Split stays - why?

[FortForever]

Why do people do split stays?

I never heard of such a thing until I started reading here. I notice it's something many people do. It just seems like such a PITA to me. I wouldn't want to pack up all my stuff and move in the middle of vacation.

Is it just to experience different resorts? Maybe want to spend some time in a deluxe but not pay for the entire vacation there? Those are the only two scenarios I could come up with and neither would be enough inspiration to make me go through the hassle.

Just wondering...

[Pakey]

I do every time. I am a light packer and never unpack so moving isn't an issue. I like having a different experience.

[herb102211]

We do split stays all of the time as well. It's only myself and DH and we usually live out of our suitcases for the week anyways, so the luggage aspect of moving isn't a big deal for us. We usually do a split stay between an Epcot resort and an MK resort so that we can walk or take the monorail to MK, and then walk or take the boats over to Epcot and HS ( can you tell we aren't fans of waiting around for the buses )

[goofy4tink]

Love doing split-stays...it's like multiple vacations in one. THe worst one I did? Back about 3 years ago, I traveled with a friend. We were booked at BWV, but I found terrific airfare if we arrived a day early, So, booked AKL DVC for the night. Then moved to BWV for four nights with my friend. Well, she went home and I met up with another friend...stayed two nights at Kidani, with her. Then I had 5 nights booked at Pop for free dining!!! And because I got better airfare if I stayed another few nights, I moved back to BWV for my last two nights!!!
I have to tell you...I had to stop and think before I got on a return bus to my resort!!!! And I'll never do a two week stay again...way too much Disney at once for me.
But, I do like to break up my stays...for instance, my 19 y/o dd and I are heading to ASMusic for four nights, then move over to AoA-LM for our final two nights. We sometimes start at a DVC resort and then end our stay with a few nights at a 'regular' resort, usually a value or moderate, depends on what we feel like.

The one thing I hate is being without my stuff for a day. I think Disney could do better when it comes to luggage delivery. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to move bags..there just aren't that many people moving around on any given day!!!

[Christinaxo]

Hello!

So we decided to do a split stay because we are getting in at 8pm so to stay at POP and then move to WL the next day saves us almost $400! We are planning on checking in at night. Getting up super early to check out, off to the park, then checking in at WL. I read that the bellhop handles all the luggage and what not. But my question is how would that work in regards to tickets? If I book the package for WL & WDW Tickets, will the tickets be active only after I check in to WL? Or should I Book the package with POP, but then how would that work when I check out? Sorry, first timer here! lol
Thanks!

[twinklebug]

I was taught to live out of a suitcase when traveling (my mom insisted there were things living in the drawers ) So picking up and moving is usually no harder than packing the bathroom toiletries back up and making sure we have our chargers for camera and phones packed.

I love split stays as they make the 1 trip feel longer and like I've had 2 experiences not just one. Points I keep in mind when doing split stays:

- Stay at least 2 nights in any one room to get a feel for the resort.
- Make the second stay as long or longer than the first stay.
- Make the second stay at the larger accomodations (don't want to move down in room size)
- Switch rooms/resorts no more than once during a week long trip.

[AstroDad]

I think like you do and never considered it, but I can see where someone might want to have the experience of staying at a deluxe or villa, but not be able to afford it for the entire trip so they stay at a value for a couple of nights to make up the cost rather than a moderate for the entire trip.

I don't think it is as much of a pain as I originally thought it would be either since bell services will transfer all of your stuff for you, so you just go to the parks as you normally would and then head back to the new digs and check in.

Still not sure if I would want to do it with my family of 5, but maybe if it was just me and the mrs.

[buzznina]

In all the years we have been going, we have did it twice. The first when it was just myself and DW and it was fun and easy. The 2nd when we had our first DD and that one was more of a pain. Since we drive to WDW, DW tends to overpack and take more then we need, so repacking was a lot bigger pain. I will say there has been times that we used stuff that I would never had taken and it saved of time and $$. Now with 2 DD's we like to settle into our room and totally unpack. The only reason I could see us doing a split again is if we are going for 8 or more days and our funds does not allow us to stay at the resort level we would like for the whole stay, so I would look at splitting between 2 levels.

[carolinamama]

We are doing it on our upcoming trip. We are flying into Orlando around 6 pm - the kids can go to school for half a day, and we can get up and get going in the parks after decent sleep.

We are spending the first night at POR in a royal room, then scooting over to BLT to get our package tix/food. A bit of an inconvenience, but it's a cheaper room for that quick overnight than BLT, and we didn't have to pay for an extra day of food on the dining plan.

[JKMJ441724]

Originally Posted by carolinamama

and we didn't have to pay for an extra day of food on the dining plan.

[wdwlver]

Originally Posted by carolinamama

We are doing it on our upcoming trip. We are flying into Orlando around 6 pm - the kids can go to school for half a day, and we can get up and get going in the parks after decent sleep.

We are spending the first night at POR in a royal room, then scooting over to BLT to get our package tix/food. A bit of an inconvenience, but it's a cheaper room for that quick overnight than BLT, and we didn't have to pay for an extra day of food on the dining plan.

We always do exact same thing. Also doing POR royal room for arrival night then waking bright eyed and bushy tailed for check in to BCV. I much prefer adding a night before trip so our first full day is not a travel day.

[KlutzyK8]

We're splitting our stay this trip and I will gladly tell you why. We're vacationing with my in-laws at All Star Sports for five nights, then they're leaving the resort. Because we're a family of five, it was less expensive for us to move to another resort for our three remaining nights as opposed to us paying for two rooms at the Sports Resort.

[Sweettears]

Originally Posted by FortForever

Why do people do split stays?

I never heard of such a thing until I started reading here. I notice it's something many people do. It just seems like such a PITA to me. I wouldn't want to pack up all my stuff and move in the middle of vacation.

Is it just to experience different resorts? Maybe want to spend some time in a deluxe but not pay for the entire vacation there? Those are the only two scenarios I could come up with and neither would be enough inspiration to make me go through the hassle.

Just wondering...

You hit on a couple of the factors for me. I like to experience different resorts. I usual like to stay deluxe so sometimes I'll stay at a mod on the night I arrive and possibly the next. Splitting the cost gives me more justification for choosing a TPV or Lagoon view at a deluxe.

[ElizabethG]

The first time we did a split stay was due to availability. We are DVC and I had booked 10 nights at BLT. Later, I wanted to add another night to the beginning. There was no availability. So, I dropped 2 nights from BLT and added 3 at AKV. We LOVED it. We experienced different restaurants, amenities, and atmospheres. I kind of organized my packing to make it easy. Transferring was no problem. We would check-out, go to DTD for lunch and shopping, then on to the second resort (where we checked in and then headed to MNSSHP).

I am now planning our third split stay. It will be 5 nights at AKV with the inlaws and 6 nights at BLT with just our family. (I love that combo).

[pigletto]

We usually get in late or leave early (7 a.m. flight early) so we'll spend those nights at a value and then move to a deluxe. Another time we were going for 12 nights and really 6 nights at OKW and 6 nights at BWV was two totally different experiences and we had a great time.
I don't like a split stay for a shorter trip though.

This upcoming trip is 7 nights at POR, 2 nights at Universals Royal Pacific, and one night at the airport Marriott. I didn't want to add the third night at RPR because it was almost 300 a night and it seemed ridiculous to spend that much when our flight leaves at 7am the next morning. We used Priceline for the Marriott and got it for 60 dollars.

We'll have a car so it's very easy to move. Sometimes it's not about not being able to afford the Deluxe but not seeing the value in paying that much for an arrival or departure day.