Tell me about Split Stays ?

[mindy20]

DO you like them or not ? We are thinking of changing our GF 8 night vacation to a 5 night GF/3 night Yacht Club. My kids 2,3,& 5 really like the looks of Storm Along Bay. I looked at our ADR's and it would work out that we are at HS and Epcot at the time we are staying Yacht Club. So it would work. My in laws are coming along also they would be there to help "move" hotels as well. Does Disney move our Luggage ? How much hassel is it to move ? Thanks so much for all your help !

 

[tink_n_pooh]

Disney will move your luggage for you, it takes a few hours so just keep out anything that you may need right away.

We normally pack up from the first hotel in the morning. Call bell services and have them pick up our bags for transfer. Go to a park for a few hours and then go to the new hotel and check in that afternoon

 

[Seahunt]

tink_n_pooh already explained the luggage, but I wanted to add something else you'll have to think about = no surprises.

Even though we all love them here, WDW doesn't really do split stays - they consider it two totally separate reservations. So you'll have to rebook your current GF res as two separate stays, with two separate reservation numbers, one at GF and one at YC.

From your ticker it looks like your vacation is in 5 days? Is your current res a package or room only? If it's a package you need to make sure they waive any change fees since you're so close.

Also does your current GF res have DDP? If so, and you will want DDP again for your new 3 night YC res, remember that the new YC res will also have to be a package. That means your YC res will need at least one day tickets for everyone all over again if you want to add DDP. (Yes, you can buy the full length of stay tickets with the first res, but you'll still need the one day tickets to get DDP on your new YC res. You can always save them for your next visit).

 

[Sue M]

I don't think it's worth the work to move for only 3 days at another resort.
We have done split stays on trips of 10+ days, but I don't have 3 young ones to pack up and move. My daughters can pack themselves. If I had very young kids, I would just stay put

 

[BLTLDZ]

While we did a triple split stay on our honeymoon, I would not do it again. Kind of a pain in the butt. Unpack, pack, even toiletries...we just prefer to stay put. Probably would not do it unless we had to.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

tink_n_pooh already explained the luggage, but I wanted to add something else you'll have to think about = no surprises.

Even though we all love them here, WDW doesn't really do split stays - they consider it two totally separate reservations. So you'll have to rebook your current GF res as two separate stays, with two separate reservation numbers, one at GF and one at YC.

From your ticker it looks like your vacation is in 5 days? Is your current res a package or room only? If it's a package you need to make sure they waive any change fees since you're so close.

Also does your current GF res have DDP? If so, and you will want DDP again for your new 3 night YC res, remember that the new YC res will also have to be a package. That means your YC res will need at least one day tickets for everyone all over again if you want to add DDP. (Yes, you can buy the full length of stay tickets with the first res, but you'll still need the one day tickets to get DDP on your new YC res. You can always save them for your next visit).

And realize that you may not get any discounts on the YC room if you booked with a discount code and the booking window has elapsed. To book another room-only reservation, you'd have to put down the deposit of the first night's stay at YC; if you do a package reservation, you'd have to pay it in full immediately to arrive in a week.

I think that if you intend to book a split stay and plan accordingly, it can be a benefit to do what you're considering: stay at a MK-area resort to do MK and maybe AK, stay at an Epcot-area resort to do Epcot and DHS. However, I don't think I'd try to change my plans 5 days out.

 

[Sammie]

No we don't like them, mainly because on the day you move you are paying a lot of money for a room you might not get until late afternoon. If you stay, you have the room all day.

We let Disney move our luggage and while they do many, many times with no problems, when there is a problem such as lost luggage and its yours, you will wish you had not bothered with a move.

We did not get one piece of luggage until the next day.

To us it is simply not worth the hassle.

 

[eaj1228]

I have DVC and love split stays. With DVC it can be difficult to get a reservation at some resorts for an extended period of time certain times of the year. We have a split stay between AKV Kidani and SSR planned for October and did a split between BCV and SSR last November and loved it.

We called bell service and got our luggage transferred without a problem. The only thing you want to be aware of is it can take a few hours for luggage to be delivered so you will want to make sure you have every thing you need. We didn't pack a swimsuit for my niece and she was desperate to go swimming at SSR. Whoopsie.

I would only do a split stay if you had at least four days at each resort.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We LOOOOOOVE split stays and experiencing two different resorts in one trip. The one thing I do not like about it is the necessity to have it booked as two separate trips which equals two deposits, etc. Your kids are pretty young to think about packing up all their gear, but if your in-laws truly will be a help to you, then I would consider doing it.

Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[mindy20]

I was kind of sick while changing to split stay, I did it. It just so happened that all our ADR's for the last 2 days of our trip are at Epcot and Hollywood Studios, plus we will have almost a full day except dinner at Storm Along Bay. So it kind of worked intou our plans nicely. Plus I really wanted main bldg at GF and that wasnt available (I waited to long to change my mind) for the 11 or 12th so now staying until the 10th we are main bldg. I see Split Stays on here all the time and I think NEVER that is not for me and here I have just done it. To top it off there is more packing because from YC we are headed on a 4 night Disney Dream Cruise. Thanks for all the heads up on split stays. I hope I dont regret it.