Split stay - is this true about tickets?

[left210]

I had read all the reviews on a split stay so we were going to do it for our trip with AKL and BC; however, when I was booking last night the CM told me we had to get two separate tickets to get the dining plan. So for our first stay at AKL for 2 nights we have to buy a 2 day park ticket and then for the next stay at BC we would have to buy a 3 day park ticket. This costs alot more than just buying a 5 day park ticket. Is this correct? That just doesnt make any sense to me why Disney would do that since you are staying in their resorts and a 5 day park ticket would cover your entire stay. Very frustrating. So we ended up just staying at BC even though our son really wanted to experience AKL.

 

[tobikaye]

Yes, it is true. Each hotel reservation with the dining plan added must include the purchase of theme park tickets to make it a package. Split stays count as separate reservations so the park tickets would have to be bought on each hotel package.

 

[vicki_c]

This is correct, sort of. In Disney terms, there is no such thing as a split stay. Each reservation is its own reservation. If you want the dining plan, you have to book 2 separate packages and each has its own minimum ticket requirement. If you don't care about the dining plan for both parts, then you could add it to the first reservation and purchase tickets long enough to cover both of your resort reservations. The second reservation would then be room-only.

However for the PAID dining plan, you only need to buy a 1 day ticket. For the free dining plan, you have to buy at least a 2 day ticket.

There is no requirement to purchase tickets = to your length of stay.

To have the dining plan for both, you could have purchased the longer ticket with your first reservation, a 1 day ticket with the second and then you could just keep that ticket for a future trip; it doesn't expire if not used. But for people that like to do packages, free dining, etc. - you might end up with that unused ticket for a long time before you find a good way to use it up.

 

[mickeynut1]

Yes, in order to get the dining plan, you must purchase at least a 1 day base ticket, unless it's for free dining, in which case that requires a 2 day base ticket. However, if you really wanted to do the split stay, you can always get the 5 day ticket on your AKL ressie and add just a 1 day base (if it's not free dining) to your BC ressie and save that 1 day ticket for a later trip. There are exceptions, though, for packages without the ticket requirement. A DVC member staying on points (or someone renting points from a DVC member) can add the DDP without having to purchase park tickets......and AP holders can book a Room + Dining package without a ticket purchase.

 

[tlbwriter]

That just doesnt make any sense to me why Disney would do that since you are staying in their resorts and a 5 day park ticket would cover your entire stay.

It's because Disney doesn't recognize, endorse, support, supply, etc., the concept of the "split stay." As far as Disney is concerned, you have two completely separate packages, not one package with two resorts.

 

[Missytara]

Yes, it is true. Each hotel reservation with the dining plan added must include the purchase of theme park tickets to make it a package. Split stays count as separate reservations so the park tickets would have to be bought on each hotel package.

Note vickic's explanation below; you didn't quite take it to the full explanation or suggest the plan shown which would help them tremendously.

I did this myself, booking it for a friend who wanted to add the dining plan. She bought the one-day ticket to upgrade for a future trip and then purchased the ticket for the length of her stay.

If you book the one day ticket under the first stay of just two days, and the second package for the duration of your full trip, you can pick-up your ticket up to two days in advance at guest relations at any park and then have it loaded onto your KTTW card when you check in at your second resort.

People do split stays that way all the time.

 

[Missytara]

It's because Disney doesn't recognize, endorse, support, supply, etc., the concept of the "split stay." As far as Disney is concerned, you have two completely separate packages, not one package with two resorts.

But there are ways of doing it, such as my explanation and vickic's explanation, as long as you are planning another trip in the future.

 

[loganpaulsmom]

I just did this.. (however, I booked through AAA and I wouldn't recommend having 2 ressies that you can't look up yourself, definitely go through Disney for your trip)..
However, I called myself when I was thinking of doing to split stay and even though there were certain things that the CM couldn't tell me (I was already booked under AAA and thus he couldn't really help me because I already had a ressie booked).. He told me how much a night the resorts would be with the discount and he also told me what tickets would be the most cost effective.. I had to purchase at least a 1 day ticket on my split stay second ressie..
Yes, the one day is expensive, and doesn't seem to make sense.. but, if you add anywhere from 4-6 days on one part of your ressie anything after the 4th day is only 3 dollars more per person.. Not bad..

I am splitting my stay between A mod.. and a deluxe..
4 nights each.. first part of my ressie has 4 nights mod, 25% off and reg ddp plus 5 nday hopper..
Deluxe, 4 nights.. 40% off reg. dining and a 1 day ticket..
The difference between the first and the second is about $175, the deluxe being less expensive..

 

[tlbwriter]

But there are ways of doing it, such as my explanation and vickic's explanation, as long as you are planning another trip in the future.

Yes, I was just explaining why you cannot do it direct and above board through Disney. (Not that you're doing anything underhanded!)

 

[Ambassador]

Thanks everyone for this post and comments. We have a room-only reservation for our first part and package for the second. We purchased Park passes for the length of our trip, and understand that we may begin using them at the start of our stay. I am going to callback to verify this is the case.

 

[tobikaye]

Note vickic's explanation below; you didn't quite take it to the full explanation or suggest the plan shown which would help them tremendously.QUOTE]

I'm sorry, I must have missed the memo that we now have to call people out for only answering questions, correctly I might add, and not offering additions information even though the person did not ask for additional information.

 

[JimmyV]

When trying to figure this all out, keep in mind that for most people, the DDP (paid, not the free one) is pretty close to a "break even" proposition. It is convenient and might save a few dollars, but it is not a "savings bonanza". So if you find that you are spending more than you want to for park tickets, skip the DDP and book your split stay as a room only. Then buy your tickets separately, (or through UT), and buy your meals OOP. Most of the time, when purchased a la carte, the cost of the tickets plus OOP meals comes very close to approximating the package cost of what Disney tacks on. Any realized savings from a package is almost always obliterated by having to buy separate 2 and 3 day park passes (for a family of 4) in order to get the DDP.

Assume 2 adults and 2 children doing a split stay with three days at each hotel. If you have to add tickets to your package to get the DDP, your best option is to buy a one day for reservation #1 and a five day for reservation #2 at a cost of $1214. But if you buy 6 day passes that are not part of a package, your cost will be $922 which is a savings of $292. The DDP will not save you $300. Or, as pointed out above, you could buy a 6 and a 1, and not use the 1 until a later trip. That will cost you $1234 and you will have "pre-paid" a day for your next trip, but at a high per day amount.

 

[DCDisney]

When we do a split stay we have done a package at the first resort with the DDP and then the second part we do a room only stay. SO if you stayed at BC first for 3 nights you can actually use those dining credits the day that you check out of BC and into AKL so you'd have very little time without the DDP. We like doing a signature meal without the DDP anyway because generally they aren't twice as expensive as 1 credit meals. It's very inexpensive to add the extra days on your park tickets you buy as part of the package.

 

[Ambassador]

I circled back to Reservation today, and they confirmed that we may receive our MYW passes and gift card at the beginning of our split stay (room only), five days before our package officially starts at the second Resort. They explain this is something new. However, they did recommend checking in at the Resort to complete the transaction, not online.

 

[seashoreCM]

Assume 2 adults and 2 children doing a split stay with three days at each hotel. If you have to add tickets to your package to get the DDP, your best option is to buy a one day for reservation #1 and a five day for reservation #2 at a cost of $1214. .

You should not use both tickets during this vacation. After you start using the 5 day ticket, you can add another day if needed.

As mentioned before, you can pick up the 5 day ticket a day in advance so you can leave the one day ticket in the room safe, to be taken home and saved for the future.

 

[Tara922c]

Could you stay at BC for the first part of your trip, with the dining plan, but stay at AK for your last two nights without the dining plan? You could buy enough days on your tickets to cover your entire stay, but you wont have the dining plan on the last two days. Just choose your favorite places to eat for the first part of your trip. You could even go to places that don't accept the DDP while staying at AKL.

 

[cmanuel]

This is true. Unfortunately there are not many options when it comes to things like this. My family took a trip and my parents joined us for only a portion of it. Unfortunately, when we purchased the meal ticket it could only be purchased for the time of the stay, which meant my parents meal plan had to be for the entire time my family was there.....we tried to make the best out of it and just booked for signature dining to use up there meals. Stinks but they have their rules....

 

[Ambassador]

We need to report the problems we experienced with our Split Stay Package: Passes and Gift Card. As mentioned above, we confirmed with Central Reservations that we could pick up and use our Park Passes and Gift Card at the start of our trip, although the package portion did not begin until the second half of our stay. This idea came from Central Reservations, and we purchased Passes for our entire stay on this basis. But both Resort managers were perplexed and challenged by this arrangement, which was not clearly defined in our portfolio. Ultimately, the Passes were picked up at Guest Relations after an hour, and we were given two Fast Passes for our wait. The Gift Card could not be used until the actual first day of issue, but by not closing out charges from the first Resort, we were able to use the gift card to pay off that earlier balance.
It was way too complicated (as astutely suggested by others here), and next time we will keep it simple: buy the minimum passes required of the package, and wait to get the gift card.

 

[Missytara]

We need to report the problems we experienced with our Split Stay Package: Passes and Gift Card. As mentioned above, we confirmed with Central Reservations that we could pick up and use our Park Passes and Gift Card at the start of our trip, although the package portion did not begin until the second half of our stay. This idea came from Central Reservations, and we purchased Passes for our entire stay on this basis. But both Resort managers were perplexed and challenged by this arrangement, which was not clearly defined in our portfolio. Ultimately, the Passes were picked up at Guest Relations after an hour, and we were given two Fast Passes for our wait. The Gift Card could not be used until the actual first day of issue, but by not closing out charges from the first Resort, we were able to use the gift card to pay off that earlier balance.
It was way too complicated (as astutely suggested by others here), and next time we will keep it simple: buy the minimum passes required of the package, and wait to get the gift card.

Actually, if you check out the Tickets sticky at the top of the Theme Parks and Strategies board, you do have to go to Guest Relations at the Parks to pick up your tickets early - you can do it up to two days early. Then you return to the resort and the concierge deck can add them to your KTTW card.

So that was correct.

 

[sharona]

Seems like the least complicated solution is to book the package part of your stay as the first leg at whatever hotel you're staying at longest and w/ park tickets for the entire length of stay then end your trip w/ a room only stay at the other resort.

That avoids having to buy a second ticket and dealing with the confusion of picking up tickets early. Of course you would have to skip the DDP for the last piece of your stay. As others have stated, your DDP would be effective until midnight of checkout day from your first resort and it really is no great savings if you didn't get free dining.