Split stays, have you done this? Really torn!!

[Miss Mo]

We are hoping to come over from the UK next July for 2 weeks and were planning to do two weeks at AoA as it looks amazing. But I am starting to worry it may do my head in for a full two weeks. lol! Stayed at POP before and enjoyed it but didn't LOVE it compared to POR and CSR. We definitely want to come to AoA for some of our trip as it looks great and have kind of promised our 4 year old (he'll be 5 by then) but trying to decide whether to split the stay with either a mod (we are getting free counter service which we might upgrade to DP) or there are very good deals on OKW which has the dining plan free too.

Basically splitting the cost is going to increase our costs (which we were trying not to do) but would cut down our food bill so probably not increasing our costs that much in real terms.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Experiences?? My head is bursting with it all!!

Thanks

mo x

 

[elaw]

We love split stays. It's like multiple vacations in one

 

[loganpaulsmom]

I have done a split stay but 4 nights/4nights. I felt that it wasn't enough time. Just as soon as I got used to the first resort I was switching. Yes, it did feel kind 2 trips but neither were long enough.. Lol. But, if you are coming for 2 weeks and doing one resort 7 nights and another 7 nights I would definitely recommend it..

 

[Miss Mo]

Thanks guys. I was thinking maybe 5 nights at AoA then 9 at wherever else!?

 

[mickeynut1]

I would definitely do a split over 2 weeks. We did a 2/4 split stay once and it just wasn't worth it for such a short stay, but I would certainly do 2 resorts in a 2 week period. Seven nights at each resort is plenty of time to enjoy the resort, not to mention that Disney makes it very easy as they'll take care of getting your luggage transferred to the second resort.

 

[akl-fan]

I would do the split stay. In fact we are splitting our stay next year between BLT and AKV. Disney will move all your baggage for you, so you do not waste a lot of time in the transfer. OKW has really large rooms so i would go with that option. Let your son enjoy the madness in the first week then relax in the second. There is no point in coming back to Scotland without having had a relaxing last few days. Disney Holidays cost a fortune, it has to be about you too and not just the kids. I think your son will love AOA it looks great but I would have had enough after a few days especially in a LM room. I assume you are not getting a suite. If you were going for a suite it might swing my decision as you could get some alone time in the evening.

 

[Miss Mo]

I would do the split stay. In fact we are splitting our stay next year between BLT and AKV. Disney will move all your baggage for you, so you do not waste a lot of time in the transfer. OKW has really large rooms so i would go with that option. Let your son enjoy the madness in the first week then relax in the second. There is no point in coming back to Scotland without having had a relaxing last few days. Disney Holidays cost a fortune, it has to be about you too and not just the kids. I think your son will love AOA it looks great but I would have had enough after a few days especially in a LM room. I assume you are not getting a suite. If you were going for a suite it might swing my decision as you could get some alone time in the evening.

Yeah would be a LM room. Would just be a studio if we went to OKW - do you think they are still worth it? We love POR but OKW is actually working out slightly cheaper if we include upgrading the dining at POR.

That's great that Disney would transfer luggage.

Do any of you know how the Dining/Tickets thing would work? I would have to book the tickets with the second part of the trip rather than the first in order to get the dining plan included. Would I just be able to activate it on arrival at the first resort anyway and have it switched across room keys? (we get a two week all inclusive park ticket thing from the UK).

Thanks

mo x

 

[MMS1125]

I would personally do like 3 days and 10 days mainly b/c of dining. Since you get regular dining with deluxe for UK I'd do the first 3 at AoA then move for 10+ days at OKW. You should be able to pick up your tickets 3 days early at guest services at DTD or any park but your dining credits won't start until your 2nd reservation.

 

[Miss Mo]

I would personally do like 3 days and 10 days mainly b/c of dining. Since you get regular dining with deluxe for UK I'd do the first 3 at AoA then move for 10+ days at OKW. You should be able to pick up your tickets 3 days early at guest services at DTD or any park but your dining credits won't start until your 2nd reservation.

That's good to know, thanks. I'd probably phone to check before I book anyway. Wouldn't expect to use the dining credits earlier anyway so that's fine and think we'd want to do AoA a little bit longer than 3 days plus we might hire a car for a couple of days at the start and go to Legoland (son is OBSESSED with Lego) so prob eat off site anyway a few times. Don't think I want to stay as long as a week at AoA though.

All input greatly appreciated. Thanks x

 

[PoohsFan1]

Thanks guys. I was thinking maybe 5 nights at AoA then 9 at wherever else!?

I actually like the way you are thinking of splitting it up . On our last trip we did 3 nights at Poly and then moved over to BLT for 9 nights. We also have done a split stay between BCV and SSR both 3 nights each, however I didn't care for that because I never felt settled into our resort before we were packing up and moving. We do really enjoy doing split stays because Disney makes it so easy for you to do so and it really does feel like having 2 vacations in one. Good luck deciding .

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I think it could go either way. This past trip we had a 2 week stay, we did 10 nights at the Coronado and then the rest at Pop.

It was a pretty big hassle to get all our stuff packed up from Coronado and I felt like it took away some of our park time that day. We had a lot of stuff...4 MNSSHP costumes, Tower of Terror 10 mile running gear, more vinylmations than I will admit to purchasing...

I had our window decorated for Halloween at Coronado and then just really didn't feel like re doing it for Pop.

Also...I did not like Pop at all. It could have been because we enjoyed our time at the Coronado so much, I'm not really sure why we didn't like it because I know everyone on the board loves it. We've also stayed at 2 all stars and enjoyed those...so I'm not sure why but we didn't enjoy Pop alot and I kept wishing we were back at Coronado.

So you do run the risk of falling in love with the first resort and then being disappointed with the second. I think in the future we will stick with one resort.

 

[bumbershoot]

Do any of you know how the Dining/Tickets thing would work? I would have to book the tickets with the second part of the trip rather than the first in order to get the dining plan included. Would I just be able to activate it on arrival at the first resort anyway and have it switched across room keys? (we get a two week all inclusive park ticket thing from the UK).

Thanks

mo x

For packages in the US, if you're doing Free Dining for each part (or any Dining deal other than with an AP or staying on DVC points) you have to buy the tickets new for each part. This increases the cost by a lot, in most cases. So for US packages, it's recommended to do the free dining at the beginning of the stay and extend the tickets to include the rest of the stay.

With the UK deal, do you have to buy tickets for each part? It seems that you're going to get Free Dining for each part, which I assume means a package. It's worth absolutely knowing before booking.


I like split stays. We try to plan a free/swim day for the day we move. Pack up everything but what is needed for the pool. If you'll have a car, put bags with bell services (we've put them with the current resort's BS and then get them out and move them when we are ready to go to the second resort, and we've also taken them to the second resort in the morning). If not, then have Bell Services take them to the next resort. They will be available AFTER official check-in time, so don't pack anything in them that you might need for that day. Then just do what you want! You could swim at either, or both, pools that day; the resort you are checking in to and out of.

 

[Miss Mo]

For packages in the US, if you're doing Free Dining for each part (or any Dining deal other than with an AP or staying on DVC points) you have to buy the tickets new for each part. This increases the cost by a lot, in most cases. So for US packages, it's recommended to do the free dining at the beginning of the stay and extend the tickets to include the rest of the stay.

With the UK deal, do you have to buy tickets for each part? It seems that you're going to get Free Dining for each part, which I assume means a package. It's worth absolutely knowing before booking.

From the UK they are currently offering free dining for most of next year if you book now inclusive of park tickets but if it's a value no free dining, if it's a mod then free quick service and if it's a Deluxe then free Dining Plan. So we would do AoA first with no dining and would have to book our 2 week park ticket with the second part of the trip in order to get the dining included. I think I would need to book two separate bookings and start the park ticket early. People staying off property can buy the same park ticket and just activate it the first time they need to use it and it runs two weeks from then.

I think I would phone Disney to check all this before booking though just incase. Don't want stuck in a hotel with no park tickets that we can use! That would be sad!

OhioStateBuckeye that's interesting what you said about Pop, we liked Pop until one day we went back to POR for lunch for a little reminisce and after that Pop just annoyed us for the rest of the hols. That's the reason I'd want to do AoA at the start so you are going up a level rather than dropping down.

Does anyone have any experience of OKW or SSR? Can get the same deal on both and not finding anything that puts one infront of the other.

mo x

 

[goofy4tink]

Since you'll be there for two weeks, giving up a day to pack, and move, and then unpack, won't be a huge issue.
I love to do split stays. This coming Dec, I spend one night at AoA (LM room!!), move to SSR for five nights, then over to BWV for my last night...staying with a friend. Disney will move the bags for you...but keep in mind that it isn't a quick thing. You will spend most of the day without your bags.
I would split your stays up by weeks...spend a week at AoA, then move to OKW. Even if you split it up 5 at AoA and then 9 at OKW, it will still give you a good feel for AoA.

On the day that you move, pack your stuff up (actually, I prefer to do it before I head to bed the night before), hand the bags off to Luggage Assistence at AoA. Then, head to a park for a few hours. Around 1-2pm, head to OKW, get checked in. If your studio isn't ready yet (and it probably won't be), get something to eat there. Check out the area..maybe head over to DTD for a few hours while your room is readied. Then, when you get word that the studio is ready, head back. If you're lucky, your bags will be there as well...I have yet to get my bags prior to 5pm!!!
Then, head off to a park for the evening. You should only lose about 2-3 hrs of true park time by changing resorts.

 

[Miss Mo]

Thanks! Lots of useful info x

 

[Tigger's ally]

I think it could go either way. This past trip we had a 2 week stay, we did 10 nights at the Coronado and then the rest at Pop.

It was a pretty big hassle to get all our stuff packed up from Coronado and I felt like it took away some of our park time that day. We had a lot of stuff...4 MNSSHP costumes, Tower of Terror 10 mile running gear, more vinylmations than I will admit to purchasing...

I had our window decorated for Halloween at Coronado and then just really didn't feel like re doing it for Pop.

Also...I did not like Pop at all. It could have been because we enjoyed our time at the Coronado so much, I'm not really sure why we didn't like it because I know everyone on the board loves it. We've also stayed at 2 all stars and enjoyed those...so I'm not sure why but we didn't enjoy Pop alot and I kept wishing we were back at Coronado.

So you do run the risk of falling in love with the first resort and then being disappointed with the second. I think in the future we will stick with one resort.

Good tip is to never stay in a higher category first. A person tends to get spoiled by the amenities of the higher category then misses them...i.e. hot tub, queen beds, bigger room, sit down restaurants.

 

[Miss Mo]

Yes that's what I was thinking! Thanks x

 

[elaw]

Good tip is to never stay in a higher category first. A person tends to get spoiled by the amenities of the higher category then misses them...i.e. hot tub, queen beds, bigger room, sit down restaurants.

I agree 100% We tried it once .... never again.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

We are doing a split stay next year June 2013.


We are staying for 2 weeks.

1 week at BLT
1 week at AKL-Kidani or BCV

We love to split up a 2 week stay. It makes our stay feel different and split. It is more exciting and you are not coming back to the same place for 2 weeks straight.

 

[ppony]

We love split stays. It's like multiple vacations in one

This is how we feel about splits too. A change in latitude can also change the attitude. We're at the World right now. We first stayed at the Beach Club villas and are now in the villa at AKL. my family, and mostly my autistic son were pretty unhappy at the Beach Club. Not the CMs or the pool. They were great. It was just the room. A 2 bedroom and we were just still underwhelmed. We came today to a 1 BR villa at AKV club level and you wouldn't believe the difference in mood change. My autistic son who has spent the last 4 nights crying or SCREAMING for hours about sleeping at the BCVimmediately made himself at home here and was squealing and smiling. That means he's very happy. So our split had unintended graces and benefits. We move to the Treehouse villas in 3 days. I hope that final split will be met w/ equal joy.