Our next WDW trip probably won’t be until after TRON is open, but I have been considering doing a Split-Stay next time. We have never done a split-stay, and it always makes me wonder if it’s worth the hassle of moving hotels mid-way through the trip. So tell me what you love, like, dislike, hate about Split-Stays!
We are thinking of doing a split stay between Wilderness Lodge (our fav, and DH’s only resort he has experienced) and Pop Century (I have enjoyed this hotel and love the Skyliner to HS and EP!). The Skyliner to HS is actually the main draw of the Split-Stay for us, as we would otherwise just stay at WL the whole trip.
I’ve never seen the appeal in them. I don’t want to spend any more time than necessary repacking and having the hassle of moving - especially if the no Magical Express luggage transfer also means no inter-resort luggage so you have to deal with it yourself.
Honestly split stays just seem like more trouble than they’re worth.
I’ve only done it once - a one night stay at CSR before a week at AKL. We needed to add a day so my teenaged daughter could see her friend that moved to Orlando.
It was a hassle and we didn’t like CSR, so that just compounded it. I don’t think I’d do a split stay again unless I was staying at each resort for 4 or more days. Too much work otherwise.
I’ve never done one but I want to! Would have to be a loooong trip. Like a week at an MK resort and a week at an Epcot resort. I can’t see doing it for a short trip. And if wait post pandemic so luggage is all moved and what not.
I can’t speak to the hassle or anything. We haven’t done a split stay, and have only stayed on property once, 25 years ago. But we are doing my a split stay in December. Reason? Well, my dream has been to stay at The Contemporary…but it is too expensive to start there for our entire trip. So instead, we are doing 8 nights at Boardwalk Villa (1 bedroom rented DVC) and one night at the Contemporary, theme park view.
It is about the experience, in our case. I doubt I will stay at The Contemporary ever again.
Right. Overlooking the Magic Kingdom at night (sadly, no fireworks…but that would have been cool), waking up to the monorail running by, etc? It will be a memory for sure.
But, truth is, the Boardwalk Villa with 1 bedroom is overall a better experience from a daily grind perspective. So the split stay works. The logistics of getting from The Boardwalk to The Contemporary now that we’re planning to fly down is still the unknown we have to contend with.
Will you have a car? If they aren’t doing luggage transfer having a car would make a big difference.
I’ve read that one nice thing about a split stay is that you can buy a dining pass for one stay and not the other. So you get your expensive eating done when you have the dining.
We’ve done it on three trips. AKL to GF, BC to GF, and POLY to offsite (if that counts). In each case we had our own vehicle so logistics was a non-event. I may be in the minority, but we thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It was an adventure getting to say at different places in the same trip. Will do it again until my dream of eventually staying at every single WDW resort is checked off the bucket list!
Yeah, I do like the idea seeing multiple hotels. I’ve stayed at a few, but DH has only been to WDW once, and therefore only experienced one hotel. I think it would be cool to stay at new places.
We will probably get AP’s though when we go in 2022. Maybe instead of a split-stay we’ll do a large trip at WL and then a smaller trip later in the year at Pop Century.
I almost always do split stays. For longer trips I will plan a split stay from the start. I also often add days to my DVC stays and that generally means those extra days are not at my home resort.
I started doing split stay because I was always fearful: what if I didn’t love this new resort as much as _________. I would split with a resort I loved in the past/new resort.
I always pack before a trip knowing where I am staying (I think everyone can do this). I generally don’t completely unpack until my second stay.
I know if I want Disney to move my luggage I should call from my room and make sure I get a receipt. I then plan a full day in the park and do not plan on being at my next resort until 5. I take a backpack with anything I need for the day. I then go to the next resort after my day in the park.
I love the resorts! You can visit them all but staying at each, trying the pools and restaurants, waking up at daybreak and walking the grounds- all of these things are unique to each resort .
You definitely seem to have a good system down! I love your idea of packing separately for resorts so you don’t even take out the clothes you won’t use until you’ve moved.