Split stay questions

[JJ&JSMOM]

Morning all -
I did a search for split stays and I'm sorry to say I still don't understand how tickets & DME. Can anyone simplify it for me - I must be incredibly thick today!

My idea of split stays would be 2 separate packages based on number of nights. But reading some of the threads confused me. Lets say we go to Disney for 7 nights - could we do this? We're not interested in the dining plan so I'm wondering how the passes work.

Scenerio 1:
4 nights at Poly w/3 day hopper pass
3 nights at BC w/3 day hopper pass

or would it be better to do:

Scenerio 2:
4 nights at Poly w/6 day hopper pass
3 nights at BC (room only )
Would they transfer what days are left on our Poly card to the BC card?

I'm concerned w/the timing of the passes and be able to go to a parks prior to checking into the 2nd resort. I don't want any interuption/confusion in our daily touring plans. Which would be easier or doable? Thanks for the help. Also how does DME work?

 

[fla4fun]

If you are not doing dining, I would book the second half as a room only, and buy tickets to cover the whole trip on the first reservation. This way, your ticket will be valid through your entire trip and there won't be any waiting on your second check in day to go to a park. Even if you are buying a ticket that expires in 14 days, it doesn't expire when you check out of your resort (as long as you check out before the 14th day). So far as I know, they would not put the partially used tickets on the new room cards, so worst case scenario you may have two sets of cards for the second half of the trip, but since I have an AP I've never tried. I'm sure someone here has more experience in that area.

The only time it's a real problem is if you ARE doing the dining, because then you have to buy tickets for each part of the split stay, which can be a lot more expensive than buying one ticket that covers your entire trip.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

If you are not doing dining, I would book the second half as a room only, and buy tickets to cover the whole trip on the first reservation. This way, your ticket will be valid through your entire trip and there won't be any waiting on your second check in day to go to a park. Even if you are buying a ticket that expires in 14 days, it doesn't expire when you check out of your resort (as long as you check out before the 14th day). So far as I know, they would not put the partially used tickets on the new room cards, so worst case scenario you may have two sets of cards for the second half of the trip, but since I have an AP I've never tried. I'm sure someone here has more experience in that area.

The only time it's a real problem is if you ARE doing the dining, because then you have to buy tickets for each part of the split stay, which can be a lot more expensive than buying one ticket that covers your entire trip.

Thank you. I think I was so confused because I was reading the threads that involved dining w/split visits. We won't opt for dining this time so that makes it much easier. Thanks again.

 

[Mr. Pig]

Actually they can put unused park days from your first stay on your key for the second part of the stay. On our last split stay we didn't do this and just hung on to our first passes but I know they can do it. We just didn't go through the effort. Holding onto two cards wasn't too hard although it was a little embarrassing when I tried to use the wrong card to enter MGM one day. You surely want to get as many days as possible on one ticket as it is much cheaper that way.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Actually they can put unused park days from your first stay on your key for the second part of the stay. On our last split stay we didn't do this and just hung on to our first passes but I know they can do it. We just didn't go through the effort. Holding onto two cards wasn't too hard although it was a little embarrassing when I tried to use the wrong card to enter MGM one day. You surely want to get as many days as possible on one ticket as it is much cheaper that way.

Thanks for the info! Can't wait! Did you book through Disney? I would think any TA could do it. I was thinking of booking it myself or using DU.

 

[Mr. Pig]

If you are doing a room only you can go through Disney. We usually did but the last few times we did a package and went with AAA and got a good (not great) discount. If you are not doing dining and don't need a package you can purchase the park tickets anywhere and I believe they will put them on your room key. You can even wait until you check in and purchase park tickets right then.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

If you are doing a room only you can go through Disney. We usually did but the last few times we did a package and went with AAA and got a good (not great) discount. If you are not doing dining and don't need a package you can purchase the park tickets anywhere and I believe they will put them on your room key. You can even wait until you check in and purchase park tickets right then.

I think we'll go this route this time and do room only. Then purchase our tkts through AAA. We'll figure it out when the time comes. Thanks again.

 

[smidgy]

just let them know you will be doing a split stay. they will drop off you (and your luggage, seperately) at the 1si resort. they will transfer your lugage to the 2nd resort, and ME will pick you (and lugggage) up there (the 2nd resort is where you will check in with the airline and get your boarding passes.
as for dining, if you ever DO want to include it, we did a package with dining for the 1st resort, purchasing enough days at the park for the 2nd resort (room only). true, the 2nd half did not include dining, but we stretched it to allow for a cs and ts at the new resort the first day. (the dining is good until midnight of the last day, even if you already checked out.) there is SO much food on the dining plan that often we purchase something thart will keep in the frideg (sandwich, etc) with cs credits, and save it for the 2nd stay. same with some snack credits for a box of donuts or big bag of chips to use at the 2nd resort.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

just let them know you will be doing a split stay. they will drop off you (and your luggage, seperately) at the 1si resort. they will transfer your lugage to the 2nd resort, and ME will pick you (and lugggage) up there (the 2nd resort is where you will check in with the airline and get your boarding passes.
as for dining, if you ever DO want to include it, we did a package with dining for the 1st resort, purchasing enough days at the park for the 2nd resort (room only). true, the 2nd half did not include dining, but we stretched it to allow for a cs and ts at the new resort the first day. (the dining is good until midnight of the last day, even if you already checked out.) there is SO much food on the dining plan that often we purchase something thart will keep in the frideg (sandwich, etc) with cs credits, and save it for the 2nd stay. same with some snack credits for a box of donuts or big bag of chips to use at the 2nd resort.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind in case we decide to get dining. I agree there is a lot of food on the dining plan but I found the kids menu lacking and would rathar buy an adult meal for my kids to share. We did save $200 but w/apps being left out & the gratuity I'm not sure it would be that much of a deal for us. But we'll see once the time comes. Thanks again.