Split stays

[LuckyBelle81]

I've seen a lot of folks posting about splitting their trip between multiple resorts. What is the main reason to do this? I like the idea of getting to experience different resorts but the idea of moving to a different hotel in the middle of a trip (with 3 kids and all their stuff) seems exhausting to me. Am I missing something? Is there another reason to do this? Not hating on anyone, just wondering.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

To experience different resorts, mostly. In some cases, it's to take advantage of resort proximity to different attractions.

Many of these people don't have 3 young children to move. It makes a difference.

 

[LuckyBelle81]

I figured that was probably the case. I would def consider it if I was just traveling with DH.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

To experience different resorts, mostly. In some cases, it's to take advantage of resort proximity to different attractions.

Many of these people don't have 3 young children to move. It makes a difference.

Exactly this.

 

[5kidsmommy]

To experience different resorts, mostly. In some cases, it's to take advantage of resort proximity to different attractions.

Many of these people don't have 3 young children to move. It makes a difference.

Yep this is why we are considering it for a trip eventually. I'd love to enjoy a deluxe resort for a day or two. My kids are older and really want to try out Beach Club but even if we rented dvc points more than a couple nights would cost way more than our usual resort, Fort Wilderness.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I have a technical split-stay coming up, but it's because my DVC points won't cover the whole stay, so we are switching from DVC to the "main" resort for our last two days. I'm counting on the fact that we're staying at the same overall property to not make it a horror with the kids.

...I'm an optimist.

 

[Disneylover99]

We do split stays because of discounts. Usually we go during free dining. Sometimes we arrive before the free dining promotion begins so we try a different resort.

 

[Dreamin192]

We're doing 5 nights GF and 4 nights BC. We have three small children, ages 4, 1, and 1. We may be crazy We did it that way because we wanted to try both resorts. We also like the idea of being close to MK for part of the trip and then Epcot and HS for the other part. It will be our first split stay and I'm hoping it wont be the last. We're planning on packing our suitcases for the split stay so we don't have to unpack and repack everything.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Yep this is why we are considering it for a trip eventually. I'd love to enjoy a deluxe resort for a day or two. My kids are older and really want to try out Beach Club but even if we rented dvc points more than a couple nights would cost way more than our usual resort, Fort Wilderness.

And you're going to have that. It's the difference between a deluxe vacation villa and a campground.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done EP/MK resort splits so that we can keep our park transportation time to an absolute minimum. I would rather switch resorts than deal with buses!

 

[alex9179]

We did two nights at AOA and the rest at Poly when our kids were 6,8, & 9. I just packed the three days in one suitcase and the rest in the others. So we only had toiletries to pack for the move. Bell services took care of moving it for us while we were at the park. Not stressful at all. My youngest was a pain in the everything for most of the trip, so the rest seemed like gravy!

We did it that way because we had some extra days added onto the beginning due to DH's vacation time changing a bit and no availability at Poly. It really wasn't a big deal.

 

[5kidsmommy]

And you're going to have that. It's the difference between a deluxe vacation villa and a campground.

Hahaha!! We've done lots of fancy vacations, just not at Disney, mostly because the campground at Disney isn't just some old campground, it's Disney after all. Plus we stay in our trailer so staying in one room would actually be a bit of a downgrade for the same price as nearly a week at the Fort.

 

[lala5176]

We have done split stays and may actually end up doing one this trip by adding a few days to the beginning of the stay. It is not really an inconvenience as we usually build a couple of resort days into the trip and one of those days we will get up eat breakfast and then checkout and take a cab with our bags to the second resort and check in there. We sometimes just want to experience different resorts.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Hahaha!! We've done lots of fancy vacations, just not at Disney, mostly because the campground at Disney isn't just some old campground, it's Disney after all. Plus we stay in our trailer so staying in one room would actually be a bit of a downgrade for the same price as nearly a week at the Fort.

Then I guess you just answered your own question. You don't feel like it's worth it for you to stay in a deluxe vacation villa, as long as you enjoy the fort then that's awesome for you!

 

[JETSDAD]

We just got back from a split stay. We had planned 2 nights at BLT and then 3 nights at Poly. It was a way to get studios at those resorts on rented points at 3-4 months out. We then were able to get away a bit early and added a cash night at Wilderness lodge. We just live out of our bags and there is just myself, DW, and DD10 so it was pretty easy.

 

[TML2012]

We are doing our first split stay this year. We wanted to stay at POP but rooms were only available for part of our stay. I had heard about split stays so I thought we would try out a moderate for part of the trip. I ended up adding the DDP for the days at POP when we plan to go to 1900 Park Fare and Boma so this way we don't have to commit to the dining plan for our whole stay.

 

[galaxygirl76]

Both our split stays happened due to flights being cheaper on different days so we had to switch our dates around. Our upcoming trip will probably be a split stay because my MIL is coming on her first trip and we want her to experience the Poly and GF(we're dvc members and want to show off our home resort), if for some reason she backs out we'll stay at the Poly for our entire trip.

 

[Jfsag123]

Last trip we did a sort-of split stay because we wanted to add an extra night, but were staying on rented DVC points, so couldn't add one that way. This time we are doing a true split (again with rented points), half at BCV and half at BLT. We do have 2 young kids, but feel like it's worth it because the two locations will be great for getting to and from parks throughout the whole trip. Plus, as others have said, we like the idea of getting to try out different resorts.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

To experience different resorts, mostly. In some cases, it's to take advantage of resort proximity to different attractions.

Many of these people don't have 3 young children to move. It makes a difference.

Mostly this - but also I have gotten lower rates and/or more availability or selections on rooms because I'm booking two shorter stays. I've done it twice with two youngish children. Using bell services makes it fairly easy, and I just keep organized with packing cubes.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

We are doing our first split stay this year. We wanted to stay at POP but rooms were only available for part of our stay. I had heard about split stays so I thought we would try out a moderate for part of the trip. I ended up adding the DDP for the days at POP when we plan to go to 1900 Park Fare and Boma so this way we don't have to commit to the dining plan for our whole stay.

We're doing a similar thing. We found that now that our 11yo is a "Disney adult", dining plan wasn't as much of a value, and we don't want to do a ton of table service anyway, so we're doing the dining plan on the front half of a split stay. Two days at WL and we'll do CP, Boma and BOG quick service then. We want to do those two table service meals anyway, and since they're both buffets, OOP we still pay the adult price no matter what he eats. Then we'll be OOP at AKL for few days. We loved WL when we stayed before but we've wanted to try AKL, so this way we get to do both!