Split Stays--Why do people do them?

[RedAngie]

We did split stays pretty much for variety. And we tend to get bored if staying at the same place more than four nights.

 

[DebbieB]

When I go with friends, we like to do split stays with my vacation club points for half and my friend's cm discount for half. Last year we did Grand Floridian Villas & Wilderness Lodge. In August, we did Grand California Villas & Paradise Pier at Disneyland, next year we'll do Polynesian Villas and Art of Animation Family Suite. It works financially plus it's nice to have variety, the vacation seems longer.

 

[Sunnywho]

we are doing a quadruple split
three free nights with ihg points
one night at universal to get express pass for 2 universal days
four nights at fort wilderness cabin while the inlaws are there with their rv
finally three nights at all stars
I am keeping a sense of humor about it all

 

[Donnainnj]

We are considering a split stay for our next trip. I am not real fond of them, but for this trip my DD will be with us in the beginning, but not the end. We are moving her back into school in the area during the trip. If I put her on the reservation for the entire trip we will have to pay the additional adult fee for all days. If we wait until we get down there to add her, she will not be able to get her FP+ until 30 days out. We have never stayed at the GF, so are considering splitting it with Yacht club. One resort near Mk, one near Epcot and DS.

 

[Jfsag123]

Our last trip was a bit of a split stay. We had 6 nights booked at BLT through DVC point rental, then found we could go down a day earlier than expected, so booked an additional night at POR.

Our next trip will be a true split stay between BCV and BLT, again through rented DVC points. The main reason is to take advantage of location - we got spoiled getting to walk to MK from BLT, and wanted to experience being close to Epcot as well. Additionally, we wanted to take a longer trip and BCV costs less points than BLT, so splitting our nights between the two rather than doing them all at BLT saved some money and allowed us to stay longer.

 

[Davey Jones II]

We do a few days at Universal and several days at Disney. Does that count as a "split stay"? If we changed hotels at Disney, too, that would be way too much packing, unpacking and checking out at 11 or noon.

 

[TeamSy]

I never understood it until I tried it. Now, we're addicted to them.

We find split stays MORE hassle FREE than if we were at one hotel the entire time. If we don't like something we know we won't be staying for too long. For example, room requests are a lot of the time just requests. We are two adults and want a king bed. If our request isn't met at the first location, we have another chance of getting it at the second. It annoys me when I have to change rooms at the SAME resort. This of course, has never happened, but to me it's a small security blanket feature of the split stay.

Really though, we do it for the EASE of dining/the parks. We typically split between an Epcot resort and a MK resort. This has us rarely taking the Disney buses, and allows for us to experience a lot of Disney's "fine dining" without having a lot of the "getting to" hassle. Of course, a plus is getting to experience multiple cool Disney hotels. After Disney, we then typically switch to a nice resort offsite to experience actual relaxation (because let's face it, nothing about Disney is relaxing), great pools (Disney doesn't really have them, aside from SAB, which IS pretty unique), and a fabulous spa (typically one that has its own quiet spa pool or an adult only pool). Disney just doesn't do it for us in terms of luxury or relaxation, but you really can't beat the ease of their hotels when going to the actual parks. That's why we split stay. We don't ever run into fp issues (we just do our onsite stay first), and the few days we have to split up dining ADRs used to not be an issue, except for this year, but it seems to always work out.

I should also note that our Disney check out / check in days are really no different than any other day, with the only difference being that we take our luggage to bell services and tell them where to move it to. We get up and do everything same time we normally would. Then, at the end of the day, after the park closes, we simply head to the new hotel and check in. It's so late in the day at that point that our room is always ready and it takes less then 5 minutes for them to deliver our luggage. It takes nothing away and is super easy!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

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?

I've split stay to save money or a different experience. For example a few days at the beach then Disney. A few days off site then Disney. The first night at a value then somewhere else. You must be organized to do a split stay and it can be a hassle.

 

[summerw]

We're splitting because DS really wants to go back to Art of Animation and we want to try the Poly. Since DH is joining us 2 days later, we're doing both. Everyone happy.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our very first Orlando trip started with a night (or two?) at CBR pirate room just to sleep and start working off the jetlag. Then family came out from Daytona and we had a 2 bedroom at OKW. Family left, we didn't want the big room, so we moved to a 1 bedroom there. Then we went to Universal for a few nights, then back to WDW, where we stayed at a villa at AKL. It was fun, it gave us what we wanted, and we didn't feel like we were wasting DVC points (yes we bought in before ever setting foot in Florida as a family) or money.

January 2014 was supposed to be our last huge trip. 2 weeks of me and DS, involving the 5K and the Half plus visiting my Daytona family, then DH joined us for Universal and a cruise. In the just-over-a-week at WDW, we started at Pop (free nights with hotels.com), one night in a BW studio, moved to SSR studio for expo and 5K, then over to AS Music family suite (decent rate with hotels.com) the day of the 5K so my aunt and her grandson could easily come join us to watch DS while I did the Half. It would have been perfect except 2 days in I was sick as a dog, so every tiny little thing was a huge pain.

Other than that, you just have to be organized, you have to think things through, and be prepared. Except for the move from SSR in 2014 we just move our own stuff by car. But I was absolutely wiped out and couldn't deal with the bags, so we had WDW move them.

I have read about Magic Band difficulties.

MBs glitch. It's easy to blame glitches on split stays, but they happen when they want to happen.

it's like getting two vacations in one.

Yep.

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.

If you ever end up with a split stay again, unpack! THAT is the thing that makes you feel "there". It's annoying to unpack, it feels like a waste. It's annoying to pack back up, it feels like a waste. But the in between times really make you feel like you're truly there, and that makes it worth it.

I thought people did it just for a change of scenery (which seemed kind of extravagant to me, honestly)

How does a change of scenery feel extravagant?

Cheaper to check out different resorts on one trip rather than going back subsequent years!

I did physically check in at CBR after reading about people having problems with split stays (though I didn't "check out" at AOA) and the CBR people assured me we were all set to go. It was very frustrating and not something most people will run into, I'm sure.

It's possible it was because you didn't do the checkOUT process, but I doubt it. Problems when you don't check out usually take the form of difficulties while checking IN to the next resort. So if you had no issues there, it was likely just a glitch or two. They happen.

 

[jo-jo]

Really though, we do it for the EASE of dining/the parks. We typically split between an Epcot resort and a MK resort. This has us rarely taking the Disney buses, and allows for us to experience a lot of Disney's "fine dining" without having a lot of the "getting to" hassle. Of course, a plus is getting to experience multiple cool Disney hotels. After Disney, we then typically switch to a nice resort offsite to experience actual relaxation (because let's face it, nothing about Disney is relaxing), great pools (Disney doesn't really have them, aside from SAB, which IS pretty unique), and a fabulous spa (typically one that has its own quiet spa pool or an adult only pool). Disney just doesn't do it for us in terms of luxury or relaxation, but you really can't beat the ease of their hotels when going to the actual parks. That's why we split stay. We don't ever run into fp issues (we just do our onsite stay first), and the few days we have to split up dining ADRs used to not be an issue, except for this year, but it seems to always work out.

We do the split stay on purpose.

Except for the off site part, this is us. We hardly use disney transportation. We love going into a park and for what ever reason we can be back at our hotel in about a 20 min walk from 3 out 4 parks.

 

[CaptainCook]

We have done two split stays. Each 3 nights/4 nights/3 nights. First one at WL/BC/POly and second at AKL/BW/CR.

We are midday breakers and enjoy spending time at the resort - so it's great being able to check out the different properties - especially the pools.

We also take advantage of proximity to different parks to minimize our travel time - walking to Epcot or HS while we are in the Crescent Lake area, etc.

We don't really unpack a lot when we travel (don't put our clothing in the dressers, etc) so it's pretty easy for us to pack up mid trip to make the switch.

 

[mickeymom22]

We do split stays all the time! It is super easy. Bell Services take care of your luggage. No hassles. We just pack certain luggage for the first resort, and another for the second resort. We do it because we like the deluxe resorts, but we just can't justify paying their prices when we are spending so much time at the parks. We have done split stays between BC/POR, BW/POR, and AoA/POR.

I am also on a mission to stay at all the resorts...so split stays help me attain my goal!

 

[BeerMe]

In December, 3 of us are going for the first two days and our granddaughter wants to stay in Ariel rooms, then 7 of us for 7 days and finally two of us for three days. It's all about room size. AoA, then 2BR at Saratoga, then to POFQ.

Last spring we stayed offsite for three months and changed condos every month just for variety.

 

[momimouse27]

We did a split stay just once. We started at POFQ and after three nights we packed up and went to BWI for three more nights.

When I did it, it was because I wanted to experience two different resorts. For myself, the resort experience is one of the best parts about being at Disney. But, after that, I'll say that split stays are not for me. It was free dining at the time and this was many years ago, but it was a real mess for us to change resorts mid-trip. Also, I didn't like that when we did a split stay it didn't allow us to fully experience either resort. I feel like I don't get to truly soak up the atmosphere of a resort unless I'm there for the full trip. Since we've been to WDW so many times and experienced the parks fully, I find I enjoy really getting to know the resort atmosphere now more than I used to.

 

[momimouse27]

We do split stays all the time! It is super easy. Bell Services take care of your luggage. No hassles. We just pack certain luggage for the first resort, and another for the second resort. We do it because we like the deluxe resorts, but we just can't justify paying their prices when we are spending so much time at the parks. We have done split stays between BC/POR, BW/POR, and AoA/POR.

I am also on a mission to stay at all the resorts...so split stays help me attain my goal!

Me too! Right now, I'm behind the game but I'm working on it.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Sometimes it's lack of availability of DVC resorts for the time we want to go, and sometimes we just want to experience two DVC resorts in one stay.
We get two sets of Magic Bands and there is no problem with them. It also does not affect ADRs or FP+ ressies. We also never really "unpack" per se so no problem w/ the luggage. We just take it down to bell services and they transfer it to our next resort for us. Easy peasy.

 

[kathy884]

There are all kinds of reasons.

For us -- We stayed at the Contemporary during the time we had a seminar and our company was paying. Then we stayed offsite in a condo for the value, room, and to be with extended family.

For many -- Sometimes they like deluxe, but the budget doesn't, so people do deluxe for part of the time and go with a moderate or value for the other. Or they want to be close to the MK for part of their stay, and Epcot and DHS for the other part. Or maybe they want to experience AKL, but it's too far away to do it the whole time.

Lots of people do split stays Disney and Universal, to get the early entry both places and Front of Line passes at Universal.

Many do Disney and offsite. Disney to be immersed 24/7 and offsite because they want to do other things in Orlando that are non Disney and don't want to pay the onsite premium when not doing Disney. // Others like a hotel for a certain number of days and then crave their own kitchen and more space. Often this is an onsite/offsite combination, as Disney condos usually cost about triple the price of an offsite condo.

I'm with the OP though. I prefer to stay put in one place the whole time. It takes a lot for me to move, but something like being at the place where your work seminar is (and someone else paying for you to do Disney deluxe) and then being with extended family at the lovely resort that's a great value got even me to do a split stay.

 

[toni nicole]

I did it once, and hated it. It was a hassle. My reason for doing it though, because I really wanted to experience Coronado but could not afford to spend the money for all those nights at that price. Another reason being this day was added last minute so we thought why not. Definitely would not do again.

 

[jettgrrlaust]

I love split stays!!! I dont have kids etc but I can completely understand that constantly moving resorts this would be a hassle for a family but as it was just my friends and I, we did this last year without any hassles and loved it!! We Plan to do it again, 4 times in fact this coming in Jan (2016). I have a few reasons why I like split stays. Main reason is money - this time around we are going for 2 weeks. There is no way I would be able to afford staying at a moderate that whole time but this way I get to treat myself and stay at one for the majority of the trip because I save a little bit of $$ staying at a value for the first few days and last few days of the trip. Values are great but the mods just give a little something extra (deluxe next time if I split stay again and save more $$). Also its about experiencing the Disney precinct. Some people I talk to have no idea how huge this place is and one of my favourite quotes is that the Disney precinct is twice the size of Manhattan!! So the fact that I get to experience different themes etc is great and is important to me considering Im spending a lot of my hard earned $$ on this holiday. In saying that yes, you can visit the resorts for free and we will be doing that too but there's something fun about staying there and immersing in the themes and like a fellow poster said above, the change of resort is like another holiday!