Tell me all about split stays with DVC

[readytogotodisney]

This past trip we surprised the kids with the whole trip. This next year they know we're going, but they want to be surprised as to where we are staying.

Well we are thinking about surprising them with a split stay, just when they think we're leaving and packing up to go home, they say "just one more day" like they always do. Then we can say okay then! And off we go to the second hotel.

Only thing is we only go down for 6 nights, so would it be worth switching hotels on night 3 or 4?

 

[Sandisw]

My summer trips are always split stays and we typically go 5 or 6 nights. We to do 2 nights at BWV or BCV and then over to BLT for 3 nights.

I love being able to walk to 3 of the 4 parks and its worth it to move. Because of this, we pack for each part of the trip. This way, we only have to unpack one suitcase at resort #1 and then put them back in as we use them. It really limits the amount of packing up with have to do that last night.

Since you will be homeless for the afternoon on the day you switch resorts, I would plan for that in advance. We have gone to DTD, we have gone swimming, or we plan a sit down lunch which helps.

So far, though, we have been very lucky and the latest our room has ever been ready is around 2:30 pm.

Good luck!

 

[luckyman_apd]

I've done a lot of thinking about our future with DVC as we are just buying in. We've only experienced BLT and SSR. I want to try a lot of them and have been wondering about split stays. I like your idea of surprising the kids. Real awesome idea. I may steal it some day

I'm wondering the idea of staying a few days in a studio, then changing resorts to a 1 br. This is one way of adding a few days to the trip instead of the whole trip in a 1 br. Our family tends to rush the parks the first few days, and slow down as the trip continues.

Let me know how it goes if you decide to do this. I would love to hear you kids reaction.

 

[bumbershoot]

We've only done split stays so far. I like them.

As for surprising kids...I guess it depends on how sad everyone gets when packing to go. We were going to surprise DS with an extra bit at WDW, but realized we ALL get super-sad about leaving, and it wouldn't be fair for DS to be sad while we had a secret. So we told him well before that part of our stay (the knowledge was still a surprise, but without the sadness...with more joy than he might have had otherwise, actually).


You've got to update your sig, if you have more kids than one 2 year old!

 

[kristenrice]

I've done a lot of thinking about our future with DVC as we are just buying in. We've only experienced BLT and SSR. I want to try a lot of them and have been wondering about split stays. I like your idea of surprising the kids. Real awesome idea. I may steal it some day

I'm wondering the idea of staying a few days in a studio, then changing resorts to a 1 br. This is one way of adding a few days to the trip instead of the whole trip in a 1 br. Our family tends to rush the parks the first few days, and slow down as the trip continues.

Let me know how it goes if you decide to do this. I would love to hear you kids reaction.

This is what I've done in the past. We typically only stay 5 nights an we have a small contract so we do 2 nights in a studio and then 3 in a 1BR. We started staying within the same resort, but this past October, DSiL and I split between BLT and BWV. It worked out great!

On our "switch" day, I like to plan on being at a park. We drop the bags at bell services before heading out for the day and then return to our new room in the evening. When we stay in the same resort, we check in to the new room before we head out. When we did the BLT/BWV split, we did epcot on our switch day. We walked through the IG around 11am, checked in to the BWV and headed back to Epcot..easy peasy!

 

[readytogotodisney]

We've only done split stays so far. I like them.

As for surprising kids...I guess it depends on how sad everyone gets when packing to go. We were going to surprise DS with an extra bit at WDW, but realized we ALL get super-sad about leaving, and it wouldn't be fair for DS to be sad while we had a secret. So we told him well before that part of our stay (the knowledge was still a surprise, but without the sadness...with more joy than he might have had otherwise, actually).


You've got to update your sig, if you have more kids than one 2 year old!

Ha! I should clarify! We all go done as an extended family, my parents, my sister and her kids, my family, and sometimes my brothers and their families come along. So the kids that will be surprised will be 11 and 9 at the time.

They both do ask throughout the trip if we really have to leave on x day, so it might be a good idea to tell them on day 2 or 3 instead of when they think we're heading to the airport. Good point.

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

We love split stays! Makes it feel like a whole new vacation One lesson learned, though - if you are going to change room types, always do the smaller/less fancy room first, otherwise the second room feels like a bit of a letdown. Enjoy, we love trying everything out!

 

[bumbershoot]

Ha! I should clarify! We all go done as an extended family, my parents, my sister and her kids, my family, and sometimes my brothers and their families come along. So the kids that will be surprised will be 11 and 9 at the time.

They both do ask throughout the trip if we really have to leave on x day, so it might be a good idea to tell them on day 2 or 3 instead of when they think we're heading to the airport. Good point.

Glad to be of help.

Our situation made it especially important, because the extra bit of WDW stay was going to be after Universal. So we would have totally left WDW for 4 days, and we would have dealt with the sadness of leaving (this thought hit us as we drove off "campus" to go the store for some reason, and we started thinking about how we would be sad to go after the "bonus" stay) already... You have more flexibility b/c you won't necessarily have already caught the bus or driven away, even if you keep it a secret until the moment it happens.

 

[luckyman_apd]

We love split stays! Makes it feel like a whole new vacation One lesson learned, though - if you are going to change room types, always do the smaller/less fancy room first, otherwise the second room feels like a bit of a letdown. Enjoy, we love trying everything out!

I wouldn't dream of booking the larger room first. That would be a total letdown to downgrade to a studio after a few days in a one bedroom. I would think the studio would be great for the first 2 nights, and then it feels like moving up to luxury after that, all the while extending the vacation by another day or two. We were told long ago, when you rush the parks, the first two days are great but on day 3 you hit the wall. That is the day I would like to switch rooms. Sleep in, get a good breakfast at the resort, pack up, get in the swim trunks and head to the new resort and lounge by the pool until the new room is ready. I've run a ton of scenario's in my head.

We only bought a 125 points so this could really stretch our points.....especially in Magic season. We plan 2 trips every 3 years.

 

[readytogotodisney]

So if the plan (and points) work out, we'll stay at BLT for the first half of our trip in a grandvilla, and then 2nd half at BWV also in a grandvilla.

But what are the logistics? I mean if we check out of BLT at 10am, do we give our bags to a CM? Who specifically? And then they'll take care of getting them over to BWV right?
So all we would need to do is head to the parks, and then in the afternoon head to BWV instead right?

I heard of people say that it's a hassle. But I don't see where. Maybe they're unpacking? We just live out of a suitcase, no unpacking for us really.

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to get us into a nightmare situation since this was kind of my idea to do.

 

[kristenrice]

But what are the logistics? I mean if we check out of BLT at 10am, do we give our bags to a CM? Who specifically? And then they'll take care of getting them over to BWV right?
So all we would need to do is head to the parks, and then in the afternoon head to BWV instead right?

Just drop your bags off at Bell Services (or have them come pick them up at your room) before you head out for the day. Tell them that you will be checking in to the BWV later that day. You will still need to check in at BWV, though.

When we split our stay and moved from BLT to BWV, I chose Epcot as our park of the day. That way, we could just walk over to BWV at some point in the day and check in. We checked in around 10am and got the room-ready page at about 1pm. When we went back to our room (around 5pm), we stopped at Bell Services and grabbed our luggage. Since it was only the 2 of us, we only had a couple bags. If it had been our whole family, I probably would have had Bell Services bring them up to us.

It was very easy and I really think we will do more split stays between different resorts.

 

[readytogotodisney]

Just drop your bags off at Bell Services (or have them come pick them up at your room) before you head out for the day. Tell them that you will be checking in to the BWV later that day. You will still need to check in at BWV, though.

When we split our stay and moved from BLT to BWV, I chose Epcot as our park of the day. That way, we could just walk over to BWV at some point in the day and check in. We checked in around 10am and got the room-ready page at about 1pm. When we went back to our room (around 5pm), we stopped at Bell Services and grabbed our luggage. Since it was only the 2 of us, we only had a couple bags. If it had been our whole family, I probably would have had Bell Services bring them up to us.

It was very easy and I really think we will do more split stays between different resorts.

Thanks Kristenrice! I think I might have missed your post earlier!