Split stay Beach Club and Dolphin. Which one first? Complicated...

[Violet Parr]

We are doing a BC/Dolphin split stay because my husband has loads of Starwood points so we can stay for free at the Dolphin for up to 8 nights or so.

We are doing the half Marathon a few days into our stay.

If we do the first half of our trip at BC, the only rooms available are Lagoon. So we would do Lagoon Beach Club and then move over to Dolphin. If we do the second half at Beach Club, then there are Garden and Standard view rooms available. Second half Beach Club would be cheaper. However, we would lose ME for arrival, and I imagine there would be complications with our tickets. Also, we would be at Dolphin for the half marathon, which is less desirable because I'm pretty sure they don't have shuttles to the starting line at 3am. (Would have to confirm that, but I'm 99% sure.) Not sure if there would be ticket complications starting out our trip at Dolphin.

Thoughts?

VP

 

[Violet Parr]

FWIW, I know we lose ME for one way of our trip, but we tend to prefer ME arrival to departure, for obvious reasons!

 

[Violet Parr]

Sorry, one more thing! A perk of staying at BC second is that we would get more nights at BC, so 4 at Dolphin and 6 at BC. But not on race day.

 

[kappyfamily]

We are doing the same thing but for wine and dine. Staying CR for the first part then moving to the Swan for the second part. Then we could get the free magic bands too. Also whenever I split stay I always like doing the shorter stay first then can hunker in for the longer stay. Also, swan/dolphin will have morning race shuttles, but I will be at CR for the race part of my stay. Have a good trip and happy planning!

 

[Violet Parr]

Thanks, Kappyfamily!

If we stay at BC first and get our magic bands there with 10-day tickets attached, we can use those bands for our whole trip, not just the BC part, correct? Obviously it won't work for room charges but we will still have our tickets on there, right?

I think we'll go BC first. It just seems much simpler in the long run!

VP

 

[Hopefully]

I would definitely do the Dolphin first and the Beach Club second. I would want both the longer stay at BC and the more relaxing part of my trip at the Beach Club. For the first part you will be preparing for your race. For the second part you will have completed the race and can rest, relax and enjoy.

 

[cutigerlady]

Are you talking about the 1/2 marathon in January? There will be transportation from the Swan/Dolphin to the race. We just arranged for a town car to get us to the Swan for our upcoming trip.

 

[Violet Parr]

Thanks! Actually, I think the first part of the trip will be the more relaxing part for us. The parks, for those days up to the race are at capacity, and I don't want us to wear ourselves out before the race, so we'll just be doing Expo and kicking back for the first 3 nights, maybe doing Fantasia Gardens and some short Epcot visits. Then after the race, the parks clear out and we plan to be go, go, go. So in that sense, Dolphin second makes more sense.

 

[Violet Parr]

Oh, so good to know! Now I'm really torn! I wonder how tricky the whole magic band and tickets thing would be, though. Although I think we have about 15 magic bands lying around, and the kids wanted their own from the Disney Store for Christmas. I have no clue how to get store-bought magic bands set up with tickets, though.

VP

 

[dansdad]

Oh, so good to know! Now I'm really torn! I wonder how tricky the whole magic band and tickets thing would be, though. Although I think we have about 15 magic bands lying around, and the kids wanted their own from the Disney Store for Christmas. I have no clue how to get store-bought magic bands set up with tickets, though.

VP

As long as your tickets are linked to your MDE account and the Magic Bands are linked to your MDE account you are all set. We each have 6 different Magic Bands linked to our MDE account and we can use the interchangeably for every trip. Think of it this way, your MDE account is your bank account. Tickets, dining credits, etc linked to your MDE account is like money in your bank account. All active Magic Bands are like ATM/Debit cards that allow you access to use/withdraw the money/tickets in your account. There is nothing actually ON the Magic Bands. They are just a vehicle allowing you access to your money/tickets.

 

[Violet Parr]

Well, decision was made for us! Dolphin is now booked solid for the first two days, so Beach Club first it is! Knock on wood, I think I have no changes left to make to this trip!

VP