Staying @ Multiple Hotels?

[mdgamble]

This is our first family trip to DW. We have twin boys celebrating their 7th BD and they want to stay at Nickelodeon Hotel. We also want to experience another Park Hotel as well. (7 days of SpongeBob is overkill)

Can anyone share tips on creating a package of multiple hotel reservations with flight, etc.

Thanks

 

[CTmommyx3]

I just wanted to say if you have not been to the nick hotel yet, they will LOVE it! Next week will be our secon time there and I only wanted ti go there!!

 

[pink223]

Hi We have done this several times. The best advice rent a car even if it is a smaller inexpensive one. (Dollar and Thrifty have an American express special $177 for the week for a minivan if you have Amex) We usually plan which park first then decide hotels. We usually stay out by Universal, then a couple days later switch to Disney for a week. The biggest thing I have learned with each vacation is pack light. I always ended up doing laundy anyway so now I only pack 3 or 4 sets of clothing each. Usually send DH with all 3 kids to the pool and I head to the laundry with a book or magazine. (believe it or not this has become my recharge time) By packing less there is less to drag around. If you are only doing a couple of days each you can even pack one suitcase for 1st hotel and a 2nd for the second. We did this when we went on the disney cruise, this way we only opened the one suit case at a time. We just kept our swim suits and towels in our carry-on. Also now with the TSA limits we no longer pack shampoo etc, instead we head to Walmart (they are everywhere in Florida) and pick up what we need. **A side note another nice hotel over by universal is the Homewood Suites by Hilton, price is usually competitve and they include a hot breakfast (Not gourmet but my kids enjoy it ) Also a little more expensive but worth the price if it's a busy time a year is the Universal Hotels. When you stay on property you get to 'Fast Pass' all the rides just by showing your room card. We did this 2 years ago at Easter and it was worth the added expense not to stand on line for 1+ hour. I would check with the hotel if they still offer this. We compared staying on property opposed to staying off and paying for the 'Fast Pass' with a family of 5 it was cheaper to stay at the Portifino.

 

[powellrj]

I learned about the ziplock bag packing method 5 years ago when I joined the DIS. It really changed my life!

Pack a complete outfit into each bag including socks and underwear. Press out all the air from the bag (my kids usually sit on the bag) and zip it up. Not only is it easier to move from one place to another, it makes your clothes smaller so you can get more into the bags. The last few times we have flown a couple of our bags were picked for search and they were not messed up at all.

My kids have started packing this way on their own. DD said the first time she did it at camp, everyone teased her about it, by the end of the week when they were scrambling around to find clean clothes, she just had to get a new bag out. She was teaching the ziplock method to her friends that they all now use!

 

[tami82]

Next year we will be staying on at Contemporary at Disney for 4 nights. After that we will be staying at Nickolodean for 2 or 3 nights. Also doing it this way we wont have to pay for a waterpark which can be expensive. For the 5 of us to go to a disney waterpark will be nearly $200 (the same price we would pay to stay at Nick for the night) so its like killing two birds with one stone.
Yes also like the above poster you can pack two different bags ahead of time. We did this last year and it saves dragging things that you dont need to the second place. You just need to think ahead of time what you will need for the 2nd half of the trip and it just makes everything so much easier.

 

[stopher1]

Next year we will be staying on at Contemporary at Disney for 4 nights. After that we will be staying at Nickolodean for 2 or 3 nights. Also doing it this way we wont have to pay for a waterpark which can be expensive. For the 5 of us to go to a disney waterpark will be nearly $200 (the same price we would pay to stay at Nick for the night) so its like killing two birds with one stone.
.

We did this last year for a mini-Disney, mostly Universal trip. We had a rental, so it was easy to transfer between the two - and you're right - the water area at NICK was like being in a water park - so we skipped going to one that trip. It worked out quite nicely. ENJOY!

 

[christianne]

Hi! We are also doing staying at Nick Hotel for 3 nights this July and then 7 at Doubletree Suites. My kids wanted to go to the Nick Hotel so badly, even though we have a free stay at the Doubletree (Hilton ponits)...thanks for the advice to pick 2 suitcases...we are also not planning to visit the parks the day of the switch-just stay extra long at the Nick for their pool, show, etc. and then to the Doubletree & do Downtown Disney that night.