The ultimate split-stay thread

[Lirael]

*Cross posting*

I usually pride myself in keeping up to date but my brain is overloaded right now!
I am planning my first split stay for Aug. 2016 which will be Shades of Green 7/30-8/2 (technically off site) then Poly 8/2-8/9.

Am I correct that I will be able to make my ADRs at 180 days from 7/30 but only able to do one day at a time until I hit 180 days from the first day of my Poly stay when I can make them for the remainder of my stay?

Similarly for FP+ I think I can make them 60 days from first day at the Poly until the end of stay and then at 30 days from my SOG portion on a rolling day at a time basis.

All this has me so confused! Thanks to anybody who can simplify this for me!

Edited to add: I was told that I will be able to make all FP+ at 60 days out from my Poly stay, including the previous days at SOG. (Yay for that!) Will the ADRs work as I think? One day at a time until I hit 180 from my Poly stay and then I will be able to make them through the end of stay? Thanks so much for the help as always!

I think this reply is probably too late now, but just in case someone else is also confused: I made reservations for a split stay last week and asked the CM about ADRs and they confirmed what I've seen people say in these boards: 180 days before the start of the first stay you can get ADRs for every day of that first stay, but will have to wait until 180 days before the start of the second stay to get ADRs for the length of that one

 

[Lisa F]

I know that this is the rule, but you should check anyway. I was able to book all of my ADRs as soon as my first stay hit 180.

I know this is old - did you do this online or by calling?

 

[DINKsAtDisney]

Hello Split-Stayers! We are usually a stay in one place couple, but for our 10th wedding anniversary I'm thinking it would be nice to move our last night to GF from AKL. The GF main building is on my bucket list (I've only stayed in the outer building) and our dinner plans for that evening will be at V&A. I'm thinking we'd bring our luggage over by taxi after checkout at AKL, and then either spend the day at the pool or fishing on bay lake.

Does this sound like a solid plan? I'm not sure how bad it would be to do a switcheroo and I'd like to do something special, but I don't want to make the day annoying. TIA for help!

 

[mernin]

Thanks for this thread!! We are planning a split stay with a DCL 4 night cruise in the middle so it was helpful to read about some of the tips. One question, it would still work to get a 4 day MYW package for our trip when we plan to do 3 nights WDW, 4 nights DCL & 2 nights WDW RO? I was thinking that would be cheaper than 2 sets of 2 day tickets. Now the hard part is to pick which hotels to stay at!

 

[FoodieFriend]

I did see that someone did post about split staying at WDW with a trip to "The Darkside" (<- Universal) in the middle, but my question was about luggage. We're a group of 3 & wanted to know when we checkout of WDW early morning & head to UO, can we leave some luggage to be sent to our 2nd WDW resort & just take 1 bag & have our 2nd resort hold it for a day until we check in the following evening? So say check out from BWV 7am on Sunday & send 2 bags to AKL then check-in at UO with 1 bag & get that early entry to HP, stay the night at Cabana Bay. Check out of Cabana Bay, then have 1 more early entry to HP on Monday and check-in at AKL later that evening to meet up with the rest of our luggage?

Or would we have to take all of our luggage with us to UO?

 

[kmg1107]

(I originally posted this as it's own thread, but then I found this one! So much knowledge!)
We leave in three weeks (yay!) for a 9 day trip. We start off staying off-site for 2 nights and then check into POR, followed by SSR. The POR part of the stay includes our park tickets. Based off what I'm reading here, we should be able to activate our tickets through Guest Services prior to our POR check-in, correct?
Has anyone had any luck securing FP ahead of their check-in date? TIA!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Love this! great info and great reading!

 

[rdw]

So ... Haven't read through the stay yet - but considering split stay at 3 places over 8 nights. Am I nuts?

2 (or 3) WL - we love it there. Did 3 nights at the end of our last trip there and wished we had done 4. Our kids LOVED the pool.

Yacht Club - 2 or 3 nights. We stayed there 5 nights at the beginning of our stay last time - adults loved it and its proximity to Epcot and HS - and for me, very relaxing! Kids preferred the poll at WL (more manageable for them, I think).

Poly - 2 or 3 nights. Would like to do at least 3 here because this would be our first time staying there. Love the idea of fireworks from the beach.

Probably looking at Friday - Saturday or Saturday - Sunday in late July.

Had been thinking 2 WL, 3 YC, 3 Poly (for me, the trip is as much if not more about relaxing at the resorts than the parks). But - 3 places over 8 nights might be asking for trouble Thought I'd post here for opinions

Kids will be 9 and 6. This will be our last trip to Disney for a while (I hope - said that last year too ).

Rates are very good at all 3 places. (Approx. $200, $270 and $250).

 

[bumbershoot]

I did see that someone did post about split staying at WDW with a trip to "The Darkside" (<- Universal) in the middle, but my question was about luggage. We're a group of 3 & wanted to know when we checkout of WDW early morning & head to UO, can we leave some luggage to be sent to our 2nd WDW resort & just take 1 bag & have our 2nd resort hold it for a day until we check in the following evening? So say check out from BWV 7am on Sunday & send 2 bags to AKL then check-in at UO with 1 bag & get that early entry to HP, stay the night at Cabana Bay. Check out of Cabana Bay, then have 1 more early entry to HP on Monday and check-in at AKL later that evening to meet up with the rest of our luggage?

Or would we have to take all of our luggage with us to UO?

We've left bags at POR while going on a cruise for 3 nights. Then we came back, picked it up, and moved over to Universal.

 

[FoodieFriend]

We've left bags at POR while going on a cruise for 3 nights. Then we came back, picked it up, and moved over to Universal.

thank you SO much for that info!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Hello! I'm interested in a split stay in early 2017, first 3 nights at Ft. Wilderness cabins, then a couple days at Universal, and then return to finish Orlando time with three nights at POR. Am I correct in understanding that I have two choices:
1) Buy 6-day tickets with one of my two Disney reservations, and then be able to buy DDP for only three days, the length of the one stay I'm booking (as Disney will consider Ft. Wilderness and POR to be two distinct reservations), so we're on our own for one of the 3-day stays,
or
2) Buy 3-day tickets with each reservation, thus allowing me to buy DDP for each three-day period--but with a huge surcharge as two 3-day tix cost almost twice as much as one 6-day ticket?

Any thoughts on my plan are appreciated, including where to start, where to finish, etc. We are WDW newbies, but have done two split stays in Anaheim for DLR.

 

[dansdad]

Hello! I'm interested in a split stay in early 2017, first 3 nights at Ft. Wilderness cabins, then a couple days at Universal, and then return to finish Orlando time with three nights at POR. Am I correct in understanding that I have two choices:
1) Buy 6-day tickets with one of my two Disney reservations, and then be able to buy DDP for only three days, the length of the one stay I'm booking (as Disney will consider Ft. Wilderness and POR to be two distinct reservations), so we're on our own for one of the 3-day stays,
or
2) Buy 3-day tickets with each reservation, thus allowing me to buy DDP for each three-day period--but with a huge surcharge as two 3-day tix cost almost twice as much as one 6-day ticket?

Any thoughts on my plan are appreciated, including where to start, where to finish, etc. We are WDW newbies, but have done two split stays in Anaheim for DLR.

1. Correct

2. Correct

I would go with option #1 the way you have stated above, or option #1 without the DDP altogether. It's been our experience that we save some pretty good $$ by paying out of pocket for our meals.

 

[Mammieof4]

We have booked a split stay for May 29-June 7,2016 and my head is spinning! We are checking in to Poly late on the 29th with MMW with DDP and 5 day tix with water park option. We check out on June 3 for a 3 day cruise on the Dream (managed to book both Royal suites plus the 1 BR suite in between!!) then Disney bus back on the 6th for one night RO at the Beach Club. I am wondering if anyone has tips on dealing with luggage? Also, wondering if I will be able to book FP for the last day when the 60 day window opens. We are planning to use our last ticket at Epcot and my little ones are adamant about including Frozen Ever After. Did I mention that I am bringing 14 guests? Trying to avoid chaos here!

 

[Lehuaann]

Bumping this up for the split-stay Qs...

 

[Melanie415]

So, I read this thread and I just want to clarify a 180 + 10 ADR reservation question.

Part 1 of our stay is Sunday, October16th thru Sunday, October 23rd. Can I make a Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and Cinderella's Royal Table reservation for Sunday, our checkout day (which also happens to be our check in day)? Is it possible to book online or with a phone call, giving the CM our part1 reservation number?

Part 2 of our stay is Sunday, October 23rd thru Friday, October 28th.

If I can't make the reservation 180 days from my Part 1 check in day and I have to wait 180 days from my Part 2 check in day, do you recommend changing our BBB/CRT day to Thursday 10/20? From what I understand, BBB/CRT are hard reservations to get and should be made toward the end of your booking window.

 

[RNJoey]

We are considering splitting our stay in September. Right now booked for six nights at Poly, but my sons really want to check out AKL too. Thinking three and three to experience both, but we would start at Poly then move, and I worry we will feel cramped in the smaller room at AKl after being in the larger Poly room. I think the Savannah view will make up for it, though!

 

[mommy2twinprincesses]

We are doing a split stay for our upcoming trip.
Here is the breakdown:
1. BC pool/lagoon view, 2 nights, dining, 8dPH/WPF&M tix
2. AKL savanna view, 3 nights, dining
3. GF theme park view, 2 nights, dining

I am concerned about QS and snack credits. I know they expire at midnight on check out day but my concern is the overlap days. Will it automatically make sure I use my remaining credits on reservation number 1 that are set to expire that night BEFORE it begins to use credits from reservation 2?

I hope I am being clear in my explanation. If not, here is my feared scenario...
It's day 3, we check out of BC (we have already done online check in for AKL). We have 3 snacks and 4QS left for BC but our AKL credits are now also available. Will it deduct the credits from the NEW package before using the ones from the OLD package?

 

[Amanda999]

Hello Split-Stayers! We are usually a stay in one place couple, but for our 10th wedding anniversary I'm thinking it would be nice to move our last night to GF from AKL. The GF main building is on my bucket list (I've only stayed in the outer building) and our dinner plans for that evening will be at V&A. I'm thinking we'd bring our luggage over by taxi after checkout at AKL, and then either spend the day at the pool or fishing on bay lake.

Does this sound like a solid plan? I'm not sure how bad it would be to do a switcheroo and I'd like to do something special, but I don't want to make the day annoying. TIA for help!

I'd do AKL first, as the GF is so beautiful and its so, so easy to get to MK (and not bad to change monorail to get to Epcot). I think going from that to AKL you'll miss that convenience and grandeur of GF. (I do like AKL - I just think for split stays its best to do the best hotel last.)

 

[dec301]

We are driving in and doing one night at POFQ and then 2 nights at WL. We want to take the bus to a park early that first morning and let bell services take our luggage to WL. Will POFQ allow us to leave our car parked there until we are able to move it to WL later in the day?

 

[Lehuaann]

We are driving in and doing one night at POFQ and then 2 nights at WL. We want to take the bus to a park early that first morning and let bell services take our luggage to WL. Will POFQ allow us to leave our car parked there until we are able to move it to WL later in the day?

Absolutely. You are allowed to use resort amenities until midnight on the day of checkout.