Split Stay including two monorail resorts?

[amystevekai&bump]

Hi all,

We currently have a two week vacation booked over New Years, which is split between three resorts. (3 nights at Portofino at Universal, 4 nights at Bay Lake Towers and then 7 nights at Animal Kingdom Villas).

We are considering mixing it up even further and wondered whether you think this would be too much?

We would keep the first week as it is - split between Universal and BLT, but then are considering 3 nights at Grand Floridian and 4 nights at Boardwalk Villas.

We would use the 4 nights at BLT purely for MK (we love the quick walk over to our favourite park!), so would probably look at doing Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios from GF and then slow down at BWV with Epcot only from there.

My question is - Has anyone ever stayed at 2 monorail resorts in one trip? Did it feel pointless? Would you feel right staying at a monorail resort (ie GF), but not go to MK during your stay there and indeed use it to drive to parks further away?!

Many thanks for any thoughts

P.S. I know DHS is closer to BWV than GF- but we need to visit the Studios prior to the end of the trip as otherwise we would miss the Osborne Lights, and I want to finish at BWV as it looks hopeful that we will be able to get a Boardwalk view 2bed there - which would mean ending our stay in the biggest (possibly best) room of the trip - which is how I like to end my visits - on a high!!

 

[lanejudy]

Personally, I wouldn't want to deal with packing and unpacking that many times!

 

[Carriesouthard]

I'm tired out just thinking about all the moving! We are a family that likes to get there and stay put. To each his own, if it works for you, go for it!

 

[Anthony1971]

I would keep AKL with bus service as I can tell you the bus service from all the Monorail resorts stink and they all share with another monorail resort or WL... but they make up for it with the parks on the monorail.
BW if you walk to DS and or EPCOT it will likley be faster then bus service from AK but if you take the boat little chance and the bus service is worse then the monorail resorts. Note that all are hit and miss but I can tell you I have almost always missed at the resorts I say are bad over multiple stays and almost always hit with AKL.

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's sounds fine to me for a two week trip! We're doing a split stay, 2 resorts, one week.

I think you're right though, two monorail resorts is redundant, I would probably pick one there. I can't see moving from BLT to GF.

Personally, I would do Universal, then an Epcot-area resort for a week (see DHS and Epcot and AK from there), then finish at BLT/MK, but I like to end trips with MK.

Sounds awesome whatever you decide

 

[CarrieR]

I can say for *us* this wouldn't work: 1) Too much packing and unpacking (which equals time I could otherwise be touring or relaxing!) 2) I like to spread the parks throughout the week, and not do them in blocks and 3) We are not Uni fans!

BUT, and this is the big BUT, do you feel it would work for you? A three-night stay means unpacking day one, day two and three having a "home" for the afternoon, and day four packing up again. On a 15 day trip, you will have 5 of them be "homeless" pack/unpack days (arrival day, three switches, departure day.)

We did a split stay once and... meh. Repacking once wasn't horrible, more than that would be awful for us. Plus, to us, it made the stay feel shorter, we barely got settled in and we got hoofed off again! (We did 4 + 4 nights so it wasn't a terribly short stay.)

YMMV. If it sounds perfect for your family, go for it!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I would drop GF and add a day to BLT and the rest of the time at BWI. It is really nice stay to stay at an Epcot resort. The convenience of being in walking distance of two parks, Epcot and HS, just can't be beat. From the looks of your signature, you haven't experienced an Epcot resort yet, and you've already stayed at GF and AKL.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Thanks everyone for all of your advice

We have no problem with the transfer days (we carry hand luggage only and have a car - so each time we move we just put the luggage in the trunk and drive to whichever park we are visiting for the day (we drive to the parks anyway as I don't like the buses!) and then once we're done we drive to our new resort. So I'm not worried about the split stay principle

I guess my main concern was the addition of GF in the mix - especially after already being at BLT. It might well be a moot point anyway, as I'm trying to get a studio at the new GF villas, so it may not even come off - but what I think I've managed to do now, is alter my plans so that if we do get the VGF for just a couple of nights then we will use that purely as down time in the resort - so whilst it would only be a short stay, it would be two nights of rest and really appreciating the resort.

I wouldn't normally switch resorts so often, but I figured we could try it once and if it's too much then we won't do it next time!!

Thanks again for all of your comments

 

[Minniesgal]

We are doing something similar in August, 3 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel, 6 nights at the Treehouse Villas to do HS and Epcot, 3 nights at AKV to do AK and finally 3 nights at BLT to do monorail dining and MK.

 

[Masonmj84]

We recently did a Poly/BC split stay over 8 nights and loved it.

In fact, we loved it so much that we're taking it up a notch and doing a WL/Poly/AKL/BC split over 12 nights.

 

[ArwenMarie]

That sounds great. I think over two weeks the split stays will be fun. Have fun planning!