Split stay question

[jamnich314]

DFi and I are Disneymooning from Aug 25-Sept 3. We are currently staying at POFQ for the entire trip. I'm pumped to say the least

It seems like every time we look at Disney stuff (which is pretty much every day, let's be honest) we always swoon over Poly and how beautiful it looks. As a wedding surprise I would love to book the last few nights of our stay at Poly without her knowing

I have a couple questions about this though:

1) Is it possible to stay at two hotels while at Disney without it messing up free dining? Right now everything is good but I'm afraid if I change our last two or three nights to Poly instead of POFQ then it will mess with that somehow.

2) I'm assuming if I did this I would just have to pay the difference in price between POFQ and Poly for a few nights?

3) Assuming that I can change the reservation and it won't mess anything up, as far as I can tell, she will be able to see the changes the next time she logs into Disney since it has all of our ADRs and such right there. I suppose I could just change the password and tell her I am planning something and not tell her. It would be great if a CM could make it say one thing when it's really something else though...think that's possible?

4) Once again, assuming everything up to that point will have worked, anybody with split stay experience have any suggestions on the move day? It would obviously cut into park time or whatever but it seems the easiest way to get to Poly from POFQ would be a cab (I suppose we could carry our luggage onto a bus, take it to DTD or a park, then catch a bus or monorail to Poly but that sounds...) Also, the gap between check out time and check in time could mean a few hours of sitting around...although if we were already at Poly I don't imagine sitting around with "nothing" to do would be all that terrible, we would just have to lug our luggage around.

Any and all help is extremely appreciated.

 

[goofyintoronto]

DFi and I are Disneymooning from Aug 25-Sept 3. We are currently staying at POFQ for the entire trip. I'm pumped to say the least

It seems like every time we look at Disney stuff (which is pretty much every day, let's be honest) we always swoon over Poly and how beautiful it looks. As a wedding surprise I would love to book the last few nights of our stay at Poly without her knowing

I have a couple questions about this though:

1) Is it possible to stay at two hotels while at Disney without it messing up free dining? Right now everything is good but I'm afraid if I change our last two or three nights to Poly instead of POFQ then it will mess with that somehow.

2) I'm assuming if I did this I would just have to pay the difference in price between POFQ and Poly for a few nights?

3) Assuming that I can change the reservation and it won't mess anything up, as far as I can tell, she will be able to see the changes the next time she logs into Disney since it has all of our ADRs and such right there. I suppose I could just change the password and tell her I am planning something and not tell her. It would be great if a CM could make it say one thing when it's really something else though...think that's possible?

4) Once again, assuming everything up to that point will have worked, anybody with split stay experience have any suggestions on the move day? It would obviously cut into park time or whatever but it seems the easiest way to get to Poly from POFQ would be a cab (I suppose we could carry our luggage onto a bus, take it to DTD or a park, then catch a bus or monorail to Poly but that sounds...) Also, the gap between check out time and check in time could mean a few hours of sitting around...although if we were already at Poly I don't imagine sitting around with "nothing" to do would be all that terrible, we would just have to lug our luggage around.

Any and all help is extremely appreciated.

You will have to make two separate reservations. You can have free dining for both, just talk to the Cast Member (CM). Also, im afraid that when your DFi logs onto the disney site, she will in fact see two resorts, not one. Then your surprise will be ruined. Sadly thats how it is. If you really want to keep it a surprise, there is a way around it. .....

.... If booking online, you can use a different login ID (different email) for your Poly reservation. An email your DFi doesnt know about (create one if you have to). So when you book your poly vacation online, she wont know about it. To be safe, what i've done, i used my work address for mail. So that when they send me the luggage tags/magical express stuff in the mail, it'll be sent to my work and she wont know about it until you get to disney.

RE: luggage, you dont have to lug your luggage around. While checking out of POFQ, the concierge will transport your luggage to the poly for you. Just be sure to have everything you need with you, cause it takes a couple of hours to arrive to the poly. When you check into the Poly, you can inquire at concierge and ask if your luggage arrived, or they will tell you to check your room cause it just might be there waiting for you. But theres def no need to drag your luggage around. Let concierge take care of it. Theyre awesome!

 

[goofyintoronto]

One more thing....

Your best route from POFQ to Poly would be to take a bus from POFQ to MK, then take the monorail to the poly. WITHOUT LUGGAGE. Cause remember, concierge will transfer them for you.

Also, when you check in at the Poly, if your room isnt ready, just go to the parks and have fun! Im sure it will be ready when you return.

 

[jamnich314]

You will have to make two separate reservations. You can have free dining for both, just talk to the Cast Member (CM). Also, im afraid that when your DFi logs onto the disney site, she will in fact see two resorts, not one. Then your surprise will be ruined. Sadly thats how it is. If you really want to keep it a surprise, there is a way around it. .....

.... If booking online, you can use a different login ID (different email) for your Poly reservation. An email your DFi doesnt know about (create one if you have to). So when you book your poly vacation online, she wont know about it. To be safe, what i've done, i used my work address for mail. So that when they send me the luggage tags/magical express stuff in the mail, it'll be sent to my work and she wont know about it until you get to disney.

RE: luggage, you dont have to lug your luggage around. While checking out of POFQ, the concierge will transport your luggage to the poly for you. Just be sure to have everything you need with you, cause it takes a couple of hours to arrive to the poly. When you check into the Poly, you can inquire at concierge and ask if your luggage arrived, or they will tell you to check your room cause it just might be there waiting for you. But theres def no need to drag your luggage around. Let concierge take care of it. Theyre awesome!

Thanks for the response! The only problem I see with making another log in is she may notice that the stay at POFQ will be cut down by a few days.

I could just tell her I am planning a surprise and change the password so she can't look at it.

My biggest concern is the dining. To me it sounds like I would just shorten the stay at POFQ by a few nights and make a completely new reservation at Poly for a few nights, making sure I got free dining. It wouldn't effect any of my ADRs because those aren't linked to FD...I can make four ADRs a day if I want regardless of having FD. Right?

 

[goofyintoronto]

Thanks for the response! The only problem I see with making another log in is she may notice that the stay at POFQ will be cut down by a few days.

I could just tell her I am planning a surprise and change the password so she can't look at it.

My biggest concern is the dining. To me it sounds like I would just shorten the stay at POFQ by a few nights and make a completely new reservation at Poly for a few nights, making sure I got free dining. It wouldn't effect any of my ADRs because those aren't linked to FD...I can make four ADRs a day if I want regardless of having FD. Right?

Changing the password and not telling her what your planning is also a good idea.

To be honest, I would probably just call disney and make the reservations for poly thru them.

Your right about the ADRs, rules are the same whether your dining is free or paid for. This coming trip we're doing a split stay. Doing 2 nights at another resort and paying for food OOP. I got the room discount. For the POLY, the room discount might save you a lot more money than free dining would. I would look into that!!!!! Poly would be 30% off.

 

[jamnich314]

Changing the password and not telling her what your planning is also a good idea.

To be honest, I would probably just call disney and make the reservations for poly thru them.

Your right about the ADRs, rules are the same whether your dining is free or paid for. This coming trip we're doing a split stay. Doing 2 nights at another resort and paying for food OOP. I got the room discount. For the POLY, the room discount might save you a lot more money than free dining would. I would look into that!!!!! Poly would be 30% off.

Is there a room discount at Poly right now...er for early Sept?

 

[goofyintoronto]

Is there a room discount at Poly right now...er for early Sept?

Yup. Aug.15-Sept.29 there is a room discount.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/

Check it out!!

 

[jamnich314]

Yup. Aug.15-Sept.29 there is a room discount.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/

Check it out!!

20% isn't bad but looking at our plan right now I think staying at Poly for only 2 nights would work best. I think sticking with FD would save us more than 20% off two nights. Thanks for pretty much solving all my problems though

 

[goofyintoronto]

20% isn't bad but looking at our plan right now I think staying at Poly for only 2 nights would work best. I think sticking with FD would save us more than 20% off two nights. Thanks for pretty much solving all my problems though

You can have free dining for POFQ. But for Poly do the room discount for 2 nights. Thats what im doing for my Aug trip!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I'm not sure if FD would carry over beyond your check out day at POFQ. A split stay requires two reservations. Your reservation at POFQ would be tied to the FD package. While your Poly reservation would be room only. The park tickets would not be affected, because they expire 14 days after first use, unless the no expiration option has been purchased. I would call Disney to confirm the use of FD with a resort split stay.

 

[jamnich314]

You can have free dining for POFQ. But for Poly do the room discount for 2 nights. Thats what im doing for my Aug trip!

So I'm on the phone with Disney now and she is being semi-helpful. I'm still having some difficulties.

Right now we are staying for 9 nights and have an 8-day park hopper. In order to get free dining you have to purchase at least a 1-day ticket. BUT we are going AGAIN in May and were planning on upgrading to APs when we got there in August. Not that paying for 1-day passes would be terrible but it muddies the water a bit.

If you are still following me...maybe it would be cheaper to use the 20% off room rate and book room-only, no package. We would already have the tickets and 7 days of FD from our POFQ package reservation. I think it would be 7 days at least - 14 meals - because it goes by the number of days on your hotel reservation, not the number of days your ticket is good for. We could pay for the last two days food OOP and book the room-only.

Otherwise we would be paying for tickets we don't need and getting all the extra stuff that comes with the package that we already will have. Plus if we had two reservations for free dining that's another set of mugs which, while nice souvenirs, don't fit nicely in luggage.

 

[jamnich314]

I'm not sure if FD would carry over beyond your check out day at POFQ. A split stay requires two reservations. Your reservation at POFQ would be tied to the FD package. While your Poly reservation would be room only. The park tickets would not be affected, because they expire 14 days after first use, unless the no expiration option has been purchased. I would call Disney to confirm the use of FD with a resort split stay.

You are correct. In order to have FD for both parts of the stay we have to book as two separate packages. And a 6-day ticket and 2-day ticket are WAY more expensive than an 8-day ticket.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I agree let bell services transfer your luggage. I believe, when staying at a deluxe resort a room discount is better than FD. Then with AP's, you have that whole AP discount option.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I'm not sure if FD would carry over beyond your check out day at POFQ. A split stay requires two reservations. Your reservation at POFQ would be tied to the FD package. While your Poly reservation would be room only. The park tickets would not be affected, because they expire 14 days after first use, unless the no expiration option has been purchased. I would call Disney to confirm the use of FD with a resort split stay.

when you check out of POFQ, your dining credits expires at midnight on the day you check out of there. But its true that your park tickets will not be affected. ive used my park tickets during my room only...well to be clear, we actually use the waterpark & disneyquest credits during my room only, not the reg parks, cause apparently those two are allocated differently. waterparks & disneyquest are allocated by credits. so if you go to typhoon lagoon AND blizzard beach on the same day, that will count as 2 waterpark credits. (of course if you dont have 'waterparks and more' on your ticket this wont apply)

So I'm on the phone with Disney now and she is being semi-helpful. I'm still having some difficulties.

Right now we are staying for 9 nights and have an 8-day park hopper. In order to get free dining you have to purchase at least a 1-day ticket. BUT we are going AGAIN in May and were planning on upgrading to APs when we got there in August. Not that paying for 1-day passes would be terrible but it muddies the water a bit.

If you are still following me...maybe it would be cheaper to use the 20% off room rate and book room-only, no package. We would already have the tickets and 7 days of FD from our POFQ package reservation. I think it would be 7 days at least - 14 meals - because it goes by the number of days on your hotel reservation, not the number of days your ticket is good for. We could pay for the last two days food OOP and book the room-only.

Otherwise we would be paying for tickets we don't need and getting all the extra stuff that comes with the package that we already will have. Plus if we had two reservations for free dining that's another set of mugs which, while nice souvenirs, don't fit nicely in luggage.

YES i would also do the room only package for your 2 nites at the poly. it would save you more money, even thou your paying for meals OOP. this is what i did. we're doing 6 nights with free dining at CSR and 2 nites room only with the discount at AS Movies. paying for meals OOP. adding the free dining to the 2 nites wouldnt make sense cause its pretty pricey, but also we're gonna be at 'the dark side' (universal) those two days.

You are correct. In order to have FD for both parts of the stay we have to book as two separate packages. And a 6-day ticket and 2-day ticket are WAY more expensive than an 8-day ticket.

I agree let bell services transfer your luggage. I believe, when staying at a deluxe resort a room discount is better than FD. Then with AP's, you have that whole AP discount option.

yes this is so true. at delux you get 30% off. this is a lot cheaper than the free dining. particularly when its only 2 nites. cause with free dining you still have to add the park tix.

if your looking for something to do while at the poly, you can always visit downtown disney. i could be there all day!! So much fun. although you will be at the poly. so much to do there. besides the awesome pool you can also watch the wishes fireworks from the beach at night. they pipe in the music and everything! really neat.

 

[danceintherain]

The Polynesian hotel does not have any king beds in standard rooms.

Maybe this doesn't bother you, but it bothered me when I was planning my honeymoon. In order to get a king bed, you have to book a suite which is much more expensive.

Other than that, I wouldn't get Free Dining for both stays either. For two adults at a Deluxe resort, it tends to be a terrible discount. You can still use your remaining dining credits until midnight the day you check out of Port Orleans, then I imagine a room only discount and paying out of pocket for meals for your last few days will be a better deal for you.

 

[jamnich314]

The Polynesian hotel does not have any king beds in standard rooms.

Maybe this doesn't bother you, but it bothered me when I was planning my honeymoon. In order to get a king bed, you have to book a suite which is much more expensive.

Other than that, I wouldn't get Free Dining for both stays either. For two adults at a Deluxe resort, it tends to be a terrible discount. You can still use your remaining dining credits until midnight the day you check out of Port Orleans, then I imagine a room only discount and paying out of pocket for meals for your last few days will be a better deal for you.

The two beds is unfortunate but at least they are queens, not standard. And I have been thinking about the dining thing all night...

If we cut the POFQ reservation short by two nights, making it a 7-night stay, then we would only have 14 free meals, correct? 7 TS and 7 CS. And if I understand it correctly, the meals are good from the day we check in until midnight of the day we check out, i.e. 3:00 p.m. on Sat, Aug 25 to 11:59 p.m. on Sat, Sept 1.

Originally I thought to myself, I could just push all the ADRs up in the week so they would be included in FD. Then I realized we only get 7 TS meals no matter which days they are (as long as they are between the days we are staying at POFQ).

I know this is really confusing but I just don't know if it's worth all the extra cost. It would be super awesome but I would have to pay for the difference in hotel fare for the two nights - which would be helped by the 20% discount at Poly during that time - as well as two TS and two CS meals that were originally going to be free.

At the same time, we have a Disney Honeymoon registry and I'm sure we will get other monies as gifts for our Honeymoon so we will have enough, I just don't know if it's worth it to essentially give up 4 free meals AND pay much more for our room

 

[goofyintoronto]

The two beds is unfortunate but at least they are queens, not standard. And I have been thinking about the dining thing all night...

If we cut the POFQ reservation short by two nights, making it a 7-night stay, then we would only have 14 free meals, correct? 7 TS and 7 CS. And if I understand it correctly, the meals are good from the day we check in until midnight of the day we check out, i.e. 3:00 p.m. on Sat, Aug 25 to 11:59 p.m. on Sat, Sept 1. >>>> yes thats correct.

Originally I thought to myself, I could just push all the ADRs up in the week so they would be included in FD. Then I realized we only get 7 TS meals no matter which days they are (as long as they are between the days we are staying at POFQ).

I know this is really confusing but I just don't know if it's worth all the extra cost. It would be super awesome but I would have to pay for the difference in hotel fare for the two nights - which would be helped by the 20% discount at Poly during that time - as well as two TS and two CS meals that were originally going to be free. >>>>only you can decide if its worth it or not.

At the same time, we have a Disney Honeymoon registry and I'm sure we will get other monies as gifts for our Honeymoon so we will have enough, I just don't know if it's worth it to essentially give up 4 free meals AND pay much more for our room

see my comments in red above. I also wanted to suggest one thing. How about just one night at the poly? that would bring your cost down quite a bit, cause you'd also only have to worry about food for one day (OOP) instead of two.

Even if you remain at POFQ and decide not to go to the poly, there are ways to make your stay extra special. you could surprise your fiancee with a gift. if you talk to the resort (or others on this board) there's a way to have something special waiting for her when you come into the room. she could have a bottle of champagne and flowers waiting for her, or stuffed animals with balloons, food, whatever you like! and you could jazz things up by taking her to nice restaurants. POFQ is a gorgeous resort. I think you'd have just as much fun there as the poly.

I think most families stay at the poly because they accomodate larger families, also because its on the monorail and close to MK. Its very convenient. yes the poly is gorgeous. but so is POFQ! The fact that you have a boat at POFQ that takes you to DTD, thats a bonus right there. So much to do at DTD. I could go there every night.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[jamnich314]

see my comments in red above. I also wanted to suggest one thing. How about just one night at the poly? that would bring your cost down quite a bit, cause you'd also only have to worry about food for one day (OOP) instead of two.

Even if you remain at POFQ and decide not to go to the poly, there are ways to make your stay extra special. you could surprise your fiancee with a gift. if you talk to the resort (or others on this board) there's a way to have something special waiting for her when you come into the room. she could have a bottle of champagne and flowers waiting for her, or stuffed animals with balloons, food, whatever you like! and you could jazz things up by taking her to nice restaurants. POFQ is a gorgeous resort. I think you'd have just as much fun there as the poly.

I think most families stay at the poly because they accomodate larger families, also because its on the monorail and close to MK. Its very convenient. yes the poly is gorgeous. but so is POFQ! The fact that you have a boat at POFQ that takes you to DTD, thats a bonus right there. So much to do at DTD. I could go there every night.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

We love POFQ that's for sure. All of the pictures I have seen look stunning. I have some other things I could do. Maybe we can do a split stay some other time and plan it ahead or do it when is no FD but possible a higher resort discount.