Split Stays--Why do people do them?

[slickpoetry]

Is it solely because they crave the variety of experiencing different resorts? Or is there something else I'm missing? Because it seems like you could go through a lot of hassles to accomplish a split stay. I have read about people not being able to make FP or ADR for their whole trip at the same time. I have read about Magic Band difficulties. Not to mention that you have to pack up all your stuff and move in the middle of your trip. So what is the appeal?

 

[ScarletBegonias]

None for me! Once I'm unpacked there is no way I'd pack everything back up to switch again. Curious to hear what others have to say.

 

[wdwrich]

We like split stays because it's like getting two vacations in one. It's not a hassle to do at all- leave your bags with bell services in the morning at resort #1, head out for a park for the day, then go to resort #2 and once in your room, call for your bags to be delivered. We've had no problem with ADRs or FP+ over the split stay. We've done several split stays and will be doing another in early December.

 

[matheke]

Some reasons are:

1. You arrive a day or two before a promotion starts.
2. You book a trip let's say a year in advanced you are able to leave a couple days early but there is no room at the resort you booked to add a couple of days.
3. You spend a couple of days at the parks, do a cruise, return to parks after the cruise

 

[Marionnette]

Is it solely because they crave the variety of experiencing different resorts? Or is there something else I'm missing? Because it seems like you could go through a lot of hassles to accomplish a split stay. I have read about people not being able to make FP or ADR for their whole trip at the same time. I have read about Magic Band difficulties. Not to mention that you have to pack up all your stuff and move in the middle of your trip. So what is the appeal?

Well for me, it was due to a lack of availability at one resort for the entire length of my stay. But I've also done split stays that either began or ended a trip because I was arriving late/leaving early and did not want to spend money for the additional night at a deluxe resort room that I was basically using just to sleep in. So, I either book a value room for the arrival night or an airport room for the night before departure.

 

[wilkeliza]

Some do split stay to get a discount on a portion of their vacation. Case in point people who are going to Disney for the Wine and Dine half marathon. If you started your week long vacation to include the half and the week after you couldn't get free dinning unless you checked in on the 9th (or something like that). So some people chose to book the weekend through runDisney then the rest of the week through the free dinning discount. It allowed them to get a good rate on both portions of their trip but created a split stay.

 

[Goseethemouse]

Many possible reasons:
It IS fun to experience differnt resorts
Maybe you would like to stay at a more expensive resort but can't justify the cost for the entire stay
Some resorts just are more convenient for certain portions of the trip, eg. AKL for AK, BC for Epcot, or Fort Wilderness for just relaxing a bit.

We have done several split stays but they have been a couple of years ago (so no problems with FP reservations or Magic Band) and we usually do longer trips (I wouldn't want to change if I was only staying five nights).

 

[karrit2000]

Sometimes people have split stays because they can not get all the nights they want at one resort. This happens frequently with DVC member stays due to the booking windows. It can get very complicated if you have multiple home resorts and limited points available when your booking window opens. I have a split stay for my next trip on a few weeks because my wait list didn't come through before the 30 day cancellation mark. I had booked at my two home resorts at my 11 month window with the points I had available for each & wait listed for the nights at the one I really wanted to stay at. Some nights came through but I couldn't get 2 of the last three I needed so I will be moving after the third night of my trip. And as you already said some people just want to experience staying at all the different resorts.

 

[PSUGuy]

Did this twice, probably never again. First time we were looking for 8 days at either Swan or Dolphin back when you could get a Teacher/Nurse/Gov't discount for $129 a night. Couldn't get 8 in a row only first 3 at Swan, last 3 at Dolphin the middle 2 we stayed at Allstar Sports. We had a good time, it's Disney after all, but we never unpacked, lived out of the suitcases and that put a damper on things, didn't feel like we were 'there' for some reason.

Second time was our longest stay ever, first 9 days at Board Walk on rented DVC points the last 2 at POFQ. It was a bit of a bummer trading 'down' from a deluxe to a moderate although we're not too stuck up to stay at a Value, and also 11 days were more than we needed. As we were being taxied from BW to POFQ we both said that if we were on our way to MCO it would all be good. The S/AllStar/D thing was the first week in Jann., 2005 the BW/POFR a few years later, since then we've stuck with 8 or 9 days at BW and that does it for us.

Bill From PA

 

[jerseygal]

We love experiencing different resorts. To us, its the "best of both worlds"!

 

[HM]

To experience two different resorts. And sometimes to save a little money in the process. One costs more and the other less... We used to do this back when we could afford to do a full week at deluxe. We'd stay in a less expensive one like AKL and then move to Poly for a few days. Now, we don't stay for more than five nights and doing a split wouldn't work as well (and we've moved down to Moderates due to pricing).

 

[anniemae]

I have wanted to try a split stay to experience a deluxe, but is way too much hassle for me personally. Once I unpack, I'm done, that's my home for the week. We stayed at CBR and had to switch rooms due to some issues and it was a pain. We had to pack everything back up and call bell services in the morning, then go to our new room in the afternoon. Not a huge deal, but not how I wanted to spend vaca, packing and unpacking.

 

[wdwrich]

Actually, if you pack/unpack with the split in mind, it's just not that much of a bother. That being said, I probably wouldn't do a split stay if young children were along, or if we were going to be at each hotel for 3 days or less. Everyone has their own ideas about such things, but our trips are usually 8-12 days in total, so we'll continue to do split stays and will enjoy every minute of them.

 

[loves to dive]

I've done them for various reasons, all when going solo (or in one case intending to go solo and DS and DIL were able to join me after I booked).
1. As others have said, was staying in a deluxe and didn't want to pay for arrival night for a short time in a deluxe.
2. Rented points and couldn't get all the days in the deluxe I wanted so split mod/deluxe.
3. Just wanted to experience AKL (ended up in villas but that was just because it was actually less) so did a 2 nights AKV and 3 nights BVW then needed an extra night but booked BWV through Orbitz so Disney couldn't extend stay, had to book last night at BWV and change rooms, 3 changes that trip.

They are not as big a deal for me as others since I drive down and can pack two bags, leave one in the car, drive to resort two and just grab different bag. I don't even have to leave my bags with bell services at resort #2 since I can just get them from my car when I'm ready to go to my room. The only exception to that was the AKV/BWV trip, which was the one DS and DIL joined me on. DS didn't want to deal with lugging bags from car so we valet parked instead of self parked and left them with bell services. When I'm solo it's usually just have one bag and it's wheeled so taking it from car to room is no big deal. I've never had any problems with MB, but I have an AP which might make a difference. I've also never had any problems with booking FP, even the trip where DS and DIL were along they didn't have APs. They didn't get their tickets until after 30 days out so it wasn't an issue and we rarely book them more than a week in advance anyway. I never feel homeless as some people will say, I get up early on move day, which I do anyway, I'm old I don't sleep. I check out of resort 1, drive over to resort #2, usually around 7 or 7:30, check in. The room has only been ready once. Go to whatever park I'm doing that day, go about my day until I get the text room is ready. I rarely go back to my resort when it's ready unless I'm just done with that park for the day. I've done it for a trip that was only 4 nights, 2 nights POR, 2 nights OKW (that was one I couldn't get all the points at one resort and it was so cheap to rent the points and split with a moderate that the moving wasn't a big deal).

I've found I actually enjoy doing it so it will probably be the norm for me when travelling solo.

 

[slickpoetry]

Thanks everyone for responding. I'm just now planning my second trip to Disney so there is still a lot to learn obviously. That's why I love this board. I thought people did it just for a change of scenery (which seemed kind of extravagant to me, honestly) but I see there are several valid reasons why one might do it. Thanks for letting me pick your brains, it was enlightening.

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

Last year we had to do a split stay becuase of lack of resort availability. I would have preferred not to but in order to get one of the 3 hotels I wanted I had to stay at all three. We have DVC so we ended up staying at grand Floridian villas BLT and beach club. I was also pregnant at the time so we only went to the park one day and spent a lot of time at the resort. It turned out to be a really good time and since at the time it was just us and no kids it wasn't bad at all to transfer.

 

[teddygurl28]

when I was 3 and they were building the GF I told my parents I would stay there when I got married. fast forward 23 years and I still wanted to stay there- but our newlywed budget didn't allow for 10 nights at the GF. so we did a split stay and rented points at DVC for a week and then spent 3 nights at the GF. I got my childhood dream checked off my bucket list

other times we did short stays so we bounced between deluxe resorts so we could experience them briefly- knowing that our budget is still not friendly for deluxes for long stays.

 

[SaintsManiac]

There's an awesome thread about split stays on the resorts board.

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

We added a day last minute at POP at the beginning of our trip. We want to see how it is for future reference.

We plan to split stay again eventually to get a couple of nights at a deluxe. It's not in our price range to stay deluxe the entire trip.

 

[Julylady]

Another reason for doing a split stay is location of the resort. For example, first 3 nights at Contemporary for easy access to Magic Kingdom. Then move to Beach Club for pool day (Storm Along bay), EPCOT and Hollywood Studios (walk or take a boat). Finish up with three nights at Fort Wilderness cabins for total relaxation at a much slower pace. A wonderful vacation!!

 

[serenitynow]

A few years ago, we were planning a trip for our little guy's birthday. He really wanted to swim in the "monorail pools" - that is the pools he had seen while riding the monorail. We explained that those resorts were very expensive. He really wanted to swim in the monorail pools. I explained that we could spend 4 days at Walt Disney World at monorail resorts or 9 days at our usual resort, Port Orleans French Quarter. I was so sure he would pick the 9 days at POFQ. I was wrong.

So we did a split stay at Grand Floridian, Contemporary and Polynesian. 4 days, three resorts. We did not unpack, Disney moved our suitcases each time. We would make rope drop at the parks each morning and return after lunch to swim in the monorail pools and experience each resort (it was November with the Christmas decorations up). It was hectic, funny and a little ridiculous. Little guy told every cast member he saw at each resort what he was doing for his birthday trip. He got tons of attention from the CMs and bus drivers, lots of jokes were made and he loved it.

Would I do it again? Maybe not, but 8 years later he still talks about the time he got to swim in all the " monorail pools". And for our family, making memories is what it's all about!