Split Stay...Worth the Move???

[TastefullyChris]

We will be going to WDW at the end of April '06...I earned a trip from my sales job that is two nights at CSR. We have extended it 4 additional nights at $145 w/tax per night. Here is my dilemma...I have earned some "Bonus points" throught my job that I could use for 2 nights WDW hotel stay (they are "shopping" points...I can use them for a wide variety of travel or merchandise and will not lose them if I don't use them for this trip). I called the TA and they do not have CSR available at the time we are going, but they have POFQ...

Would it be worth having 2 nights free if we have to switch hotels?? Yes, saving the nearly $300 would be nice...but I can always use the points for something else down the road. We will be in the parks most of the day, with no plans for "nap breaks" in the room. There will be 4 of us...kids are 9 & 11, and we will have some groceries in the room. No rental car...we're planning to use WDW transportation. Will WDW move our bags? Will I have to worry about them getting lost/mixed up?

Input???

 

[julia & nicks mom]

We will be going to WDW at the end of April '06...I earned a trip from my sales job that is two nights at CSR. We have extended it 4 additional nights at $145 w/tax per night. Here is my dilemma...I have earned some "Bonus points" throught my job that I could use for 2 nights WDW hotel stay (they are "shopping" points...I can use them for a wide variety of travel or merchandise and will not lose them if I don't use them for this trip). I called the TA and they do not have CSR available at the time we are going, but they have POFQ...

Would it be worth having 2 nights free if we have to switch hotels?? Yes, saving the nearly $300 would be nice...but I can always use the points for something else down the road. We will be in the parks most of the day, with no plans for "nap breaks" in the room. There will be 4 of us...kids are 9 & 11, and we will have some groceries in the room. No rental car...we're planning to use WDW transportation. Will WDW move our bags? Will I have to worry about them getting lost/mixed up?

Input???

We switch rooms almost every trip - WDW will move your luggage and I have never had a problem losing it - if you want to stay I say go for it -

Disney wants you to stay so they make moving as easy as possible!

 

[laurabelle]

Would it be worth having 2 nights free if we have to switch hotels??
Input???

hmmm...I'd vote YES! We've been spliting stays the last couple of years, not every trip though. It doesn't bother me to change resorts, in fact I love trying out different places...it's a whole change in atmosphere. New room, pool, restaurant, everything. And if it was free, well, all the better!

 

[Hugpug]

If my choice for a Deluxe I would grab it. But for another Moderate I would have to think about it. Ask yourself if you are going again at another time and could use them then. Believe me if I could use them for BC ,GF,POLY or YC I would jump at the chance.

 

[Brer Rabbit]

my wife is one of those who does not like splitting reservations, but if that is the only way to extend a trip, then maybe....for me, i don't mind at all

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We will be going to WDW at the end of April '06...I earned a trip from my sales job that is two nights at CSR. We have extended it 4 additional nights at $145 w/tax per night. Here is my dilemma...I have earned some "Bonus points" throught my job that I could use for 2 nights WDW hotel stay (they are "shopping" points...I can use them for a wide variety of travel or merchandise and will not lose them if I don't use them for this trip). I called the TA and they do not have CSR available at the time we are going, but they have POFQ...

Would it be worth having 2 nights free if we have to switch hotels?? Yes, saving the nearly $300 would be nice...but I can always use the points for something else down the road. We will be in the parks most of the day, with no plans for "nap breaks" in the room. There will be 4 of us...kids are 9 & 11, and we will have some groceries in the room. No rental car...we're planning to use WDW transportation. Will WDW move our bags? Will I have to worry about them getting lost/mixed up?

Input???

I'm sorry but are you extending your trip 2 nights or just going to save the money and move?

I'll give you two answers then based on how often you are in the room. If you are going to extend your stay to 8 nights then yes it is worth it to change resorts.

If you are just switching resorts to use your points then, no. It is a hassle (we had one bad move from BC to GF). I'd rather be at the parks then packing my bags. Not to mention, any cold items such as milk or juice need to be thrown away. They will move packed, dry items.

 

[TastefullyChris]

Thanks for all the input,everyone...
MaryKatesMom...(sorry you had a bad experience) I was planning to stay the extra nights anyway and pay for them. But our budget is tight and $300 would pay for quite a few meals while we are there! We are pretty "low-maintenance" packers (two boys who would wear the same thing every day if I let them!) and neither DH or I are very "fashion conscious".

That being said, I also don't want a lot of hassle or to lose an entire day to the move. It seems like most people have had a pretty good experience with this. We will probably give it a try (hope I am not sorry!)

 

[canwegosoon]

We love switching. We utilize the closer parks, and enjoy the various dining options. Last year we stayed at SSR/BWV 5 days each...on our 5th day we called up bell services and they picked everything up. They told us when our bags would be at BWV etc. We went to the parks...what I did was bring a back pack with rain ponchos and bathing suits in it...I put this in a locker at the park we were visiting. When we were done at the parks and lunch we went to check in at BWV. Got our room right away, changed kids into their suits and DH/kids went to pool. I got the luggage and unpacked. Check in took 10 minutes tops, so only other loss of time was packing and unpacking...1 hour max . So in your case if the 1 1/2 hours is worth $300 (and I think it is ) then I say go for it!!!! As you can tell from my counter we are switching again!!!!

 

[Sammie]

We don't do this anymore due to the disadvantages so I can share those with you since others have provided why they do it.

On the day of the move you are essentially homeless. You can not get your luggage until after 3pm so plan accordingly. Also there is no way to know for sure when you will get into the new room therefore its very hard to plan ADRs for that evening. We have missed a few due to moving, did not get our room until late, luggage arrived late etc.

On the day of the move it always seems the little ones in our group, nieces, nephews etc really, really needed a nap and we had no place to go. One time one got sick right after lunch and it was a miserable afternoon. My Dad just went on and on about how if we had stayed put the kid could be back in the room.

Also you can't get settled in, as you know in a few days you will have to pack up and move. Also my Dad did not like the thought that on the day of the move he was paying for a room we might not get into until late afternoon. If we had stayed put he would have had use of a room all day instead.

Due to check in times, you truly at times pay a full day's for not much time before bedtime especially with little ones. Dad just does not want to do that more than once.

 

[TastefullyChris]

Sammie - Thanks for some excellent feedback. I did think about the fact that we are paying for a day that we probably won't have a room. Hopefully no-one will get sick on that day. Our kids are older (DS 12 and DS almost 10 at trip time), so they don't need the nap break. We plan to be at the parks and have dinner there, so we can check in to our new digs AFTER dinner. My DH has a bum back, so he may miss laying down for that day, but weather permitting we can lay by the pool. I like CanWeGoSoon's idea about bringing a small bag to stash in a locker for an afternoon swim. We may also go to a WP for that day, check back to see if the room is ready after 3, and then go to a park for the night.

Thanks again to everyone for helping me weigh this from every angle. There are SOOOO many options at WDW for tickets, parks, resorts, dining...whew! Just glad everyone is so willing to post their ideas!

 

[Sammie]

Sammie - Thanks for some excellent feedback. I did think about the fact that we are paying for a day that we probably won't have a room. Hopefully no-one will get sick on that day. Our kids are older (DS 12 and DS almost 10 at trip time), so they don't need the nap break. We plan to be at the parks and have dinner there, so we can check in to our new digs AFTER dinner. My DH has a bum back, so he may miss laying down for that day, but weather permitting we can lay by the pool. I like CanWeGoSoon's idea about bringing a small bag to stash in a locker for an afternoon swim. We may also go to a WP for that day, check back to see if the room is ready after 3, and then go to a park for the night.

Thanks again to everyone for helping me weigh this from every angle. There are SOOOO many options at WDW for tickets, parks, resorts, dining...whew! Just glad everyone is so willing to post their ideas!

Older kids will work better than little ones needing a nap. Definitely pack a bag with anything you might need during the day, especially any meds etc.

 

[MrsTink04]

We did it and had no problems...but we also had our car with us. We just packed up the car @ check out time, DH went to run errands and I spent a few hours in DTD with my best friend, who lives in Orlando. A little after 2:00, we drove to our new resort and checked in (even got an upgrade!) For all intents and purposes, there should only be 4 hours of "homeless time" between check out and check in (I realize that this is not always the case) but you should be okay if your children are older and there IS always the pool! Good Luck!