Saving money w/ a Split Stay?

[StirlingSilver83]

Ok I see a ton of people on here that do Split Stays because it saves them money. I want to know how exactly they do this. I am planning a trip back to the world in 2017. We were planning on staying at the Poly the whole time, but my older DS wants something with a little more (kid friendly) theme to it. My dates for the trip are going to be check in on March 17 and check out on Sundy, March 26. I ran some mock figures between AoA and the Poly for a split stay but its still coming out more pricey than if we just stay at the Poly the whole time. We normally do Deluxe Dining so I know I would have to get the Dining Plan for both reservations...when it comes to tickets do you buy all your tickets on 1 reservation vs buying tickets for each separate reservation? Also for memory maker...do I have to buy it for both reservations or just 1 reservation and they will keep adding pictures to my account for a certain number of days afterwards? Any other insight from Split Stay pros on here would be great! I do know if we do a Split stay we would stay at AoA first and check out on wednesday (this is our rest day that I have figured into our schedule) and then check into poly on Wednesday and Check out of poly on that Sunday. Thanks so much!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I don't know why he thinks Poly isn't kid-friendly. It is very kid-friendly as a theme. There's a volcano! My son likes to pretend he is sacrificing little sister to volcano gods there!

A couple things:
1. You don't have to get a Dining Plan on each reservation. On a split stay, you can have a dining plan on only one reservation.

2. It's usually better to attach the tickets for the entire stay to your first reservation, and have the second be room-only or a ticketless package. Buying the tickets separately adds cost, since you don't start getting into the multi-day sweet spot.

3. Memory Maker is bought once, associated to the tickets.

 

[rwdavis2]

Keep in mind that although we here call it a "split stay" WDW sees it as 2 completely separate reservations. But I think there is a way to link the 2 in your MDE account.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Thanks! I love the poly but he sees pics of AoA and loves the big theme stuff like cars and what not lol...me personally would just like to stay at poly the entire time. We are also HUGE fans of Disney dining...is there anyway to attach Disney dining to the 2nd reservation without getting tickets on there? I think it would just be better to stay at poly the whole time, lol...mom might have to overrule in this case LOL

 

[Pkltm]

Thanks! I love the poly but he sees pics of AoA and loves the big theme stuff like cars and what not lol...me personally would just like to stay at poly the entire time. We are also HUGE fans of Disney dining...is there anyway to attach Disney dining to the 2nd reservation without getting tickets on there? I think it would just be better to stay at poly the whole time, lol...mom might have to overrule in this case LOL

You can add Dining to a room, some people call it a ticketless package buy calling, it cannot be done online.

 

[AshleeH]

Well, to start off - and this might be a harsh and unpopular opinion - but if any of my kids ever thinks he or she has an opinion about where we stay because the theme isn't what they have in mind, I would laugh in their face and tell him he can choose the hotel when he pays for the vacation.

The way a split-stay saves money for some people is to do a deluxe for part of the stay and then a moderate for part of the stay. Or a deluxe and then Wilderness Lodge (still a deluxe, but closer to moderates in price). We did this for one and only one trip - it was a nightmare on the day we switched and we lost half a park day, so I'll never do it again - but it did end up saving us money. This wasn't by design - we wanted to stay at the Contemporary the whole week but it was booked for half a week as this was a spur of the minute trip.

However, I've seen a lot of people who like to upgrade to a deluxe in the second half of their stay. In theory, yes, that does save you money if you're treating the deluxe as a treat for the second half of the vacation. It's just whatever fits with your budget. I'm sure there's more ways to save, but that's the most common reason I see for them.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thanks! I love the poly but he sees pics of AoA and loves the big theme stuff like cars and what not lol...me personally would just like to stay at poly the entire time. We are also HUGE fans of Disney dining...is there anyway to attach Disney dining to the 2nd reservation without getting tickets on there? I think it would just be better to stay at poly the whole time, lol...mom might have to overrule in this case LOL

Doing a Poly/AoA split really won't save any money as the AoA suites typically price out as much as a standard room at a deluxe.

If you want to do the split with Dining attached to both, you could do this:

First reservation: AoA with length of stay tickets, plus dining plan
Second reservation: Poly with dining plan (as a PP mentioned, this is called a "ticketless package" and needs to be called in)

You don't mention how old your son is, but we stayed at AoA when my son was 4 1/2 and the novelty of the big characters wore off after one night. Then we were stuck in an uncomfortable, loud value resort. I couldn't wait to leave. As you are already leaning toward staying at the Poly the whole time (which is FAR more comfortable and VERY kid friendly!), I would suggest staying at the Poly and, maybe, visiting AoA so your DS can see the statues, take pictures, etc. IMHO, that is the novelty of that resort. The Cars section, in particular, IMHO, is pretty cool, but I still don't want to sleep there! Perhaps as a trade-off, he could go to Lilo's Playhouse for an evening or do the pirate cruise out of GF? Those are kid-centric and my DS (who is now 8) would much, much rather go to one of the kids clubs.

Poly is really awesome for kids. I really would consider simply staying there the whole time!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Yeah, going from the Poly to AOA suite won't save you much money. Especially if you really must have dining plan on both reservations (just make sure you book tickets for length of stay with the first resort and a ticketless package with the second. You can't book a ticketless package online, only by phone. This will mean you won't have to pay huge amounts of money purchasing two separate sets of tickets.)

If you have two room reservations, even if they are consecutive, even if you have consecutive ones at the same resort, to Disney they are completely separate reservations. If they are at the same resort and the same category you can "link" them, which doesn't mean much, but it might mean you get to stay in the same room. If they are in different resorts you can't "link" them to each other. They will both show in your MDX account, but as separate reservations.

 

[happymommy]

Well, to start off - and this might be a harsh and unpopular opinion - but if any of my kids ever thinks he or she has an opinion about where we stay because the theme isn't what they have in mind, I would laugh in their face and tell him he can choose the hotel when he pays for the vacation.

I kind of have to agree. When my kids were little, they never had any say in where we stayed. Now, last year when my DD (then 16) and I went, we chose Pop because she thought it looked cool (and so did I, and we got a great deal on it). Other than that, really we're paying and so we choose where to stay.

I've done a couple stays where we had to move. I personally HATE it, but it just worked out that way (twice it was that we were arriving a day or two earlier than our rental of a Disney villa that we got off redweek). It's a pain to move. I like to unpack and be done. This past trip, we had two nights at Pop (just me and the kids - and the room is nice for two but definitely not a great place for more people than that). We didn't unpack. Then we moved over to the AKL Kidani to our one bedroom villa. I couldn't wait to unpack and get settled in for the week! We hung out in the lobby, walked to the Mara for lunch, and basically had to kill time.

If you found where you want to stay, go for it. I honestly don't know if it's even worth taking a bus over to AOA. I did walk around it last summer, and it's cute, but not worth the trip. I do enjoy visiting other deluxe resorts some trips (didn't this past trip though) for a drink and look around.

 

[bumbershoot]

We normally do Deluxe Dining so I know I would have to get the Dining Plan for both reservations.

That's why it's costing more, b/c you're seeing the prices of double-tickets.

is there anyway to attach Disney dining to the 2nd reservation without getting tickets on there?

Call for a ticketless package on the second one. This only works if you're looking at paid dining plan; if looking at free dining, you have to get tickets for each package. (though you can get minimal tickets for the second package and save them)

 

[Ensusieasm]

Ok I see a ton of people on here that do Split Stays because it saves them money. I want to know how exactly they do this. I am planning a trip back to the world in 2017. We were planning on staying at the Poly the whole time, but my older DS wants something with a little more (kid friendly) theme to it. My dates for the trip are going to be check in on March 17 and check out on Sundy, March 26. I ran some mock figures between AoA and the Poly for a split stay but its still coming out more pricey than if we just stay at the Poly the whole time. We normally do Deluxe Dining so I know I would have to get the Dining Plan for both reservations...when it comes to tickets do you buy all your tickets on 1 reservation vs buying tickets for each separate reservation? Also for memory maker...do I have to buy it for both reservations or just 1 reservation and they will keep adding pictures to my account for a certain number of days afterwards? Any other insight from Split Stay pros on here would be great! I do know if we do a Split stay we would stay at AoA first and check out on wednesday (this is our rest day that I have figured into our schedule) and then check into poly on Wednesday and Check out of poly on that Sunday. Thanks so much!

Instead of a split stay, take a sightseeing adventure over to AoA and Pop to see and take photos with all the cool themed decor and icons. Eat lunch at the big food court. Then take a bus from there back to a park. It's a good compromise.

 

[loves to dive]

I agree with others that by going AoA you aren't going to save money, it's way overpriced for a value resort. I also agree I wouldn't give my kid a choice, I still don't and he's an adult. If mama pays, mama picks, you pay you get to pick.

Having said that, I do split stays with usually a moderate for the first night or two and then switch to a deluxe. I do it for two reasons, I'm on a mission to stay at every resort, a mission I've already had to compromise on since having stayed at PoP and ASSp I've sworn no more value resorts. The second reason is I drive down, getting there around 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon and it's just not worth it for me to pay for a deluxe for that first night, yes I can afford it, just seems silly. Usually it's two nights since you have to take a bus to AK no matter where you stay so I do my AK day that first full day, I tend to stay in the Epcot resorts since Epcot and HS are my favorite resorts and I have an AP so I can just walk through Epcot and take the monorail to MK, which for me is a half day park. As far as the unpacking issue, since I drive I just take a small bag for those first two nights and I have a hanging toiletry bag that I just switch from bag one to bag two. I never miss any park time on move day, I get up early even on vacation because I'm not young and don't sleep much, so I get up, check out of resort one and drive over to resort two, usually around 7 or 7:30, check in. The room usually isn't ready but no problem, I either give my bags to bell services to store or just leave them in the car (if you don't drive Disney will move them for you and store them). I then just go to whatever park I was planning on going to, if I'm ready to leave when I get the text my room is ready, I leave if I'm not ready I just do my thing until I am. I go back to the resort when I'm ready and either grab my bag out of my car or go by BS and get it or call them from my room and they bring it up. I do save money since the difference a moderate is usually about $180/night (discounts) and a deluxe can be anywhere from $350 to $400 (again discounts). So that can be a savings of close to $400. People who don't drive tend to use packing cubes or big ziploc bags, just pull out the cubes (bags) for the days of the first stay and unpack those. Put the dirty clothes back in them and move them to the bottom of the suitcase.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Thanks everyone for your tips! I do have a "rest" day planned so maybe we can do some resort hopping and just visit AoA instead of doing Disney Springs...I know my kids and hubby would much rather do that than walk around a shopping district lol...my kids and my hubby all dislike Disney springs lol they complain the entire time they are there...so I see this as possibly a good compromise lol...my MIL might also be joining us for some of the time (she has a timeshare in FL) so maybe one night my hubby and kids can have a pool night and hang out at the resort and my MIL and I can hit Disney Springs for a little bit lol

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks everyone for your tips! I do have a "rest" day planned so maybe we can do some resort hopping and just visit AoA instead of doing Disney Springs...I know my kids and hubby would much rather do that than walk around a shopping district lol...my kids and my hubby all dislike Disney springs lol they complain the entire time they are there...so I see this as possibly a good compromise lol...my MIL might also be joining us for some of the time (she has a timeshare in FL) so maybe one night my hubby and kids can have a pool night and hang out at the resort and my MIL and I can hit Disney Springs for a little bit lol

That's a great idea, sometimes a little free me time is exactly what one needs in the midst of WDW madness!

And I would also stay at Poly the entire time. For simplicity's and sanity's sake. I changed hotels 3 times last trip to Orlando... And left something in the hotel each time! And I'm a seasoned adult traveler! I can't imagine attempting that with children. (Also Poly being a monorail or boat ride away from MK really cuts down on travel time leaving more pool and sleep time!) Don't underestimate the value of simplicity and maintaining your sanity on a trip to WDW

 

[gorkt]

One of my early trips with the kids, I did a split stay where I rented DVC points for the cheaper point total of Sunday-Thursday and then stayed at All-Star Suites on the prior Friday and Saturday night. I probably saved $600-700 over staying at the Boardwalk alone the whole time. DEFINITELY put the "cheaper" room first. The Boardwalk felt like a palace in comparison!