Why Do A Split Stay?

[mom2AidanAndEli]

This is a legitimate question, not a judgment in any way! I see so many people doing split stays and I just don't quite understand why. I know if you've got a deal that starts the day after you check in or something like that. In fact, we had to extend our trip in 2011 at the last minute so we could leave town before Hurricane Irene arrived! We ended up adding a one-day stay to our reservation; if we had just extended it, we would have lost free dining! We knew we might have to change rooms, but luckily didn't have to.

But I'm talking about planning on staying at two or three or more different resorts. Is it just to experience different places? Is it a money issue? I'm just honestly trying to figure out why so many people seem to do it.

We're unpackers. First night we're there, the boys go to the pool with my husband and I set up the room. Clothes go in drawers (use the suitcase for dirty stuff), all our "stuff" goes on the vanity around the sink, soap and shampoo in the shower, food in the fridge and on the counter, etc. We all feel better once we're "settled in". I can't imagine packing it all up and moving during our stay. I hate doing it at the end enough, let alone two or three times in between!

So if you've done a split stay, where and why? Am I really missing out on something?

 

[jake&samsmom]

We are a family of 5 (2 adults, a 13 y/o son, 10 y/o son, and a 3 y/o princess). We are DVC members staying at a 1 bedroom at Kidani in January 2014 for 5 days. I want to add 2 more days at a non-DVC resort for the fun of it and to experience something different.

(AND, there were no other DVC resorts available for the days we wanted except SSR and OKW - I like, but the kids do not. I also do not like the uncertaintly of waitlisting. So a split stay was the best for our situation)

 

[L&Lfan]

We did our first split stay in May. We stayed 4 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and 4 nights at the Wilderness Lodge. We did it solely to experience both hotels which were new to us after we found out how easy it would be to relocate. Disney took care of moving our luggage from bell services at AKL to bell services at WL. To be honest with you, we are NOT unpackers, at least not to the extent that you describe. If we were, that might affect our willingness to do splits. However, we enjoyed it so much that we are doing a split stay in October at DL (4 nights at the Disneyland Hotel and 4 nights at the Grand Californian Hotel.) And we plan to do splits at WDW in the future whenever we're there for 8 nights or longer. In November, we'll be there for just 4 nights so we're staying at the Boardwalk Inn Villas the entire stay.

 

[Marthasor]

We did a 9-night split stay between BC and VWL two years ago and LOVED IT! For us, it was the ability to experience two very different resorts and keep our transportation times down to a minimum.

We started at BC and only did EP and DHS and everything those parks and the EP resort area had to offer. We then switched to VWL where we went to MK and AK (only time we had to take a bus!) and visited FW for HDDR and pony rides.

It was very relaxing to not have to take buses everywhere!

I would definitely do a split again for an extended stay of, at least, 8 nights. I, too, like to unpack and really experience a resort, but after 4 or 5 nights, I'm ready to experience something else!

 

[TJA]

I used to totally unpack and "move in" just like you when my kids were younger. We had so much stuff that it felt like such a relief to be settled in. However, now that my kids are older, we sometimes do a split stay and I leave our clothes inside the LLBean clothing packs and just put those packs inside the drawers. It's very quick to pack back up and move. If we split stay, it's probably because it's around a holiday and very busy in Disney, so we book a monorail resort for MK convenience and then switch to an Epcot resort for Epcot and HS convenience. We like walking or monorail to parks and would rather avoid buses, especially at busy times.

 

[pens4821]

We're doing it to experience two different things. My nephew wants to stay at AOA Nemo Suite, and we also want to stay at CR. Since we're saving a bit of money at the beginning, it allows us to stay TPV a few nights. If there were no kids we'd probably stay CR the whole time (just in the garden wing), but want to give him the Disney theming of a resort.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

We did a split stay our last trip in 2010. I had a 40% off pin code for Deluxe so we opted for AKL and the Poly. 3 days in AKL were perfect for us seeing Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, then the 4 days at Poly were perfect for Magic Kingdom and EPCOT since we could ride the monorail directly to them.
The other reason was to see both resorts (I like AKL better but it is sort of out of the way)

The big downside of a split stay is you can't really do a package for your whole trip. If you want the dining plan it has to be part of a package with tickets, and you can't add the tickets to both ressies without paying a hefty sum of money for the tickets.

 

[karenklo]

We did it for family. We were meeting family and they stayed at POFQ. We wanted to stay at the Poly. So 3 days with them at POFQ and then we were off to the poly for the rest of the vacation. It was fun stay somewhere different! We bring a bag for dirty clothes so clean stay in the suitcase so it easy to pack up and move on! WE checked out out of POFQ at 730 am and was checked into Poly at 8!

 

[Minniesgal]

We do split stays to experience different resorts and also to stay close to where we play. We love to stay SSR to do offsite, EPCOT and HS, we move to AKV to do AK then move to BLT to do MK. We are unpackers too but packing and moving is n great hassle and worth the excitement of the new resort.

Also if you have DVC getting the rooms you need can be a lot easier if you are willing to split.

 

[BringingUpDisney]

We are doing our first split stay to experience two different resorts and cut down on the transportation time. We will start at Poly for 4 nights and visit MK and the FW part of Epcot. Then we move to the Yacht club for WS in Epcot, HS and the only bus of our trip to AK. We have dinner plans at WL and AKL to check them out for future stays. I think it's fun to experience two very different resorts.

I use packing cubes in the drawers and a drawstring bag for laundry. I also put all the toiletries over the bathroom door in a hanging organizer so it is fairly easy to pack up and leave.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

I don't mind a split stay. In the past when DD's were young we would do half at FT Wilderness Cabins and spend time there (lots to do especially with youngsters) easy to do MK from there also. Then we would go somewhere closer to EC & HS and concentrate on those parks.
This Dec DW and I will be doing same at BLT (walking home from MVMCP) and then BWV where we can walk home from Osborne & Illuminations. I'll admit pretty easy when there's just 2 of us. However, BLT and BWV will both be first time stays so mark those off the bucket list !

 

[princessap]

We did a split stay our last trip in 2010. I had a 40% off pin code for Deluxe so we opted for AKL and the Poly. 3 days in AKL were perfect for us seeing Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, then the 4 days at Poly were perfect for Magic Kingdom and EPCOT since we could ride the monorail directly to them.
The other reason was to see both resorts (I like AKL better but it is sort of out of the way)

The big downside of a split stay is you can't really do a package for your whole trip. If you want the dining plan it has to be part of a package with tickets, and you can't add the tickets to both ressies without paying a hefty sum of money for the tickets.

This is my problem I am thinking for next year. I want to to CR/AKL split but want the dining plan
I wish they would figure out a way to do this. It isn't like we are going off property so I never understood why they cant do it

 

[winterman]

DH and I did a split stay 4 years ago. I had booked 10 nights at ASMu on a AAA discount. Then I got a room discount so we switched to POFQ. Then Free Dining was announced but we didn't want 10 nights of the dining plan so we compromised on 5 nights FD at ASMu (was still the regular DDP then), followed by 5 nights of a room discount at POFQ.

I don't think that I would do a split shorter than 5 nights each. Also, we always rented cars so the switch was easy.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

We do it

• because our kids are so young we're only doing 1 or 2 park days per trip so the resort itself IS the fun
• because sometimes if it's a fairly last minute DVC trip you can't get the whole stretch in your desired resort with your desired room size (and maybe you got cheapo last minute rented points!)
• because we like to experience the different theming
• because it creates a fun flow to the trip

That said, we split a four night trip between BWK and SSR on labor day weekend and I think I would not split again in segments smaller than 3 nights. Moving after two nights with babies was a hassle and you basically lose a day if you aren't super coordinated about it. We didn't realize Bell services would move it over for us and ended up in a crazy misroute through Downtown Disney.