A few concerns about a split stay...advice please!

[SFMommy]

Sorry if these questions been asked and answered. I'm sure they have, but I couldn't find what I was looking for! We are considering a split stay BWV/Poly, 4 nights each...first trip to WDW.

If we do a split stay...

1. Will I be able to book all of our ADRs on day 180+ 10. Or will I only be able to do the 4 nights for my first reservation and then have to wait until my second reservation opens up for the next 4 nights?

2. Same with FP+...will I be able to book all 7 days of FP+ on the 60 mark for the start of our trip?

3. Since we will have a car, is it best to drive from BWV to Poly...check in at Poly, leave luggage (assuming room won't be ready) and head out to MK? How long (approximately) would all of that take?

4. If we have perishable food from our stay at the BWV, will we be able to leave that with the bell hop at the Poly and will it be kept cold until we check into our room?

5. Do you think it will be hard for us to go from a 1-bedroom BW Villa to a standard room at the Poly? We would eat breakfast in our room 4 mornings in the villa and do any laundry needed before moving to the Poly. Or we could just stay in a standard room at the BWI, skipping a villa entirely. But that means no breakfast in our room and no laundry. ???

I am OK with the packing/unpacking, moving luggage, etc. My main concern is not missing out on ADRs and FP+.

Our main reasoning in doing this split stay is so that we can walk/boat to EP/HS from BWV and then monorail to MK from Poly...taking advantage of the locations of both resorts and to experience two different areas in WDW. Any feedback or advice is welcome!

Thanks!

 

[loves to dive]

I have an AP so it's a little different but for my upcoming trip I was able to book all my FPs for the entire length of stay when my 60 day window opened up for the first night (I'm doing a split stay). Not sure about ADRs but I would think as long as you had an MDE account you could book those.

I always drive so always have a car. I've done 2 split stays (this will be my third) and I always get up early on move day and drive my car over to the new resort, you can check in after 6am even if your room is not ready. I go ahead and check in, if my room isn't ready I leave my stuff in my car and head off to whatever park I wanted to. You could pull up to the check-in area and have them store your luggage as well if you wish. I would think if you had your perishables in a cooler you would be o.k. but I'm not sure about that.

I'm thinking the time it takes to switch is going to be dependent on what time of day you are doing it. Remember, you can have Disney transport your luggage for you as well, I've just never done that since I have the car and I like knowing it's going to arrive when I do.

 

[Lynne G]

I don't remember, but I think as long as you are staying onsite, it's the amount of days your ticket is good for, is how many you can make fastpasses for. As for switching, we too, always have a car, and transfer ourselves and luggage to the new resort. I don't like to leave anything in the car, so if room at the new hotel is not ready, just put everything, except valuables, with the porter/bell hop. If you have things that need to be refrigerated, they will do that for you too. Then, when you are in your room, call to have the luggage brought up, and they will. Only thing I found is to make sure you formally check out of the first place, as if you do not, your magic bands might have some trouble being linked to the new hotel.

We don't mind switching, it just takes some time.

 

[jennab]

With ADR's. It won't let you book the 180+10 for the whole stay. It sees 2 separate reservations so would only allow me to book the 1st part online at 180 days. However, I did call in and the CM let me book all of them via the phone. FP's were no problem since it was based on the ticket. We also transferred food and that wasn't an issue either. They have spots to put in the fridge so things remain cold.

 

[Disney93]

Doing a split stay for us is the norm. We stay 5 days at SSR then a week at BWV. You can call the bell service and the will come to your room for your luggage and any food items you may including perishables. They will take them to your new resort for no charge (other than tip.) When you check in, just call bell service and they will bring your belongings to your room. All FP's are good and will be on your wristband.

 

[nkereina]

Sorry if these questions been asked and answered. I'm sure they have, but I couldn't find what I was looking for! We are considering a split stay BWV/Poly, 4 nights each...first trip to WDW.

If we do a split stay...

1. Will I be able to book all of our ADRs on day 180+ 10. Or will I only be able to do the 4 nights for my first reservation and then have to wait until my second reservation opens up for the next 4 nights?

2. Same with FP+...will I be able to book all 7 days of FP+ on the 60 mark for the start of our trip?

3. Since we will have a car, is it best to drive from BWV to Poly...check in at Poly, leave luggage (assuming room won't be ready) and head out to MK? How long (approximately) would all of that take?

4. If we have perishable food from our stay at the BWV, will we be able to leave that with the bell hop at the Poly and will it be kept cold until we check into our room?

5. Do you think it will be hard for us to go from a 1-bedroom BW Villa to a standard room at the Poly? We would eat breakfast in our room 4 mornings in the villa and do any laundry needed before moving to the Poly. Or we could just stay in a standard room at the BWI, skipping a villa entirely. But that means no breakfast in our room and no laundry. ???

I am OK with the packing/unpacking, moving luggage, etc. My main concern is not missing out on ADRs and FP+.

Our main reasoning in doing this split stay is so that we can walk/boat to EP/HS from BWV and then monorail to MK from Poly...taking advantage of the locations of both resorts and to experience two different areas in WDW. Any feedback or advice is welcome!

Thanks!

1. You can still do 180+10 but you have to call to do it. You can't do it online.

2. As mentioned, FP+ is based on number of ticket days so no problem there.

3. Yes that is the best option. Disney can deliver your luggage if you want, but it will take a few hours so you're better off bringing it yourself. I would expect the whole process to take an hour max. Probably less.

4. Yes.

5. Tough call. Poly is beautiful but we do think BWV is a better location. The monorail can be iffy in terms of operating schedule. Nothing beats being able to walk to both DHS and Epcot. Is a studio at BWV an option? You'll still have a kitchenette for breakfast prep and while you won't have in-room laundry, you can use laundry for free if staying on DVC points.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Keep the 1-bedroom at BWV! Yes, you are losing space at Poly, but gaining the monorail. We've done 1-bedrooms, standard rooms, studios. We are happy with all, but when you get the chance to have a full kitchen and washer/dryer in your room, take it! Having the washer/dryer in the room is so nice! I don't think you'll regret the move. It does keep park transportation time down when you do EP/MK splits.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We once had many items in a cooler and the BC put it all in the refrigerator for us. Everything stayed cold. The split stays we did were easy. Enjoy!

 

[misse320]

1. You can still do 180+10 but you have to call to do it. You can't do it online.

That is really good to know. We have a split stay coming up in October and I thought I'd have to make my 180 ADRs on two separate days.

 

[DCDisney]

They recently changed this like in the past few weeks and even if you call in they can not do the 180+10 for split stays anymore. It changed around the time they started booking BOG lunch there were a number of posts about it. What I do to avoid these issues is book 1 stay to start with and then add the second stay a few days after I do ADRs. It's just easier that way. Make sure too that you don't do the DDP on both stays because you get higher ticket costs that way. We typically do DDP for the 1st stay and room only for the second. Then we add extra days to the ticket on the package in the first stay. That way we can stretch our credits out and it works very nicely.

 

[nkereina]

They recently changed this like in the past few weeks and even if you call in they can not do the 180+10 for split stays anymore. It changed around the time they started booking BOG lunch there were a number of posts about it. What I do to avoid these issues is book 1 stay to start with and then add the second stay a few days after I do ADRs. It's just easier that way. Make sure too that you don't do the DDP on both stays because you get higher ticket costs that way. We typically do DDP for the 1st stay and room only for the second. Then we add extra days to the ticket on the package in the first stay. That way we can stretch our credits out and it works very nicely.

I don't see why they would prohibit split stayers from booking 180+10 over the phone. The only reason you can't do it online is because the system isn't sophisticated enough to recognize your split stay, not because it's not allowed. It would make no sense to ban them from this - they are still on property for the duration of their trip. I'd suggest calling back and talking to another CM if you get this answer. I don't trust those phone CMs sometimes.

As far as DDP, you CAN book DDP on a ticketless package but it has to be done by phone. The only exception is free dining which DOES require a ticket purchase. But if you're doing a split stay and want to pay for the dining plan for both parts of your trip, you can book a ticketless package with dining on both legs of the trip over the phone. You are correct in that you should buy the tickets on your first package for the duration of your trip rather than splitting up the tickets between the two packages. The more days you buy, the cheaper it is per day.

 

[tasha99]

I don't see why they would prohibit split stayers from booking 180+10 over the phone. The only reason you can't do it online is because the system isn't sophisticated enough to recognize your split stay, not because it's not allowed. It would make no sense to ban them from this - they are still on property for the duration of their trip. I'd suggest calling back and talking to another CM if you get this answer. I don't trust those phone CMs sometimes.

As far as DDP, you CAN book DDP on a ticketless package but it has to be done by phone. The only exception is free dining which DOES require a ticket purchase. But if you're doing a split stay and want to pay for the dining plan for both parts of your trip, you can book a ticketless package with dining on both legs of the trip over the phone. You are correct in that you should buy the tickets on your first package for the duration of your trip rather than splitting up the tickets between the two packages. The more days you buy, the cheaper it is per day.

It's not that they banned the 180+10 on split stays, but that the new system won't let phone CMs do it either anymore. Believe me, I called over and over to try to get it to work. In four calls, they couldn't do it. They tried adding onto the first reservation, the second, neither worked. One CM told me it used to work, but not anymore. Oddly, V&A still works since you call them directly and they must be on a different system.

 

[nkereina]

It's not that they banned the 180+10 on split stays, but that the new system won't let phone CMs do it either anymore. Believe me, I called over and over to try to get it to work. In four calls, they couldn't do it. They tried adding onto the first reservation, the second, neither worked. One CM told me it used to work, but not anymore. Oddly, V&A still works since you call them directly and they must be on a different system.

Weird. I suspect this will be fixed in the near future. Otherwise it's a deterrent for people to book split stays.

 

[SFMommy]

They recently changed this like in the past few weeks and even if you call in they can not do the 180+10 for split stays anymore. It changed around the time they started booking BOG lunch there were a number of posts about it. What I do to avoid these issues is book 1 stay to start with and then add the second stay a few days after I do ADRs. It's just easier that way. Make sure too that you don't do the DDP on both stays because you get higher ticket costs that way. We typically do DDP for the 1st stay and room only for the second. Then we add extra days to the ticket on the package in the first stay. That way we can stretch our credits out and it works very nicely.

Just so I understand...you book your entire stay (let's say 8 nights) at the first resort. When the 180 days hits, you are able to book ADRs for those 8 nights. But then you call and change your reservation to 4 nights at hotel A and 4 nights at hotel B. And your ADRs remain intact and are not impacted by the change in reservations? Is this for a room only reservation or a package with park tickets?

 

[nkereina]

Just so I understand...you book your entire stay (let's say 8 nights) at the first resort. When the 180 days hits, you are able to book ADRs for those 8 nights. But then you call and change your reservation to 4 nights at hotel A and 4 nights at hotel B. And your ADRs remain intact and are not impacted by the change in reservations? Is this for a room only reservation or a package with park tickets?

You'd have to do that room only because to do one package, you have to remain in the same resort. What you could do is make a room only reservation for 8 days (or the entire duration of your trip) and then later call, cancel it, and book your split stays. Your ADRs wouldn't be impacted since they aren't tied to your reservation. The only thing tied to your reservation is the +10 advantage. ADRs don't cancel if you cancel or change your trip. Only concern with doing all this would be the deposit on the room only reservation - I THINK they would have to refund you that amount rather than just apply it to your package. Someone else can chime in on that, but I think I've seen something weird about that before. Other concerns would be if you're traveling during busy times or if you're trying to book under a promotion.