How many of us DO SPLIT DVC STAYS??

[edk35]

Good Lord!

Now a Question about splitting a stay, do you move your own stuff? When we go from AKV to BCV am I being smart by taking my luggage with me when we go check in at the 2nd hotel? I need a cab anyway so I might as well as for a van and get it over with? Just in case they have a room ready at check in?!?What do you guys do?

You do TIP more when doing a split stay because you tip when you arrive at first hotel and then again when they pick it up and then again when they deliver it to next hotel. So.....call Bell services, have them pick up luggage, TIP, then we go about our day. When we arrive other resort we check in, have luggage sent up,TIP, enjoy the rest of the day. Now when we went from SSR to BWV we took the boat to DTD and we had lunch and did some shopping. I am not sure how long it takes for the luggage to arrive resort once they pick it up from you. We didn't worry about getting checked in earlier than check in time that particular day. Our trip in AUg...we are renting a van because we are spending some days outside of WDW so we will move ourselves.

 

[edk35]

We have never (intentionally) split a stay. We like to unpack and stay put for the duration. Just us though.

We also enjoyed staying put at SSR in Nov. too. IT is nice to stay in one place in the colder months.....but for us in the summer....the kids enjoy trying out a different pool/slide.

 

[MikeyNS]

We tried an AKV/SSR split (our first split stay) and don't think I'd ever do it again.. just took too long to get into our room at SSR. Rainy day, tired toddler.. not fun. Needless to say we'll be hunkering down in one resort for our next few stays.

 

[castleri]

Did split stay Christmas week 2006. Sun-Thurs 2 BR OKW Frid and Sat motel offsite to save money and points Sun-Thursday SSR studio. We have done other split stays as the number of people in our group has changed and we didn't need a big unit. Another Christmas week we did 5 nights in OKW GV and then 3 nights in 2 BR. We usually have a rental car so moving is not that big a deal. Put the stuff in the car, check in and if room is ready great, if not off to a park, the pool, DTD or something until it is. We NEVER count on it being ready before 4PM and plan accordingly.

 

[igitur]

Did split stay Christmas week 2006. Sun-Thurs 2 BR OKW Frid and Sat motel offsite to save money and points Sun-Thursday SSR studio. We have done other split stays as the number of people in our group has changed and we didn't need a big unit. Another Christmas week we did 5 nights in OKW GV and then 3 nights in 2 BR. We usually have a rental car so moving is not that big a deal. Put the stuff in the car, check in and if room is ready great, if not off to a park, the pool, DTD or something until it is. We NEVER count on it being ready before 4PM and plan accordingly.

That's what we plan on doing next Christmas. Hoping to do Mon. - Fri. in a 1 BR at BCV, then switch over to a Studio Fri. - Thurs. That way, we should have enough points to spend 11 days from before Christmas through New Years Day.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We do split stays when we alternate Disney with Twins spring training down in Fort Myers. We will be AKV concierge for 5 nights followed by 3 nights in Fort Myers, and then 3 more at OKW. Once in awhile we will downsize from a 2 bedroom to a 1 bedroom when guests leave, but we've always been able to stay in the same unit with just a check out and in proceedure. Other than that, I don't like moving once I'm there.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Do you stay at WLV for the MK portion? Do you go to MK 4 times?

For the most part, yes. We load up on Epcot and the Studios when we are at BWV or BCV. Then, we spend a lot of the rest of the trip going to the MK from the VWL. We usually have a car, so we also hit AK from the WL, and if we feel we have a need to see Illuminations again we can drive over to Epcot easily enough. So it's not 4 full days at the MK. We also like to take time to enjoy the resort.

As for transferring luggae, we've done it ourselves when we have the car, and we've had Disney transfer our bags on another occasion. Having Disney transfer your bags is very easy, but you do lose access to your luggage for a good part of the day. If you are just going to be in a park it really doesn't matter. Transferring the bags ourselves with a car is pretty easy, too.

We don't mind the repacking in the middle. The variety is worth the minor hassle.

 

[Pennyguy23]

We do split stays alot if we are going more then 5 days. We are doing one right now. We were at AKV for 3 days and we are at BCV right now (4 Days). It has been so cold, can even use the pool.

 

[n2mm]

I hate doing split stays and avoid it all all cost. The idea of unpacking and repacking and unpacking is a pain and find the move day takes away from my valuable vacation time. Plus being without a room for 1/2 day is inconvenient. The only time we do a split stay is when we have to. We did a split stay last year in August because I had a 5 day trip booked, then wanted to add on 4 more days and couldn't get the same resort. So stayed at OKW for 4 days (including the weekend in a 2 bedroom - ouch), then moved to the BCV, 2 bedroom. We tipped the bell service $20 to move our luggage to BCV, then another $20 to the BCV CM to bring them to our room. While we had 2 cars, we just didn't want to mess with our 10 bags (there were 9 of us (which included 2 infants), so we had enough to deal with with 2 strollers and carseats. I will book a resort at an AP rate for our arrival night if we arrive on a Saturday, then move the next morning. I like staying put and if I want to see another resort, I book another trip. Last year we stayed at the WLV in January, BWV in April, OKW & BCV in August, and BWV in October, so we pretty much get to see everything. However we are staying at the AKV in 3 weeks, so we've got them covered. My ideal vacation is checking in unpacking and not packing again until the night we are to come home.

 

[vabeth]

We will be doing our first DVC split stay next month. We will be spending 5 nights at SSR followed by 3 nights at VWL.

 

[photobob]

We have twice come down a day early and stayed at a value resort on Saturday and then checked in on Sunday at our resort of choice as a point/money saving venture. I probably won't do that again. We probably won't do split stays at DVC resorts either unless not by choice. We like to come unpack and be done with it. We don't live out of the suitcase, we unpack and put clothes in drawers, so moving would be more trouble than it would be worth. I like the idea of experiencing two resorts in one stay, but not the idea of repacking and re-unpacking and another check in with rooms not available until afternoons and having luggage stored again. Once is enough for me..