Is it a real headache to stay at two different resort?

[discraz]

For those of you that have resort hopped, please tell the disadvantage and any advice.
We are thinking of staying most of our stay at one one of the value resort and then hopping over to a deluxe for one or two nights. I can't afford to stay a deluxe for a whole week.

 

[danny1649]

Here will be able to help you with your question

 

[Aisling]

Last summer, we stayed 5 nights at AKL and then 2 nights at CR. Everything went smoothly, from check-out to check-in, and Disney transferring our luggage.

Disadvantages...hmmm..the only disadvantages for us were that we had to pack and unpack, but it wasn't too big of a deal. And that we really enjoyed CR so much, we didn't feel like we got enough.

My advice is to make sure you remember to let bell services know the night before you check out that you'll be needing luggage transfer. And if you have a lot of clothes, maybe you can start throwing them in the suitcases a couple of days before you transfer so you'll have less to do the night before.

It was well worth it, as we got to have two different resort experiences!
Good luck with your decision!

 

[slp87]

We resort hopped our last trip out of necessity. I had a conference at the OCCC so we stayed our first 5 nights at BWV, 4 nights offsite, and 2 nights at BCV. I always thought people that resort hopped were crazy! Once we get settled we like to unpack and make ourselves at home. Well after our last trip, we've decided that in the future we're going to split our stays between BCV & BWV. We're planning to stay 3 nights at BCV then 6 nights at BWV, so we're thinking that we'll just pack what we need for the first few days in 1 or 2 suitcases and leave the others in the car. That way we won't have a bunch of stuff to deal with. I do know that you can have bell services arrange to move your stuff, but since we moved offsite we weren't able to take advantage of that. We love both resorts so much that we want to enjoy both. Your idea of splitting a value & deluxe is great!

 

[goin2disneyagain]

I've done it several times. It's really not that big a deal. We have always moved ourselves.

 

[rcraw45425]

because we'll be doing so this trip. 3 nights at Wilderness Lodge then move over to the Polynesian for the Halloween Party for two more nights. The only trouble I see will be getting evrything packed up (includung costumes for two princesses). We will be driving our own car so th emove won't be too bad. Plus I talked DH into going on Tuesday so we won't feel compelled to try to go to a park and move hotels, eat at Ohanas and make the party all on Friday. This is our third trip this year so we can take things a little more leisurely since we have a feel for the parks. Try it if you can, I always like to see and try new hotels. HTH, off to finish packing now

 

[Mich Mouse]

I found resort hopping to be more difficult than anticipated......We did 5 nights at AKL and 5 nights at the Poly. I really did not like the packing and unpacking, re-checking in, and being homeless for the day. I also felt like I did not have sufficient time to really enjoy all of the recreational activities each resort offered.

We've decided that it is more of a vacation for us to stay at one resort.

Live and Learn. Some people love to experience two resorts on one trip. I always wanted to as well, but from experience have found that it is something I will never do again.

 

[robinb]

I hate to resort hop, but I end up doing it almost every trip .

We're DVC members, so I usually mix a regular Disney resort in with my DVC resort. Weekend nights are twice as "expensive" as weekday nights with DVC so we often stay somewhere over the weekend. Personally, I don't like "hopping" for less than 3 nights. I just can't get settled into a resort and enjoy it in that short of time. The disadvantages for me are (1) packing part way through my trip, (2) packing swimsuits, etc seperatly so we can use either resort's facilities, (3) possibly being "homeless" until 4:00 pm or sometimes later, (4) buying refillable mugs for more than one resort.

You may be happier at a moderate resort for the whole time.

 

[oogieboogie]

We split stay for several reasons, one because we want to try out all the WDW resorts if we can, and two because DH doesn't like to stay in one hotel for too long of a period.

When we do the move from one place to the other, we wake up really early and try to check-in by 7am. That way, if the room is ready great, and if not we can go straight to the parks and we wouldn't have to break the day by checking in later on.

So far in 4 trips with split stays, we've only had one time where our room wasn't ready. All the other times, our room was ready and we were able to move in right away. Check-in at 7am also helps cause there was never a line and we were done in 15 minutes.

I think what also helped us was that we always have a car which made moving around so much easier.

 

[greendoor678]

I prefer to stay at the same resort for the entire stay, if possible.
However, I'll be visiting soon and we will be staying offsite for one night before checking into our Disney Resort.
This is only b/c we will be arriving so late and just needed somewhere to crash. We probably won't even bring in all of our luggage that night, but just the necessities.

When I've resort hopped in the past it seems that the time I spend having to repack and unpack my clothes/toiletries to move to the new resort seems to take some enjoyment from my day.
We usually have a lot of food items too and so that's even more time spent packing and unpacking.

My family is always on the go on our WDW trips and we spend most of our time at the parks so all the packing and unpacking takes time from our vacation.
But we are always looking to save a few dollars too, and sometimes that means moving to a different resort if needed.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

We've split our resort stay for the last two trips, and really like it. The only disadvantage we've found is not getting enough of the first resort before heading off to the second, as someone else pointed out. Our first split-stay was for 2 days each, not quite enough, but our second was 3 days each, much better.

We haven't had any problem with packing and unpacking. It's only DD and I now, my DH and 2 DS's have decided they are tired of WDW. So we pack pretty light, just a duffle bag for each of us, plus a bag for our excess like medicine, toiletries, etc. We usually pack one bag for the first resort, another for the second resort. When we check in, we unpack our clothes for the first part of our stay, and as we use them, re-pack the dirty clothes in the empty duffle. This way, all we have to do is pack up our toiletries and head to the second resort.

We also find it much easier to get up early and grab a taxi to the second resort, it's only about $13-$14 + tip, well worth it for the convenience IMO.

Good luck, and hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[GailT]

Been there done that. We move ourselves ( have a rental car). I live out of my suitcases no matter if I stay one night o r 1 week, just easier for me. One time I did one night at AKL then went one night at the Poly then 3 nights at BWI. I enjoyed doing it and seeing the 3 different deluxes. In November I am staying 5 night at BWI C, that is a first for me but i can't wait till I go. Good luck no matter what you chose to do, you wil have a FUNtastic time

 

[joats]

We just did a split stay AKL/WL. Never did it before and loved it! No real disadvantages as we don't really unpack - vacation out of our suitcases. The advantages: getting to try a new resort was good. But best of all, it made our vacation feel so much longer. It was if we went on two trips. We've stayed for longer trips (to one resort) in the past, but this felt the longest...it was great!!

 

[missypie]

We're trying it...5 nights at YC, then 5 at CR. I'll probably get a bit grumpy, because I tend to be the packer and unpacker...but DH really wanted to stay at CR and I wanted YC, so we'll do it.

 

[astraltravel]

If you are staying longer than 6 days I recommend it. We split our stay a year ago in Sept., staying at the Swan for 5 nights then going over to AKL for 5 nights. It helped that we had a rental car and did the moving ourselves.
We are going back in April and will start out with 4 nights at POR and then YC for 5 nights. You feel like you are going on two different vacations and you get the full experience of sampling the different resorts. In 04 we stayed at POR for 14 days and had I thought about it then, we would have switched. It just never occured to me to make the change. It seems to be a trend with many Disney regulars and I understand why. Variety is the spice of Life, even at Disney.
Best regards,
astraltravel

 

[hookedup]

I am not a big fan of it unless you are staying at least a couple of weeks at WDW. We have done several split stays (mainly to experience different resorts not because we had to) and although our transfers went very smoothly we still felt like the day was shot. It seemed like just as we were getting settled in we had to pack up and move. We worried about our bags, we did not enjoy it and frankly having to pack and unpack was a pain.
Once we had our laptop with us and and had to lug it around all day too since we did not want to leave it with the bell desk. Another time we were able to check in at the next resort at 11:00 which was great but our bags did not show up until nearly 4:30, and we had PS's at 5:00, it totally screwed up our dinner plans.
If I were to ever consider doing it again it would be because I was at WDW for an extended stay and got to be at each resort at least a week. Then it would be nice to have a change of scenery and losing a day to relocating would not seem like such a big deal.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My DH and I just split a stay with 2 nights at CBR and 2 at WL. I would have to say that 2 is my minumum nights at any resort, 3 being better.

Since it was only the two of us it wasn't a big deal, but we've also done it when going with all four of our kids. The trick with that is staying very organized and not spreading everything out in the hotel room.

I plan to split my stay when I go to WDW this January with my 11yo. He thinks I'm crazy for wanting to do this, BTW. We'll be there for 5 nights so will stay at one place 2 nights and the other 3 nights, hopefully the first two at Pop and the next 3 at POFQ.

Since my goal is staying in all the resorts I need to do this!

T&B