DDP with a split reservation?

[HelenaJanelle]

I hope that my title of this post is correct.

Anyway, my family and I had booked a trip to stay at OKW November 14 - November 19. I had Southwest reward tickets that I wanted to use to get us to Orlando. Well, today when I attempted to use my Southwest Rewards free tickets, they did not have any seats available for the flights we needed. So, I have us coming in a day earlier than expected.

If we stay at a Disney resort on cash for the first night and then transition using points, will we have to pay for the DDP our first night?

If we decide not to stay at a Disney hotel our first night, what would you recommend in terms of getting our luggage to OKW? We will not have a car, so should we stay close to the airport and then take the Magical Express on the day we originally were going to arrive? I think my son would be very bummed if we didn't take the ME as that is part of the experience he loves.

Coming in a day earlier has added a little bit of complexity to my planning, BUT the cost of 1 hotel night, is much cheaper than purchasing 4 airline tickets. And or course, since we have annual passes, I don't think that we will be complaining about being at Disney for 1 extra day. I'm so excited. Thank you.

 

[vicki_c]

I'm not sure if I have your situation all understood but --

if you are staying @ 2 different resorts, you have 2 different reservations. There is no such thing as a split stay really - meaning one reservation @ 2 places. Each DDP is tied to a reservation, you can't purchase 1 DDP that spans both resort stays.

You have an AP, so you do not need to purchase tickets to get the dining plan. (You also wouldn't have to purchase tickets with a DVC reservation, so either reason works for you).

Your DDP credits are based on nights in the hotel and expire at midnight of your check-out day. I wouldn't get the DDP for a one night stay myself, I would just have the DDP on your 2nd resort stay.

I can't speak definitively to ME, as we do not use it, but I'm pretty sure you can still use it the next day - some people stay @ the hotel at the airport on arrival night and then use ME to get to Disney the next day.

 

[DebbieB]

What time does the flight land? If it's late afternoon/evening, I would find an airport hotel that has a free shuttle to and from the airport. I did that one time when we couldn't get a decent priced flight for the morning we wanted. We got the shuttle back to the airport and were at WDW by 8:30am. This was before ME, we picked up a rental car when we went back to the airport (we already had it reserved for that day with a great price).

If the flight lands in the morning or early afternoon, I would get a room only reservation for a WDW resort. You can get some park time in that day. Take the ME to the resort and then have them transfer the luggage the next morning.

 

[newbydisney]

I am not sure if you would be interested in what we do but since we like it so well I will share it just in case. We stay DVC our first night on our points or rented points and add deluxe DDP. The rest of the trip ( the other reservation) is on regular DDP. Would you want ot stay DVC the first night?
I also think now you can buy points from Disney ( assuming you are out) and just add on to your existing ressie which would make it easy as far as luggage...or you could rent points and have the ressies linked if you stck to same dining plan....I am sure there are other options as well...but for sure you can take ME the next day...you can also "split" your stay stay maybe at Port Orleans( which is very economical) and they will move your luggage for you the next day...As far as dining plan for that first day I am assuming from a prior poster that you can just buy it as per normal since you are AP?..I was not aware of that..but I am a little confused as to your part of the question about paying for the DDP?..Won't you be paying for it anyway?