Booking a split stay

[bentopher]

Since I can't decide on the 2 hotels I want to stay at, I'm considering a split stay. Is this something I can book myself or do I need to call so it gets all worked out with the Park Hoppers and meal plan?

Is there a link on here with info?


Thanks in advance

 

[MMS1125]

If you are doing the dining plan it doesn't really make sense to do a split stay unless you only want dining for a portion of your trip. You have to have at least a 1 day ticket for each stay for dining (2 days for free dining) so that's just extra expense you wouldn't necessarily need. You could do dining first then room only 2nd and use your dining credits up til midnight on your first checkout date then pay for food OOP for your second portion of the trip.

Do you have a budget in mind? That would really make a difference in where you stay. I'd do either a mod first/deluxe second if my budget allowed

 

[bentopher]

Hmmm thats a good point. I never considered that.
I did a bunch more searching last night and read up on it.

I really want to stay at CBR, but I think value is more for my pocket book (single mom 2 boys). So then I thought that maybe I would split the stay so we could spend 3 nights at each resort.

I've just never actually "bought" food, so I don't know if it makes sense for me not to use the dining plan for half. I haven't sat down to compare $$ from the meal plan to actual dollars spent.

At least we'd be able to do some character meals and such in the first 3 days if I went this way. Hmmm... How do people make these decisions! lol it's hard!

 

[minnie mum]

As the PP noted, the dining plan really complicates things if you are thinking of a split stay. The only way to know if one of the dining plans will work for you is to sit down with a calculator. Find out how much a dining plan will cost your family for your stay. Then sit down with something like the allears.net menus and figure out how much you would be likely to spend if paying OOP for the meals you would likely have. Compare and contrast. It's work, but it's really the only way to know if a dining plan will work for your family and the way you prefer to dine.

If you decide to do the DDP, then the PP has given you the least expensive option- Attach the DDP to the first part of your stay as well as tickets for the full duration. Then do a room only reservation for your second stay and pay OOP for your meals. If you're lucky, you may be able to get a room only discount for your second resort.

Since this would require a bit of finessing- dovetailing a vacation package with a room only reservation, I'd consider making these reservations by phone if you haven't done it before.

 

[Mr. Pig]

We do split stays most of the time. The biggest thing to remember is that Disney considers them as two different stays.

We have never done the dining plan on both stays. Our usual plan is to get the dining plan on the first half. You will be able to use the credits until midnight of your check out day. This is helpful if you arrive later on the first day and only use one credit. You can have all day the last day to use up the rest since you are not leaving for home.

We will get tickets for the total number of days we will go to the parks with the first resort. Then the second we do room only with no park tickets. We find we get a lot to eat with the dining plan the first half so we just dial down our eating the second half. As PP suggests, take a look at menus and think about how you would eat if you weren't on the dining plan and compare.

We have had luck with getting pin codes so we have been able to get free dining the first half and then a room discount the second half (so we have been able to stay at deluxe the second half at a good savings).

 

[bentopher]

I definitely going to sit down with a calculator and see how it works out food wise. When I went in May (2012), it was just me and my 2 kids (5 and 4 then). I had the 1 table service, 1 quick service option, dining plan. We were really only there 4 days (flew home really early the 5th morning).. so had 5 days of credits for 4 days. It was MORE than enough food. Often I shared my meal with the oldest as it was. And if we do some fun character meals at the beginning, we can save and just eat simple at the end. The boys eat simple as it is. I wonder if this might be cheaper in the longer run? I just like how EASY the dining plan is and not having to worry about paying for food and cash and such.

Off i go...

 

[MMS1125]

with the ages of your kids you will probably be cheaper with a room discount if saying at a mod or higher and paying OOP for food especially if they nibble and share a kid's meal or off your plate. Obviously if you are planning buffets or family style meals then the DDP would probably work out better since they are a set price per person.