Anyone done a 3-resort split stay?

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

My family LOVES split stays, and we've split our last several trips over 2 resorts. There are four of us, including 2 kids (who I pack for), and I've come up with a general system for those 2-resort split stays.

However, our upcoming trip involves 3 Disney resorts over 11 nights, in a 1-night / 4-night / 6-night split (I know it sounds like a lot but we do one big vacation annually and we try to make the most of those flight costs by booking longer stays).

It's a lot to organize, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a scenario like this. I just want to make sure it all goes as smoothly as possible. Thanks!

 

[mort1331]

My family LOVES split stays, and we've split our last several trips over 2 resorts. There are four of us, including 2 kids (who I pack for), and I've come up with a general system for those 2-resort split stays.

However, our upcoming trip involves 3 Disney resorts over 11 nights, in a 1-night / 4-night / 6-night split (I know it sounds like a lot but we do one big vacation annually and we try to make the most of those flight costs by booking longer stays).

It's a lot to organize, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a scenario like this. I just want to make sure it all goes as smoothly as possible. Thanks!

Yes we have. But really looks like a 2 split and the 1st night is just that. Real vaca starts on the 4 night. So for the 1 night,, I would not unpack all things. Then the 2nd you could unpack some and then relax the final. We do this alot with staying at a MK resort and then moving to an Epcot resort so always walking to one of the parks,,,AK is the exception.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Yes we have. But really looks like a 2 split and the 1st night is just that. Real vaca starts on the 4 night. So for the 1 night,, I would not unpack all things. Then the 2nd you could unpack some and then relax the final. We do this alot with staying at a MK resort and then moving to an Epcot resort so always walking to one of the parks,,,AK is the exception.

This is what I was thinking. First night is basically just arrival night - we'll be getting in on the late end, just in time for dinner etc. The following day we're planning to enjoy the pool and the resort (AKL) in the morning before the park and hotel transfer. So I think I need to plan for bathing suits and changing before we hit the park. Considering putting the Day 1/2 needs into carry on backpacks so we don't even have to open the luggage on night 1.

I usually like to organize so we don't have to have all the suitcases open and available on each leg - I like to just put all dirty clothes in one suitcase and then stash it away on the second leg.

 

[intamin]

Yep it’s very easy to just take things to bell services and transfer your things. We did a 3 resort, 4 room split. Did AKV value studio, then AKV club studio, then 3 nights in a Beach Club studio and 3 in a BW view BWV studio. Just don’t bother unpacking the first night, the rest should go pretty smoothly.

 

[Genie+]

I’d prefer to merge the 1 night with the 4 night.

Though I’d rather keep that over splitting the 4 nights shorter (1+4 seems better to me than 2+3 or 3+2). 4 nights gives you enough time to truly experience a resort.

What resorts are you staying?

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I’d prefer to merge the 1 night with the 4 night.

Though I’d rather keep that over splitting the 4 nights shorter (1+4 seems better to me than 2+3 or 3+2). 4 nights gives you enough time to truly experience a resort.

What resorts are you staying?

I would rather have had the 1 night combined with the 4 nights, but the 1 night was booked as an add-on after the fact due to flights.

We're doing AKL, Beach Club, and Poly. We planned the 4/6 split intentionally to have some time at an MK area resort and some time at an EPCOT area resort, and I don't like to make the legs so short that we don't feel settled anywhere.

Then we decided to fly in a day early, and chose AKL for that night basically for the food - I love the restaurants at AKL but we usually don't make it over there since it's kind of out of the way. It's short but I'm looking forward to it - I've always wanted to stay there but it never seems to make sense for us for a full vacation just bc of the location... so one night feels perfect.

 

[Mle8308]

I would rather have had the 1 night combined with the 4 nights, but the 1 night was booked as an add-on after the fact due to flights.

We're doing AKL, Beach Club, and Poly. We planned the 4/6 split intentionally to have some time at an MK area resort and some time at an EPCOT area resort, and I don't like to make the legs so short that we don't feel settled anywhere.

Then we decided to fly in a day early, and chose AKL for that night basically for the food - I love the restaurants at AKL but we usually don't make it over there since it's kind of out of the way. It's short but I'm looking forward to it - I've always wanted to stay there but it never seems to make sense for us for a full vacation just bc of the location... so one night feels perfect.

Depending on how late you are arriving, I wouldn't spend the money on AKL for one night. Do a value and then use the money saved for a nice dinner later on during your trip at AKL and a Minnie van (if no car). Or even a rideshare, since there are no issues with Uber/Lyft drop off at AKL.

 

[Babsy]

WE have done split stays, including three way splits many, many times over the years. But what you have is really a two way split with an extra overnight at the beginning. Have what you need for tat night in your carryon so that you don't even need to open the main suitcases. Arrive, have a nice dinner at Boma or Jiko, watch the animals at some point, have breakfast and on to the start of your real vacation at the beach club. It is actually the three way split that we most often chose, years ago, only we did it in reverse order: poly the BC, then AKL!

Have fun! eat a zebra dome for me!

 

[eticketplease]

This is what I was thinking. First night is basically just arrival night - we'll be getting in on the late end, just in time for dinner etc. The following day we're planning to enjoy the pool and the resort (AKL) in the morning before the park and hotel transfer. So I think I need to plan for bathing suits and changing before we hit the park. Considering putting the Day 1/2 needs into carry on backpacks so we don't even have to open the luggage on night 1.

I usually like to organize so we don't have to have all the suitcases open and available on each leg - I like to just put all dirty clothes in one suitcase and then stash it away on the second leg.

Is this trip this year or next?

I'm with @Mle8308 as we always fly in after school lets out on Friday and use a FNC to stay off site for that night.
We would drop off our bags at our DVC resort and head to the park in the morning (Of the free waterpark for next year).
I would rather do the water park then the AKL Pool myself however you only have 1 day there so I can see staying there and enjoying it.

We use packing cubes and label everything. We try to put everything in one suitcase for the first night/morning but sometimes we struggle with packing cube tetris and have to use two.
Even if we are doing a split stay we still take everything out and put it away in our closet/drawers but the first night is key for us.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Is this trip this year or next?

I'm with @Mle8308 as we always fly in after school lets out on Friday and use a FNC to stay off site for that night.
We would drop off our bags at our DVC resort and head to the park in the morning (Of the free waterpark for next year).
I would rather do the water park then the AKL Pool myself however you only have 1 day there so I can see staying there and enjoying it.

We use packing cubes and label everything. We try to put everything in one suitcase for the first night/morning but sometimes we struggle with packing cube tetris and have to use two.
Even if we are doing a split stay we still take everything out and put it away in our closet/drawers but the first night is key for us.

It's a 2025 trip. As far as staying somewhere less expensive for the one-nighter, I was initially going to go with POP or something. But I've always wanted to stay at AKL, except that it's kind of inconveniently located and I don't see us ever booking a full stay there. So this seemed like a good opportunity just to check it out. We'll get in in time for dinner, eat at Sanaa or Boma probably, then check out the savannah and probably the pool the next day.

We have two more check-in days throughout the trip, so we'll choose one of those for the water park.

I have used packing cubes before and I think I need to go back to that for this trip - I didn't use them last time and things got disorganized and confusing really quickly. I also usually pack my kids' clothes by outfit in gallon bags (which then get used for various things throughout our stay).

I'm thinking of using one of our smaller suitcases for all of the first night's necessities and toiletries so we don't have to even touch or open any other luggage that first night.

 

[eticketplease]

We have two more check-in days throughout the trip, so we'll choose one of those for the water park.

If you are going to stay at AKL end enjoy the resort for the majority of check out day which is totally fine but then you really only have one check-in day.
You listed AKL, Beach Club and Poly but not sure if that was the order you were going. Not sure when you are going next year but the main pool, Stormalong Bay at Beach Club will be closed for a good amount of time which is why I mentioned to go to the water park that day. Hopefully you will be going later in the summer and SAB will be back open and the water park won't matter as much.

Also not sure how you are getting to Disney. If you have a car it certainly makes things easier.
POP is like half price and that or somewhere off site if you have points/FNC is what I would do with a car.
With the car you would be able to drive and park for free while taking in the savanna and enjoying the bread service at Sanaa.
AKL's pools is not worth the price difference for 1 day.

I also usually pack my kids' clothes by outfit in gallon bags (which then get used for various things throughout our stay).

This is a good idea. We bring ziplocks with us but with this method you don't have to remember if you threw them in your suitcase or not.

 

[kdka421]

We're doing something very similar in a few days, I'll try to report back if anything goes especially good or bad with the transitions!

We're doing a 1 night/1 night/6 night/3 night, 4 hotel split! First night like you was added on due to flights, and the second night is a one night/two day club level splurge, before we get into our busy park days.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

If you are going to stay at AKL end enjoy the resort for the majority of check out day which is totally fine but then you really only have one check-in day.
You listed AKL, Beach Club and Poly but not sure if that was the order you were going. Not sure when you are going next year but the main pool, Stormalong Bay at Beach Club will be closed for a good amount of time which is why I mentioned to go to the water park that day. Hopefully you will be going later in the summer and SAB will be back open and the water park won't matter as much.

Also not sure how you are getting to Disney. If you have a car it certainly makes things easier.
POP is like half price and that or somewhere off site if you have points/FNC is what I would do with a car.
With the car you would be able to drive and park for free while taking in the savanna and enjoying the bread service at Sanaa.
AKL's pools is not worth the price difference for 1 day.


This is a good idea. We bring ziplocks with us but with this method you don't have to remember if you threw them in your suitcase or not.

Thanks for your thoughts! We will likely do water park on our check-in day at poly - it's about midway through the trip and will probably be a nice break from the parks.

We won't have a car, and we fly, so it's priority to stay at Disney resorts for the baggage transfer. Plus I'm pretty excited for the AKL stay, even though it's just a day - like you mentioned, I think we'll spend the majority of our check-out day there just exploring the resort, then pop over to animal kingdom to do nomad lounge for dinner before we move on.

Stormalong will be closed during our stay, which is why we made that the shorter part of the split stay. We really just chose it for proximity to epcot/hs and planning to just use the other pools instead.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

We're doing something very similar in a few days, I'll try to report back if anything goes especially good or bad with the transitions!

We're doing a 1 night/1 night/6 night/3 night, 4 hotel split! First night like you was added on due to flights, and the second night is a one night/two day club level splurge, before we get into our busy park days.

Yes please, keep me posted! I'd love to hear about how it all went. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[FSU Girl]

I almost did a 3 hotel stay this past week. I ended up finding the one night I needed to merge to make it just two resorts. I’m glad I was able to do that because we had two little kids and a lot of stuff. We like split stays but change over day was hectic and our second room wasn’t ready until after 4. We were in a park so it wasn’t a big deal. But it would have been annoying doing it twice. I would keep checking to see if you can move that single day into your second stay. I found the availability less than 30 days from my trip

 

[DizneyFamof4]

1 night is just not worth it for us. It would have to be a minimum of 3 nights, because we actually want to enjoy the resort and I do not think you can do that on 1-2 night stays. The only time we do 1 night is only if we cannot get a resort for the full length of our trip.

 

[Jodo98]

My family LOVES split stays, and we've split our last several trips over 2 resorts. There are four of us, including 2 kids (who I pack for), and I've come up with a general system for those 2-resort split stays.

However, our upcoming trip involves 3 Disney resorts over 11 nights, in a 1-night / 4-night / 6-night split (I know it sounds like a lot but we do one big vacation annually and we try to make the most of those flight costs by booking longer stays).

It's a lot to organize, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a scenario like this. I just want to make sure it all goes as smoothly as possible. Thanks!

The maximum I will do is 2. I feel so much moving around takes time away and you never feel relaxed having to pack and unpack so much.

 

[RanDIZ]

We always split stay 2 resorts. It’s just nice to experience 2 different atmospheres in 1 trip. Only once did we do a 3 split. It was 3+2+3. AKV+BCV+CCV. It was actually our favorite trip. We left AKV early am and dropped our luggage at BCV. Walked over to HS for rope drop until about noon when our room was ready. The following day was an EP day. So as far as convenience, it was a no brainer. Both parks were stones throw away. I would probably only recommend doing 3 if each was for 3 nights or more.

 

[DVCjj]

We always do split stays and enjoy them. Nowadays it seems (to me) more and more necessary as the DVC studios fill up insanely fast.

Since packing cubes are mentioned, I have a quick question. I used a packing cube long time ago once and felt it saved exactly no space. I know they weren't compression and the Zip lock bags seemed to work better. I keep reading about new packing cubes that compress. Has anyone used these and are they better than the old ones. If positive results, I'd be willing to try again.

We prefer not to check luggage so compression to some degree is actually more important than organization due to the fact our trips now are not with young children.

 

[CarolynFH]

We always do split stays and enjoy them. Nowadays it seems (to me) more and more necessary as the DVC studios fill up insanely fast.

Since packing cubes are mentioned, I have a quick question. I used a packing cube long time ago once and felt it saved exactly no space. I know they weren't compression and the Zip lock bags seemed to work better. I keep reading about new packing cubes that compress. Has anyone used these and are they better than the old ones. If positive results, I'd be willing to try again.

We prefer not to check luggage so compression to some degree is actually more important than organization due to the fact our trips now are not with young children.

We’ve used Eagle Creek compression cubes for a number of years, and I’ve found them very effective and useful. I use them for undies, sock, pajamas, t-shirts, etc. where wrinkles aren’t a problem.