AKL & Poly - Split Stay?

[Disney8704]

Has anyone ever done AKL & Poly split stay before? I finally was able to talk DH into doing a split stay Aug 2008 cuz I just cant seem to stick with 1 resort and really wanna do both. So, I still havent fully made up my mind yet and prob wont until the last min. We would be doing AKL - Savannah from Aug 1 - 6 and then the Poly - Garden from Aug 6 - 12. We've never done split stays before so I do have a few ?s

- What is the earliest and latest time Disney will transfer your bags from one resort to the other?

- Tickets - Will the tickets just be on the AKL room key and when we checkin, will those tickets transfer to the Poly key or will it just stay on the AKL room key?

- Has Disney ever lost any luggage during transfer from one resort to another?

Is it safe to leave a laptop with Disney in a laptop case with the other luggage? Maybe somehow put the laptop in one of the bags for extra security? We will prob end up buying those plastic locking tags.

- I will be booking both through AAA - one with package (AKL), the other room only (Poly) - will I need a 2nd deposit for the Poly reservation of $200?

- What have you liked and hated about split stays?

Any other info you can give me will be great. Just to let u know it is just me and DH and we will be arriving at the AKL and leaving the Poly in a limo. We decided to splurge on a limo for this one time instead of doing ME.

 

[Disney8704]

Anyone?

 

[bigmoonmullen]

Hi:

We've done a split stay in the past and liked it so much that we will be doing another this Nov/Dec.

Our first split was POP/BC. This one will be AKL/WL.

What we did was take a cab from POP to BC... I believe the cost was less than $20.00 including tip. This allowed us to keep control over our luggage thus eliminating the chance of losing any. We checked out early... before 7:30AM... got the cab.... we were able to check in by 8:00AM before it got busy... Now we were lucky since our room was ready BUT if it had not been they would have stored out luggage and we would have headed to the park anyway.

A split stay allows you to see two different resorts and it can be like two-mini vacations wrapped into one.

As for deposit requirements... I do not recall the first time but this time we did add two days to the beginning of our trip (AKL) at it required a separate deposit sinice it was a second reservation.

Have a Great Trip,

Mark

 

[SleepyKeith]

We did a Poly / AKL split stay in October last year. I think we did 11 days at the Poly and the last 3 days in AKL. We didn't have Disney move our stuff my DW wanted us to do it ourselves. We checked out of the Poly at around 11am, went to DTD for lunch and some shopping and checked into AKL at around 3pm I believe. As for the tickets, you will get them on the first room key and then they will transfer the remainder to your new room key when you check in (Make sure you remind them about this). This was the third split stay we have done (POR/GF and BWV/VWL being the others) and we love them, it's almost like 2 vacations in one.

 

[bunnyfoo]

We've done an AKL/Poly split stay before and we're doing the same thing on our upcoming trip

On the day we checked out from AKL, we left our luggage with Bell Services and told them that we were going to be continuing our stay at the Poly. We left the resort at about 10 AM headed to the parks for a couple of hours and got to the Poly at about 3 PM to check in. Our bags were waiting for us when we arrived. If you're going to have Disney move your bags, make sure you take anything you think you'll need to use during the day because you won't have access to your bags for several hours.

I'm not sure what will happen with your tickets, we've always used an annual pass. And yes you will need two deposits because there are two reservations.

 

[WendyisDarling]

Referencing your other thread --yea! I'm glad you are doing the split stay, I think you are going to love it.
My ressies were weird. Originally, the whole trip was Poly through AAA. Room, DP, tickets. When we learned Free Dining would happen during our trip, I scaled back the Poly AAA part and reserved AKL on my own. So, in our case we did have to pay two deposits.
As far as tickets go, due to DP rules, we had to purchase tickets at each. This was a total 9 day, 8 night trip. For the Poly ressie, I bought 8 day PH tix (even though we only stayed there 4 nights). At AKL I bought 1 day base tix (I knew one day we would not need hopping). That squared us with all the DP regs. for the whole stay. The room cards did get a little confusing, but not that big of a deal. We just had to remember to use the card from the Poly for admission to parks while we were at AKL (except the one day we used the base tix) and use the AKL card for our DP and purchases charged to our room. It really wasn't that difficult. (Also had to remember that we could use remaining DP credits from Poly only until midnight on our first day at AKL).
We let Disney transfer our luggage from Poly to AKL. We did take a cab to AKL. We really didn't want to have the laptop and a few other valuable items transferred and we have two kids. The fare was a bit over $20 plus a tip. We could have easily used Disney transportation to get to AKL, though. Our room at AKL was ready when we arrived and we went out to the parks. Luggage was waiting in our room when we returned. I don't know the times for transfering luggage, but I'm sure it is reasonable.

Loved the split stay. As I wrote in your other thread, it was like two vacations in one. The worst part was juggling keys, which as you can read above was only a slight inconvenience.

 

[marlower]

We will be doing a split stay Akl/Poly this August. I'm excited to be able to see two different resorts on one trip. We will stay 4 nights in each resort. I was told that when transferring from AKL to Poly on the morning we check out all we have to do is call downstairs and they will come up get our luggage and transfer, no need to bring them down yourself. We plan on checking out and will be at MGM until closing, I have already contacted Poly to let them know we will have a late arrival and they will put our luggage in our room for us.

Yes, you will need to pay two separate deposits.

My only real concern is repacking after being at the AKL, so I am bringing an empty suitcase for all our dirty laundry.

I'm really looking forward to our split stay, don't think there will be any negatives.

I wonder about the KTTW card as well, guess I will find out when I get there. We already have unused tickets from our last trip so not sure how the charges etc will take place on the card. I am assuming I will get a new card for each stay.

 

[trixie1822]

We did a AKL/Poly split stay in 2005 and love it. Comming from Europe, the split allow us to see more of the Disney magic in one trip. We very enjoy it... And no worries, CM take care of all and we never had a problem... We go in the morning to a park after check-out, and after the park, we check-in.

We went to poly by boat after a day in MK, and the arrival is AMAZING !

Try it !

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We did a split stay between AKL and Polynesian once, doing Polynesian lst. We have dh take a cab with the luggage. Our one ds has asthma and there is no way we want to lose his nebulizer machine. Yes they did lose our luggage once. After 6 hours of no luggage at the Yacht Club, they finally figured out our luggage was still at the Polynesian. Never again. Our ds hated the AKL and the whole time the one kept saying I want to go back to the Polynesian. Since there were 2 other ds we stuck it out but they didnt like it all so much either, go figure.

 

[Disney8704]

Another question I have is - Is it safe to leave a laptop with Disney in a laptop case with the other luggage? Maybe somehow put the laptop in one of the bags for extra security? We will prob end up buying those plastic locking tags. You can never be to careful.

 

[rosiebean]

When we did a split stay between Poly/BCV back in Christmas '05, I put my laptop in my backpack and was prepared to take it with us for the morning. I'm just paranoid about it as it's a work one, not a personal laptop. After bell services took our luggage, we checked out of the Poly and took the monorail to Epcot, and decided to check into the BCV as we had a bit of time to spare before meeting our group. Our room was ready when we arrived (about 10:30 in the morning), so I was able to put the laptop in the room safe and not have to lug it with me. If you are going at a time of year when the resort will not be filled to capacity, you might want to check out of one resort and go directly to your new one to check in. You might get lucky, like I did, and have the room ready so you can leave the laptop there. Or maybe you can put it in the resort safe at the front desk if the room is not ready...would they let you do that, anyone?

 

[Disney8704]

We would be checking into the Poly on Aug 6th. Its on a wednesday. The resorts are filled during the summer season, however I dunno how many people travel during the weekdays. Most people arrive and leave during the weekend.

When we did a split stay between Poly/BCV back in Christmas '05, I put my laptop in my backpack and was prepared to take it with us for the morning. I'm just paranoid about it as it's a work one, not a personal laptop. After bell services took our luggage, we checked out of the Poly and took the monorail to Epcot, and decided to check into the BCV as we had a bit of time to spare before meeting our group. Our room was ready when we arrived (about 10:30 in the morning), so I was able to put the laptop in the room safe and not have to lug it with me. If you are going at a time of year when the resort will not be filled to capacity, you might want to check out of one resort and go directly to your new one to check in. You might get lucky, like I did, and have the room ready so you can leave the laptop there. Or maybe you can put it in the resort safe at the front desk if the room is not ready...would they let you do that, anyone?

 

[MissionMouse]

We have done the PR & AKL spilt stay. We also had a rental car so we did not need to worry about our luggage or when we checked into the AKL. I would note checking into the AKL was a breeze when we did early in the morning. We just checked in periodically to inquire if our room was ready.
Your package will require at least three days of park tickets since this is what packages require. You will also have to pay this portion off 45 days prior to your trip.
Tickets do not transfer from one resort key to another. Also if you are doing the DDP at the AKL portion...all the tickets will expire at 12 midnight the day you check out of the AKL.
The room only reservation will require a deposit of one night in advance, but it will not be required to be paid off until you check-in.
ADR are done at 180 days, but Disney considers each stay a separate stay, so you will have two 180 day milestones.

 

[MissionMouse]

DIS server was unable to post my response in one post, so here is the remainder of my post:

Is it safe to leave a laptop in your room...you know there is a risk, so it is not safe. Room doors are left open during the time their cleaned and the staff are not immune from theft. People leave the laptop at their own risk and you should plan accordingly to the risk and liability you want to assume. Plastic locking tags are nothing for an individual who makes their living by stealing from tourist.

We travel light and do not unpack all of our belongings into cabinets and dressers, so we find it only a little involved to bring everything back to the luggage...mainly due to kids "stuff." We enjoy the spark of freshness a spilt stay brings, since it eliminates a routine when staying at a resort for an extended period of time beyond 7 days. I would not recommend a spilt stay of less than 3-4 days at each resort.

 

[Disney8704]

Tickets - no worries there, we're getting 10 day park hoppers

Already knew about the pay off date

And also already knew about the ADRs BUT however I have read a few times on here that during split stays you can still make all your ADRs 180 days out regardless if your doing 1 or 2 resorts. So can anyone clarify this? Or do I need to call Disney dining?

We have done the PR & AKL spilt stay. We also had a rental car so we did not need to worry about our luggage or when we checked into the AKL. I would note checking into the AKL was a breeze when we did early in the morning. We just checked in periodically to inquire if our room was ready.
Your package will require at least three days of park tickets since this is what packages require. You will also have to pay this portion off 45 days prior to your trip.
Tickets do not transfer from one resort key to another. Also if you are doing the DDP at the AKL portion...all the tickets will expire at 12 midnight the day you check out of the AKL.
The room only reservation will require a deposit of one night in advance, but it will not be required to be paid off until you check-in.
ADR are done at 180 days, but Disney considers each stay a separate stay, so you will have two 180 day milestones.

 

[Disney8704]

We will be staying at the AKL for 5 nights / 6 days and the Poly for 6 nights / 7 days. We are bascially going for 11 nights / 12 days. So at each resort, we're staying almost a whole week.

DIS server was unable to post my response in one post, so here is the remainder of my post:

Is it safe to leave a laptop in your room...you know there is a risk, so it is not safe. Room doors are left open during the time their cleaned and the staff are not immune from theft. People leave the laptop at their own risk and you should plan accordingly to the risk and liability you want to assume. Plastic locking tags are nothing for an individual who makes their living by stealing from tourist.

We travel light and do not unpack all of our belongings into cabinets and dressers, so we find it only a little involved to bring everything back to the luggage...mainly due to kids "stuff." We enjoy the spark of freshness a spilt stay brings, since it eliminates a routine when staying at a resort for an extended period of time beyond 7 days. I would not recommend a spilt stay of less than 3-4 days at each resort.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Another question I have is - Is it safe to leave a laptop with Disney in a laptop case with the other luggage? Maybe somehow put the laptop in one of the bags for extra security? We will prob end up buying those plastic locking tags. You can never be to careful.

I was reading on another thread that you can give your laptop over to bell services and they'll store it in a cage that locks. I haven't tried it myself so I don't know all the particulars.

 

[MissionMouse]

... I have read a few times on here that during split stays you can still make all your ADRs 180 days out regardless if your doing 1 or 2 resorts. So can anyone clarify this? Or do I need to call Disney dining?

We turned in our ADR request to our IPO, shortly thereafter they communicated to us our ADRs were completed for our first resort. Checking the ADR calculator we knew they were made in advance of the 180 mark. As we read through it also stated they would complete our outstanding ADR once our second resort 180 window arrived. We waited a few days and another e-mail arrived with all of our ADRs completed. The final group of ADRs were completed on our first resort 180 day mark...sounds a little strange...don't you think? Maybe they caught their error and just waited for our 180 mark.

Our previous spilt stay was right before ABC/Disney information system were impacted by a worm that brought a lot of Disney system down. We turned our ADRs in a day before the 180 day mark but the IPO told us we turned them in a few days after the 180 day mark. The 180 day calculator most of us on this site stated otherwise.

Consistency appears to be an issue.