The Ins and Outs of a Split Stay?

[Uncranky Donald]

HI all
This June will be my first split that I am planning by myself for multiple people & I am wondering if my transfer day plans seem appropriate to not miss a days worth of park time:
-Check out of Pop around 9:15am
-Send all luggage aside from daily wear to AKKV via bell service (we will have acquired another human, no room in car for all the gear)
-Drive to AKKV to check in/let them know we are on property
-Bus to AK for park time 10:30am
-Back to AKKV by 4pm to check on room status
-5:05pm Sanaa
-Hopefully room is/has been ready by now for everyone to settle and change
-8pm bus to MK EMH until 11pm

lastly my big anxiety is since the beginning of the day is very "travelly", should I make my FPs for the nighttime MK time to ensure that if anything goes wrong with transferring our split stay we at least know we have an amazing line up to end the night with?? Or make the FPs at AK in the AM and hope there's something decent left after we use them up? TIA for anyones' opinion on my transfer day itinerary

 

[DISFaninMI]

Just booked our first split stay at AKL and BRVWL with rented DVC points in October! Super excited!

What are folks' recommendations for easiest travel between resorts on transfer day? We won't have our car, so if we had a ADR we would typically take the bus from AKL to Magic Kingdom and then take the bus or boat to Wilderness Lodge. With carryons and kids in tow, I can see this being problematic. What do folks recommend? Leaving more carryons with bell services? Taking an uber? Other "hidden" strategies?

 

[TJA]

We do split stays almost every trip now. Our favorite course of action is to give Bell Services pretty much everything to transfer except what we bring to the parks. We majorly consolidate (putting kids' backpacks, etc., in the large suitcases) so that Bell Services doesn't end up with a lot of "extras." Then we head to a park for the day and "usually" I receive a room-ready text around 3:00ish, not always but usually. Whether I receive the text or not, we head over to our new resort around 3:00/4:00. I cannot remember a time when our room wasn't ready, to be honest. So we unpack/unwind in our resort for a bit, eat, then head back to a park or else swim.

To make switching resorts easy/smooth, I use a hanging bathroom bag similar to what has been posted (mine is from LLBean). I also use packing cubes (again, mine are from LLBean) - each family member gets a different color. We find it easy to leave the cubes in suitcases since they're color-coded so no worries about anything getting mixed up. It seems like POR has some high shelves near the bathroom area and that's where I put my own personal cubes of clothing. Incidentally, each cube package has 3 different sizes, so small items (even hair items) can be put in the cubes. I used my DH's extra small cube for I-chargers. Nothing is packed loose - everything is inside a cube! Super easy to re-pack and switch resorts.

 

[schalliol]

We even had them move/store our grocery items (some cold) as well.

How do you actually do this? I heard you leave items in the room, but I'm not sure about how this works or you have to get bell services to come while you're there. If you have cold items, what happens to them between 11 and 3? Do you put things in the fridge, and then they put them in the fridge

Two sets

This will be my first time doing a split stay, and I was told you don't need to use both sets, as they just connect them to each other. I was planning not ordering the second set at all. Does anyone know about this?

POR, CR, BWI, WL, POLY, BC, AKL

Do you use the same set of magic bands, and if so, how do you do this? Do you check into all online early?

Thanks everyone! My plan is to check out of Boardwalk, go to MK for much of the day and then show up at Poly via monorail where everything should already be waiting.

 

[cheryllarsen]

I've done several split stays and these are some great ideas for next time!

 

[Arianabtd]

This will be my first time doing a split stay, and I was told you don't need to use both sets, as they just connect them to each other. I was planning not ordering the second set at all. Does anyone know about this?

All magic bands do is retrieve information from your disney account. All bands connected to your account will work for all your reservations.
So feel free to decline a set if you really don't want more bands. Having multiple just means you have options on what you'd like to wear.

I like having multiple bands with different colors for fashion purposes.

 

[TJA]

We never bring more than one MB per person for our split stays. One trip, we had 2 sets and kept getting them mixed up, DH lost one of his, etc. We find it much simpler to just keep track of one.

 

[Shellyred8]

We enjoy doing split stays. When you are packed up and ready to check out, you will take your bags to Bell Services and they will tag them to be shipped to your next WDW resort. If you need help with your bags, you could probably call Bell Services and have them come get them from your room. But I think you have to be there for them to pick them up (someone correct me if this is not true!).

My one recommendation (and this might be captain obvious speaking...), but you might not want to plan a pool day on the day you switch. You never know what time your new room will be ready. We usually do a full park day and then head to the new resort after a day at the park.

I agree with one of the other posters about doing the moderate first and then the deluxe.

Have a fantastic trip!!

 

[schalliol]

Thanks for the info, and bell services seems like it could work for sure! If you take it for transport and then they don't put food back in the fridge, how do you handle cold items? Thanks!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are doing a split stay in a couple of weeks with Universal and Disney. Granddaughter we are taking (11) is at the age where she loves Harry Potter much more than princesses so this makes sense! We drove and the other three are flying, and between the five of us and luggage we will have to make two trips from Universal to Pop!

 

[Masonmj84]

Do you use the same set of magic bands, and if so, how do you do this? Do you check into all online early?

You can just use one set of magic bands for all resorts.

In our particular case, we are bringing 3 magic bands for each of us (1 primary and 2 back-ups in case they get misplaced).

So it's easy to tell which magic band corresponds to each guest, we each have a color (for example, all of mine are blue, all of DS are red, all of DD's are pink, etc.).

 

[schalliol]

Ahh, so should I configure our extra set so two get sent? We have a color for each person. If you lose one, can that one be deactivated without affecting the others? When they come, both are linked to MDE, so they'll be interchangeable, right?

 

[katriscari]

How do you actually do this? I heard you leave items in the room, but I'm not sure about how this works or you have to get bell services to come while you're there. If you have cold items, what happens to them between 11 and 3? Do you put things in the fridge, and then they put them in the fridge

We had bell services take them from our first resort when we were still there along with all of our other luggage. They were stored at the first resort until they were ready to be taken to the 2nd resort, I am assuming. I just kept the grocery bags that they were delivered in and put them back in there for them to be transferred to the second resort. They marked them that they required cold storage on the bags. Then, when we checked into the second resort & contacted bell services they brought all of the luggage & grocery items to us at the same time.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Magic bands (at least the older versions) also have the name written on the inside of the band. So if everyone wanted to get a variety of colors, they could.

I use packing cubes and ziplok bags when I travel. I have done a few split stays. While I enjoy trying out the different resorts, I don't like changing too much in a trip. While it's not particularly difficult, I dislike spending too much time packing up, unpacking, visiting the front desk/bell services, etc. while on vacation. Ive done two trips where I stayed at three resorts in about a week. The 3rd resort was only for a night each time (availability/travel issues), and it was annoying to move for just the one night.

 

[ghertz]

I've read a few of the split stay threads and they all mention to book a package with tickets at the first resort. We're staying at the Beach club for one night, poly bungalow for one night then the poly for 5 nights. If/When discounts come out I'd like to use that on the poly 5 night stay since it is the most expensive. Can I book that as a package with 7 day tickets? I know ADR 180 days would be different for all 3 stays but would the FP+ 60 day window start with my first stay? I don't think tickets are tied to a stay so they should be on my MDE for me to use the first night.

 

[DisneyAnytime]

Excuse the Nervous Nelly question, but just to be sure and clear....

When you utilize Disney Transfer to move your luggage, you drop your stuff at bell services at the first resort on the way out and then retrieve at bell services at the second resort after you check in? Also, are there certain hours for bell services or are they 24 hours? I realize there isn't a specific time they will deliver to your room but if we stay late at the park, before checking in, will bell service still be "open"?

We have only done a split stay once before and had our car so we were able to handle the transfer on our own. And then by the Magic of Disney, our new room was ready at 7am when we got there to check in so we were able to drop our stuff in the room and still make it to rope drop!

This trip we will be flying AND my parents (who have to have everything explained in detail 500 times) will be joining us. I like to have everything planned out as well but am better able to "just go with it" than Grandma and Grandpa.

Thanks so much for all your useful information!!

 

[schalliol]

Love the parent comment, hahaha.

Good questions I don't have the answers to.

 

[MichaelWill&Megan'sMom]

Hi! We have just decided on a split stay in November (3-12) something I never thought I would do because of the logistics, but we are SO excited! We are doing it for this stay because of my (and my sister's) dream of staying at the Polynesian, while our kids are still young and while also wanting a long visit that we can afford. We are doing 4 nights at POR with a late Friday night arrival and five nights at the Poly. We will be a party of 11 with three separate rooms (myself, dh, and 2 dds in one, my parents in another, and my sister, her dh, and her 3 dds in the last) What do we need to know about a split stay? The good, the bad, and the ugly? Any and all advice, tips, and warnings are welcome! Thanks so much!

Your price will go down a bit if one of your nieces is listed in your parents' room. (Unless one is under 10)

Just food for thought

 

[Shellyred8]

HI all
This June will be my first split that I am planning by myself for multiple people & I am wondering if my transfer day plans seem appropriate to not miss a days worth of park time:
-Check out of Pop around 9:15am
-Send all luggage aside from daily wear to AKKV via bell service (we will have acquired another human, no room in car for all the gear)
-Drive to AKKV to check in/let them know we are on property
-Bus to AK for park time 10:30am
-Back to AKKV by 4pm to check on room status
-5:05pm Sanaa
-Hopefully room is/has been ready by now for everyone to settle and change
-8pm bus to MK EMH until 11pm

lastly my big anxiety is since the beginning of the day is very "travelly", should I make my FPs for the nighttime MK time to ensure that if anything goes wrong with transferring our split stay we at least know we have an amazing line up to end the night with?? Or make the FPs at AK in the AM and hope there's something decent left after we use them up? TIA for anyones' opinion on my transfer day itinerary

You could reduce the "travelly" time in the morning by skipping the drive to AKKV to let them know you are on property. You could just utilize the on-line check-in system to check in and then you could just head to the park after you drop your luggage with bell services. Since you are staying on property, you should already have a parking pass for your car and you could just drive straight to AK and get an earlier start at the park.

Have a great trip!

 

[thats_so_pj]

Split stays are awesome. Gives you something extra to be excited about.