Changing resorts in the middle of the week

[suzannedid]

Our family is interested in chan ging resorts in the middle of the week.

We would like to go to AK for 3 days then move over to WL the last 4 days.

Has anyone done this?

Is there an extra cost?
What about meal tickets and park tickets , will these be a problem since the tickets are put on your room key?

What are the advantages an disadvantages of changing resorts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[julsmom]

I haven't done it but my sister did with her family. The only trick was that they flew in (no car) so they had to take all their bags onto the buses! She hated that and said it was so embarassing because all the people on the bus were headed to downtown disney and were looking at them funny for having thier luggage. Other than that, I bet their will not be a ticket problem. Disney seems pretty flexible. Just talk to your resort or call ahead of time and work it out. It is always worth asking. I would go for it if you have a car.

 

[Lora]

If you are moving from a Disney resort to another Disney resort, you do not need to move your own luggage. Disney will do that for you. If you have a car, doing it yourself may be better if you need your luggage right away. I would just check out, take a bus to the MK, take a boat to WL (or your car straight to the resort), and then check-in. Just check about what happens with the keys when you get there. I've never used a dining plan or put my tickets on my room key, so I don't know how that works. I'm sure they do those changes all of the time, though. There will be some time lost and you will be without a room for a few hours. There should be no extra expense (ok - you should tip the cm's who handle your luggage) .

 

[Desnik]

OMG, julsmom, I feel so bad that no one told your sis that the resorts move your luggage for you!!!!

We have switched resorts a few times and love it! It's like 2 vacations in one! There is no extra costs. It's kind of like booking 2 vacations. You would book your AK portion, then the day you switch you would check out of AK, then check into WL. The resort will move your luggage for you but they won't deliver it to your room until between 3-4pm. Sometimes your room is ready at check in, we've been lucky and almost always got into our room right away. However, I would pack a small bag with some toiletries and must haves until your luggage arrives. Otherwise, just go to a park until your room is ready.
As far as tickets and such, we always buy our own AP's, so no packages for us. We are DVC'ers. I'm sure you can just call Disney and ask how they would work that out. This topic has been discussed alot in the past over on the resorts board. You might want to post your questions there as well to get more responses.

Good luck, BTW, the WL is so beautiful, we had a great time there.

 

[rosiebean]

I can't help you with tickets and such, be we changed hotels during the busiest time of year (Christmas '05), and it was a breeze! They move your luggage for you. We had our luggage taken by bell services, checked out of hotel #1, stopped by hotel #2 to "check in" because it was next to the park we were going to (and actually got a room that early!), went to our park, came back for a bit to rest in the late afternoon, had luggage bought up while we were lounging around, went back to the park after resting...it was very easy, and bell services was quick at both hotels.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

It is SO EASY to move from one Disney resort to another. They do it for you! However, if you have a meal plan, those have to go under two separate ressies. Here's an example:

You stay at AKL for 3 days, 2 nights. Let's use Sun-Tues as an example. So you get your dining plan credits on Sunday and you have until Tuesday MIDNIGHT to use them.

On Tuesday, you are checking into WL for 4 days, 3 nights. So you get your dining plan credits on Tuesday and you have until Friday MIDNIGHT to use them.

Basically, you have to use each resorts Dining Plan allotment and you can't carry meals over from the first ressie into the 2nd ressie, or vice versa.

If you plan ADRs and eat a Table Service and Counter Service every day, it will work out FINE for you.

 

[jayhjay]

One other thing to note re: the dining plan is package purchases. You need to get a ticket for each leg of your trip if you want to be on the DDP. Here is an example:

If you are in one resort for 7 days, you can buy a 7-day ticket with DDP. If you stay a 3/4 split, you need to buy at least one park ticket for the first leg, and then at least 1 for the second leg to get the dining package the whole trip. So from a cost efficiency perspective, you lose the savings that come with a longer ticket.

We debated this and ultimately decided that with the DDP it wasn't worth it. Having to stop and start the plan and having to buy two sets of tickets was too much of a hassle. We also considered DDP for just one leg of the trip, but ultimately chose to stay put. JJ