What's the deal with split stays?

[chemnerd09]

We love doing split stays too. Last march was the first time (that I can remember in 23 years) we had a trip at one resort and it was a bit odd for me. We always drive down so its really convenient to move from resort to resort, especially since we never fully unpack. We also can't seem to pick a favorite resort and split stays allow us to see a couple in one trip. Finally, we are annual passholders so having multiple reservations isn't a problem for us since we never use the ticket or dining packages. Our next family trip is going to be split stay extravaganza. We start at Riverside for two nights, five nights at Contemporary, 4 nights on Disney Dream, two nights at Coronado Springs, and another night offsite.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I'm doing a solo, 11-night, 3-resort split stay in September. First 3 nights at POP, followed by 3 nights at AKL and 5 nights at WL. I just canceled my room only reservations at AKL and WL, and rebooked them with Travelocity to save over $200. Now I'm thinking of upgrading my package from POP, to either POR or possibly splurging to SSR.

This will most-likely by my last trip to WDW for quite some time, as we are planning to move to Hawaii next year. So I plan to take in as much of the entire resort as possible on this trip.

 

[chemnerd09]

I'm doing a solo, 11-night, 3-resort split stay in September. First 3 nights at POP, followed by 3 nights at AKL and 5 nights at WL. I just canceled my room only reservations at AKL and WL, and rebooked them with Travelocity to save over $200. Now I'm thinking of upgrading my package from POP, to either POR or possibly splurging to SSR.

This will most-likely by my last trip to WDW for quite some time, as we are planning to move to Hawaii next year. So I plan to take in as much of the entire resort as possible on this trip.

I say go for SSR. We loved it there and sometimes you can rent DVC points last minute for really cheap. I received an email a little bit ago that had enough points for week at SSR for like 10 bucks a point. It came out to be almost equal to what it would cost us to stay at the POP, not that we don't like the POP.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I have stayed for 11 days and still only stayed in one location. I would never unpack, pack, unpack, pack. I unpack once and stay put until time to pack up and go. Even if I stayed 14 days I would not do a split stay.

 

[ElizabethG]

Our first split stay was due to availability. We wanted to add a couple of days to our stay and there were none available through DVC, so we did a split - and loved it!

Our forth split stay will be this year. The same two resorts AKV(5)/BLT(6).

Our family of 4 need two suitcases, so I just pack one for the first half and one for the second.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

I'm noticing a lot of people on these boards do split stays, but I don't know if I understand why? Isn't it too much packing and unpacking and spending time on different check-ins?

I have never gone on vacation before and stayed at two different places unless we split the trip between different cities.

We have been to WDW many times and have never done a split stay. But when we recently went to DLR we wanted to enjoy Paradise Pier and Disneyland hotel. A truly enjoyable experience. That being said we can't wait to go to WDW and do split stay at CR, WL and BC. We will most likely be staying 10-12 days which is what we usually do (we can only get away on vacation every 2-3 years so when we go away we like to do it big) so moving a couple of times will be no big deal. CM's make it so easy!

 

[taaren]

We like split stays, but only on longer trips. I wouldn't split for less than a 3 night/4 night stay. Last year we did 5 nights BLT/3 night cruise/6 nights BWV. This year we will be doing 5 nights BCV/3 nights AKV.

Part of the reason we split is that we travel with larger groups, but they don't stay the whole time, so if we're going to downgrade on room size anyways, might as well try another resort. Both trips the first 5 nights were in a 2 bedroom with 8+ people, then we went to a 1 bedroom or studio.

I like that in 2 trips I'll been able to see 4 resorts that I want to try.

Another reason is availability. Because DVC requires a lot of advance planning I often book the days I "know" we are going to be there as soon as I can (eg 11 month out). Then when I book my flights later (e.g. less than 7 months from travel) I end up with an extra day or two on either end, so then I pick another resort because there's no availability to add another night to the room I already booked. It does feel like separate vacations the way we do it, but that's also partly because its a different set of people in my photos!

I don't mind packing once in the middle of a week. More than that and it might get tiresome. To each their own.