Split stays? How many is too many?

[fearthisinc]

I began looking into a summer Disney trip using our DVC.. We have never done a split stay vacation and just wanted to get some opinions on how many transfers is "too many" and if Disney ever works with you on the rooms.. I understand that pretty much Disney will take care of all the luggage and whatnot, but concerned with the idea of not being able to "settle" into the room.. Its nice to unpack and set up your space.. This would be the breakdown of our vacation:

Boardwalk Resort:
- 2 nights in Pool View room
- 2 nights in standard room

Bay Lake:
- 1 night Standard Room
- 3 nights Theme Park View Room

Its only two resorts, but 3 transfers.. I'm thinking the "in resort" transfers won't be too big of a deal.. However I would assume the check in and checkout times would all apply.. So on each of those days you would be without a room for 4-5 hours.. Not sure if Disney works with you to have it where you can do an immediate transfer (especially within resort) so there is no down time or if its all just the luck of the draw..

We were just going to stay the full trip at Animal Kingdom, however we have our October and December trips already set up to stay there.. So we were looking to experiment with the other resorts..

 

[herrmannpt]

I'm probably in the minority, but we actually love split stays and do them almost every trip. If we're going to the parks, we'll do a couple of days somewhere along the monorail loop and then finish out at our home resort of AKV. We do parks closest to whatever resort we are at that day. We have 2 kids, and doing a one or two day stay somewhere allows us to get the deluxe meal plan for only a couple of days of the trip. That way, we get our expensive character meals done without it costing a small fortune. Transferring resorts can be a pain, but Bell Services is great about moving your luggage for you (just be prepared to spend a lot on tips). Often times, our next room is ready early but sometimes it isn't. Summer is especially busy at Disney, so I'd count on being roomless for 5 hours each time you move. I think it also depends on what you're doing. If you're doing a lot of park time, it may be more exhausting to have to worry about packing up all the time. We did a quick 4 day trip last Spring Break that was resort-only at 4 different resorts. We called it the "hotel hop" trip...LOL! It was great for us because it gave us a different pool to be in each day! I think it's exciting to stay in the different resorts and see what all DVC has to offer. We've been members since 2007 and have stayed at every resort on property except VGF, Boardwalk and the new Copper Creek. Do whatever works best for you!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Plan on being out of your villa no later than 11AM and not getting into the new one until after 4PM each time you change room categories or resorts. You will have to completely leave the first to get into the second. You can store your items with Bell Services and pay them to pick it up each time and to deliver it to the new villa each time. With DVC resorts usually 95% occupied, your new villa might not be ready for several hours after you vacate the one you were in. Both have to be completely cleaned for the new guest. I'd try to limit the number of changes if possible. Go with five nights in the preferred room at BWV if possible and three nights in BLT theme park view.

 

[kreckl]

We love split stays and do them almost every trip, but that would be too many changes for me. We have occasionally done three resorts in eight nights and will try not to do that again.
You must plan to be homeless for many hours on switch day. So going off to a park works well, but at some point you’ll want to check into your room so someone will need to get back to the resort, then head out again if your plans for that day go into the night....we don’t want to be unpacking in the room at bedtime. Plus, I don’t know about you but we are people who check carefully for bedbugs, and Lysol things like remotes and counters and door handles and everything else that other people have recently touched. That doesn’t take long, but it’s something we want to do every time we switch.
Why all of the switches- availability? Could you wait list?

 

[disneynutz]

Our minimum is four nights per resort. Less than that and we feel like all we do is move and wait for the new room hoping to get the view that we want. Not much of a relaxing enjoyable vacation. Now if you are trying out different resorts for your next purchase, that's a different story, that's what we do now prior to buying.

Bill