Split Stay versus one resort?

If I had the option to split my stay I would definitely do it!

I am not a fan of a split stay, I find making the move to be a giant waste of my time when I could be having fun in the parks. I also like to unpack my bags in the room though, and doing that makes it more of a bother than it would for someone who doesn't unpack.

I am a fan of the split stay on trips 7 days or longer. On shorter stays, I find it too time consuming like Kristen K said.

On my splits, I'll stay at a Port Orleans resort for 1-3 days then transfer over to a deluxe resort in the Magic Kingdom area. Like you've suggested, this gives me closer proximity to different restaurants, parks, and entertainment. I also like the upgrade to a Deluxe resort for the extra amenities and pampering

What resorts were you thinking of splitting Disneydoc?

I've considered doing a couple of nights at BLT to be close to MK and see the fireworks from the resort. Maybe a night or two at AKL to see the savannah view and be close to AK. But it's only a bus ride, and there is always TOWL and Cali Grill. So, to me it's not worth it.

I've done lots of split stays and find that they're great once in a while, especially if you can manage one MK deluxe resort and one Epcot deluxe resort so that you can have a few days of being able to walk to three different parks. Usually, though, my split stays are budget-minded. I'll stay at a value for a few days, then splurge on a Deluxe for a couple of nights. I also like to get the chance to stay at lots of different resorts (I'm a resort junkie), so split stays allow you to do that in a budget-minded way.

I agree that moving resorts is a hassle, especially if your room isn't ready and you can't get into your space until 4pm. That's a big problem for those of us who NEED to get online with our laptops for work. However, if you're a "stay at the park all day" kind of person, that hassle is eliminated and you can just have Disney move your luggage for you to the next resort.

Basically, I'd recommend you try it to see how you like it and to discover any hidden annoyances that might keep you from doing it again. If you love it, you've found a new way to visit Disney!

We will trying our first real split stay in July. We will check in at the Boardwalk on Saturday and stay there till Tuesday. On Tuesday we will check in at the Contemporary. We will be using DVC points for our stay at the Boardwalk. We also booked 1 bedroom villas so we could have a washer and dryer. I do think it is a great way to try out resorts you are not so sure you would like. We did stay one night at the Contemporary during one of our visits and much to my surprise, I really liked it. This will mean packing and unpacking twice but I really do not mind doing that.

I say go for it. Were doing a split stay come november, a bit longer than yours but I think 4 and 4 is good.

I am trying out a split stay in April. 2 nights @ASM (my grandson LOVES Buzz!) then 3@
CBR.

This ^^^ DH and I made a goal to experience each of the resorts at least once and split stays are a great way to do that. We're planning on future trips staying at a value for part of the week and a deluxe for the other part to save money but to also get in a few more resorts. Besides bathroom supplies I don't really do a whole lot of packing and unpacking during our vacation, I usually just keep most of my stuff in the suitcase so getting stuff moved over wouldn't really be a hassel for us, either.

Congrats Disneydoc! Those are two great resorts to stay at. I'm excited to hear about OKW!

We stayed at OKW last October. It's a lovely, peaceful, fairly quiet resort, and the timeshare units are large and comfortable. It doesn't have the amenities of some of the newer resorts - the counter-service eatery is literally that, a counter, and the bar is tiny. Olivia's (table-service restaurant) is casual but the food is very good. We ate there twice and enjoyed both meals. Try the conch fritters, they are to die for. We never used the pools, but OKW's main pool looked nice.

Just did our first split stay a couple weeks ago. We are also doing our best to stay at each resort at least once. However, I got a deal at the Wyndham Grand Orlando for 3 nights and then we went over to CBR for 5 nights. We were out of the old and into the new by about 1030am. Changing resorts was not all that easy, but not all that hard. Just time consuming. This was also our first off property stay, even though we were right next to CBR. We have learned our lesson, ONLY on site from now on.

We kind of did a split stay in 2007. We spent 7 nights at an off-property timeshare resort, then check into the Swan for one night to see what staying on Disney property was like. It didn't do much for us, but we didn't realize that the Swan doesn't offer all the same amenities a true Disney resort does. Last year we finally stayed at a real Disney resort (Old Key West), and now I don't want to stay anywhere but a Disney resort, I loved it so much.

As a means to spend some time on Disney property after a few days off-site, I could do a split stay. But if I'm spending my whole vacation at a Disney resort, I want to pick one, unpack, and stay put. Even if it's a value resort. The time spent repacking and re-unpacking, checking out and checking in again, could be better spent enjoying the World.

YAY! Glad to hear it! That will be so much easier for you!

That's kind of the idea I'm playing with-- say 4 nights at a Garden Room at the Comtemporary, then 4 at the Beach Club. But I can't get past the idea that I'm going to lose at least a morning packing then unpacking again.

We always do split stays. We packed normally with just carry on bags. The transfer day we'd hit the parks early and return to the 2nd resort. Usually the room was ready since I had that in the remarks and also had the front desk call over to let them know we'd arrive by noon. We'd hang at the pool and do laundry.

Your tickets are on your first res and you purchase the amount of days for your entire stay. The second res is a room only. Disney for the past few years has been pretty good having room only discounts and allowing tickets to be added. The only hitch is dining plans are for the amount of nights, not tickets. So if you want dining for both the second reservation would have to have at least two days worth of tickets to get dining which sometimes is not worth doing.

But it's a great way to get to see different resorts. Especially if The Polynesian is out of your budget but you always wanted to stay there you can do value for X amount of nights and the Poly so you can stretch those vacation dollars.

I have a split stay question. Rather than starting a new thread, I'll ask on one already out there.

I have a split stay in October. When I make my ADRs, do I have to make them separately at day 180 for each resort? Or will I still be able to make them for the whole trip on day 180 of the first resort?

JoAnn, yes I do think you will have two 180 day marks because you will be checking out of one resort and have to check into another.

Thanks. That's what I figured but it never hurts to ask.

I agree completely. I also think transportation can also be an issue. You'll have to arrange your own transportation and I don't even know if Disney allows people to bring heavy suitcases of luggage on their buses. (I assume they don't but even if they allow it, it's not easy trying to load and unload heavy suitcases on and off the bus. Believe me, it's hard work and exhausting! I've done myself in college where buses are the only way to get around my college.) So you'll have to pay extra for a taxi or use a rental car, which was already expensive to begin with.

I'm pretty sure Disney will transfer it for you. I know I've read people's TR where they've transferred resorts and I think I remember them saying Disney transferred all their luggage with no issues.

I'm doing my first split stay in September because I want to try VGF. I anticipate unpacking, packing and unpacking will be a PIA, but I'll deal with it.

We have never done a split stay in all honesty. For us, its more relaxing to just stay put.

We have done splits and you do lose some time on the day you move, but we move our own luggage so we don't have to wait for it to be moved by Disney. They will move your luggage , but they say to give it a 6 hour window for your luggage to be moved.

Glad to know Disney offers services for moving luggage during split stays. It's most appreciated. But a split stay probably wouldn't be worth losing time in the parks and whatnot, at least for me. But to each his own.

We had no problems at all switching hotels.Found it easy no issues at all .Luggage transfer was smooth .Check in /Check out smooth.We stayed 1 night at Wilderness lodge (we had schedule a 1 bedroom villa for a whole week . But other couple couldn't make it) They didn't have any studios at wilderness lodge. So we ended up with 3 nights at Boardwalk and 3 nights at Kadani
and had to keep 1 night at Wildnerness lodge .All our ADR and Park admissions were link to our magic bands correctly . We love the ability to enjoy 2 hotels