Split stays?

[ChasingLeslie]

Are split stays a fun way to see more than one resort, or just a big pain in the bootie...? Is the checking out/checking in between resorts a big waste of time?

I'm deciding between POR and CSR (leaning heavily towards CSR). It looks like POR is a little cheaper, but if I split then I could make BC at CSR more affordable. I think the kids would love the pools and playground at both places. The downgraded Pepper Market menu is making the create-your-own pastas and salad at Riverside Mill look better. I know restaurant choices are not a big deal for some, but it is for my picky eaters (as I foresee lunch or dinner breaks at the resort in our future).

Thoughts...?

 

[Pesky]

I asked about the same thing in terms of how many splits and folks did say a split between 2 resorts is doable in a week or so. Shorter, probably not worth it. You do lose a day. If you have Disney transfer your bags (which still looks to be free), you may not have your bags until 5-9pm at night potentially. So if having your bags available earlier is important (to get groceries or swimsuits or the like), might want to factor in taxi costs for switching and you can just check them at the bell desk so they would quickly be available when you get your room. And you might lose your room for most of the day as a room might not be available until regular check-in time in the afternoon (or later). My kids are beyond needing a nap and we can budget in a taxi transfer so a split stay that affords us a deluxe works. But it's a personal decision. Good luck and have fun! They are great resorts any way you go.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I asked about the same thing in terms of how many splits and folks did say a split between 2 resorts is doable in a week or so. Shorter, probably not worth it. You do lose a day. If you have Disney transfer your bags (which still looks to be free), you may not have your bags until 5-9pm at night potentially. So if having your bags available earlier is important (to get groceries or swimsuits or the like), might want to factor in taxi costs for switching and you can just check them at the bell desk so they would quickly be available when you get your room. And you might lose your room for most of the day as a room might not be available until regular check-in time in the afternoon (or later). My kids are beyond needing a nap and we can budget in a taxi transfer so a split stay that affords us a deluxe works. But it's a personal decision. Good luck and have fun! They are great resorts any way you go.

Lose a DAY? I've never lost more than hour -- sometimes even less. One trip I checked out of hotel A and went to Animal Kingdom for the day, disney moved my luggage and when I cam back to hotel B at night - it was in my room. Another trip I had a car and checked out of hotel A, drove to hotel B and checked in, went to room and deposited luggage and off to the park -- about an hour total.

Tom

 

[wdwrich]

I have to agree with Tom. We've done multiple split stays and never lost a day out of our touring/vacation time. We may get up a bit earlier on the switch day, an hour maybe, but that's about it.

 

[Enter User Name]

If I do a split stay to take advantage of a dining deal which I hope will come out on my last week do I have to buy 2 sets of park entry passes or can I activate my passes early and buy them as part of a package with the latter half of my trip? Can I do a room only for the first 3 days and use my 10 day park hopper that I will purchase for the 7 day package with discounted dining?

 

[DemoBri1]

I will agree with a couple of others here in that we've done split stays on at least three trips in the past and have never lost a day. What you just need to do is make sure you have a plan to be in a park or some other destination during the day in between checking out of your first resort and getting into your room in your second resort.

In the past we've done split stays because we had run out out points in our UY and we decided to extend our trip by staying on a $$ ressie. Normally we'd stay on the $$ at a monorail or WL and get our MK fix for the early part of the trip and then switch back over to BCV for the Epcot and DHS portion of the trip. AK gets placed wherever. Usually that is our switch day. One thing I like to do is to get over to the resort early in the morning to check-in and then come back and p/u the rest of the family. I guess if you have your laptop you can also check in online. The only issue you may have is getting access to your luggage if you're having Disney transfer it. If doing that make sure you have a "day bag" with any necessities you might need before getting into your new room.

I wouldn't worry about doing a split stay. I think it's a great way to split up your trip and experience what the other resorts have to offer.

 

[Masonmj84]

We love split stays and do them mainly to take advantage of the location of the deluxe resorts. In that regard, while every deluxe resort had a location that's great for at least one park, we feel that there isn't any one deluxe resort that has a good enough location to justify its price (even with discounts), but that the price can be more justifed if you do a split stay and plan your park days (and ADRs) to be close to your resort. In that way, you're maximizing the location advantage of staying deluxe.

We also love experiencing more than one resort on the same trip and feeling like we're getting two (or more) vacations in one.

At a minimum, we typically split between a MK area resort and an EP area resort. We've also done a trip where we split at 5 resorts (over two weeks).

A few caveats:

-We are always car-less and, therefore, dependent on Disney transportation, which we prefer to minimize reliance on.

-We eat a lot of TS meals (mostly in deluxe resorts) and splitting our stay allows us to eat at a lot of diferent places without having to travel much.

-We take a lot of vacations where we change hotels and are accustomed to not unpacking our suitcases. So packing up on a transfer day maybe takes us 10 minutes (mostly just collecting and packing toiletries and making sure we didn't leave anything in the room).

- Our resort transfer days are no different than any other day (other than checking out of the old resort and checking into the new one). When leaving the old resort, we simply call bell service to pick up and transfer our bags, go to a park, and then, in the afternoon, check into the new resort and call bell services to bring our bags to the room. To the extent we lose any time in the transfer, we more than make it up by gaining time not having to wait for busses.

 

[snorkelyn]

If you pack a day bag with swim suits and valuables, you can lock it in lockers at the park.

We did a split stay last trip and really liked it. It was a longer trip though. Approx 5 nights at each resort. As some have mentioned, we stay at deluxe and plan our days around the resort we are staying at.

 

[wendow]

We also have done a few split-stay trips. We have 4 kids and keeping everything together enough to not have a huge hassle in the packing back up is literally the hardest part.

Otherwise, it is a breeze and like others noted, we have never lost much time. Checking out is super simple, then hand bags to bell services, they mark where they are going, give nice tip, get on transportation to park, after park go to new resort and bags are either in your room or brought quickly after checking in.

Like a pp mentioned, we enjoy eating at our resort more so than traveling around for meals so switching resorts lets us have additional options. Plus I just love getting to stay new places. I have made some favs and some not-so-favs

 

[fungchono]

Definitely go for the split stay!! It lets you do a few days in a higher resort and makes your trip more fun overall.. i do them all the time

If you plan it right you shouldn't even have to lose a day either. For example.. if your going from Pop Century to Wilderness Lodge, like i did a few times, all you do is get up early.. give your bags to the front to take to wilderness lodge for you.. throw a tip... then go out and catch the bus to enjoy your day at magic kingdom. After a few hours when its time for your mid day break take the boat to Wilderness Lodge.. check in.. grab your bags.. freshen up and then back out for a fun dinner at Hoop Dee Doo before returning to settle in at your new resort

 

[DisneyBrat]

How much should I tip? There will be 3 Adults with 3 large suite cases and 3 Carry Ons

 

[goofy4tink]

I do split stays all the time. The one thing I hate is not having my bags until late afternoon/early evening. Yes, they will tell you early/mid afternoon, but in over 15 split stays, that has yet to happen for me. I used to hand my bags off to Bell Services by 7:30, then head to a park. Then, around 1ish, I would head to the new resort and get checked in...sometimes the room was ready, sometimes not. If not, I headed to a park.
Now? I prefer to pack up and take a cab, with my bags, to the new resort first thing in the morning. I leave the first resort by 8am, get to the new one by 8:15ish, get checked in. I can leave my bags with Bell Services. Then, when my room is ready, I just call them and have it delivered. If I need something during the day, prior to my room being ready, no big deal...I just go to Bell Services and take it out of my bag.
As far as tipping goes....I always tip $1 a bag, whenever anyone 'touches' it. Sometimes more than that, but never less.

 

[WDW_Diane]

I do split stays all the time. The one thing I hate is not having my bags until late afternoon/early evening. Yes, they will tell you early/mid afternoon, but in over 15 split stays, that has yet to happen for me. I used to hand my bags off to Bell Services by 7:30, then head to a park. Then, around 1ish, I would head to the new resort and get checked in...sometimes the room was ready, sometimes not. If not, I headed to a park. Now? I prefer to pack up and take a cab, with my bags, to the new resort first thing in the morning. I leave the first resort by 8am, get to the new one by 8:15ish, get checked in. I can leave my bags with Bell Services. Then, when my room is ready, I just call them and have it delivered. If I need something during the day, prior to my room being ready, no big deal...I just go to Bell Services and take it out of my bag. As far as tipping goes....I always tip $1 a bag, whenever anyone 'touches' it. Sometimes more than that, but never less.

I'm doing a split stay next week, Art of Animation on the night we arrive in the dark, then moving to AKL for the rest of the trip. I didn't want to pay for a night at AKL when I'm arriving at 9:30 pm after working half the day and then flying out. How much would a taxi cost me to do it your way? I like it.

 

[sukhakuli]

We did a split stay last time for the first time. I was really nervous about it; my husband is a constant watch checker and likes to maximize every minute of every day. He's like that at home, too. He's just really in to efficiency. I was worried it was going to be a huge hassle and he'd get cranky. Cranky for him means he makes that annoyed face at me, but he doesn't really do or say anything. I just hate that "we're wasting time!" face, lol.

Actually, it was really easy. I packed our luggage in 2 sections, so we had bags packed for one resort and bags packed for another. We left one set of bags packed, and unpacked the others. Then, when we used the clothes we threw the dirty clothes back in the suitcase. When it came time to move, we were already packed. We spent that day in the park, and when we got back that evening everything was ready at the new resort. It was really simple.

For our next trip I was just going to spend the whole trip at CBR, but my husband really wanted to do a split stay again, so we're headed back to the YC.

 

[HotMama]

We are on our 3rd split stay this summer! We love experiencing more than 1 resort on our trip! I found it easy and doesn't take up much time. My goal is to stay at each resort once, and this will definitely make that happen. And I'll know which ones I love for future trips! I recommend.

 

[WDW_Diane]

We ended up have Disney move our luggage. The bummer was, we gave it to them at 9:30 am and it wasn't in our AKL room as promised when we returned for warmer evening clothes at 3:00 pm.

 

[WDW_Diane]

Sorry for the errors, I'm typing with one finger on a Treadclimber!

 

[POOHsie]

We've been doing split stays for a number of years. Our stays are usually 10-11 nights. We have a car, so moving to resort #2 is relatively easy. Just drop off luggage with bell services at resort #2 if room isn't ready, then on to the parks. Lately we have tried at least one new resort in our split stay mix. Maybe in a few years we'll have stayed at them all. What I especially like about split stays is, when arriving at Resort #2, it feels like our first day in Disney all over again!

 

[kristenrice]

I love split stays. We are a family of 4 (DVC Members) and prefer the space and amenities of a 1BR, but with only 100 points to play with, we have to really stretch them. We typically stay 5 nights and do 2 in a studio followed by 3 in a 1BR. I plan a park day on the day we switch so that we are not "homeless". Often, our split is within the same resort, but I did do a split between BLT and BWV that was flawless. We dropped our bags at Bell Services at BLT and told them we were checking in to BWV later that day. Then we went off to Epcot. After lunch, we walked over to BWV and checked in. Our room was not ready yet so we walked back to Epcot for a while. When our room was ready, we returned, grabbed our bags from Bell Services at BWV and headed up to our room to get ready for dinner. It was super easy and I would not hesitate to do it again. In fact, in 2016, we are going to do a 3/4 split between a studio at OKW and a 1BR at AKV.

 

[maxiesmom]

We ended up have Disney move our luggage. The bummer was, we gave it to them at 9:30 am and it wasn't in our AKL room as promised when we returned for warmer evening clothes at 3:00 pm.

Disney won't put them in your room for you. You need to call down for them, or grab them yourself. I'm not sure who told you they would have your bags waiting in your room, but they were wrong. The only time your bags will show up in your room is when you use Magical Express.