Crazy to Consider 3-resort stay?

[mel2014]

We are looking to go for an 8-night stay from Saturday night to the following Sunday (trying to minimize missed school time). I was hoping to do a split stay through DVC rental -- 4 nights at Boardwalk, 4 nights at Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately only 3 of the nights I want are available at Boardwalk, though there is availability for three days after:
Do 1 night at Pop, 4 at Boardwalk, 3 at Animal Kingdom
Do 1 at Pop, 6 at Boardwalk and 1back at Pop
Do all 8 at Animal Kingdom
Do all 8 at Pop
Some other combo?

We are super-cheap so I'm either doing Value or DVC and I'm not really interested in the other inexpensive DVC resorts (Saratoga Springs, OKW).

This will be the first visit for our kids, second for my husband and third for me. Last time we stayed at.Animal Kingdom Lodge for a family reunion, first.time I went was as a kid and we stayed off site.

 

[siskaren]

Personally, I think 2 resort changes is too many for an eight night trip - especially if it means just one night at one of the resorts.

 

[Mousetopia]

We are looking to go for an 8-night stay from Saturday night to the following Sunday (trying to minimize missed school time). I was hoping to do a split stay through DVC rental -- 4 nights at Boardwalk, 4 nights at Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately only 3 of the nights I want are available at Boardwalk, though there is availability for three days after:
Do 1 night at Pop, 4 at Boardwalk, 3 at Animal Kingdom
Do 1 at Pop, 6 at Boardwalk and 1back at Pop
Do all 8 at Animal Kingdom
Do all 8 at Pop
Some other combo?

We are super-cheap so I'm either doing Value or DVC and I'm not really interested in the other inexpensive DVC resorts (Saratoga Springs, OKW).

This will be the first visit for our kids, second for my husband and third for me. Last time we stayed at.Animal Kingdom Lodge for a family reunion, first.time I went was as a kid and we stayed off site.

I love split stays but no matter how easy they make it transferring luggage for you it still eats up a lot of time packing, unpacking, etc. Way to much hassle! You did not say how far in advance you are. If there is time you might wait a bit and see if the Boardwalk points happen. I waited a month for the Poly and it became available. Either way if you want to return to AK do 3 Boardwalk and 5 AK Lodge or whatever you like!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

No to three. Too much time and kids do get attached to "home resort" usually.

For first time visit for kids, I would only do one resort (whatever you decide) and let them immerse themselves in the magic, get familiar with it, and remember it as a calm, home base trip full of Disney Magic, not added stress.

Enjoy their first visit and do not worry about what changes or what extra packing, planning, moving finding... I would just focus on my children the first visit, then when you return, explore other options.

 

[dkrauss]

My wife and I are just coming of 7 days at Animal Kingdom Villa's. We rented DVC points for a savanna view...saved roughly 55% off rack rate.....OMG! If you can do it..........just do AKV! We had giraffe's, zebra's, and an ostrich eating brunch outside our balcony.........we had the giraffe there in the evening too! Jambo House is magnificent.........and the CM's at this resort........the best.........they treated us so well............OMG. AKV all the way!

Doug

 

[cluvsdisney]

We have a 2 resort maximum with 3 night minimum if we are going to do a split stay. We've done more resorts and less days and we never really feel settled in. So, in your shoes I would do all AKV or all POP.

 

[plumsiren]

If we could do 5 hotels total across England and France in 12 days, you can do 3 Disney resorts! I say go for it!

 

[mel2014]

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. A few additional details I should have mentioned initially:
My kids are 6 and 8, so old enough to appreciate the pool water slides at the Deluxe resorts and big enough to help with packing. And we won't have any strollers to lug or store.
We are looking at the late April/early May time frame, so I doubt new availability is going to open up at this point. I was actually surprised Boardwalk had any availability.
Our last two big trips have been "on the go" -- 10 nights in Iceland with only one two-night stay and a 21-day Europen vacation where we stayed in 12 different places, so we're used to not spreading out in hotels.

 

[nursejackie]

Don't do it. We do two most years and even that is a pain. We never feel settled, and don't fully unpack as we know we just got to pack it all away again, and again, and again. Why not stay at one and visit/dine at the others you fancied. I know it's a compromise but it's better than the alternative IMHO

 

[loves to dive]

I'll be the different one and say go for it. I'd do the 1 night POP (arrival night I'm assuming) you don't even have to unpack and just pack your night stuff and next day stuff in a carry on if you are flying. 4 Nights at Boardwalk, you can hit Epcot and HS easy as pie and MK is actually pretty easy from there, either bus it of it you have PHs do half day at Epcot and 1/2 day at MK using Monorail for getting to MK then bussing back. 3 Nights at AKV, of course, this is going to be your AK day and then you can shoot back to MK. If you have already done AKL, I'm a big believer in trying out different resorts.

 

[raddisneyfan]

Much as I love Boardwalk, I would not hesitate to stay 8 nights at AKLV, but I would request Jambo House. I would not try to stay at 3 for 8 nights. Good luck with your planning!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. A few additional details I should have mentioned initially:
My kids are 6 and 8, so old enough to appreciate the pool water slides at the Deluxe resorts and big enough to help with packing. And we won't have any strollers to lug or store.
We are looking at the late April/early May time frame, so I doubt new availability is going to open up at this point. I was actually surprised Boardwalk had any availability.
Our last two big trips have been "on the go" -- 10 nights in Iceland with only one two-night stay and a 21-day Europen vacation where we stayed in 12 different places, so we're used to not spreading out in hotels.

If you are moving around to different cities, countries, etc, it's obvious that you have to change hotels. But if you are staying in one place, it's so much easier to stay put. Especially if you plan to spend time at the pool, take afternoon naps, etc. If you have to have two different hotels, do the shorter stay at the beginning.

 

[megs1313]

I think AKL is so special and wonderful that I see no reason not to do that as your only choice. JMO!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would stay in one place rather than do 3 resorts. AKL looks like a lovely place to stay.

We did a split stay between Poly and BC last year. It was easy and worth it to try. I would do it again. There were a few things that I was okay dealing with one day but not twice in one vacation. We usually do a midday break around 1 but pushed it back because of the possibility that our room wouldn't be ready yet which it wasn't. Our luggage didn't get in until 4ish (which we also knew was a possibility) so I would do Uber in the future.

 

[LisaDKG]

We did 3 easily during our last trip but we have gone many, many times and look at changing resorts as a way to experience things we haven't tried yet (pools, restaurants, transportation options). Driving ourselves and our luggage, rather than waiting on buses and Guest Services makes this a lot more seamless.
BUT If it is your kids' first time, you may want to spend your time enjoying the attractions in the parks as much as possible. That would mean not having as much time for experiencing what the different resorts offer and would decrease the value in paying more for the deluxe resorts.
That being said, with the constraints in the availability that you mention, if you can swing the $ and can move amongst the resorts easily, I would do the 1 night at Pop with 4 at the other 2 deluxes.

 

[bumbershoot]

Do 1 night at Pop, 4 at Boardwalk, 3 at Animal Kingdom

Is that first night going to be after a day at the parks? Or are you just getting in that evening and your first day is actually after the first night?

If there's no park that day, I'd just stay anywhere, not get settled at all, and move on the next day early.

We've done a 4 resort stay before. Our first WDW trip we had a night at CBR, moved to a 2 bedroom OKW with extended family, then they left after the weekend and we moved to a 1 bedroom, then up to Universal for 3 nights, then back to WDW for AKV Jambo for a couple nights. No biggie IMO.

I'm not really interested in the other inexpensive DVC resorts (Saratoga Springs, OKW).

If you haven't, you might consider looking at the threads all about those resorts. They are very nice, actually. I adore the Paddock section of SSR and Turtle Pond at OKW. My least fave of the resorts so far is AK, both Jambo and Kidani. They seem to keep the lousiest CMs there who don't know how to properly respond to issues.

Our last two big trips have been "on the go" -- 10 nights in Iceland with only one two-night stay and a 21-day Europen vacation where we stayed in 12 different places, so we're used to not spreading out in hotels.

So you're obviously suited to this.


I would do longer at Boardwalk than at AKL (please see above dislike for AK). I'd do the Pop, BW, Pop combo of all you have listed, personally. The nice parts of AKL IMO are the public areas, and anyone can go to those areas.

 

[Megara5115]

We did three in one trip (POFQ 2 nights-->AKL 2 nights -->SSR 5 nights) and it was fine. We had our own vehicle so we just moved our own luggage and that made it really easy. I would personally not do less than two nights at each resort. We enjoyed SSR in the Congress park section because of the nice stroll to DS. We are doing a split stay BC/OKW this upcoming trip and I am looking forward to checking out OKW. It really just depends on what you are looking to get out of a resort.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We are going next week and staying in three resorts. Starting st Bay lake for two nights and one of them we will be at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Party so it is an easy walk over. And we will take the boat over to Wilderness Resort for dinner at artists point. Then we move to Boardwalk for four nights. One of the days we will do Epcot and Hollywood studios. The rest of the time we will hang by pool. Then at the end we move to animal kingdom lodge for two nights. We are taking my daughters boyfriend who has never been to Dw so we wanted him to get the total experience. Also, we needed two bedroom suites everywhere for the appropriate sleeping arrangements. I don't like moving at all but it will be a fun trip with our daughter and her boyfriend. And having a washer and dryer in every suite will make our packing needs much lighter.

 

[DJFan88]

Sounds like you want to do it from your comments. if that is the case, you should, as otherwise you will wish you had. As a split stayer who usually goes 10 days, I would stick to 2 resorts to appreciate, UNLESS that first night is like a bonus, we're here and just need a place to sleep and we don't want to stay at the Best Western type of thing.
That said, AKL is great, it really is for half of your days. But I totally agree with one of the posts above about requesting Jambo House. So much more to offer than Kidani.

 

[GillianP1301]

For me personally, one of the best parts of a longer vacation (we do 9 nights, typically) is unpacking on day 1 and not having to worry about packing it up again until 9 days later. In theory, I love the idea of experiencing more than one resort, but I have just never been able to justify the inconvenience of packing everything back up mid trip. So for that reason, I would definitely not want to do a 3 resort split stay.

Of the options you listed, I would go for the 8 nights at AKL.