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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[momto3gr8boys]

We are doing it for the first time this trip, although I've always wanted to. We usually stay at the BC and that is my happy place. But I have been wanting to stay at Poly too. So we are doing 5 nights at BC then 4 nights at Poly. I'm looking forward to it!

[momto3gr8boys]

Originally Posted by momto3gr8boys

We are doing it for the first time this trip, although I've always wanted to. We usually stay at the BC and that is my happy place. But I have been wanting to stay at Poly too. So we are doing 5 nights at BC then 4 nights at Poly. I'm looking forward to it!

Actually it's our first time doing it on property. We have done a split stay with BC and the HRH once and one night at MCO Hyatt once because we had an early flight and it was cheaper than an extra night at the BC.

[Dis703]

We initially booked a split stay for our upcoming trip. We were going to do entirely POR but when the specials came out and it closed the gap a little between the cost of a moderate and deluxe we started looking at BC. But staying just the first 2 nights at POR saved us almost $400 and I was also in love with the photos of the POR resort. But I wanted to experience the location of BC as well as being in a deluxe in general. In the end we had a little more money to spend so we changed to all BC and plan for POR in the future.

We are staying offsite the first night though as I have a freebie night and wanted to start Disney after a good nights sleep first thing in the morning.

[FortForever]

Originally Posted by carolinamama

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

Ah, a very good reason!

Originally Posted by 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.

Another good reason!

Thanks for all the quick answers. I was really dumbfounded about this. Every comment here makes good sense.

There are so many resorts at WDW now, it would be fun to experience them all if it was just me. But, with DH being the train wreck he is, I feel like we're fortunate just to get from home to one resort.

Add an assorted kid or grandkid here or there and it's not going to happen.

Thankfully, I have experienced Bay Lake Tower and the Poly many, many times on my parents' dime and before they became deluxe. For the past 20 years or so we've been staying in moderates. I recently left my comfort zone and spent my first week at All Star Sports. We all loved it so giving POP a try here in a few weeks.

[kitkat324]

We have done a split stay twice and plan on doing so again for our next trip.

We do a split stay to relax.

We stay at Pop Century for the main part of our trip, visit the parks from rope drop to close. Then we switch over to AKL for a few nights and relax, take in the resort, swim and enjoy the activities offered at AKL. We don't visit any parks during the second part of our split stay.

[::danielle::]

We did a split stay last March. It was our first family trip to WDW. Our first night was at POP, then 6 nights offsite, then the last night at POR.

We found that for us it did not work to switch around. By the time we all showered, ate breakfast, packed up and coordinated our stuff we found that wasted most of the morning (and valuable vacation time). Then at night we would have to check in, go to the room, and find our stuff for bed in the suitcases. It was a lot of work.

On the positive side we were able to have a variety of experiences which allowed us to figure out what type of accommodations work for our family and which do not.