Multi-room

[kev kendall]

Do many people have one holiday when they swap and change venues.... isn't that alot of packing and unpacking and half days just moving and checking in and out? What are peoples experiences?

 

[Miffy2003]

Kev, me again (sorry)

You will get more answers if you post this on UK Trip Planning

My experience is that I love changing resorts while at WDW. It gives an extra dimension to the holiday! It can be a pain if you do it too often but with a bit of planning there is no need for too much packing / unpacking. I "pack" for lengths of stay, so see what I did last holiday as an example:

Got to Orlando, spent one night at Caribbean Beach Resort (this was because we landed late on a Saturday and I didn't want to use the DVC points )Because I knew we were only there for one night I had one small bag with everything we all needed for one night and left all our other cases packed. We had our luggage delivered direct to our room by Disney's Magical Express and the next day we phoned Bell Services who picked the cases up and moved them to our next resort

Then twelve nights at Boardwalk Villas. We unpacked completely here as we were here for so long. At the end, we called Bell services again who moved our luggage. At this point we had another week in Orlando so packed one suitcase with enough stuff for a week and left the rest of the luggage as it was as we knew the next time we opened it would be at home.

Two nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge - used our one suitcase (see above) but didn't unpack properly - did not seem much point for 2 nights

Five nights at Saratoga Springs - we did unpack completely, but only our single case so this took 10 minutes only.

I do think there would come a point where you could be packing and unpacking too much, definitely but the above worked really well for us (we were lucky enough to be there for 3 weeks though, I am not sure I would have wanted all those changes in a 2 week stay)

 

[kev kendall]

This makes lots of sense...
You're brilliant!!!

Is is easy to move the thread? Do I just retype it on trip planning?

 

[Frances999]

DH hates it when we move resorts as he prefers to get settled into one place for the whole trip. However, I really like experiencing different hotels whilst away and find the unpacking/packing not too tedious.

I think I would get annoyed if I was somewhere for fewer than 3 or 4 nights, as I like to totally unpack everything. However, Karen's idea about using specific cases sounds good

If you are switching from a Disney hotel to a Disney hotel then it is a breeze. They take care of everything for you - all you need to do is get yourselves to your new hotel.

 

[Miffy2003]

Yes, just post it again on Trip Planning - you could copy & paste it to save time & effort

 

[Bexx]

When the children are a bit older and we don't need quite so many bits and pieces, I would definitely like to change resorts at least once during our holiday. Although most of my points are at Old Key West, I do have enough Beach Club Villas points to book a reasonable stay there. As wonderful as the villas are at OKW I would love to spend some of my holiday within walking distance of my favourite park!!

When it comes to the time, I shall try using your excellent strategy Karen.

 

[mikki.young]

Our next trip we are splitting between VWL, BCV and OKW so we can enjoy the different benefits of the locations. The first time we split a trip it was traumatic but we learnt the trick and it is quite easy now!

 

[Bexx]

The first time we split a trip it was traumatic but we learnt the trick and it is quite easy now!

Would you like to share your strategy with us too?!!

 

[TinkTatoo]

We did the same as Miffy - we spent the first 3 weeks in a villa so unpacked completely. During this time we went to Vero beach for two nights so only took one bag with our stuff in. When it was time to leave the villa we packed most things as if we were going home and had one case with the stuff we would need for our 5 nights at OKW. When we were leaving OKW we only needed to re-pack the one bag

 

[mikki.young]

Would you like to share your strategy with us too?!!

I think it is really two things that make it simpler if you are moving resorts: Pack less to start with and take more bags than you need. It is so much easier to move 4 lightish bags than 3 heavy ones. We also try to limit our shopping till the last move!

If you are going away for a couple of nights then most resorts at Disney will hold your large cases for you while you just take a small bag of stuff for that trip.

 

[KayleeUK]

Last trip we did.....VWL, HRH, BCV and then BWV, in fourteen nights.

Never again. I hated moving that much, we have moved once in a trip before, so maybe I would do this again, but never four resorts

 

[Hilary]

We always move around when we go to Florida, as we spend time in other parts as well as in Orlando. It just seems a logical extension of this to stay in more than one place in Orlando too!

The trip before last was a bit too much of a good thing when we had too much moving around (something like 7 check-ins in 18 nights, including the airport hotel each end of the trip ), but this year we had:

3 nights in Universal's Royal Pacific Resort, concentrating on USF and IOA,
6 nights at Estero Beach on the Gulf Coast
5 nights in SSR

This worked really well for us - we find that the whole trip seems much longer if we break it up into a few destinations. With a 16yr old and a 21yr old in tow we try to keep the four-in-one-hotel-room reservations to the minumum and get those out of the way at the beginning of the trip (when we're all still talking to each other ) and spread out into the condo / DVC accommodation for the rest of the trip.

I think we'd get itchy feet if we stayed in the same place for two weeks now!

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
We found the simplest way was to check-out early from the room you are leaving, then go straight to your next check-in and if the rooms ready (unlikely) ok. If not leave your bags with the porters and collect them at the end of your day. We usually pack a day bag with essentials in which we leave in the car or in a locker at the parks. This way you dont't waste any time hanging about in hotels.

Mick.

 

[mikki.young]

If you are moving between Disney hotels then you don't need to move your own luggage as Disney will do it for you at no charge.

Thinking about changes I think one change is fairly easy, 2 is OK if going for at least 2 weeks but if doing lots of changes I would think you would want at least 5 nights in each place unless it is a quick side trip without the luggage.

Our next trip the first 2 stays are in studio rooms but we are finishing up in the massive OKW one bedroom - definitely would not want to do that in reverse!