Question about Split Stays

[wetiger]

DW and I will be taking DS10 and DS5 to WDW in 2013. I will also be paying for DMIL and her husband to accompany us. I DMIL and am more than happy to have her along, particularly because it is understood she and her husband will be sharing/assuming many of the child care duties on our trip. We're "budget-conscious" but since this will be the first WDW trip in many years for most of us and the very first for DS10 and DS5, budget is important but not THE most important factor. We'll be doing many things together as a 6-person group but will be splitting up from time-to-time and sharing child care duties from night to night.

I've been trying to figure out a way to make staying together on-site as a party of 6 work from a budget sense and I can't. The WDW Resorts are not set up to accommodate "large" families like ours (DW and I are both only grandchildren, so it's funny to even consider ourselves a large family). Suites and Villas at the Deluxe Resorts are ridiculously overpriced (comparatively speaking) and DW will not consider a FW Cabin despite my urging. So I'm resigned to the fact that we'll have to stay in separate rooms for our entire 8-night stay. Connecting rooms would be nice but I know they can't be guaranteed and they have the disadvantage of not really allowing the non-child-care couple being not-really-relieved of child care duties.

I've priced this thing every which way I can find, including looking at splitting our stay between two resorts and I think I've found a solution but I know there must be something I'm missing. Here's what I'm thinking:

Instead of trying to have all 6 of us stay in one resort for the entire stay or splitting our stay between 2 resorts, why can't DW and I and our 2 kids reserve a room at one resort and reserve another room at another resort for DMIL and her husband and simply have two of us switch KTTW cards to give us maximum flexibility? We could then access both rooms and use all the amenities at both resorts as long as one of the adults was around. We'd obviously have to figure out a way to pack our luggage to make it work but I don't think that would be too much of a problem.

Doing this would give us the best of all worlds, particularly if we choose one MK Resort and one EP Resort so a room is always relatively close (we'll be spending most of our time at MK and EP) for someone to take a tired/cranky child back to. Plus, we'd have 2 pools and 2 places to rest/freshen up for the entire stay. It seems too easy. What am I missing here?

 

[danceintherain]

Technically, you wouldn't ALL be able to utilize the pools at both resorts as everyone may be expected to show a room key, even the children. If only two people are on one reservation, only two people will be able to utilize the pool at that resort.
The only other flaw I can see is if one set of adults is given a king bed room. The occupancy in these rooms is only supposed to be 2 or 3.

Otherwise your plan seems fine. It would definitely be nice to have somewhere convenient to both of the main parks.
It may be best to have your park tickets removed from your KTTW card (room key) so you don't run into confusion there if someone needs to use a key they wouldn't otherwise need. It probably wouldn't be a problem though, as you would likely keep the same room keys throughout the entire stay, thus using the same park tickets. You could also only have the children's tickets removed from their room keys and give one key to the grandparents. That way the children's tickets can be accessed by both sets of adults without running into issues with room entry.

The only other thing is that my kid seems to sleep best when in the same situation for an entire trip. Every time I move him it takes him a while to get adjusted. He's younger than both your kids though, so it may not be a problem for you anymore.

 

[minijeanie]

I think that is a great idea! The other thing to consider is not staying on disney property. I have heard alot of great things about wyndham bonnet creek resort. They are on disney property and shuttle you to parks.
Of course you would give up the EMH and free transportation from airport but if you ar renting a car this might be the way to go.

Check out the threads for this resort. This August I am staying in SOG but my next trip I am def going to Wyndham..Just makes economical sense

 

[wetiger]

danceintherain:

That makes sense. How about this:

DMIL and her husband will not be on a dining plan, although DW and I (and the boys) will. Since we wouldn't have to purchase a second dining plan for the boys, what if we booked DMIL's room and park passes a la carte and included the boys on the room reservation? That way the boys would have cards at both resorts and since DW and DMIL would switch KTTW cards, both groups would have the boys' park passes and dining credits to use as needed. Biggest drawback I see there is the possibility only one person could accompany them to a resort pool but that might be doable.

Do the resort pools check the identity of the card holder? In other words, if DW and DMIL switch KTTW cards, would they have to prove they were the person on the card to go into the pool? Also, say DW and I had the boys at the "other" resort (where she can get in with DMIL's KTTW card but I can't on my own). Could DW and I switch cards if she wanted to go to the room and I took the boys to the pool?

 

[jlk806]

danceintherain:

That makes sense. How about this:

DMIL and her husband will not be on a dining plan, although DW and I (and the boys) will. Since we wouldn't have to purchase a second dining plan for the boys, what if we booked DMIL's room and park passes a la carte and included the boys on the room reservation? That way the boys would have cards at both resorts and since DW and DMIL would switch KTTW cards, both groups would have the boys' park passes and dining credits to use as needed. Biggest drawback I see there is the possibility only one person could accompany them to a resort pool but that might be doable.

Do the resort pools check the identity of the card holder? In other words, if DW and DMIL switch KTTW cards, would they have to prove they were the person on the card to go into the pool? Also, say DW and I had the boys at the "other" resort (where she can get in with DMIL's KTTW card but I can't on my own). Could DW and I switch cards if she wanted to go to the room and I took the boys to the pool?

No they arent going to ask the cardholder for further identification, they only look at it to verify it is for the correct resort and dates. Some resorts dont even check keys. WHat resorts are you looking at? However if DW and MIL switch key cards, is that your park tickets are on the KTTW cards and they make you use your fingerprint the first time you use it and every time after. But I guess if both of them have the same number of days on their tickets, they could just use the opposite persons from day 1 and every day after.

 

[wetiger]

No they arent going to ask the cardholder for further identification, they only look at it to verify it is for the correct resort and dates. Some resorts dont even check keys. WHat resorts are you looking at? However if DW and MIL switch key cards, is that your park tickets are on the KTTW cards and they make you use your fingerprint the first time you use it and every time after. But I guess if both of them have the same number of days on their tickets, they could just use the opposite persons from day 1 and every day after.

We are considering the Poly and BC. Each is a bit more than I want to spend, so we probably wouldn't consider either resort for a two-room, full group stay. But the extra expense over POR suddenly becomes much more cost-effective if I can figure out a way for us to have rooms and amenities available at those two resorts, particularly considering the convenience factor.