So....opinions on doing split stay, Poly and AKL-Kidani

[MJB62676]

I'm considering trying to change a stay from all Poly Lake view to part Poly Lake View and part AKL Kidani Savana view 1BR. Any tips or advice? Stay put, or try out the split stay?

 

[bobbiwoz]

For how long? I like them both. Why are you even considering it?

 

[MJB62676]

We are new Poly Owners, and I noted there may be 7 month availability at Kilani 1BR....wife wants to check out Savana view. We are there for a week, so considering 4 nights at Poly, then 3 at Kidani. Stayed at OKW in 1 BR in December and loved it. Me being the adventurer, I wanna try them all. And, I wanna try Boma, and noted it can be a bit of a pain to get out there from one of the other resorts for a breakfast reservation.

 

[MJB62676]

I would add that in Dec. 2017, we were park warriors. This time, I imagine we will hit all four, but not as worried about "doing everything" as we kinda ran hard last time. I'd like some relaxation as we are also new AP holders which will be activated when we arrive. PLanning at least 2, maybe 3 weeks between 12/1/18 and 11/30/19, to take advantage of AP's.

 

[Marionnette]

We are new Poly Owners, and I noted there may be 7 month availability at Kilani 1BR....wife wants to check out Savana view. We are there for a week, so considering 4 nights at Poly, then 3 at Kidani. Stayed at OKW in 1 BR in December and loved it. Me being the adventurer, I wanna try them all. And, I wanna try Boma, and noted it can be a bit of a pain to get out there from one of the other resorts for a breakfast reservation.

I'm not a huge fan of split stays, especially when dealing with the 1- and 2-bedroom villas because you have your kitchen to pack up in addition to your luggage. Four nights here and 3 nights there doesn't give you enough time to get settled in at either resort and appreciate it. AKV is large and usually easy to book as a non-home resort. There will be other opportunities to stay there. You're going to be a DVC owner for a long time. Do Poly now, AKV on another stay.

 

[kniquy]

Poly Lake View and part AKL Kidani Savana

We did just this a couple weeks ago - we did 3 poly and 4 kidani. Transferring resorts is super easy and i was actually very impressed with how quickly bell services came to pick up our luggage and when we arrived at kidani in the late afternoon they were very prompt with bring up our luggage. They handled the food well and noted what needed to be refrigerated. The only thing to do is to adjust your park touring based on where you are staying. So for us we did Epcot and MK the days we were at Poly and then we did AK once we moved to kidani. The only negative that i can find in our trip was that the bus ride to MK is slightly longer from kidani (about 25 minutes) -- that was the only aspect that we had to adjust to. The other bus rides to Epcot and HS were only about 15 minutes. We actually liked the slower pace and quietness of kidani compared to poly. The restaurants at AKL blow ohana out of the water --we did Boma breakfast and Sanna dinner both were excellent. At kidani we did not have a savanna view but there were more than enough areas which were just a quick walk from our room. We also felt the pool area at kidani to be nicer than the poly pools - poly pools are more open whereas the kidani pool seems more tropical and some areas more secluded.

It is nice to almost get 2 vacations in one. The only time i wouldn't do a split is if it were a shorter trip, but with a 3/4 split you get a nice taste of both resorts.

 

[Mather50]

my .02, if you have kids, split stays are a real pain...otherwise they are tolerable, but not a personal preference for us.

 

[kniquy]

if you have kids

It does really depend on the age of the kids. We did a split with 3 kids - 12,12, 4. The older kids could pack up their stuff and we just had to take care of the 4 yo stuff. It isn't a bother if you are organized and can just pack up your belongings - Disney does the rest. It is all in how you plan it. Our poly /kidani split we planned for AK park so we sent off our bags in the morning, headed to AK park then went to kidani around 4 when our room was ready. We had a 5:30 Sanna reservation and then we went back to AK park for the moonlight magic. Aside from packing a few items and making a phone call it didn't add any stress to our day.

Now if you are talking about little ones who depend upon an afternoon nap then yes a split stay can be a problem with being "homeless" from 11a to 4pm. Little kids are a whole different animal.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I've only done a split stay twice, because I had no choice, booked a little late. As a rule I like to unpack my ditties and stay put but it wasn't 1/2 bad.

 

[Mather50]

It does really depend on the age of the kids. We did a split with 3 kids - 12,12, 4. The older kids could pack up their stuff and we just had to take care of the 4 yo stuff. It isn't a bother if you are organized and can just pack up your belongings - Disney does the rest. It is all in how you plan it. Our poly /kidani split we planned for AK park so we sent off our bags in the morning, headed to AK park then went to kidani around 4 when our room was ready. We had a 5:30 Sanna reservation and then we went back to AK park for the moonlight magic. Aside from packing a few items and making a phone call it didn't add any stress to our day.

Now if you are talking about little ones who depend upon an afternoon nap then yes a split stay can be a problem with being "homeless" from 11a to 4pm. Little kids are a whole different animal.

Yeah, I should've noted that we have a 5 and 2 year old so packing/unpacking can be a major undertaking.

 

[Cyberc1978]

We always do a split stays and we travel with a 6yo.

Our first night is always the cheapest room pointwise I can get as we arrive late. Then we add the dining plan for just that day and we get to use the mugs for LOS. For the rest of our stay we may do one more split but it depends on the length. If we only stay 7 days we won’t do more splits but if we stay 9 days we will.

When we move resort we just call bell
Services and get them to bring the luggage to the new resort.

Right now we are staying at AKV Jambo in a 1br. We booked a 1br value but got upgraded to a 1br savannah view magic do happen(that’s what I choose to call it)

Later this week we move to BWV in a 1br standard.

 

[MJB62676]

Thanks, also considering trying to book a full week at AK in summer 2019. I appreciate the input. Cannot wait to get back to WDW. We are getting a disney fix at Vero Beach Labor Day, but it's gonna be a long summer waiting!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you really have to do a split stay, do the studio first and the one bedroom after so you don't suffer from room shrinkage.

 

[cruisin5]

We enjoy split stays. While packing up and can be a pain so can transportation. 4 nights at the Poly and the surrounding parks followed by 3 nights at AKL-Kidani is fine. Disney will move your stuff and keep your fridge/freezer items.

Kidani can be the perfect place to unwind after the parks and Poly.

And honestly, at the 7 month point a split stay can be necessary for anything longer than a few nights IMO.

 

[PicsNPistons]

We also just did this last week. Started out at Poly and moved to AKL. It was great for us and really enjoyed visiting both. As others had mentioned, we planned around where we were staying and trying to visit the closest parks. The transfer was super easy and painless!

 

[4Hawks]

We did a similar split stay last Fall with a 3 year old and a 5 year old. It all went pretty smoothly. My kids LOVED being able to play at different pools. We only had a couple of bags, so packing did not take more than a few minutes.

 

[aoconnor]

This is my favorite split stay. Love Poly but it’s busy and crowded, after a few days moving to AKL is a relaxing treat!

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

I'm in the minority (in this thread anyways) and don't like split stays. The two times we did it things just didn't go smooth. The luggage got "lost" for several hours the first time and second time room wasn't ready until 6pm. I wouldn't do it again with the possible exception of switching to a different view within the same resort.

Lots of people do enjoy split stays and you might too. I'e stayed at both resorts and really like both. But I don't think doing a split stay will aid in finding "some relaxation" on this trip.