Splitting Resorts (any Info)

[jobes]

We are palnning a 9 night trip and thinking of doing a split between Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge. has anyone ever done this ? How's the transitionday work? thanks

 

[VMM]

We did a 9 night split this past May between AKL and Poly and had a great time. We drove down so we had a car there and elected to move our own stuff but were told that Disney will move it and it will normally arrive at your new resort by 5pm.

We enjoyed changing resorts and will probably do it again next time we go. I would not recommend changing resort on a stay less the 6 nights because you do seem to loss part of that day no matter what you do.

Good Luck!

 

[aubriee]

When we went this past January I couldn't decide between WL and AKL, so did a split stay between them. In May I stayed two nights at POP, before transferring over to BWV, then spent a final two nights at POP. I was traveling solo that trip and still had no qualms about splitting resorts. WDW makes it very easy.

I just called bell services early the morning I was ready to leave, they came, got my bags and gave me a receipt. I then caught a bus to the park closest to the resort I was transferring to and hopped on another bus to my new resort where I checked in. They gave me a new room key and a number to call later to get my room number. I then went off to the parks and when I returned that night, stopped by bell services asking them to deliver my luggage to my room. In May my luggage was already in my room at POP waiting for me when I returned from the parks that evening. Again very easy and painless. I'm taking my son and D-I-L to WDW in Sept and we decided not to do a split stay due to the way the free dining pkg works and I think I'm going to miss it. I like splitting resorts because it's like two vacations in one. In my case in January we went from the northwest wilderness to an African savanna and in May I went from the 1950's at POP to the 1920's at Boardwalk (and was able to save those expensive weekend DVC points--since I was renting points). I can't imagine staying in the same resort for nine nights/ten days.

 

[MermaidsMom]

You do "lose" an entire day when you do this. I wouldn't do it again, it's just a pain no matter how you slice it.

 

[Dizneydaz]

As you can see by signature, I've split a couple times. I like it! I enjoy the change in locations. We've always had a rental car so we've carried our own things except, I think, In Dec. 2003, we let the resort move luggage. It worked great! Sept. 04 I stayed at 4 resorts (mostly due to the fact that some members of our group took a little side trip to Tampa and that left just myself and my DD (5). To economize we moved to ASMo for a few days and then finished up at POFQ. Also, in an effort to economize we stayed our first night at PC (we arrived about 11 p.m.) and then moved to AKL for the next portion.

We usually leave our current resort and go check-in at the next one in the a.m. Sometimes the room is ready, sometimes it's not.

On our last trip we stayed PC for 8 nights. We felt it was too many nights in the same place. I would have liked to split. This trip we are 6 nights at POFG-no splitting this time in order to get the free dining for the entire time without adding another 1 day base tix (for 3 of us).

Anyway, I think it depends on you. If you like to stay in one place and maximize your time in the parks, then do it. If you like a change of pace and realize that missing a portion of a day changing resorts isn't that big a deal (do you plan a spending 9/10 full days in the parks?) then switch. I think it gives you a chance to visit more resorts.

Just my thoughts,

53 days and counting!

 

[SeaSpray]

We just did a split stay two weeks ago, between the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian. It was really very simple. I called bell services to pick up our luggage from our room at the Wilderness Lodge, after breakfast, on the day we were checking out. They tagged it to go over to the Polynesian. We left the WL, taking the boat to the MK, then the boat over to the Polynesian. Checked into the Polynesian, went and had lunch at Sci-Fi at MGM Studios, and by the time we came back in the afternoon, our room was ready. I called down to see about our luggage and they sent someone up with it. It wasn't a hassle, in our opinion, but everyone is different and plans their days differently. The only "extra" time it took us were the boat trips from the WL to the Polynesian. We would do a split stay again.

 

[Joy]

We are planning a split stay between WL and AKL in early Feb 2006. We were planning on having the luggage picked up in the morning, then taking the boat to the MK. After lunch I figured we'd just hop on the bus to the AKL and check in when we got there. (The AKL part of the trip is a surprise for the kids.)

Do you think that will work? We are staying on the concierge level and really want a savanah view. Any advise??

Thanks!

 

[Leota]

We have split a couple times. Last split was between the Dolphin & AKL (we are doing that split again in Dec, only AKL then Dolphin)
I like the split as it makes for 2 different vacation experiences. I split between 2 different resort areas as well, like 1 Epcot stay split with 1 MK stay. That gives me a benefit of being closer to different Parks.
I have let WDW transfer out luggage & I have transferred our own.Both work fine. I now have to do our own as I have a bunch of meds that need refridgeration. I don't want to leave that to someone else.

You do lose a bit of Park time, but for me it's worth it. We're not so commando anymore & the Resort experience is a big, HUGE part of our trips.

 

[MECH8T7]

We are planning a split stay between WL and AKL in early Feb 2006. We were planning on having the luggage picked up in the morning, then taking the boat to the MK. After lunch I figured we'd just hop on the bus to the AKL and check in when we got there. (The AKL part of the trip is a surprise for the kids.)

Do you think that will work? We are staying on the concierge level and really want a savanah view. Any advise??

Thanks!

We did a Poly / AKL CL split stay this March. The nice thing about staying concierge in the second part of your stay is that, if your room isn't ready when you check in, you have full access to the concierge lounge until your room is ready. You have access to the concierge lounge from the morning of your check-in day to the end of the evening on your check-out day.

We left the Poly for the AKL CL at around 11:00 am on our switch day. To our surprise, our room at AKL was ready when we arrived. This was during the week before Easter...one of the busiest weeks of the year at WDW.

If you go to the concierge or AKL discussion threads, you'll see that you should have no difficulty getting a savannah view, particularly if you want non-smoking...but make sure that you make your preferences know to the AKL IPO.

Have a great time.

 

[jennypenny]

We like to make the day we switch our sleep in day. We do something late the night before we switch (like wishes, etc). Then sleep in, I do laundry and pack, call bell services by 10:30 (they will transport your luggage), and head out by 11. Stop for any pictures you want of the current hotel, get souveniers, etc. Head over to your new resort--we like taking a cab because we like the feeling of arriving at the main entrance, dorky I know--and then check in. We bring one bag with us with bathing suits, rain coats, toothbrushes, etc. and check it with bell services in case we need anything before our bags arrive. Then we plan a late, nice lunch, some pool time or shopping or mini golf, and get in our room after 4. By evening we are unpacked and ready to start the rest of our trip.

It's really not bad. I prefer not switching but I got out-voted by my family who doesn't want to stay in one place for two weeks.

One other suggestion, we like to split our stay between resorts in different locations, and then plan our schedule around the parks we're closest to. For example, you could stay at GF then BC, or (like us) SSR then BCV, or WL then BW, etc.

Jenny

 

[zippehsmom]

I have split my stays a lot, and I love it. I don't feel like I lose a say at all. I either 1) Plan my break day for the split day, ie..spleep in, have luggage transferred to new resort, if room is not ready hang out at pool or grab lunch in DTD or 2) have a normal park day, we always go check in to other hotel first and then head to the park, we usually head to the hotel at midday (and our room has always been ready), if it isn't ready, we'd head to the pool.

BTW, we always have a rental car, so this makes checking in early easy.

 

[eleanor]

In April we did a AKL,POLY, BWV s[lit and it was great. We did the AK and had pool time at AKL then did MK 2 days and then the rest was split between MM and Epcot. We had no trouble having our luggage moved and didn't lose anytime at all.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We split several times and I love doing it! We're splitting again this trip. It's super easy and you don't lose anything, esp if you don't do parks commando and plan "off days"

You can check out as early as you want and still hit your PS for breakfast, hit a park, etc etc and then if you usually go back to your hotel in the afternoon (We always do this) you just go back to a new hotel!

Very easy, and very fun to us!

 

[Majestic]

Splitting is not a big deal if you plan well and don't get too much into your packing.

We are splitting AKL and WL in October. On the day of the switch, we are doing Animal Kingdom. Bell services will arrange to pick up our stuff and move it to WL. When done at AK, we will just take the bus to WL and check in there. This way you get a park day out of your move day and you're not sitting around waiting for checkin to happen.

I have to admit that it's much easier and smoother if you are staying concierge because they will check you in AFTER you get settled into your room.

Good luck!!