Split stay? 1/2 on 1/2 off?

[asmit4]

Has anyone done a split stay with 1/2 onsite and 1/2 off? If so, why and how many nights was your trip in total?

 

[spiceycat]

7 offsite - 2 onsite

sheraton vistana resort and Pop century. pick 2 days that I would love EMH for onsite

so really only stayed for 7 nights

 

[Befferk]

In 2008, I think we did 7 nights on, 3 nights off. We moved offsite for the last 3 because it was President's Day Weekend/Daytona 500 weekend and Disney really jacked up the room price for those dates. We were able to stay offsite at Windsor Hills in a townhouse for less money for those days. It worked out well because we were done with the parks by that point and were going to the Daytona 500. It was nice to split up the vacation a bit, made it seem longer.

 

[Disney Ella]

We have done two split stays: AKL (4 nights) and Cypress Point Grande Villas (4 nights) and Sheraton Vistana Resort (4 nights) and CSR (3 nights). After the first time, I learned to schedule the Disney part of the stay last. No one was happy when we moved from AKL to Cypress Pointe, even though we had much more room at CP. They said they wanted to look forward to staying on Disney property, rather than having to leave it to go somewhere else.

 

[asmit4]

Ella- I think that's a very interesting perspective. I think as a parent I'd be looking forward to the big house with pool and LOTS of space. I spose maybe as a child I'd want to be onsite. I hadn't even thought about which one to do first. Very interesting perspective

 

[swilshire]

We did it once a few years ago for free dining. Three or four nights at Pop Century then a week at a Summer Bay pool house. The living room of the house was bigger than our room at Pop Century.

Sheila

 

[Alexander]

We are staying 7 nights at the Beach Club 12/17 to 12/24, then moving to the Bonnet Creek Resort 12/24 to 12/31. We want to be at a Disney resort while we tour the parks, etc., but not from 12/24 to 12/31! Waaaay toooo busy that week! We also wanted the big 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek so we can do a big Christmas for the kids. Lots of room for decorations and presents. We will be primarily relaxing the second week, and will have lots of room to spread out at Bonnet Creek.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We did it once a few years ago for free dining. Three or four nights at Pop Century then a week at a Summer Bay pool house. The living room of the house was bigger than our room at Pop Century.

Sheila

Did you like Summer Bay?
How long did it take to drive to the parks- 15-20 minutes?

 

[Disney Ella]

Ella- I think that's a very interesting perspective. I think as a parent I'd be looking forward to the big house with pool and LOTS of space. I spose maybe as a child I'd want to be onsite. I hadn't even thought about which one to do first. Very interesting perspective

That's what I thought too! I thought they would like the chance to spread out after all of us being in one room for four nights, but instead I heard, "I want to go back to Animal Kingdom Lodge."

 

[asmit4]

We are staying 7 nights at the Beach Club 12/17 to 12/24, then moving to the Bonnet Creek Resort 12/24 to 12/31. We want to be at a Disney resort while we tour the parks, etc., but not from 12/24 to 12/31! Waaaay toooo busy that week! We also wanted the big 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek so we can do a big Christmas for the kids. Lots of room for decorations and presents. We will be primarily relaxing the second week, and will have lots of room to spread out at Bonnet Creek.

How were the parks 12/17-12/24...this is a GREAT idea! I love the idea of going for Christmas but NOT going for Christmas when it's NUTZ! LOL!

 

[grandmadebby]

We did a split 4 nights on and used ME to get to the resort, but my daughter drove and also had a car. Then we did 4 nights at Bonnet Creek. Loved the dining plan when we stayed on sight but loved the room at Bonnet Creek. We bought our tickets with Disney resort for the full length of the stay at both places.

 

[swilshire]

Did you like Summer Bay?
How long did it take to drive to the parks- 15-20 minutes?

We have stayed at Summer Bay several times and really like it. 15 minutes is probably a good estimate for the travel time.

The pool houses are spectacular. Two master suites plus a third bedroom. The boys loved having their own little screened in pool. There is even a garage to keep your vehicle cool and you can go straight into the kitchen from the garage.

Sheila

 

[VinnyNYC]

Usually stay off site, but this year in August we are staying 7 nights at the Old Key West Resort (RCI exchange) and 3 night at the Sheraton Vistana Villages. We have never stayed on site, so I'm looking forward to see how we like it.

 

[disneysnob]

We always do a split stay. We like onsite first-usually 3-4 nights, then we do a week at Sheraton vistana, 2 bdr. We enjoy the onsite perks, and being fully immersed in Disney.. but with 3 growing teens, 3 nights is usually plenty in a hotel room. I also like to go offsite last because I usually have plenty laundry to do, and we look forward to spreading out. The villas offsite are so much cheaper than staying at a DVC.

 

[Vivianne]

We've been doing split stays for a while.

Last April 2 nights WL we did MK EMH. Then went to a private pool home for 4 nights. Back to Dolphin for 2 nights, did Epcot EMH and finally did Coronado Springs for 1 night. Flew home the next day. Of course, we always rent a car.

 

[Syndrome]

We do split stays quite a bit. Ironically we like to tour the Disney parks when we are staying OFF site. This year we are staying at a condo in the Lindfields development for 1 week, and touring the parks commando style the first week. Then we move to Royal Pacific at Universal for 5 days to tour those parks only with the on site express pass . Finally we are headed over to The Poly Club level Theme Park view (thanks 40% off pin !!!) to just wind down our vacation and enjoy the resort that we are paying for, and not going to ANY parks! Yes, I know it sounds strange but we prefer to stay off site when we tour the Disney parks as we never do the extra hours parks anyway. We like to stay at the Disney deluxe resorts to enjoy the resorts and "get our moneys worth". Our family usually gets bored if we stay one place too long. For us it works out great to split stays because we always go away for at least 2 weeks at a time.
Syndrome

 

[horseshowmom]

How were the parks 12/17-12/24...this is a GREAT idea! I love the idea of going for Christmas but NOT going for Christmas when it's NUTZ! LOL!

We did this a few years ago (12/16-12/23), and it worked great for us. Although our family had been to Disney many, many times, DD's BF (now husband) had never been, and I wanted it to be especially nice for him. I signed up for Tourguide Mike (got a discount through this site) and followed his directions.

Everybody was amazed. My husband kept talking about there being a pretty good crowd there but that we always seemed to be where the crowd was not. It was well worth the $20 it cost me.

The only time we had problems with the crowd was when I didn't follow his advice.

 

[peterandlisa]

We have split the last few trips - we usually go to Florida 2 weeks and have spent anywhere from 3 to 5 nights at a universal property (royal pacific or hard rock). We LOVE universal as much as we love Disney ... and when you stay at one of the Universal resorts you get unlimited front of the line pass - which is an AMAZING benefit. It is like an unlimited fast pass for every ride - and even moves you up in line at the restaurants. You can purchase the unlimited front of the line pass - but for us to purchase one for our family of 4 would be more than the nights stay at the hotel costs.
Royal Pacific is beautiful - but Hard Rock is our favourite .... and a very close walk to universal.

 

[Smithkids]

We have not done a split stay yet, but the way I am planning our next trip we will. We plan on doing not only Disney, but Seaworld and Universal/IOA- so if you stay at Universal Hotel it is walking distance and you get FOTL perk included in hotel cost.

Yet, we like to stay onsite at Disney while we tour WDW so we can use Disney transportation...