tell me more about split stays

[marchingstar]

okay so we haven't quite decided on *where*, but we're thinking of doing a split stay for our upcoming trip. we've never done one before, and have some questions:
1. how do you get from hotel A to hotel B? (also, how does luggage make the trip? cab? or can disney transport it?)
2. if checkout time is 11am at hotel A and checkin is 4pm at hotel B, can you still use hotel amenities (pool, etc) during that time?
3. can we get refillable mugs for the length of our total stay and take them from resort to resort?
4. THE BIG ONE: does a split stay change my FP+window? will I still be able to make all my FP+es on the first nigjt?
5. we're in WDW for 10 nights (I guess technically we're already doing a split stay because after those nights we have 3 nights at a US property, but I already know how hat part works). how many resorts would be reasonable? options right now include:
5 nights at POP, 5 nights at CBR (or other mod.)
8 nights at POP, 2 nights at BC (or other deluxe)
5 nights at POP, 3 nights at CBR, 2 nights at BC

any other tips/thoughts for first time splitters?

 

[thisismyusername]

This thread might help. http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

In brief, to answer your questions:
1. See the section in the post above.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. No. Yes, you will be able to make them all. FP is tied to the length of your ticket, not your reservation. The hotel reservation simply opens the window to make FP+ selections.
5. I think that's based upon you guys. We do three resorts (or more) nearly every trip (even short ones), but we're pretty darn experienced and that's how we like to travel.

HTH!

 

[marchingstar]

This thread might help. http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

wow! thanks for sharing this resource. it's so detailed! I can't wait to read through it all.

 

[thisismyusername]

Glad it's of help!

 

[Masonmj84]

We love split stays but there are some caveats:

1. You have to be a party that doesn't mind moving around (packing, unpacking, etc.) in the middle of a vacation.

2. Split stays, IMO, provide the most relative benefit when you're staying deluxe for at least part of the trip because IMO the biggest advantage of staying deluxe is location and by spliting between deluxe resorts in two areas (e.g., a MK area resort and an EP area resort) and planning park days accordingly, you effectively maximize the deluxe resort location advantage (to us, this more than offests any inconveinece we occur by changing resorts, which would be less true if we were splitting between moderate or value resorts).

3. To further the above point, split stays at deluxe resorts provide even more relative benefit if you do a lot of table service dining, where IMO the best restaurants are in the deluxe resorts. By splitting between different deluxe resorts, you can experience a lot of different restaurants without having to travel far from your resort.

4. Split stays can be tricky with aspects like park tickets and dining plans (we just buy one set of tickets for the whole trip and don't do the dining plans anymore). They also require more planning.

FWIW, we recently did a 5-way split stay over two weeks and, knock on wood, didn't have any hiccups with magic bands (they sent each of us one for each resort), linking our park tickets, FP+ reservations, ADRs, check-in/check-out, Magical Express, or luggage transfers (we had bell services transfer our luggage and went to a park on our transfer days). The trip took a lot of planning, but I love planning Disney trips almost as much as I love taking them (am currently planning a 4-way split stay).