I never thought I would do a split stay but..

[newholidayx2]

This Aug DS13 & I are staying 8nights VWL and 6nights BCV

 

[jjohnson]

Well I did it

Hopefully everything will go smoothly. At least we have premium tickets so we can be a little flexible where we hang out that day until our room is ready.

Thanks for all the help. Now I have to read up on Polynesian again & revamp my dining schedule

 

[Brina]

I never thought I would split a stay either, but for our trip in Nov I could not decide which resort, I narrowed it down to 2 and choose both. We are saying at AKL for the first 4 days - during htat time we are going to AK, Epcot and Sea World. We are spendng our last two days at GF. while there we will sign our boys up for the pirate cruise, my dd and mil are going to the perfectly princess tea and we will do MK.

 

[Sammie]

We have done this many times, even up to 3 resorts. Will not do that again, 2 is the limit now. I also will not do it unless I can have at least 4 nights at each resort, anything less I felt all I was doing was checking in, getting settled and then checking out again. Also the family members in our extended family group that have small children will not do this again. They really missed having a room in the heat of the day to take a break to and let the little ones nap. The families with older kids managed well.

Advantages: new experience at new resort.
If you do as OP has and book a MK resort and a MGM/Epcot resort you get to plan your park touring around your resort. This is really nice.
New places to eat and new pools to enjoy.
Feels like 2 vacations.

Disadvantages:
You love the first resort, get the dream view or location and have to move
On the day of the move you will not have access to you luggage until after 3pm or possibly later, so plan accordingly. One party in our group did not plan and made a PS for 5 and there was a delay in getting their luggage and they had no fresh clothes to change into for dinner.
The day of the move you are basically without a room. You might get lucky and get a room early but then again you might have to wait until late afternoon. Again plan accordingly by planning a day in the park and arrive to the new resort later in the day. This works great for most but things can happen during the day, such as a sick child, where you really wish you had your room back from the previous resort.

Luggage transfer: Let the Bell services of your first resort know the day before you are going to do this. The day of the move call and ask them to come to your room to get your luggage. Someone will have to stay with the luggage until it is picked up. They will tag each piece and give you the receipts for it. Be sure to keep this and make a mental or written note of how many pieces so you can make sure they all arrive. We did have one piece walk off by itself on one of our moves and was not found until several days later.
After they pick it up in your room, go and enjoy your day. Later when you check in the new resort as long as it is after 3pm you can call Bell Services at the new resort and ask for them to deliver it to your new room. Again someone will have to be in the room for delivery. Most times it has been there by 3pm, a couple times it was not. Be sure before the bellman leaves you have all your pieces.

 

[copper68]

We always split our stay when we go for a week trip...it's usually between Poly GVC and BWV...we will be doing it again in August...
First off, my DS's love the Poly while DW and I are both fans of the BW, so this way it gives us each a taste of our fav resort...we also plan our itinerary so that we see everything in the MK resort area while at the Poly and then everything in the Epcot area while at the BW...
The switch has always been seemless...we get up in the morning, have the bellman take our bags (we don't really unpack anyway, so it's no big deal to close a suitcase), go to one of the theme parks, and then just take whatever transportation gets us back to our new resort...
Experiencing Disney resorts to us is as much an attraction as anything at the theme parks...by staying at 2, you're almost having 2 vacations in one...you also get to enjoy the different amenities and restaurants of the different surrounding resorts...Lastly, to me Disney transportation can be great, but many times can be intolerable...the bus ride from a MK area hotel to DTD west side can be unbearable...similar is the ride from the BW to the MK...especially during the off season...so by splitting our stay, we save a ton of travel time to and from resorts and theme parks/attractions...
Besides, I would find it kind of boring to be staying at one place for 7 or more days...IMHO, you're doing the right thing...

 

[CarolB]

Not to sound completely stupid...After we call bell services do we leave the bags in the room?

We have split our stay twice....last summer between the AKL and Poly and last month between WL and Poly. It was truly painless. However, we had to stay in our room until bell services arrived (not an issue, they were there within 10 minutes of the call at WL, even sooner at AKL). On another board, I was told that happens at the deluxes, but they allow you to leave the suitcases in the room at the Values? Can't say, but just like they won't bring the bags to the room without you there (at least that is what I have always been told - we have only stayed deluxe - a family of 5, not other option), they won't pick up without you there.
That said - I would do it again in a heartbeat. The bags aren't guaranteed available though until 3 that day - so if you have meds, or other things you may need before 3, you have to take that with you separately.

 

[Sammie]

We have split our stay twice....last summer between the AKL and Poly and last month between WL and Poly. It was truly painless. However, we had to stay in our room until bell services arrived (not an issue, they were there within 10 minutes of the call at WL, even sooner at AKL). On another board, I was told that happens at the deluxes, but they allow you to leave the suitcases in the room at the Values? Can't say, but just like they won't bring the bags to the room without you there (at least that is what I have always been told - we have only stayed deluxe - a family of 5, not other option), they won't pick up without you there.
That said - I would do it again in a heartbeat. The bags aren't guaranteed available though until 3 that day - so if you have meds, or other things you may need before 3, you have to take that with you separately.

Carol is correct, for some reason the value resort have a service called luggage transfer and they will come to the room and move the luggage without your being there. The deluxe resorts will not do this, not sure why the difference. The only thing I can imagine is with the service at the values it goes directly into luggage transfer storage where at the deluxes the bellman pick it up and they take it to storage where another service or person transfers it to the new resort and their bellmen deliver. Since Value resort do not have full bell services I guess that makes a difference. I know at the deluxe it does get expensive tipping coming and going.

 

[Bugsmom73]

We are debating about doing a room switch when we go in Dec of 2006. We are really limited as we are a party of 5 and we have to figure out what is going to save us more money. DIning package or other choices.

 

[DisneyKidds]

We split stays on just about every trip now. We go twice a year, and have kids ages 2, 4, and 7. Obviously we don't find it to be a hassle at all . Really, it's like having two vacations in one. We always split between a MK resort and an Epcot resort, and plan days in the parks accordingly. As others do, we usually pack up the night before the move.

Unlike others who have posted, we always have a rental car. We just check out of one room in the am and have our bags brought down and put in the car. Usually we will go straight to the new resort to check in. Sometimes the room is ready, and we are all set, and sometimes it isn't and we put our bag in storage until we come back to our new room later in the day. Bags in storage are always accessable, so if we need a bathing suit or someting while waiting for our new room we can always get it.

I can't imagine a trip without splitting the stay now. We like the various resorts too much to be limited to one per trip!!!