How do you people like split stays?...

[ZIPBAGS]

I was reading about how people stay at multiple hotels in one visit. With kids I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of checking in...checking out...checking it...checking out. One person is staying at 3 different resorts in a one week stay. Yikes!

 

[johnsonet]

Well - I wouldn't want to do 3 resorts in 1 week, but I love resort-hopping. I wouldn't have wanted to do it on my early trips to The World, either, but now that I'm a "pro" I enjoy trying new resorts. It's like having 2 vacations in one. DD and I are spending a week at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the Concierge level and then moving over to the Grand Floridian for another whole week. I'm crazy about AKL and my daughter's favorite resort is the GF. It's also nice to split a stay b/w the MK resorts and the Epcot resorts. You can take the monorail to MK from the Polynesian and walk to World Showcase from the BWI, for example.
The move has not ever been a problem for me (resort-hopped 3 times) however I can see how it's not for everyone.

 

[epcotfan]

Did it once. Probably wouldn't do it again.

 

[DisneyMim]

We do it all the time on our longer trips. When we do two weeks we always do split stays. We've done it so much that it is not a hassle for us at all. We have it "down to a science". I can see how it would be a problem for short stays, and/or for people who don't go often, but for us it works.

Have Fun!!!

 

[cocowum]

We love split stays. We love trying out different hotels. We always rent a car so we don't have to carry all our luggage into each hotel. We usually go down for 2 weeks. I just pack a suitcase for each leg of the trip. We like to spend 1 night at a USO hotel for FOTL. For a shorter trips we don't hop...as much.

 

[helenk]

It really is very easy and gives you the oportunity to try different resorts that you may not be able to afford to stay in for a full week. I wanted to stay at the Poly for our vacation last year, but my sister was going with us and it really was not in her budget. We stayed at the POFQ for 5 nights and then at the Poly for 2. It gave her a chance to enjoy the Poly without breaking her budget.
Transferring was not a problem, when you check out bell services comes and gets your luggage and stores it for you until it is transferred to the next resort. If you had express check out (which we did) you do not have to check out of the first resort. We then just took the bus to the parks and enjoyed our day. When we got to the Poly we checked in, went to our rooms and called for our luggage which was brought to us in about 10 to 15 minutes.
If you have young children you might want to consider having one person in your party going ahead of the rest of the group to check in then your room would be ready when the others left the park.
We also stayed in the POP for one night in Dec before transferring to the POFQ. We arrived late in the evening and were going to stay offsite, but I was able to get the POP for $49 with my AP so it worked out nicely. We were on site and able to get to the parks in the morning and get started with our vacation.

 

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

We are trying it for the first time in december. Our trip is 10 days 9 nights so we wanted to mix it up a bit. 5 nights at POR and 4 nights at WL. A first time stay for both resorts.

 

[TwingleMum]

We also split stay and I have 3 boys under 4 . Its not hard at all. Like many I usually stay @ 14 days. Usually I rent a car. I generally have a small bag packed with essentials (bathing suits, extra clothes for the twins in case of accidents etc..) then I have Disney transfer the big bags. Very painless. And its like having a bunch of mini vacations. We love split staying.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

If we were there for more than 7 days, we would consider splitting between 2 resorts. But since we usually are there somewhere betweeen 6 and 8 days, we prefer to stay at one resort for the week, and not have the hassle of packing everything up, checking, out, checking in, waiting for new room etc. But lots of people love splitting their stays no matter how short the trip.

 

[maxaroni]

We contemplated a split stay this next trip after getting the free dining. However, nixed the idea. We like settling in and having the room be our home without packing up and moving elsewhere. We are in WDW 8 nites this next trip and staying in one place is fine for us.

 

[aubriee]

I love resort hopping. When we went in January I couldn't decide between AKL and WL so did a split stay between them. It was like going from the Pacific Northwest to an African Savanna.

In May I went solo and stayed two nights at POP, then rented DVC points for BWV, then added two more nights at POP onto the end of the trip.

In Sept it looks like we'll be staying put for 7 nights.

In Dec I'm going back solo and plan to rent DVC points again for Sun-Thurs. It looks like I may be staying at BC. For the weekends, I'd like to stay at a value again, then maybe finish the trip with CSR.

With express checkout and with WDW moving your luggage for you it is a breeze. I live out my suitcase for the most part anyway, seldom unpacking much. To tell you the truth, I'm kindof dreading staying in one place in Sept for the full seven nights.

 

[DizWacko]

We are going on on our honeymoon from 9/23 to 10/2 (9 nights). Itinerary as follows:

9/23 - 10PM checkin at AKL
9/24 - stroll over the BCV 1 bedroom for 4 nights
9/28 - stroll over to Poly for 4 more nights
10/2 - fly home

We figure we didnt want to spend alot that first night since we will be getting into town late on Friday night. We will stay at AKL, have breakfast on our balcony with view of the savannah. We can tell AKL to ship our bags to BCV and take a bus to Epcot and spend the AM there before the short walk back to BCV to check in. We will spend 4 days/nights in the Epcot area and relax around SAB. We will then have BCV ship our bags to the Poly and take a bus over to the MK, spend the AM there and take the boat back to the Poly to check in there for 4 more nights.

To me , this doesnt sound the least bit stressful, I mean seriously, how long does it take to pack a few suitcases?

 

[diznee25]

My husband and I did a spilt stay between WL and CBR during our last trip, which was 13 nights. 5 nights at CBR and then transfered to WL for 8 nights.
In all honesty our stay at CBR seemed to fly by. But the 8 nights at WL was very relaxing.

We didn't mind hopping between resorts. We even got a ride over in the van with our luggage, something that isn't offered to resort guests. (Maybe the CM offered because it was our honeymoon.)

I couldn't resort hop unless we stayed more than a week. Eight nights or less and I'd prefer to settle into one resort.

Diznee25

 

[cobbler]

I was reading about how people stay at multiple hotels in one visit. With kids I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of checking in...checking out...checking it...checking out. One person is staying at 3 different resorts in a one week stay. Yikes!

We tried it last year. It wasn't horrible because we were 4 nights at one and 5 at the other. I don't think I would do it again unless it was something like one night somewhere and spend the rest of my visit at the hotel I want. For example if I could only get an AP rate for 6 nights and the 7th had to be somewhere else.

It wasn't a horrible transition because we drove but it was enough hassle to pack up, and go to the next resort and check-in and unpack again.

 

[crazy4wdw]

I love to resort hop and do it just about every trip. One advantage is that it can save some money if you stay at a value or moderate, then switch to a deluxe. I always stay at the value or moderate for the first leg of the trip and try to get in most of the theme park touring. Then when I move to the deluxe, I have time to enjoy the extra amenities! The day I switch is Downtown Disney day.

 

[robinb]

I'm not particularly fond of split stays, but I somehow always end up at 2 resorts .

I find that I waste *a lot* of time changing resorts. I have to pack everything up, schlep it to the new resort (or wait for bell services to pick it up and drop it off), check-in to the new place, wait for the room to be ready and then be "homeless" until it is, unpack once we're there, etc. It's a pain. But ... I couldn't resist the free dining so in August we're spending 5 nights at Beach Club Villas and then off to Coronado Springs.

 

[VAgal76]

I'm guilty of resort hopping and I'm even going for 3 resorts in 9 nights this go around. Moving isn't a big deal and I live out of suitcase anytime I vacation so it doesn't matter to me. I love being able to experience new resorts. I love the fact that Disney makes it so easy to resort-hop, too with luggage assistance/transfers. If I had to tote my own luggage and was a park commando, I probably wouldn't be so inclined to do so.

 

[disneyworldgirl]

My DB and I are going for 12 nights next year, and we're going to split between ASMo (first 6 nights) and CR Tower (last 6 nights). It will be only our second trip, and the first time we've split our stay. Any suggestions/time savers to help make things go smoothly?

 

[PLibster]

My family stayed 2 nights at ASMO and just hung around the pool and relaxed from the drive down. I had packed one suitcase with all of our essentials for that stay. We then switched our own luggage over to the Poly for 10 nights! I had packed a "day bag" for us to hang around the volcano pool until we could check into our room. We loved it.

 

[triplefigs]

Do you think going from Concierge to Concierge will make it any easier? Packing won't be a big deal as we live out of the suitcase. going from the GF to the Poly.


Thanks!