Our very first Split Stay! Need Help Please

[MelissaRV]

We are visiting Disney in October and our youngest was very focused on staying at Wilderness Lodge. We have been unable to find a room for the entire week of Oct. 12 thru 19th. So we booked at POR. This will only be our 2nd trip to Disney, so we are definitely not experts by any means. This is where you guys come in. Last night I called to see if there was any availability at Wilderness Lodge. The very helpful young lady asked if we would be opposed to doing a split stay. Of course I had read on here a little about them, so we decided to go for it. My question to you all is this, How does a split stay work as far as getting your belongings from one resort to the other? We will be staying at Wilderness from Oct. 12 thru 15th, then we will switch to POR from Oct. 15 thru the 19th. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. I want to make the transition as smooth as possible. Oh yeah.......we aren't telling any of the kids that we are doing this!

 

[terri33inne]

I was nervous with my first split stay in April, but Disney makes it super-easy! The morning you are checking out of WL call bell services (or bring your bags down), they will tag them & move them to POR, and you go off about your day. Once you check-in at POR call bell services that you are there & checked in & they will deliver your bags. Easy-Peasy!

On a side note; You know WL is undergoing construction?

 

[Anna114]

VWL's construction isn't due to start until 10/26. Disney called us to let us know that the last day of our stay they were going to be putting up the fencing around the VWL pool. As for the move.... we moved from the cabins to VWL once. I'm not a huge fan of moving, I like to nest. Anywho, what I did was pack a couple of different suitcases. One case was for the cabins, our shorter stay and the other was for our move to VWL. I put the laundry from the cabins into the same suitcase (for the move). This way I didn't have to unpack everything just to repack it again. This worked fairly well until my son wanted something out of the other suitcase and he mucked up the plan a bit lol. Hope this helps!

 

[morgy827]

I wouldnt worry at all about moving your belongings. Its easy like the PP said. My issue with split stay was feeling like I was living out of a suitcase because we didnt want to unpack everything and then re-pack again. That being said I would do it again to be able to stay at more of th resorts

 

[illinidp]

I would advise you to plan on staying in a park until 3 or 4 so when you get to WL not only will your room be ready, but you will be able to get your luggage by then. That makes changing resorts a lot easier.

 

[MelissaRV]

Thanks for all of your advise. I was(kind of still am) a little nervous about the split stay,but you all have helped so much! I was told about a little of the construction, but my family really doesn't mind. For me it would be like home. I'm an engineer and construction is my everyday work life. I LOVE that you all said that I don't have to worry about getting my bags over to POR! That makes me way less stressed out.

 

[CynBeth]

Just make sure the front desk checks you out of the first resort so you do not have issues getting into your room at the second resort. Also, when making ADRs at the 180 day mark you will only be able to make them for the first part of your stay and then have to wait until 180 days of the second reservation for the second part of your trip.

 

[Splashboat]

You might want to pack some of your luggage for the first half of the trip and the rest of your luggage for the second half. We found this makes it easier than opening all the suitcases at both places.

 

[terri33inne]

Just make sure the front desk checks you out of the first resort so you do not have issues getting into your room at the second resort. Also, when making ADRs at the 180 day mark you will only be able to make them for the first part of your stay and then have to wait until 180 days of the second reservation for the second part of your trip.

Neither of these were an issue for us in April... I'm not sure if things have changed since then? We did check in to BC later in the day as we went off site to Sea World that morning, but I didn't check-out of CR. Although now that I think of it we had 2 sets of MB's, one for each resort. Also, I was able to book the ADR's for my entire stay at the first 180 day mark... I was surprised at that. Maybe it was a glitch or maybe they've changed.

 

[glamourgirl]

Nothing to worry about. We do triple split stays all the time. We have 2 boys 9&6. I use Ebags packing cubes to keep everyone's organized. Assign each person a color. When packing up, just throw packing cubes in suitcase.

Typical split stay: When checking out of resort A, I call Bell Services to room to collect bags. Let them know we are going to resort B. Then we just bus to park. At the end of the day, we bus from park to resort B. (Now with direct-room text, you don't even need to go to desk to check in).

We like to do split stays as we enjoy using diff resort pools and dining options, as well as planning park days that are close in proximity.

 

[Saxsoon]

My family did a split stay with 1 night at Bay Lake Tower (for the experience) and 4 nights at Beach Club. It was very simple but did require two separate magic bands. I wasn't the one who planned it, but my mom didn't seem to have much issues when switching from one to the other.