Which Split-Stay Would You Pick?!?

[gabzee]

Hi everyone! We are trying to plan our upcoming trip but would love to get your advice as to where to stay. We will be doing a split stay: Part 1) Mother/Daughter trip (My mom and me) and Part 2) the entire family (including my dad and DB13) will be joining us. Here are the options:
1) AKL for our entire stay
2) Boardwalk/AKL
3) Wilderness Lodge/AKL
4) Port Orleans French Quarter/AKL
5) Coronado Springs/AKL

I would love to hear which of these options you would pick and why. Thank you!

 

[Sue M]

I didn't vote cause I don't know how long your stay is. But my general feelings for split stays for us is we don't for trips under 10 nights.

My personal pref isn't on the list for split stay, BC/AKL. I prefer it to BWI.

Last summer we stayed at AKL for 12 nights, and loved it. We did a split within AKL, 6 nights pool view, & 6 nights CL savanna view!

 

[clapton]

I would nix AKL think its too far from everything although I think the resort is beautiful. I would go with WL/BC instead of BW? Just like BC better than BW.

 

[spiceycat]

did wl/akl - they are just further apart.

assuming you are mostly doing parks?

now if you are planning on during alot of DD - then pofq/akl

 

[goofyredraider]

We are doing a triple split

POFQ/AKL/BC
So,looking at your list, I'd go with POFQ/AKL

 

[housetomouse]

I would choose resorts near Magic Kingdom or Epcot, since mostly your options are deluxe. I would want to be close to the parks for that price. So the splits with Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk would be my choices, unless you are planning most of your time at the resort.

 

[Aliceacc]

Before I vote, I have a question:

What is it about those particular resorts that landed them on your poll?

Tell us about the members of your family and their preferences, and that will help people give you educated information.

Though, honestly, if you're going in a month and 3 days, you may have to check availability.

 

[oneprincessjo]

Hi everyone! We are trying to plan our upcoming trip but would love to get your advice as to where to stay. We will be doing a split stay: Part 1) Mother/Daughter trip (My mom and me) and Part 2) the entire family (including my dad and DB13) will be joining us. Here are the options:
1) AKL for our entire stay
2) Boardwalk/AKL
3) Wilderness Lodge/AKL
4) Port Orleans French Quarter/AKL
5) Coronado Springs/AKL

I would love to hear which of these options you would pick and why. Thank you!

I would pick number 3. Wilderness Lodge is amazing!!! But I should warn you, we did a spilt stay our last trip and it was way more trouble than it was worth, I personally will never do a split stay again.

 

[Aliceacc]

I would pick number 3. Wilderness Lodge is amazing!!! But I should warn you, we did a spilt stay our last trip and it was way more trouble than it was worth, I personally will never do a split stay again.

Yeah, I've never gotten the appeal. The thought of packing up everything in the middle of my trip simply doesn't do it for me.

I know other people love them. We're more of a "get settled into the resort and let the vacation begin!" type of family.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We are planning our first split stay this August with the BC/Poly. I had considered AKL and POFQ in the mix as well, but decided AKL was too remote and the price worked out that I could do poly over POFQ. If you have your heart set on AKL, then I would go with BWI/AKL. Staying at the BW will maximize your EP/HS time, AKL will be close to AK, water parks and DTD, so the only out of the way park will be MK.

 

[Zuzu03]

We LOVE split stays - it always feels like 2 different vacations depending on where you stay. Disney is so great about moving your luggage over, we've never found it to be a problem.

I voted WL/AKL just because of the locations of each. I would also suggest WL/BC only because of the proximity to MK for WL and Epcot/DHS for BC.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I would pick number 3. Wilderness Lodge is amazing!!! But I should warn you, we did a spilt stay our last trip and it was way more trouble than it was worth, I personally will never do a split stay again.

May I ask what the trouble was? We've done "split stays" so to speak when we've done US/WDW, before any cruise and while touring Europe and Canada. I will admit four hotels in 16 days driving through Canada did push my limits by the end (was actually supposed to be five hotels but I cancelled at number four ). But we don't mind moving once after five nights. Just curious what trouble other than packing up it caused.

 

[d1gitman]

based on your options, i voted for Boardwalk/AKL we have stayed at all the listed resorts and they are all fantastic. i voted the Boardwalk option cause it offers lots of unique variety and we find it to be lots of fun, particularly if you need a little break from the parks.

my first choice would be FW cabins, but that's just because that is our newest favorite....11 days till we are there


we have done multiple split stay trips in teh past and always loved them. a few times we've done 3 resorts in one trip....as long as you plan for the downtime to check out and check in and the logistics of it all, it's a breeze. we would use a taxi to transfer from resort to resort

 

[Wood Nymph]

I choose the BWI/AKL split because it will give you a vacation with the least amount of bus rides. The Epcot resort area is a great place to stay. It is really nice to be able to walk to Epcot and spend hours in the World Showcase.

The WL and AKL are designed by the same architect. I love the WL and I've heard that the AKL is gorgeous, too. But I would assume you would save your time at MK for when your 13 year old brother joins the family. So that is why I voted for the first half being at BWI.

ETA: I just checked your trip report and saw that you have already stayed at BWI, but not the WL. If you are in the mood to try something different, then the WL would be my choice over a moderate. The resort is gorgeous, the boat ride to MK is really nice, and the wooded area with its walking paths are very relaxing. I love the Hidden Springs quiet pool. It is away from the loud music of the afternoon pool party. And the bubbling springs feel good after a busy day at the parks. The WL has a very nice counter service restaurant, something the BWI is missing. We love the BC and have stayed there many times. But we were really impressed with the WL on our trip last month.

 

[oneprincessjo]

May I ask what the trouble was? We've done "split stays" so to speak when we've done US/WDW, before any cruise and while touring Europe and Canada. I will admit four hotels in 16 days driving through Canada did push my limits by the end (was actually supposed to be five hotels but I cancelled at number four ). But we don't mind moving once after five nights. Just curious what trouble other than packing up it caused.

We started out at Old Key West and that was where our trouble lied, it was only for one night and not worth it because our room wasn't ready till 6pm... Or at least it wasn't till then that we got our room because they texted our house phone rather than our cell phones, we went to Olivia's for breakfast that morning and by the time we got back they were already cleaning out our room. We were hoping to stay until the 11am checkout before moving onto Bay Lakes for the rest of the week. We were traveling with my 15 month old daughter, so it made that first night that much more stressful since we really didn't have a place to get her out of the sun or for naps and were kicked out before checkout. Fortunately Bay Lake Tower heard our cries about the previous night and got us set up immediately, I was never so relieved in my life. If we ever do a split stay again it would have to definitely be more than one night, but I doubt we will. Also we drive from Pennsylvania and always stop in Georgia for the night before we finish our trip so we essentially unpacked 3 days in a row. When we do the I over night stay we only grab an overnight bag and leave the rest of our luggage, but traveling with a baby there is just so much you have to bring in with you for just one night.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We started out at Old Key West and that was where our trouble lied, it was only for one night and not worth it because our room wasn't ready till 6pm... Or at least it wasn't till then that we got our room because they texted our house phone rather than our cell phones, we went to Olivia's for breakfast that morning and by the time we got back they were already cleaning out our room. We were hoping to stay until the 11am checkout before moving onto Bay Lakes for the rest of the week. We were traveling with my 15 month old daughter, so it made that first night that much more stressful since we really didn't have a place to get her out of the sun or for naps and were kicked out before checkout. Fortunately Bay Lake Tower heard our cries about the previous night and got us set up immediately, I was never so relieved in my life. If we ever do a split stay again it would have to definitely be more than one night, but I doubt we will. Also we drive from Pennsylvania and always stop in Georgia for the night before we finish our trip so we essentially unpacked 3 days in a row. When we do the I over night stay we only grab an overnight bag and leave the rest of our luggage, but traveling with a baby there is just so much you have to bring in with you for just one night.

Thanks for the input! I can see how that would be stressful! I don't think I'd do it for a trip less than a week. We will be going ten days so I thought it would work out. And my kids are old enough to pack for themselves so that makes it easier too!

 

[gabzee]

I would nix AKL think its too far from everything although I think the resort is beautiful. I would go with WL/BC instead of BW? Just like BC better than BW.

We have stayed at AKL and do love the resort. Staying at that resort is the one thing that my dad requested so it is pretty much a must do. I wanted to stay at BC or YC but they are completely booked for our dates. Next time...

did wl/akl - they are just further apart.

assuming you are mostly doing parks?

now if you are planning on during alot of DD - then pofq/akl

We will be doing mostly parks but will do some other activities when it is just my mom and I. The only reason I was hesitant about WL/AKL was because they seem somewhat similar to me.

Before I vote, I have a question:

What is it about those particular resorts that landed them on your poll?

Tell us about the members of your family and their preferences, and that will help people give you educated information.

Though, honestly, if you're going in a month and 3 days, you may have to check availability.

AKL is there since that is the one request that my dad made for the trip so it is a must. The rest of the resorts are options based solely on availability. While there is still limited availability this isn't for the trip in 1 month and 3 days.

It will be me (20), DMom, DDad, and DB (13). We typically stay at deluxe when we do family vacations but since this is a longer trip we may be changing that up. We tend to have breakfast and some dinners at the various deluxe resorts so transportation options is nice. We tend to stay in the parks for the majority of the day and our "breaks" are our TS meals. When it is just my mom and I we will try to take some actual breaks/ do other activities. I hoped that helped somewhat.

I choose the BWI/AKL split because it will give you a vacation with the least amount of bus rides. The Epcot resort area is a great place to stay. It is really nice to be able to walk to Epcot and spend hours in the World Showcase.

The WL and AKL are designed by the same architect. I love the WL and I've heard that the AKL is gorgeous, too. But I would assume you would save your time at MK for when your 13 year old brother joins the family. So that is why I voted for the first half being at BWI.

We will probably go to MK even without my brother. My concern with WL was that it would be too similar to AKL but at this point I'm not sure.