Splitting stay between HRH and WDW..What would you do?

[klfrech]

We're currently booked for an 8 night stay at HRH. Got a great deal with the Ent. card and love the idea of trying out a new hotel. However, half of our time will be spent doing the parks of WDW. We will be renting a car, but I'm wondering if the drive back and forth (probably twice per day) will drive us crazy! Should I stick with my original plan or split my stay?

 

[No11's Mom]

We are spending the first 5 days/5 nights at WDW, and the remaining 5 days/4 nights at HRH. We probably wouldn't spend as much time at WDW, except my sister's family is going and they've never been before and they have a 6 year old. I think that from reading the boards, the hotel dollar value is better at HRH - basically getting a deluxe for a WDW moderate price. If we were traveling alone and renting a car, we would probably consider staying the entire time at HRH.

 

[dreamer]

I would split the stay. Enjoy HRH..it's a great hotel when you are visiting the U parks than stay at Disney for those parks that way you'll be entitled to early entry & the night thing they have (forgot the name). The commute would make my family & I cranky!!

 

[pixie dust gal!]

Hi! You didn't mention when you are going. If you are going at a busy time of year - i.e. holiday times or summer - YES, it would be way toooo much back and forth, much longer lines and perhaps even very HOT weather. You are much better off splitting your stay. I always split our stay leaving Universal for last and stay on-site at WDW. If that is within your budget, by all means, SPLIT YOUR STAY!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

But before you cancel, make sure you are sure. We tried to add days to HRH and they are booked solid. Even PBH was booked. Oh well, we are staying at the Sheraton World Resort next to SW, which makes good sense, since we will be going to SW that day! It is a 5 min walk. Then we are going to HRH, then WDW. We are going to spoiled once we get to WDW. Good Luck!

 

[webray]

I would split the stay, that way you can take advantage of the perks from all the parks. Don't cancel anything until you new reservation is in place. Remember...universal charges a small fee for reservation changes.

 

[hercamore]

We split our stay in April between CBR and HRH. We wished we had stayed at HRH the whole time because the hotel is awesome and CBR had some problems.

I'm not why you think the drive between Univ. and WDW will drive you crazy. We found the drive on I4 to be easy and about 20 minutes parking lot to parking lot.

You will have a great time no what where you stay.

 

[beattyfamily]

We, too, are going to split our vacation; 2 days at USF/IOA at the HRH at the great Entertainment rate and then we're going to WDW for the rest of our vacation.

I don't think I'd stay around Universal and go to WDW everyday but that's just me. Maybe if it were for one or two days but not more than that.

 

[DisneyDarwin]

Absolutely, split the stay and stay on-site on both properties. At HRH you get front of the line access which is priceless. At WDW you get early entry only when staying on-site, and you should take advantage of that. Go to the early entry park of the day, be there before the gates open (forget sleeping) and hit the most popular attractions (those that are open early). Then when you feel like the park is starting to explode with people, leave and go to another park! Aside from all that, the hotels themselves are a great part of the vacation, while IMHO, commuting and parking and such are not.

 

[beattyfamily]

I thought of another thing today about if you stay at HRH the whole trip: What about parking?

You'd have to pay to park at WDW everyday.

I don't know about the parking policy at HRH, though, hopefully that's free whether you park for the whole trip or drive it each day??

 

[TJA]

This year we're splitting our stay between WL and Portofino. The last few years we have stayed at WDW and commuted 2 days to USF/IOA. It wasn't a huge inconvenience (we used Mears shuttle), but it was enough of an inconvenience that we decided to split this year. Plus, as someone above said, you will get on-site privileges at both WDW and USF if you split.

Good point by someone above regarding paying for parking at WDW each time if you commute. It may not be worth it to commute when you add in the cost of parking and the inconvenience of always travelling.

 

[Figment78]

I am also splitting my stay between HRH and the Polynesian at WDW. If you are spending that much time at Disney I would definitely suggest splitting your stay! Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[antmaril]

We're splitting -- three nights at HRH and four nights at WDW (Beach Club). I have several reasons for splitting. I don't like the idea of staying in the same hotel room for so many nights. I also like the idea of staying onsite for the parks I am visiting -- I want to take advantage of the perks like free parking, early entry, etc. I also would not like to drive back and forth to WDW from HRH. It would remind me of commuting everyday!

I would book WDW first and HRH last because of FOTL!!

Just my two cents!

 

[Sleepy]

Add me to the list of those splitting. The whole purpose of staying onsite is to use the benefit of park transportation to and from the hotel. At least we do. I would not dream of making double trips each day from HRH to WDW. Would be too tiring. We just decided how many days to spend at Universal and how many at WDW and chose onsite hotels at each.

 

[ContempoSMT]

stay 4 nights at HRH and 4 nights at disney... split the stay + you will love the disney resort... and i would split not driveevery day!!

 

[Robinrs]

I have to agree with the split.

I just came back from a split vacation, 2 days at HRH and 5 at WDW. One of the WDW days we spent at USF and it was, IMHO, a hassle. I soooo envied the half of our party walking or boating back to HRH and Portofino, while I had to hike it back to the Dolphin. We ran into traffic and it took us almost 40 mins!

Let us know what you decide!

 

[klfrech]

Thank you so much for all of your help! Split it is-- 4 nights at CBR and 4 nights at HRH! Thanks again!

 

[UKDEB]

We've got the same dilemma. We're thinking of splitting between AKL and HRH. We have APs for WDW, so the parking charge isn't an issue for us.

We think we'll spend more time at the WDW parks, but that HRH will be more 'our thing' And it's cheaper.

Where can we find photos of HRH?

 

[mickeyinjune]

we are going in August and plan are staying at WDW for $49 rate, but are going to US/IOA for three days and Sea World one. We are renting a minivan and plan to drive back and forth. We have a water park left on our WDW passes rom last year.

How far is the Drive? how long does it take?

We have three kids ages 8-12. Are we going to be sorry doing all this driving? The only reason we are staying at disney is because of the $49 rate.

 

[Robinrs]

mickeyinjune:

I suspect you're staying at the All Stars at that rate, which is a great one. The ride to and from depends on the time of day and the traffic. Without traffic it runs about 20 mins, with traffic from the ridiculous to the sublime...