Splitting resort stays - stories/advice please!

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

We are thinking of splitting our next stay, but my DH is worried that we'll lose half a day packing and handling mix-ups in the transfer. I think that we must have faith that Disney does this regularly and will transfer us easily.

Also, did anyone have problems with their reservations and meal plans? Do you just tell reservations that you're splitting or do you need two separate reservations?

Thank you all!

[mouseketeer mom]

We split between AKL and the villas at WL this past Jan. into Feb. We did lose a half day or more. But I did like the adventure of trying TWO new places. The departure from the first was easy. However, after 4 days, packing up did take time. Especially with kids, things tend to end up everywhere. Valet took our luggage and tagged it for transfer to the WL. We went to downtown disney for lunch and walk around a bit. Then to the villas. They put us in a smoking room in error, then we needed to settle that, and find another villa for us. Then they failed to transfer all of our dining onto our new keys, and we had to pay out of pocket for our dinner that day, then they credited our room. We missed our ADR at Ohanas because of the room mix up. We ended up with counter service at roaring forks. Anyway, in spite of that, ( and I don't think that is usually how it works, I have heard many positive stories about splitting stays ) I would do it again. We really did like trying 2 new places. It was like 2 different vacations. As long as you keep an open mind about the transfer day, and don't make too many plans that day, it should go well. Good luck!

[DizneyRox]

A split stay and the DDP don't mix too well, but it's possible. You will end up purchasing a single day ticket on the second reservation. Also, you need to manage your DDP credits wisely, since they expire at midnight of the last day of the reservation. So, you can't save your DDP credits from the first stay and use them during the second stay.

All that aside, we often do split stays, and we've been know to split between three or four resorts. Never had a problem with luggage transfer. We don't unpack our suitcases though, I can't bring myself to store clean clothes in the same drawers that 1/2 of the world has used.

It doesn't take 1/2 a day either. We call bell services in the AM before we go to a park, tell them where the stuff needs to go, then hop on a bus (or walk to your destination that day) and enjoy the day. At night, sometimes after midnight, we show up at the new resort, check in, have our bag delivered, and go to sleep.

If we're bored during the day, sometimes we'll head to the new resort early to check in, but not all the time.

They have yet to lose any bags, and I've never had anything stolen. There have been a couple times where we walked refrigerated stuff over to the new resort by hand. It was medication, so we didn't want to risk it, but once we did have them move persihables over and it wans't a problem. Just make sure you make note of it when they pick up your stuff.

[moe513]

We did it once without a package because if you do the package you need to purchase 2 packages and then the park tickets get more expensive. I think its easier with a car however Disney did move our stuff without a problem. We stayed at bc 3 days and then packed up , called to have our stuff moved and off to a park. By the time we got to the poly to check in we got the last room available ,then we had to wait for our stuff and unpack and then go to diiner. Also,the room we got was handicapped assisable and didnt work out for us so the next morning we had to move again. It was exhausting. It sounds easier on paper. I would do it again only if it was me and dh.

[Belle--86]

I kow your hesitation for spliiting resorts we will be doing this in two weeks-- but we can't wait. We did ours a a week in each place, So we will have a week's DDP on each card the only thing I worried about is my park tickets. AS for packing we just spilt the weeks--Both DD's together in a suitcase for each week and the same for me and DH' I let you know how it works out.:)

[bkfree]

We were tempted to do this on our last trip. But it would have been more expensive,its like booking two separate packages.We ended up stayingthe entire trip at Yacht CLub and we were so glad that we did. The location is so amazing and after visiting the other resorts we were considering splitting with, we saw that after staying at the Yacht CLub we would not have been as happy at the other location Deluxes. And after looking around our room on the day we would have swapped, I was really glad I wasn's spending that day packing up and moving. We made much better use of our time that day at the parks.
Maybe if just my husband and I were go one day alone, it might be an option. But as long as my kids are along. One resort at a time works for us.

[mouseketeer mom]

We split between AKL and the villas at WL this past Jan. into Feb. We did lose a half day or more. But I did like the adventure of trying TWO new places. The departure from the first was easy. However, after 4 days, packing up did take time. Especially with kids, things tend to end up everywhere. Valet took our luggage and tagged it for transfer to the WL. We went to downtown disney for lunch and walk around a bit. Then to the villas. They put us in a smoking room in error, then we needed to settle that, and find another villa for us. Then they failed to transfer all of our dining onto our new keys, and we had to pay out of pocket for our dinner that day, then they credited our room. We missed our ADR at Ohanas because of the room mix up. We ended up with counter service at roaring forks. Anyway, in spite of that, ( and I don't think that is usually how it works, I have heard many positive stories about splitting stays ) I would do it again. We really did like trying 2 new places. It was like 2 different vacations. As long as you keep an open mind about the transfer day, and don't make too many plans that day, it should go well. Good luck!

I should also say, we did a package with dining the first 4 days, then our 2nd resort was room only stay. We put all of our days on our first package, and the days transferred to our new keys, and the dining expired at Midnight on the first day of our room only (second) stay. It was that dining that didn't transfer to our key, so we ended up paying for that nites dinner out of pocket, along with our snacks, and that was eventually credited to our room.

[jans2kids]

We did it 2 years ago going from the POP to POR. We did not have the dining plan and we didn't lose any time with the transfer. We notified bell services at POP what we wnated to do and they had us leave the luggage in the room, they would pick it up and transfer it to POR, we headed to the parks and when we returned to POR in the afternoon and checked in, they had already assigned us a room and the luggae was there.

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

Thank you all for your stories and Happy Fourth of July!!!

I don't love the idea of transferring around while we're on vacation, especially with our two preschoolers, but my husband and I can't decide which resort to pick, so I'm glad we've finally decided to try a split stay. This way, we can try a different resort, without being disappointed that it's too different from our last trip - which was perfect.

I'm not sure how the MYW+dining will work out. From what people are posting, a split stay will cost us a little more for tickets and lost meals. It seems silly and unfair that the DDP can't be linked to your total trip. We are staying within the Disney system after all.

[MinniesMom]

We did split stays during our past three trips with pre-schoolers! We have the split stay down to a science and never lose any time. We never really unpack at the first resort and usually stay fewer nights before moving over to the next resort. We also request a luggage transfer in the morning before heading out for the day. When we arrive at the second resort around dinner time (after a day in the park) our luggage is there and our room is ready - no time wasted. I do have to say though that we are AP holders and never traveled on a "package" I have heard that Disney does make it hard to split stays with packages - maybe by having to make two seperate reservations. However, if you can split stays, I highly recommend it. Our kids love the excitement of changing resorts and of course trying new pools is always fun!

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

About the DDP - on the day you split your stay, does the DDP run out when you check out? So, any credits I have would expire? Then, the new DDP credits would start upon check in to the new hotel?

And the tickets - I guess, we would be paying double for tickets on the day we switch hotels?

I don't know why I'm so confused about this.

[DisneyorNothing]

We did this last year and I hated it. We had two separate reservations. One on the dining plan and one not. In the end it ended up costing us more money and I was aggravated. After 5 days, I had to pack up everything. Granted I volunteered to do it myself so that the family could enjoy the day. Plus it was just easier. I could sweep thru the room and make sure we got everything, it fit and was set. Problem was I tried to pack the stuff we were done with and wouldn't be needing anymore for the flight home. So things were messed up and intermingled. I didn't like that. Then I had to wait for bell services to come get the bags and take them. Then I had to check out and then go to the new resort and check in. I was lucky and got our room but it took almost 4-5 hours before our luggage got to the new resort. Then I had to unpack what we needed and organize so that we could operate out of this new room.

To me it was a pain. We went from the Poly to the GF. To me I wasted precious time in WDW to accomplish this small task. To me it wasn't worth the effort or time. Plus we loved the Poly. The GF was nice but just not our cup of tea. The atomosphere was much more formal to us.

I won't do it again. Even if $$ are worth it.:mickey:

[Roo Girl]

For our honeymoon this past April, we stayed 5 days at Poly then switched for 5 more days at SSR. There were absolutely no problems at all w/ moving our luggage. On check-out day at Poly, we packed and called bell services to pick up our luggage when we were heading out for the day. They arrived wthin 10 minutes. By the time we got to SSR later that day (after a long day at the parks) we called down to have our luggage brought to our rooms. No problem whatsoever. I would definitely do it again without hesitation.

[Lizzie]

I would love to try it if I ever go on a trip without the kids. I can't imagine doing it with the whole family.

[DizneyRox]

About the DDP - on the day you split your stay, does the DDP run out when you check out? So, any credits I have would expire? Then, the new DDP credits would start upon check in to the new hotel?

And the tickets - I guess, we would be paying double for tickets on the day we switch hotels?

I don't know why I'm so confused about this.
1. Yes, the DDP credit expire at midnight of the night you check out, so you still have a day to use then. And the new DDP credits would start at checkin, BUT DDP is based on room nights, so you're not really getting double DDP credits on one day.
2. Not really. The way to handle this without throwing too much money down the toilet is to get all your ticket days on the first reservation. So if you're staying at AKL for 4 days, then GF for 4 days, get an 8 day ticket on your AKL stay. Then get a single day ticket with your GF reservation and pocket it for a weekend getaway. It will never expire. It's not wise to get a 4 and 4 day ticket, you'll be paying twice for park hopping, AND lose the ticket savings for longer stays.
3. I can't help you there, has always made sense to me, but I'm pretty analytical.

[psychotekkie]

One big piece of advice to anyone who does a split is: do not go from a deluxe to a value!!!!

Because after all the effort of moving and the time wasted that you could have been in the park, you get a smaller room and less amenities, and it feels like you got ripped off. If you must split, go to the better resort second, so that you feel good about the move!

[crazykids]

We're going from Poly to OKW on our next trip - wanted to experience a couple nights in a villa before we decide to purchase DVC. We will have our own car, so I'm not really concerned. We have 3 little kids, but we plan on moving our luggage ourselves so we don't have to wait around for anyone. We plan on checking into OKW early just to activate our dining plan & head out to a park for the day, this way when we return, the room should be ready.