Tips for Split Stay?

[Misha72683]

I have never done a split stay before but we are planning on doing one this time because my mom wants a couple nights at AKL (we will do the rest at CBR or AoA) And I am not quite sue how to go about it.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Split stays between WDW resorts can be pretty simple to navigate. First, realize you're not going to have access to a room from mid to late morning until perhaps 4/5pm in the afternoon/evening. If there's anything you might need during the day, keep it with you. If you do not have a car (or even if you do), bell services at AKL will collect your bags in the morning and will get them transported to your next resort later in the day. I'd recommend you do online check-in at your second resort. That way, you'll know when the room is ready. You should get your actual room number and go right to the room later in the day. We normally call bell and have them bring our bags directly to the room. You can also stop by the lobby and pick them up yourself at the new resort. The latest we have gotten our bags at the new resort is about 5PM, usually earlier.

I hope that helps a bit! BTW - we highly recommend a couple nights at AKL - awesome resort!

 

[MinBz]

Split stays between WDW resorts can be pretty simple to navigate. First, realize you're not going to have access to a room from mid to late morning until perhaps 4/5pm in the afternoon/evening. If there's anything you might need during the day, keep it with you. If you do not have a car (or even if you do), bell services at AKL will collect your bags in the morning and will get them transported to your next resort later in the day. I'd recommend you do online check-in at your second resort. That way, you'll know when the room is ready. You should get your actual room number and go right to the room later in the day. We normally call bell and have them bring our bags directly to the room. You can also stop by the lobby and pick them up yourself at the new resort. The latest we have gotten our bags at the new resort is about 5PM, usually earlier.

I hope that helps a bit! BTW - we highly recommend a couple nights at AKL - awesome resort!

Do you have to give Bell Services or the front desk any advance notice that you are doing a split stay? Didn’t know if they needed to know ahead of time in order to plan ahead or if you just show up at Bell Services on checkout day?

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Remember that Dreams Unlimited has agents that are experienced with these types of situations. I would recommend using this travel agency service to answer questions and book the reservations. My DW and I have not done a split stay. We are thinking next to do a split stay and I plan to use Dreams Unlimited to help us because I'm in the same boat as you.

For transparency and clarity, I have never used Dreams Unlimited and I certainly do not have any financial relationship or personal relationship with the folks there. But, based upon my experience with DisBoards and other websites it make sense to use the travel agents to help you plan a split stay and at least be a sounding board for you to ask questions whether it is even a smart idea. Who knows after consultation, maybe you'll find that split stay isn't right for you and your family?

 

[kylenne]

Do you have to give Bell Services or the front desk any advance notice that you are doing a split stay? Didn’t know if they needed to know ahead of time in order to plan ahead or if you just show up at Bell Services on checkout day?

You don't need to notify them ahead of time unless you want them to come to your room and pick up your bags. I did a GF/YC split back at the end of May and called Bell Services while I was getting ready at around 6am to come to the room and get my stuff for transport to YC (I rope dropped AK the day I changed resorts). They were there in about 45 minutes. But I could have just taken my bags down and let them know on the spot.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Do you have to give Bell Services or the front desk any advance notice that you are doing a split stay? Didn’t know if they needed to know ahead of time in order to plan ahead or if you just show up at Bell Services on checkout day?

You can just show up the day-of. No need to reserve this service. The resorts seem to make one baggage run per day to other resorts. If you'd feel more secure, you can verify at AKL bell services or check-in desk when you arrive. But when we've done it, they simply tag them with the destination resort and then have them moved. NOTE: they will not move items that require refrigeration any longer. They've stopped doing that, probably because of problems with it.

 

[Disneypapa]

It is not worth the hassle to re-pack and un pack again in MHO

 

[thanxfornoticin]

It is not worth the hassle to re-pack and un pack again in MHO

I know it's not for everyone. We have friends who hate it, but we've loved it over the years. A few nights at this resort, and then we kind of reboot and move on to a new place and new experience at a different resort. We see great value in staying one place, and great fun in staying at multiple!

 

[Average Joes]

We have done 3 split stays to AKL. In terms of timing on the day of moving I just found it easier to take the bags to bell service myself while the family has breakfast. I don’t have to worry about how long Bell service will take and I’m big about rope dropping.

If it was me I would probably book AKL for the end of the trip and relax more. Likely go to a park the day of the move and go to AKL for an early dinner so that I know the luggage is ready when we are done. We did not enjoy coming back post park close and waiting for the luggage to come up.

 

[VicarJT]

We are huge fans of split-stays. Feel free to ask any questions. Once you’ve done it, you might just be hooked too!

 

[Elephantay]

We love split stays and do them every trip now.
As far as the packing, we simply pack according to the resorts. We use packing cubes in our suitcases, and everyone has their own color. Everybody's clothes for resort #1 one go into one suitcase, and the same for the next one. Then we have a carry on which hold things we use in both, like the cosmetic bags and pool necessities etc. It's simple!

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

We love split stays but two nights doesn’t feel worth it . If you can do three I’d do it .

 

[kylenne]

We love split stays and do them every trip now.
As far as the packing, we simply pack according to the resorts. We use packing cubes in our suitcases, and everyone has their own color. Everybody's clothes for resort #1 one go into one suitcase, and the same for the next one. Then we have a carry on which hold things we use in both, like the cosmetic bags and pool necessities etc. It's simple!

This. If you’re a moderately organized packer, the hassle is entirely overblown imo. “Unpacking” for me is just throwing packing cubes in the drawer and hanging my toiletry bag up in the bathroom. On my first split back in May, I color coded them based on resort and only took out what I needed. Granted it’s just me and my gf and no kids to wrangle but cubes are a godsend. I would imagine even more so with kids.

 

[Dis Dragon]

We've done a ton of split stays, pack two suitcases if you can - one for each stay. We only had issues with this once, but schedule Bell services to pickup your bags for your move morning - they accommodated us, but they were booked up on one of our move mornings.

On move day go to a park that starts later - like Epcot so you don't have to leave your room super early and you can stretch out your day a bit. We get burnt out after about 5 hours in a park, so we always take swim breaks, which we pack swimsuits in our day pack, we'll then hit the pool at our destination resort.

 

[Elephantay]

We often use our switch day to enjoy the pool- you can do either but we usually do the second resort then we have a room to change and shower in afterwards, then head out at night once we've settled into our room ( we are the check the room out, lysol everything and check for bedbugs family, even pre-pandemic). Sometimes we head to a park ( depending on our plans for the next am, or dinner, or mini-golf, or whatever...
We dont always use bell services to transfer luggage. Thats a great option, but dont bank on receiveing your items for hours if you do. Mostly we now uber over to the new resort with all of our things. They will store it there until your room is ready.
Another great advantage to split stays for us is the proximity to different parks and we plan touring and meals accordingly. We think thats a huge time saver, and we have so many favorites things become more accessible. For example, we own at AKL, and Boma is our favorite place to eat. We stay there first, and have at least one dinner and breakfast there every trip. Not sure we would do that if we didnt stay at that resort.

 

[kylenne]

I love trying new resorts and splits are a great way to do that imo. And MK area/Crescent Lake splits are so awesome from a logistical standpoint. I love the monorail resorts too much to do it every single time, but it’s really hard to beat being able to walk to 3 of 4 parks on a trip--only time I set foot on a bus in May was to go to AK. If I had to do it again I would reverse the order though, I ended up falling in love with GF and was kinda meh on YC.

 

[kanerf]

I do this all the time and just returned from my Christmas trip. Four nights at Boulder Ridge followed by two nights at Old Key West. The one issue is if you have cold or frozen food you need to move. Bell services will not transfer these items any more so what I do is I have a thermal backpack that I pack all of my cold items in and head to the next resort the morning of the move. There I hand it over to bell services in person and they will keep it cold for me. When I arrive at the resort in the evening to check-in, I stop at bell services and pickup my cold stuff.

 

[Misha72683]

We love split stays but two nights doesn’t feel worth it . If you can do three I’d do it .

i realize I wrote a ‘couple’, but yes 3 mights At AKL and 4 nights at AoA is the plan and we’ll do our resort day while at AKL.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

OP, I didn't catch whether you'll have your car with you, or if Disney will transfer your luggage. What I learned when moving between resorts with a car is, don't leave your Mickey balloon in the car for several hours while in between resorts. The balloon will deflate.

Most people prefer to start at the lower level resort and then move to the higher level resort. If you're able to plan it that way, it usually makes for a better experience.

It is fun to experience two (or more) resorts in one trip; it makes your one trip seem like two trips.

 

[tinabina919]

We do split stays all the time. Actually have three resorts for our trip starting next weekend. It really is simple, you do just have to plan on not having a room for the transfer afternoons.

Another option for luggage is to just take a Uber/Lyft to the second resort and bring your bags with you. If your room is not ready they will hold them at bell service until it is.