Split stay with baby

[Wendysofftoneverland]

In regards to a studio, it depends what you are used to. We used to stay in values with an infant and a 3 year old. Space wasn't the biggest issue; having to go to the laundry room was. We'd take 2 single strollers and the kids were good stroller nappers. I think our youngest was a year old before we did a split stay. We used it as a park day. We've always had a car, though, so that made the packing and moving easier.

 

[pianomanzano]

Jumping into the convo late but happy to share my thoughts. We took our now 22 month old several times over the past year since her first birthday in various room sizes. Our last stay was a quadruple split stay across some studios and 1BR without a car (oh and my wife was 6 months pregnant at the time). The studio portions were not fun. No counter space to dry bottles, lights out/tip-toeing around when our daughter went to bed, and no washer/dryer in the room to wash clothes. If these are important to you (and you have the points), I'd consider 1BRs. If you must do a studio, opt for VGF deluxe studio or Poly for your MK portion so that you can stick a pack n play in the second bathroom.

As for the split aspect, it's obviously easier if you have a car. Since we had milk storage to worry about, I would uber to the next resort to drop off the milk and other perishables with bell services, while my wife and child went to the one of the parks and I'd take the transportation over to meet them there. Make sure you have ample supplies (diapers, wipes, sets of clothes, etc) while you're in b/w resorts, and you should be fine!

 

[nkosiek]

We have 2 kids, now 5 and 8, and have done split stays when they were younger, just like you're thinking. We loved the size of the Poly, and as someone else pointed out, the PnP fits into multiple different spots. Those studios are HUGE. Heck, we even did the one year at BLT and it was fine. You'll be fine doing this, but I'm not sure I'd get my hopes up for Wilderness Lodge. I love the idea of doing a dinner reservation at the second home resort, but if it's going to be the Riv, I'd say make sure the transit day is somewhere (DHS/Epcot) easy to get back to the Riv.

 

[nuhusky123]

Buyer beware on split stays with kids, do a search for a thread I started on split stays where one of my kids became ill

the idea of a split stay is great but i will never do one again.

just one thing to consider, what if you or anyone in your party become sick during the split stay. Ask yourself what would you do, where would you go while homeless

 

[TinkB278]

Bringing this post back up because I think I’ve decided a split stay is too risky with a baby. Can anyone provide suggestions on which resort would be best to stay at for a full week with a 3 year old and 8 month old? Currently booked at RIV but my 7 month window opens soon. I’m tempted to stay with RIV but then I think maybe an MK resort would be better. I’ve only stayed at PVB so curious about VGF and CCV. I’d also consider BLT but I think the room set up and pool kind of are lacking. I also think AKV could be fun because of their splash pad and the animals but then we are dealing with buses for an entire week. I’ve only ever done split stays so committing to one resort for a week feels scary lol. Thanks for any input!

 

[CarolynFH]

Bringing this post back up because I think I’ve decided a split stay is too risky with a baby. Can anyone provide suggestions on which resort would be best to stay at for a full week with a 3 year old and 8 month old? Currently booked at RIV but my 7 month window opens soon. I’m tempted to stay with RIV but then I think maybe an MK resort would be better. I’ve only stayed at PVB so curious about VGF and CCV. I’d also consider BLT but I think the room set up and pool kind of are lacking. I also think AKV could be fun because of their splash pad and the animals but then we are dealing with buses for an entire week. I’ve only ever done split stays so committing to one resort for a week feels scary lol. Thanks for any input!

If MK will be your most frequent park destination, then a monorail resort (Poly, VGF, BLT) makes sense for ease of walking or taking monorail or boat between resort and MK. CCV would make sense too, although there your choice is boat or bus to MK.

Poly has the advantage of being walking distance to the Epcot monorail at TTC, whereas VGF and BLT would require a monorail transfer at the TTC, but all three of them mean you can roll the stroller on and off transportation to 2 parks, with bus being your means of transport to the other two parks.

OTOH if you think you'd spend a lot of time at DSH and/or Epcot, RIV gives you Skyliner (roll the stroller onto the gondola) access to those two parks, and I've read that the splash pad there is very nice.

 

[CarolMN]

Assuming you are going to spend most of your time at the MK and are planning on a studio, I think VGF would be your better choice.

BLT studios are the smallest (339 sq ft) , and while you would probably be OK in one for a few days, I think a week would be too long. (Especially if you will be spending "nap time" in the room). CCV studios are only a few sq ft bigger(345 sq. ft) and are not on the monorail. VGF studios are 374 sq ft (original building) and the resort studios are 440 sq ft. The resort studios have a different bathroom layout, 2 queen beds instead of one queen and a murphy queen/couch combo, and a beverage cooler instead of a mini-fridge. VGF is on the monorail and also has boat service to the MK.



Good luck deciding!

 

[nuhusky123]

I just got back from gfv and stayed in the resort studios. I will never stay anywhere else now

resort studios are awesome, great having two queen beds and the pull down sofa was really comfortable according to my oldest

bonus the transit to and from mk is amazing. One mono rail stop to mk, or one stop hone via boat. If both are busy you can walk which only bay lake can claim

i don’t know if this is a gfv thing or new for dvc since I was last on site, but at big pine key they now have chests in every hall with linens and towels guests can take from at will. There are then bins also in the halls to dump used towels. I didn’t reuse a single towel during my stay, it was heavenly

oh and the towels at gfv are thicker than any other dvc resort I’ve stayed at

 

[TinkB278]

I just got back from gfv and stayed in the resort studios. I will never stay anywhere else now

resort studios are awesome, great having two queen beds and the pull down sofa was really comfortable according to my oldest

bonus the transit to and from mk is amazing. One mono rail stop to mk, or one stop hone via boat. If both are busy you can walk which only bay lake can claim

i don’t know if this is a gfv thing or new for dvc since I was last on site, but at big pine key they now have chests in every hall with linens and towels guests can take from at will. There are then bins also in the halls to dump used towels. I didn’t reuse a single towel during my stay, it was heavenly

oh and the towels at gfv are thicker than any other dvc resort I’ve stayed at

Thanks for sharing!! Did you have any issues with noise like others have reported?

 

[nuhusky123]

I had a fantastic room. Third floor end unit facing the pool. It did have a connecting door and I could hear people in next room if they were talking loudly through the door. But otherwise the noise was perfectly fine

it would be much nicer though if rooms didn’t connect. i always ask when I check into hotels to not have a connecting room as I have yet to find such a room where you can’t hear your neighbor.

the window is hurricane grade so there was also no noise from outside

now Disney does have power flush toilets and they are dang loud so you do hear water in pipes but it’s the water you hear and it didn’t bother me at all

pine key is amazing imo.

 

[TinkB278]

In regards to a studio, it depends what you are used to. We used to stay in values with an infant and a 3 year old. Space wasn't the biggest issue; having to go to the laundry room was. We'd take 2 single strollers and the kids were good stroller nappers. I think our youngest was a year old before we did a split stay. We used it as a park day. We've always had a car, though, so that made the packing and moving easier.

Do you think two single strollers work better than one double? I hadn’t considered this before but it actually seems like a great idea since it allows for splitting up.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

Do you think two single strollers work better than one double? I hadn’t considered this before but it actually seems like a great idea since it allows for splitting up.

We preferred it for the maneuverability. We rarely ended up splitting up, but that's a plus, too. Plus more storage space than a double, and ours were small enough to both fit on the Skyliner without having to fold.

 

[Mickeys gal 52]

My family always loved split stays. It was like having a separate little mini vacation. Some days we would go right to the park on our changing over day and they are ready. when we came back.

 

[ParkHoppers]

Close walk to MK makes BLT a great choice when traveling with small children.