Split Stays...Tell Me More

[OhanaCassidy]

I am considering doing a split stay for our July 2017 WDW vacation. I wanted to split between Poly and YC. How does this work? Are the logistics a problem or is it easy as a sprinkle of pixie dust? This is finally our Poly vacation, which I am super excited for !!! However, to appease others in the party, we want to stay near Epcot for a few nights, that is why we chose the YC. I am just afraid it will take up a lot of time and effort to move over to another location. we are staying 10 nights during this trip. (6 Poly and 4 YC-is the initial plan) Those of you who have experienced this, what are your thoughts,pros and cons?

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We did a Poly/Beach Club split last summer - 5 nights at each (with a night at Pop thrown in at the beginning). We love splits and are doing it again but with GF added this time (All Star Movies for a night, then 4 Poly, 3 BC, 4 GF). We don't unpack so it isn't really any effort that way for us.

We prefer moving and trying somewhere else to staying for 10 nights in one place - when we moved to Beach Club it felt like a whole new vacation starting It was great being close to MK then also being able to walk to Epcot and DHS.

We had our truck last time since we drove down, so moving luggage was easy (and I arranged our days so our moving days were waterpark and downtown instead of missing park time as well, which made it easy too). I would still do it if we were flying - bell services can move stuff for you.

 

[elaw]

Give this thread a try ... Lots of info

http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

 

[preemiemama]

We just did our first split stay, and did not mind it. We split between VWL and BWV. We did 3 at VWL and 4 at BWV. We split the meal plan and were able to get an extra day of meals out of it (Your meal plan will not start at the 2nd resort until all your credits are used up from the 1st, so plan accordingly. This includes snack credits!) We had no issues moving- checked out at the desk at VWL, and they called to have BWV check us in. We then arranged for a ride with Uber (we flew, so no car). Within 20 minutes, we were dropping off our suitcases with Bell Services at BWV and headed into Epcot.

 

[Belleandtinker]

Our family has done it several times with no problems. We like doing a moderate first then a deluxe. Bell service takes care of luggage. Magic Bands never a problems. Everything is the same for you except where you sleep.

With short trips, we don't hop. With 7 - 14 day trips, we like the change.

 

[buzznina]

I always tell people to give it a try, you get to see 2 resorts in one trip. For our family, we will not do it again unless we do a 14 day trip, we like to unpack and settle into the room and since we drive we always bring a lot more stuff then if we flew, so it was a bit of a hassle.

 

[loves to dive]

I've done a number of them and am doing one in Sept. solo trip for F&W. Two nights at CSR and 3 nights at Swan. I'm probably going to add an additional night in the beginning at a MK resort, looking like WL right now. I drive down so I don't have to worry about switching luggage but all you have to do is call down to BS and they get your luggage and transfer it. You can either just go to a park and head to your resort when your ready or you receive the text your room is ready and call BS for you luggage to be brought to your room. Or you can head over to resort #2 and check in then head over to a park. I take two different bags and just switch out my hanging toiletry bag so there is no repacking of bags but a lot of people use packing cubes with each resort stay in it's own cube. I get up early even on vacation so on move day I get up, take my bags to my car and check out then go over to resort #2 and check in. Sometimes my room is ready, most of the time not. If the parks are open, I head over to a park, if not, I grab breakfast at the resort then head to the park. sometimes I go back to the resort when I get the text sometimes not, just depens on my mood.

 

[CynBeth]

We have done split stays our last 2 trips and really like it. We rent a car so we move our own luggage. Since we usually go every few years this has given us an opportunity to experience different resorts on our bucket list in a shorter amount of time. One thing to give you a heads up about is that it is actually 2 separate reservations so when making ADRs you will only be able to do them for the first part of your trip at 180 days from arrival date and then will have to wait until 180 days of the second resort to do the rest. Another thing is be sure on moving day you go down to the desk of the first resort and have them check you out so you won't have any issues getting into your room at the second resort.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

Give this thread a try ... Lots of info

http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

I'm reading up on everything split stays, as I will be booking one for Aug 2017. The thread you reference is great!

But I have a question: the thread seems to say that you cannot add the dining plan to the RO portion of your stay (the second part of a split) unless you have an AP.

I've asked on a separate thread about getting the room and dining plan, and heard that you can ask for a ticketless package (only via phone, not possible when booking online).

Can anyone clear this up for me? What are your strategies for getting the dining plan for your entire stay, and for your ADRs (I'm assuming you have two windows to keep track of?)?

 

[loves to dive]

We have done split stays our last 2 trips and really like it. We rent a car so we move our own luggage. Since we usually go every few years this has given us an opportunity to experience different resorts on our bucket list in a shorter amount of time. One thing to give you a heads up about is that it is actually 2 separate reservations so when making ADRs you will only be able to do them for the first part of your trip at 180 days from arrival date and then will have to wait until 180 days of the second resort to do the rest. Another thing is be sure on moving day you go down to the desk of the first resort and have them check you out so you won't have any issues getting into your room at the second resort.

Checking out would only be a problem if you are wanting to charge to your room since if you haven't checked out, until official check out time, things are going to be charged to resort #1. I do normally go to the front desk and check out but I have done it by phone a few times, just called from my room and told them I was leaving. I always do the email me my bill option so it's not a problem of having to settle up a bill and I don't charge to my room so that's not a problem for me either.

 

[Shanti]

I am considering doing a split stay for our July 2017 WDW vacation. I wanted to split between Poly and YC. How does this work? Are the logistics a problem or is it easy as a sprinkle of pixie dust? This is finally our Poly vacation, which I am super excited for !!! However, to appease others in the party, we want to stay near Epcot for a few nights, that is why we chose the YC. I am just afraid it will take up a lot of time and effort to move over to another location. we are staying 10 nights during this trip. (6 Poly and 4 YC-is the initial plan) Those of you who have experienced this, what are your thoughts,pros and cons?

We did that exact split last July and loved it. This year we did a 3-way split with no problems. I love the Disney deluxe resorts & want to try many of them. I say go for it- you have to re-pack & re-unpack once- that's the only real hassle.

 

[DisneyCayley]

We are planning one night at WL and then moving to AS Movies for 8 nights. I know I will need to cancel our first night at Movies and book a separate RO night at WL. How do Magicbands work? Will we get them WL and then again at Movies?

 

[preemiemama]

We had 2 sets but both of them worked at both resorts. They link to your account in general, not your specific room.

 

[loves to dive]

We are planning one night at WL and then moving to AS Movies for 8 nights. I know I will need to cancel our first night at Movies and book a separate RO night at WL. How do Magicbands work? Will we get them WL and then again at Movies?

Yes you will get two or you can request they not send one of them, you do it on MDE when you order them. They are interchangeable and will both work at both resorts and anywhere a magic band can be used.

 

[Silvermist999]

We recently did a split stay at VWL then PVB (10 day stay). We originally wanted to stay for the full 10 days at PVB but couldn't get the dates we wanted. So we planned to try to either get a late checkout of VWL or early checkin at PVB. We rented a car so we knew that we would keep our luggage there if it didn't work out.

Well, we were in luck. VWL couldn't give us the late checkout the morning of, however, the manager (who was so fantastic!) decided to call up PVB and got us our room - at 9:30 am!!! We were ecstatic, and rushed over there so fast, lol. So this is something you could try, you never know!

 

[morganms22]

We did a split stay in April three nights a Contemporary and three nights at AKL Club Level. My husband's magic band didn't switch over so we did have a slight issue with that, but it was taken care of quickly. We had our car so we drove our luggage to AKL and left it with the bell hop before we went to the park. As others have stated, they will transfer your luggage for you, but make sure you let them know the night before as it needs to be down there by a certain time. (At least that is what they wanted us to do at the Contemporary.)

The one thing I will note is that when we checked in to the Contemporary there was some confusion about what had been paid as that resort showed one thing on their side of the reservation and AKL showed something different. Just something to be aware of, because even though so many people do it, Disney still hasn't quite perfected the process.

 

[DisneyCayley]

Yes you will get two or you can request they not send one of them, you do it on MDE when you order them. They are interchangeable and will both work at both resorts and anywhere a magic band can be used.

Thank you!!