How do you switch resorts in the middle of a trip?

[shortypots]

So hubby was asking me how people go about switching resorts in the middle of their vacation? I have no idea. Do you tell the front desk you will need your stuff moved to another resort and they just magically make it happen?

Any help would be appreciated as we are now tempted to try this between AKV and VWL.

 

[spiceycat]

call bell services - they will come get it and take it to the other resort.

you are generally told that the luggage might not arrive until after 3 or 4pm at the new place.

so bring a back pack and place the items you HAVE to have in there - swimming suit, and meds.

 

[shortypots]

Very cool, that is what I thought! We figured we would just spend a day in the park and at night, check in at the new resort! Very cool!

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

They will also store items in a fridge for you if you ask.

 

[melk]

The way we have done it is DH goes over to the new resort first thing in the morning and checks in (usually the room is not ready), but at least we are checked in. Then we keep what we need with us, the rest can go to bell services, or you could even leave it in your car if you prefer to do it yourself. They give you a number to call to check when your room is ready, which is easy enough to do. Have a great time!

ETA: If you have refrigerated items, they will take care of that for you as well.

 

[crisi]

Its a little more work than magically. Magically would be if I could leave the room scattered in laundry one place and have everything reappear at the new resort (and Snow White's little bird friends would have folded all the laundry).

You do need to pack up - and if you are a messy person, this can be a big pain in the back end - or if you are type A enough to pack perfectly every time. If you are doing one night somewhere, we often make sure the next days' clothes are on top, and we have a dirty laundry bag ready to go so we don't need to unpack. The longer the say before needing the repack, the greater the effort.

You may need to wait for bell services - or take your bags down yourself. It can add a little time to your morning - not a big deal, but don't plan on calling when you want to be leaving and manage to catch the bus that gets you to the MK rope drop.

As was said, your bags will generally show up between 3 and 4 in the new resort - which means pack a swimsuit and anything else you may want in a daybag before heading off to the parks - remember DVC checkin is "after 4" and sometimes you don't get into your room until later - a switching resorts day is a good day to plan a full day in the parks - but not special events that require room access (like dinner at V&As). That also means you should be cautious in planning resort switching trips involving anyone needing a nap who won't fall asleep in a stroller (or on the chairs by the pool if the napper is Dad).

 

[n2mm]

Lets not forget the tipping either. We moved from OKW to BCV last August. Waited at OKW for them to pick up the bags (We checked with bell service the night before and they had us sign up then a time we wanted them to come by) -- gave them a $20 tip. Checked in to BCV and got our room at 5:30PM and called and they delivered our bags -- then another $20 tip. I absolutely hate moving mid trip. I try to avoid it--it is not worth it to us, just sometimes things change and we can't avoid it. I always feel like I lose a day of vacation. All of that packing and unpacking, being without a room for most of the day.

 

[ADP]

We call bell services and have them pick up our luggage. We request it be moved to our next resort.

After that we head to a park until 2:00PM or so. We then head to the bus depot and go to the resort we are checking into. Usually, our luggage is there waiting for us. We check into the resort and go to our room for a few hours. Then we head to a park for the evening or stay at the resort and swim, dine, et. It's really pretty seamless.

 

[alldiz]

I don't really unpack....so packing again is easy

I call bell services....have them take my luggage to my cab and we go check in. Then we usually go have lunch...walk around...by that time room is usually ready.
I love split stays....feels like 2 different vacations.
Happy Planning
Kerri

 

[msabol01]

We had a rental car so we did the move ourselves. We lucked out in that I went over to SSR from VWL at 7 am to check-in. As luck would have it there was a room available, so it was back to VWL, made breakfast packed-up our things then we dropped everything off at the new room prior to going to the park.

Saved money on tips and we were assured all perishiables spent minimal time out of the fridge.

 

[rutgers1]

n2nn....We just did a mid-trip switch from POR to WL, and it went well, but I definitely didn't tip that much. I think I was more like $10 on either side.

 

[shortypots]

I would say the tip would depend on how many bags you have. If you have a lot of stuff, then of course you would tip that. It is supposed to be $1-2/bag.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We'll be switching rooms 3 times in August so I will let you know how it goes!
In an attempt to keep my tips lower than the national debt I posted about split stays on the resorts board and was promptly given the "If you can't afford..." lecture. I never said I couldn't afford to tip, I said I would prefer not to spend over $100 that way.
I think we're going to be taking our bags down ourselves, and asking for them to be transferred to the next resort. We'll see how that goes. If the AKL to SSR transfer is scary then we won't do it that way going from SSR to WL or from WL to AKV.

 

[disneynutz]

Lets not forget the tipping either. We moved from OKW to BCV last August. Waited at OKW for them to pick up the bags (We checked with bell service the night before and they had us sign up then a time we wanted them to come by) -- gave them a $20 tip. Checked in to BCV and got our room at 5:30PM and called and they delivered our bags -- then another $20 tip. I absolutely hate moving mid trip. I try to avoid it--it is not worth it to us, just sometimes things change and we can't avoid it. I always feel like I lose a day of vacation. All of that packing and unpacking, being without a room for most of the day.

$20 tip? Please send me your vacation schedules for the next few years. I will take my vacations on the same dates and gladly move your bags for you!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

One thing to remember about having bags transferred is that it doesn't work like Magical Express. You have to be in the room when they pick up the bags, and you have to call down to ask for them and be in the room when they're delivered.

Call down early and make an appointment with them. I found out the hard way not to wait until we were actually ready to leave to call. The bellmen were all booked and we had to wait more than an hour.

The other option, as already discussed, is taking them to/picking them up from the bell stand yourself.

 

[n2mm]

$20 tip? Please send me your vacation schedules for the next few years. I will take my vacations on the same dates and gladly move your bags for you!

We had 10 BAGS, so $2 per bag, the tip adds up quickly. We were 8 plus a baby staying in a 2 bedroom. We actually had 2 SUVs but thought the tip was well worth hauling the luggage in our cars all day and then dragging them from the cars to BCV. With 2 strollers and groceries already in the cars, the luggage was too much to deal with. Bell service from OKW to BCV did an excellent job and deserved the tips they received.

 

[n2mm]

We'll be switching rooms 3 times in August so I will let you know how it goes!
In an attempt to keep my tips lower than the national debt I posted about split stays on the resorts board and was promptly given the "If you can't afford..." lecture. I never said I couldn't afford to tip, I said I would prefer not to spend over $100 that way.
I think we're going to be taking our bags down ourselves, and asking for them to be transferred to the next resort. We'll see how that goes. If the AKL to SSR transfer is scary then we won't do it that way going from SSR to WL or from WL to AKV.

Whether you take your bags to the bell service or they pick them up, they are still going to be expecting a tip to move your bags. (The general rule is, anyone who touches your bags expects a tip). Plus when you call bell service to get them when you arrive at your resort (they will not bring them until you are in your room), they too will be expecting a tip. Granted we moved 10 bags @ $2 a bag and tipped the people at OKW taking them and moving them, then tipped the CMs at BCV who stored them and redelivered them. The basic guidelines generally say between $1.50 to $2.00 a bag. I figured moving them went above the normal duty of bell service since they had to take them to the van pack them in, drive them over and unload them.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Whether you take your bags to the bell service or they pick them up, they are still going to be expecting a tip to move your bags. (The general rule is, anyone who touches your bags expects a tip). Plus when you call bell service to get them when you arrive at your resort (they will not bring them until you are in your room), they too will be expecting a tip. Granted we moved 10 bags @ $2 a bag and tipped the people at OKW taking them and moving them, then tipped the CMs at BCV who stored them and redelivered them. The basic guidelines generally say between $1.50 to $2.00 a bag. I figured moving them went above the normal duty of bell service since they had to take them to the van pack them in, drive them over and unload them.

Hmm. I may be making more work for myself and end up spending the same amount of money!

Walk through this with me, please.
If we take our bags to the bell stand at AKL and ask to have them moved to SSR the person at the desk will expect a tip? I knew if we called for the bags at SSR we would be tipping. If we claim them at the bell stand at SSR and take them to our room ourselves do we tip the person at the desk? Because if that is standard procedure then I am just going to have them move the bags every time and not try to do it myself. If the expectation of a tip is exactly the same for getting the bags out of storage as it is for bringing them all the way to the room then they can bring them to the room!

 

[n2mm]

Hmm. I may be making more work for myself and end up spending the same amount of money!

Walk through this with me, please.
If we take our bags to the bell stand at AKL and ask to have them moved to SSR the person at the desk will expect a tip? I knew if we called for the bags at SSR we would be tipping. If we claim them at the bell stand at SSR and take them to our room ourselves do we tip the person at the desk? Because if that is standard procedure then I am just going to have them move the bags every time and not try to do it myself. If the expectation of a tip is exactly the same for getting the bags out of storage as it is for bringing them all the way to the room then they can bring them to the room!

Pretty much the CMs at bell service are still going to be expecting a tip. Most of the tipping standards I've ever read was, if someone handles your bag, whether you hand you bag to the bus driver and he throws it under the bus and hands it back to you--he would expect a tip. So you giving the Bell Service your luggage and he loads it up and moves it to another resort would also still expect a tip. Of course, you could not tip, but personally, I surely wouldn't want to tick off the person I just gave my bags to.....

Again when your bags get to the next resort, someone is hauling them out of the van and storing them. The same as if you came into a resort and your room wasn't ready (they too would store them). Whether you pick them up or they deliver, again, tipping would still be the norm. Since bell service is a tipped position, I think they would be expecting it. So, yes, if you're going to tip anyhow, let them do all of the work. That is how I looked at it. Yes, we could've moved our own bags, but thought the price was worth someone else doing the work of moving them, babysitting them, then delivering them to our rooms. JMHO--remember, I had 10 bags (large and small) so tipped $2 bag to the CM at OKW who picked them up in my room, and tagged them and loaded them on the golf cart, then unloaded them at Bell Service, then reloaded them on a van to send to BCV....And at BCV, the Bell Service most likely unloaded them and stored them all day (my room at BCV wasn't ready until 5:30PM...). When we got to our room, we called them and they promptly delivered them, which in turn we tipped the BCV CM $2 a bag. These CMs did a ton of work, and surely deserved it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Got it!

You are absolutely correct that we would not want to give the person with our luggage any reason to be angry with us! I really do want to see those bags again!
This split stay stuff is really much more complicated than I realized. We definitely won't do it this way again.