Split stay pros and cons?

[cheryterese]

To those of you who've done a split stay, what were your pros and cons and would you recommend it? We're looking at a 10 day stay split between Contemporary and Yacht Club with 3 kids who would be 12, 10, and 8 at travel time. Our days would most likely be MK4, EP3, AK2, HS1. Thanks!

 

[loves to dive]

I've done a number of them but not with small kids, my kid is 35. I love them, I enjoy getting to try out different resorts. I can do a moderate for a few days when I first arrive and save money and switch over to a deluxe for the rest of the trip. My DIL did not like the one she did with us, we had 2 nights at AKV and 3 nights at BWV. Weird thing was that the whole packing and unpacking was not what bothered her because they never unpack no matter where they go, they just live out of their suitcases. I can't think of a single con to them.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

I've considered, but never booked a split stay. The benefit is experiencing more than one resort...especially if you are going up a category to a mod or deluxe that would otherwise be out of your price range.

Packing and moving is a hassle, though, and will cut into your park or resort time. IMO, that's less of a concern for a long stay vs limited time.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

For longer stays, we do them frequently and I would definitely do one if staying 10 days. We also always split between an MK resort and EP resort as you have planned. Pro's: you get to experience two wonderful resorts and will cut down substantially on transportation time if you do MK while at CR and EP/DHS while at EP. AK you can do from either as you'd have to take a bus either way. Personally, I get a little antsy after 5 nights in one place so love to switch it up to a new resort, new restaurants, pools, etc.

Cons: Having to pack and unpack and having to do ADR's at 180 days twice for the two separate reservations.

 

[CynBeth]

We have done 2 split stays and we have liked them because we usually visit every few years so we get to experience resorts in a shorter amount of time than if we just stayed in 1 every few years. It also feels like several vacations in 1. We rent a car since we do a few other area attractions so for us the move is easy. The only con is not being able to make all ADRs at the same time because it is 2 separate reservations but it is really not that big a deal.

 

[Babsy]

For longer stays, we do them frequently and I would definitely do one if staying 10 days. We also always split between an MK resort and EP resort as you have planned. Pro's: you get to experience two wonderful resorts and will cut down substantially on transportation time if you do MK while at CR and EP/DHS while at EP. AK you can do from either as you'd have to take a bus either way. Personally, I get a little antsy after 5 nights in one place so love to switch it up to a new resort, new restaurants, pools, etc.

Cons: Having to pack and unpack and having to do ADR's at 180 days twice for the two separate reservations.

We have done 2 split stays and we have liked them because we usually visit every few years so we get to experience resorts in a shorter amount of time than if we just stayed in 1 every few years. It also feels like several vacations in 1. We rent a car since we do a few other area attractions so for us the move is easy. The only con is not being able to make all ADRs at the same time because it is 2 separate reservations but it is really not that big a deal.

I agree with both of these!!

 

[robinb]

I see no 'cons' with a 10 day split stay between a MK resort and an Epcot resort.

Have fun!

 

[azromanroxie]

I love this idea! I wish I had booked this for my upcoming visit.

 

[Monykalyn]

A CR/BC resort split would be my "dream" split stay. We did CBR (less expensive) then Beach club. Then offsite for another week to enjoy other Orlando attractions. We had a car so moving was easy. Plus your kids will be old enough to help with the packing. One tip I picked up from here was to pack for each resort (whole family) in separate bags ( a CR bag, a YC bag), with a "shared bag"-toiletries, shoes, swim wear etc. It helps with the whole "packing/unpacking" thing.

 

[Bork]

We split 13 days between Pop and Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani.

Pros - Allowed us to stay at a more expensive resort than we normally would be able to do. Got to try 2 new resorts. Transferring was easy on a park day. Bell services took care of the luggage while we enjoyed the parks.
Cons - Perishable food is tricky. You either have to finish it before the move or wait until the second resort to buy things like milk.

 

[dansdad]

We split 13 days between Pop and Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani.

Pros - Allowed us to stay at a more expensive resort than we normally would be able to do. Got to try 2 new resorts. Transferring was easy on a park day. Bell services took care of the luggage while we enjoyed the parks.
Cons - Perishable food is tricky. You either have to finish it before the move or wait until the second resort to buy things like milk.

Actually, Bell Services will keep your perishables refrigerated during the move.

 

[kappyfamily]

We did a split of contemporary and animal kingdom and was the best trip ever! In fact we almost always do a split stay, in November we are doing it again. Have fun!

 

[Jfsag123]

We just did a similar split in June - 6 nights BCV, 6 nights BLT. It was wonderful. We also did our park days similarly to yours, except with AK and DHS switched. There really wasn't a con. We got to be close to Epcot and DHS for park of our trip and walk to MK for the rest. On our switch day we had bell services at BCV come get our luggage in the morning, walked into Epcot and spent the day there, then headed over to BLT when we were ready.

The only potential con is the packing if that bothers you, but we were able to deal with it pretty easily. Just have to organize your stuff to accommodate the fact that you'll be moving halfway through.

 

[DANAW]

We are doing our first split stay in October. 2 nights at Contemporary Tower and 6 nights at BWI for F&W Festival. Thanks to the boards, I knew I had to book the first portion with my tickets for the entire stay (you dont have to but to avoid having to go to guest services, this is the easiest way). We added the meal plan to both packages. The only down side is that we need to be sure we use all of our meal credits by midnight the day we check out of the Contemporary, or we will lose them. This is the only down side I can see, but I dont know if you are using the meal plan. We will have a car, so we will decide if we are going to move our own luggage or have the Contemporary take care of it.

 

[jetdoctor]

One thing I got stressed out about was luggage transfer but the bell desk transferred our thing no issues at all in the end. Now getting to the new resort you will either A: need to have a car or B: take a Disney transportation or C: uber/cab. But if you are going to the park right after your check out then it's no biggie.

PROS: You get to stay @ two resorts so cool. It's a vacation inside of a vacation.
CONS: you have to be packed up in the middle of your vacation but not that big of a deal.

ros - Allowed us to stay at a more expensive resort than we normally would be able to do. Got to try 2 new resorts. Transferring was easy on a park day. Bell services took care of the luggage while we enjoyed the parks.

I agree with Bork

Our days would most likely be MK4, EP3, AK2, HS1.

I don't want to suggest you don't know this. But for me 10 days @ the parks will take their toll on you without a real day of rest built in. I am a nut and wanted to go all day park hopping but we hit a wall and our last day we slept most of the day. One trip was 10 days the other 12 days. That said Split stays are fun I have done two myself before becoming a local.

 

[cheryterese]

I don't want to suggest you don't know this. But for me 10 days @ the parks will take their toll on you without a real day of rest built in. I am a nut and wanted to go all day park hopping but we hit a wall and our last day we slept most of the day. One trip was 10 days the other 12 days. That said Split stays are fun I have done two myself before becoming a local.

That's a good comment and I totally agree. 3 of our 4 family visits have been 10 days and we're pretty good at pacing ourselves but we do always come home exhausted. We hope to be better at the pacing this trip, and since we've been 4 times as a family we hope to be better at skipping the things we don't really love as much. The kids are also much more independent than on our previous trips.

3 of the 4 trips have also been off-site, so we're hoping that by staying on-site this trip with monorail/walking access to the places we will visit most will really add convenience and save on time. This is going to be our one splurge trip - deluxe, flight instead of driving, and dining plan (we're thinking the 1 quick, 1 table service, and 2 snack option plan). My husband and I would like to visit Hawaii and Europe with our kids in a few years and those trips will take the place of Disney with our travel budget so we don't see ourselves coming back as often as we've come so far as a family.

I am a little worried about being in a hotel room for 10 days though. We're used to spreading out at a rental house.

How do FP+ and ADR's work with a split stay? Is that a big con? I want to be sure we can see all of the new attractions. It will have been 3 1/2 years since our last trip when we go.

 

[jetdoctor]

How do FP+ and ADR's work with a split stay? Is that a big con? I want to be sure we can see all of the new attractions. It will have been 3 1/2 years since our last trip when we go.

I don't believe you need any tickets to make ADR's But I may be wrong. I have annual Pass but I have made many ADR's past my renewal date. I am Local so my stay's are 1 or 2 night on the fly last minute kinda thing. If I'm not mistaken you will have 2 reservations so those should link up with your 60 day outs FP+ just fine.

 

[baldy6060]

Our last trip we stayed our arrival night at Pop then moved to WL for 5 nights then AKL for 4. We had never stayed at AKL and discovered it is our new favorite. It used to be WL. The cons, obviously, are packing and unpacking and taking that day to move with nowhere to nap in the middle of the day. It feels kinda like you're not able to settle into your home. However, I'm not against it. I'd do it again and we will probably always stay at least our arrival day at Pop before switching. The pros are the ability to find a new favorite resort and, for us, knowing that when you switch you still have nearly half your vacation left. Regrettably, we stayed longer at WL than AKL and AKL had so much more to offer but less time to do it in. We actually changed our last full day at MK to a half day so we could go back and enjoy some of the many offerings.

 

[Mama Lo]

We love the split stay and the one you are planning is our favorite.

The one con that no one mentioned is that on the transfer day you are homeless for a bit. To combat this being an issue we would spend the last afternoon/evening at the 1st hotel. We would relax by the pool, have an adr at the hotel and tried to go to be on the earlier side. The next morning we would wake up, give our stuff to bell services or one of us would take our things via uber/cab to the new spot. If you do online check in and tell them you will be arriving early you may get lucky and be able to bring your things right to the room.

To cut down on having to pack so much stuff I pack for 1/2 the trip and do laundry on that afternoon we spend by the pool. I know that laundry on vacation doesn't sound fun but now that the washers and dryers are all automated you can check the website to see if you stuff is done.

ADRs can be made 180 days in advance but you will have to do that 180 in advance of each reservation.

For the FPs, as long as your have 10 day tickets you will be able to make FP's for your entire stay at 60 days out.

I don't think that you will want to have the dining plan for both reservations since you need to buy park tickets for each reservation. It will take a bit of number crunching to figure out what will work better. Like if one of you bought an annual pass so that you could get an AP rate for the room and then instead of the dining plan get Tables in Wonderland. All of this depends on your travel dates and the discount offers for that time.

 

[Silvermist999]

We did our first split stay, also 10 days this past May at WL/Poly. I wouldn't worry about the ages of your kids, mine were 12 & 9 on our trip, and no issues at all, they were quite helpful with packing up, etc.

We planned to not be at the park on transfer day until late afternoon/evening, and had planned some outlet shopping or Disney Springs until we got our room at the Poly. We had a rental car so luggage transfer wasn't a concern.

On checkout morning, I went down real early to see if we could get a late checkout at WL, which wasn't possible, but instead they helped us get our room early at the Poly...at 9:30 am!!

Needless to say, right after checking into the Poly, we headed straight to MK,saving shopping for another time! It was awesome, so unexpected and something you could try, you never know!