, then move to WL for the peace and quiet.
3) It can make your vacation feel longer, since you're "starting over" at a new hotel.
4) You can stay at that unattainable resort because the shorter stay means it "costs less". It's going to be less expensive to do 4 nights at ASSp and then 4 nights at the Poly instead of all 8 at the Poly, plus you'll feel like you got a major upgrade!
5) Having different restaurants and food choices nearby after half your stay is over can be neat.
6) It's fun to have a change of scenery - isn't that why we go on vacation sometimes??

You can leave your luggage at your resort to be transferred over and then head out to the parks, too.

Cons:
1) It can also make you feel like your stay is shorter, and will more clearly mark your halfway point since you leave one hotel and go to another. From then on, your trip might feel like it's coming to an end.
2) If you don't transfer your luggage yourself via taxi, you might not get it until much later in the day. But transferring it yourself takes time and costs money to take the cab.
3) If you bring a lot of stuff or like to unpack, it can be a pain to pack and unpack on vacation. Plus there's more of a chance of leaving something behind!
4) If your kids love the first hotel's amenities, they may not be entirely happy leaving.

That's the way I see it! I actually did a triple-stay on one vacation - we started at ASSp for one night (couldn't get YC for that night), then moved to YC, and then after my mom left I moved to a studio at OKW. I don't really unpack, so it was no big deal to me, and I loved seeing all the different resorts in one trip!

 

[bella2117]

We have done split stays before and the actual switch doesn't bother me in the least. Our luggage is left with the resort's bell services to be delivered to the new resort; we then proceed to our park of choice. What I do not like about splits is having to settle in again. Unpack, hang up clothing, basically organize the room to meet my OCD standard. I wouldn't even consider a split unless we had, at the minimum, 8 park days. I like to be settled into our resort before moving to another. A while back someone did 3 resorts in 5 nights and my head just about spun. It was a scenario that worked well for them, but I'd have anxiety simply knowing that we'd be in resort #1 for 1 night, resort #2 for 3 nights, resort #3 for 1 night. I'd have spent my entire trip unpacking, packing, unpacking, packing, etc. As I mentioned above, I'm a tad bit OCD when it comes to organization and keeping things in their appointed areas. There is no way I would have been able to do so in that scenario. I had a good chuckle when I saw what resorts you're considering for a split stay; not more than 2 hours ago I priced out almost the same vacation (for us it would be 5 nights at AoA in a Nemo or LK suite followed by 5 nights in a 2 bedroom unit at BLT or a 2 bedroom unit at BC). My little one has been pestering me to stay at AoA ever since she saw pictures of the resort. I fully admit that AoA intrigues me as well... But I've always sworn we'd never go Value again. In 2011, the little one and I spent one night in an ASMu standard. The room was small to begin with but felt claustrophic once our luggage and pack 'n play were delivered. Once her BOB Revolution stroller was in the room I threw my hands up. The next morning I inqured with the front desk as to whether any Mods had availability; in just under 3 hours we were settled in at CSR. I watched the building of AoA via the internet and the more that I saw, the more that I read, I was intrigued. We'll definitely be booking the first part of our May '14 at AoA as I know the family suites will be more than adequate for us. If they're done right (ie: NOT switching to 4 different resoorts for an 8 day vacation) split stays are a lot of fun! You get to experience 2 different resorts with different amenities. If done properly, you could easily experience all of the WDW resorts over the courses of your vacations. No matter what you decide upon, I hope that you have a fantastic vacation!

We stayed in a nemo suite when we went in sept and honestly it was so cute! the space we had in the room was great and the kids LOVED theming of the whole resort (pretty amazing). Your going to love it! Did you do a dining plan with your split stays? I hear it can be a little annoying? All this wonderful info is making me excited!

 

[EPCOTatNight]

We drive, so a split stay is easy.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

 

[Happyjen27]

Thanks for all the info! I can say when we were there in September and when we were in MK my husband really liked the idea of being so close to MK and I did to! But to stay in a deluxe for a week would put us over our budget...the moving part wouldn't bother us much only because we don't bring a whole lot but I am worried about park tickets and dining plan disruptions split stays can sometimes cause. Is that a regular occurrence? I love the idea of it feeling like 2 vacations!

You sound like an adventurous sort! There is only one way to find out, and that's to try it. It seems like you've sorted out the bus all the time parks and are doing that from AoA, and then you're rocking the monorail parks at CR. Seems like a good plan to me.

Personally, with the littles, I'm not ready to try a split stay, but, some day if it's just me and my sweetie we might.

 

[bcuinohio]

I haven't done split stays but I have booked a Value resort the night we arrive and move over to our main resort the next day. It is a nice cost savings but the hassle of moving the next day and the time lost is not worth it. I would not do it again.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Thanks for all the info! I can say when we were there in September and when we were in MK my husband really liked the idea of being so close to MK and I did to! But to stay in a deluxe for a week would put us over our budget...the moving part wouldn't bother us much only because we don't bring a whole lot but I am worried about park tickets and dining plan disruptions split stays can sometimes cause. Is that a regular occurrence? I love the idea of it feeling like 2 vacations!

Park tickets- Buy the total number of days you need for your whole trip under AOA package and then use them throughout your whole trip. This keeps your ticket cost down since you are just increasing the number of days. The tickets would stay on your AOA magic bands that you can keep for use at CR. if you have the dining plan you would need two separate plans tied to each reservation and make sure you use up your AOA credits before your resort transfer. Some find this along with packing and transferring their bags a hassle but others think its no big deal. Just depends on the person. I hope that clarified things a bit.

 

[JennyDrake]

I've only done a split stay once. I found the luggage transfer and unpacking to be relatively painless, but we lost a lot of time re-checking in. We were using WDW transportation so it took an hour to get there, then over an hour to check in, then another half hour to get to a park.

Would I do it again? Probably.

 

[Minniesgal]

Park tickets- Buy the total number of days you need for your whole trip under AOA package and then use them throughout your whole trip. This keeps your ticket cost down since you are just increasing the number of days. The tickets would stay on your AOA magic bands that you can keep for use at CR. if you have the dining plan you would need two separate plans tied to each reservation and make sure you use up your AOA credits before your resort transfer. Some find this along with packing and transferring their bags a hassle but others think its no big deal. Just depends on the person. I hope that clarified things a bit.

But does this work if you want the dining plan at your second hotel. Don't you need to add park tickets to that reservation to be able to add the dining plan?

I think split stays are definitely easier with DVC.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I've only done a split stay once. I found the luggage transfer and unpacking to be relatively painless, but we lost a lot of time re-checking in. We were using WDW transportation so it took an hour to get there, then over an hour to check in, then another half hour to get to a park.

Would I do it again? Probably.

You do lose some time unless you are super efficient. We did it when we were there for nine nights, so it wasn't a big deal.

 

[Sweettears]

I've only done a split stay once. I found the luggage transfer and unpacking to be relatively painless, but we lost a lot of time re-checking in. We were using WDW transportation so it took an hour to get there, then over an hour to check in, then another half hour to get to a park.

Would I do it again? Probably.

A taxi is more expensive but it eliminates the wasted hour and a lot of aggrevation.

 

[princessap]

we are planning a split stay next fall and our plan is to do breakfast at the original resort and then send our bags to the new resort while we head to a park for the day and then head to new resort for dinner, so not much wasted time planned but it is our first time so i could be in for a surprise!