How much of a pain are split stays?

[PDXmouse]

We are going to be there 6/24-7/6 (the first and last days are travel).

I was thinking about staying at the Swan.

But we've heard that we should stay at AKL with a Savannah view at least once. So we thought about a split stay at AKL a couple nights.

But we will be there over July 4th so WL may be better because of the boat to MK? So what if we do:
Swan: 8 nights
AKL Savannah view: 2 nights
WL: 2 nights (including the night of July 4th)

ETA:
After reading all your responses I still can't decide! What if we do:
Swan: 6 nights
AKL Savannah: 3 nights
WL: 3 nights (including July 4th

This would make us "homeless" during the day potentially on Saturday 6/24 & Friday 6/30. Not ideal days to have no place to go nap...

 

[Ensusieasm]

I do split stays all the time. Next month I’m doing a 4 different Disney resort split stay for two weeks. The part that’s inconvenient is on the day you switch you will be “homeless” for a few hours, sometimes even past check in time if your room is not ready.

 

[TinkBink]

I do split stays all the time. Next month I’m doing a 4 different Disney resort split stay for two weeks. The part that’s inconvenient is on the day you switch you will be “homeless” for a few hours, sometimes even past check in time if your room is not ready.

We are doing our very first split stay in May. We are planning on checking out, getting a Minnie Van to our second hotel, dropping off luggage to store at the bell stand until our room is ready and heading to the park. Should we expect any issues with this?

 

[Ensusieasm]

We are doing our very first split stay in May. We are planning on checking out, getting a Minnie Van to our second hotel, dropping off luggage to store at the bell stand until our room is ready and heading to the park. Should we expect any issues with this?

No issues with using the Minnie Van as long as there is room for all your luggage. Keep in mind the Minnie vans have two car seats stored in the back so not much room left over. But you can also have your luggage picked up by bell services at your first hotel and transferred to your second hotel. Then you could just hop on Disney transportation to a Park, then again Disney transportation to your second hotel after your park day.
You will have to be in your second hotel room to call down and ask Bell services to deliver your luggage.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I like splitting a lot as it gives you a chance to try new things, but not for just two nights. There is a certain pain in the butt factor with the packing/unpacking/moving process, so at a minimum I like three nights if not longer. It can certainly be done, I just like a little longer stay.

 

[PDXmouse]

I like splitting a lot as it gives you a chance to try new things, but not for just two nights. There is a certain pain in the butt factor with the packing/unpacking/moving process, so at a minimum I like three nights if not longer. It can certainly be done, I just like a little longer stay.

This makes sense. In this case we would do 8 days + 4 days.
So I have to decide... do we want AKL with a Savannah view, or WL with a boat to MK for the 4th of July day?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

This makes sense. In this case we would do 8 days + 4 days.
So I have to decide... do we want AKL with a Savannah view, or WL with a boat to MK for the 4th of July day?

Big 7/4 WDW fan here (I'm a sucker for the major holidays)... my strong vote is WL.

 

[LRdismom]

I agree with previous posters that the only hassle is packing up your room. I have done quite a few split days and I don't like packing and unpacking. However, it's not a deal breaker for me.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

This makes sense. In this case we would do 8 days + 4 days.
So I have to decide... do we want AKL with a Savannah view, or WL with a boat to MK for the 4th of July day?

Agree that 2 nights is pretty short. We love split stays, but usually do a min of 3 nights, else you only have one full day at the resort. AKL is our absolute favorite resort and would highly recommend it - the rooms, the savanna views, and the dining options are amazing. The only relative inconvenience is the bus ride from AKL to MK. So it depends where your MK day(s) would fall during your AKL stay. But even then, it's a 15-minute ride each way - not terrible. Assume you'll also be enjoying some of the other parks. AKL to the other 3 theme parks and DS is pretty simple.

Would recommend 2 resorts - Swan and then AKL - it sounds like an amazing trip and you'll only have one day where you're without a room for the afternoon. Good luck with your choice and have a great trip!

 

[RoseGold]

Disney cash doesn't let you stay for a couple nights, I thought it was 3 night minimum?

I split stay all the time with DVC. They move your bags, I think it's fun.

 

[Pyxie]

Disney cash doesn't let you stay for a couple nights, I thought it was 3 night minimum?

I split stay all the time with DVC. They move your bags, I think it's fun.

Not sure what you mean by Disney cash, but you can stay 1 night if you want to. I have 2 different 1 night stays booked this year.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

There is no Disney hotel minimum stay requirement.

 

[Mle8308]

This makes sense. In this case we would do 8 days + 4 days.
So I have to decide... do we want AKL with a Savannah view, or WL with a boat to MK for the 4th of July day?

FYI, they normally do the 4th of July fireworks on both July 3rd and 4th.

 

[loves to dive]

I do split stays almost every trip and most of them are either 1 or 2 nights at hotel 1 then over to hotel 2 for the rest of the trip. In my case it's usually 1 or 2 nights at a value then over to Swan/Dolphin or I find a really great discount at one of the other Epcot resorts. I have no problems "being homeless" but I don't have kids and I drive down so that might make a difference.

What I do. Pack the clothes for the short stay in a packing cube (I don't normally use packing cubes because I'm an unpacker). I have either a tote bag or a backpack that I put my small laptop, kindle, hanging toiletry bag and then the packing cube in and then when I'm switching resorts, I just throw the packing cube in the back of my car and leave it. The tote bag/backpack have a back strap to hang on the handle of my luggage so it's easy to take both to hotel #2. I leave my bigger suitcase in the car for the short stay, I usually cover it up with a jacket or something but I've never had any problems leaving it in the car. On move day if I'm up early (I'm old I'm often up at 6 or so even on vacation) I will go ahead and pack up and move my car to hotel #1 and go to the front desk to let them know I'm there. Sometimes they have even had a room for me. Then I go off to a park, when I get my room ready text it just depends on what I'm doing if I go back to the room and unpack or wait. If I'm not up early, I'll go to breakfast and go to a park and leave somewhere between noon and one and move my car to hotel #2 and let them know I'm there. If my room isn't ready, I just go to park #2 (I always have hoppers and since I always move to an Epcot resort I can either go to Epcot or HS). Most of the time when I check in I just leave my luggage in the car and go get it when I actually go to my room. I have been known to go ahead and leave it with Bell Services but that depends on my mood, how early I am and if I want to pay the tip for Bell Services to keep it.

I have a split stay coming up in April that is 2 nights at Music and 5 nights at Dolphin. Originally it was 3 nights at Music and 4 nights at Dolphin but when the discounts came out I discovered Dolphin had also put their rooms on discount so I not only shortened my Music stay but I got a resort view room at Dolphin when I had originally had a standard view room and the total ended being $200 less than the original reservations.

 

[MrWonderful]

There is one downside to split stays... Your dining reservation window is also split. Each reservation is independent and your 60 day + length of stay dining reservation window is also now separated into separate parts...

 

[gottalovepluto]

My vote is Swan/WL. Only 1 day homeless and better ADR windows.

I’m not a fan of AKL and don’t believe everyone needs to try it once. I regret the two nights I spent there honestly. I found the property gorgeous but a pain in the rear since the only thing it’s close to is AK. It was also a long walk to our room because of the hotel layout. You could just go there for a meal- time it so the sun is out, go early and enjoy the savannas before you eat.

 

[notatallmagic]

We love split stays; it allows us to try new resorts and experiences, and also time stays with proximity to different resorts (Magic Kingdom area resorts for Magic Kingdom; Epcot/Boardwalk area resorts for Hollywood/Epcot).

During Covid, we did a split stay trip with three resorts in 8 days. We stayed two nights at Contemporary; 3 nights at Pop (still my kiddos favorite), and two nights at AKL with a Savannah view. We loved the animals, and the pool and the dining options, but wouldn't feel a need to return - largely because of the distance/inconvenience to the resorts.

I would definitely think a Magic Kingdom area resort for the 4th of July would be really amazing too. We are splitting a stay in June with Wilderness Lodge for our Magic Kingdom day.

Big thing with split stays - plan/organize your packing. For a trip of your length for example, just plan your packing so you're not digging through bags and unpacking and repacking. We tend to pack very lightly, but think that through. If you're doing a grocery order, I might consider doing two smaller orders so you're not moving food items for your split stay. Also, I believe they will move your bags for you, but for the few "homeless" hours, just make sure you have what you need with you. Enjoy!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We are going to be there 6/24-7/6 (the first and last days are travel).

I was thinking about staying at the Swan.

But we've heard that we should stay at AKL with a Savannah view at least once. So we thought about a split stay at AKL a couple nights.

But we will be there over July 4th so WL may be better because of the boat to MK? So what if we do:
Swan: 8 nights
AKL Savannah view: 2 nights
WL: 2 nights (including the night of July 4th)

ETA:
After reading all your responses I still can't decide! What if we do:
Swan: 6 nights
AKL Savannah: 3 nights
WL: 3 nights (including July 4th

This would make us "homeless" during the day potentially on Saturday 6/24 & Friday 6/30. Not ideal days to have no place to go nap...

Have you done a split stay before? If not, I would caution against 3 resorts if this is your first time doing a split stay and maybe just do 2 for your first time. It's fun to get a feel of a few different vacations/resorts in with split stay but it's not fun to pack up, move, and do it again, and again. Especially when you're a week into your trip and the trip may be catching up with you/your family. When we've done them, we do the shorter days on the front end to then end the trip on a more relaxing note of not moving anymore. I realize it may be a cost factor but we try to plan for the longer portion of split stay towards the end of the trip given you might be more tired and won't want to move as much since you mentioned you don't want to be homeless to nap.

Something else to consider, the dining/ADR window is abbreviated with each split stay so you will lose the advantage of a longer trip by splitting the stay up for those harder to get ADRs. May be a moot point if you don't book much dining, we usually don't so it's not a huge deal. Also, I tend to agree with @gottalovepluto AK is not a must do for all. My kids liked it but they prefer other disney resorts over AKL. I think it's a beautiful resort but you can easily visit it without having to stay there. I'm just not a huge fan due to it's location and between AK and WL, I would pick WL over AK hands down every time, especially over the 7/4 holiday.

 

[kylenne]

I agree with split stays not being a hassle at all and a fun way experience different resorts, it's like 2 trips in one. I will say the only time I did it was for my birthday last year and it was just me, no kids, so I did not have the same issues as many families with small kids to wrangle. I spent 4 days at the GF and then moved to YC for 4 days. Second the advice to use packing cubes, it makes moving day so much easier when all you've done to unpack is put cubes into drawers. I used different colors in different bags for my two resorts and only took out my GF cubes. On moving day all I had to do was pack up my makeup and toiletries and I called bell services to deliver my bags, after they got them I rope dropped AK. I had packed swim stuff in my park bag to hit up SAB in case my room wasn't ready but it wasn't necessary, because I got my room ready text while I was getting off Dinosaur just after 1pm. Was super easy with online checkin.

The ADR part is the only thing that's bad about it. If you have harder to get places on your list then it makes it a lot more challenging. But I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[CynBeth]

My vote is Swan/WL. Only 1 day homeless and better ADR windows.

I’m not a fan of AKL and don’t believe everyone needs to try it once. I regret the two nights I spent there honestly. I found the property gorgeous but a pain in the rear since the only thing it’s close to is AK. It was also a long walk to our room because of the hotel layout. You could just go there for a meal- time it so the sun is out, go early and enjoy the savannas before you eat.

I would do it all at WL and no split stay, I agree with gottalovepluto about AKL we did not care for it. We always have a dinner at Boma every trip on our AK day and see the animal areas then. We would never stay at The Swan or Dolphin we were screwed by Marriott for a non Disney trip long story and will never stay in any hotel under the Marriott Bonvoy group.