Am i nuts to consider split stay 3 resorts?

[abarnes64]

I am working on jan ressie at my 7 mo window on 1st day avail and we will be 8 nts 9 days. Has anyone seperated the stay by park? I am thinking that with 2 little ones this might serve us well to be near epcot (BWV) for 2 nts then MK (BLT over wknd for cash to conserve DVC points) for 3 nts and then do the OKW 3 nts....

We have our first split stay upcoming in Sept between OKW and AKV kidani, so we'll see how splitting works for us.

I am dying to stay at BLT and BWV both and I think it would be awesome to be close to the parks and then to move onto OKW for relaxing stay for DTD and AK and HS.

We will have owners locker,

Anyone brave enough to try this or too much packing? Thanks for any perspective

 

[chalee94]

i would not want to try that. too much "homeless" time for me.

i like the idea of splitting resorts by park but i'd only move once (and ideally, stay for at least 3 nights at a time.)

 

[jmail048]

I have done this 3 hotels in one trip and it worked out well( I did have a car). I do feel 3 was a bit much and moving does take time away from your vacation idk if I would do it with little ones tho. I will keep my stays to no more than two hotels from now on it's to much work to switch 3 times in one trip.

 

[disneynutz]

Are you going to WDW for a vacation or to spend your time moving from resort to resort?

You will have years to stay at all of the resorts and years to do all of the parks many times over. I would make a WDW bucket list, pick a resort and park and have a great vacation. Next vacation, pick the next resort and park on your list. Keep a diary of your visits so in a few years you can remember what resorts to repeat and which to skip.

If you really want to do more than one resort and park, I would do no more than two.

Bill

 

[hakepb]

Out of necessity (last minute availability and lack of points) my last stay was 5 nights at AKV, 2 at POR and 2 at BLT (followed by 2 at a beach on way home)

We decided.... Never again a 2 night split stay. 1st night you are "unpacking" 2nd night you are packing up to leave the next am...you never have an evening to enjoy the resort. The added packing/unpacking work especially bothered DW.

I agree with Bill. 1 move can be OK. But while your plan might reduce transportation time (to parks) its a net loss in vacation time because you spend more time moving resorts.

 

[abarnes64]

Got it! When you point out the breakdown of the packing and unpacking timeline......that really points out the little time to relax. Thank you all for the perspective!

 

[Kidanifan08]

I am working on jan ressie at my 7 mo window on 1st day avail and we will be 8 nts 9 days. Has anyone seperated the stay by park? I am thinking that with 2 little ones this might serve us well to be near epcot (BWV) for 2 nts then MK (BLT over wknd for cash to conserve DVC points) for 3 nts and then do the OKW 3 nts....

We have our first split stay upcoming in Sept between OKW and AKV kidani, so we'll see how splitting works for us.

I am dying to stay at BLT and BWV both and I think it would be awesome to be close to the parks and then to move onto OKW for relaxing stay for DTD and AK and HS.

We will have owners locker,

Anyone brave enough to try this or too much packing? Thanks for any perspective

The phrases bolded above are a game of "one of these things doesn't belong here". In case you weren't sure which one, choose "relaxing stay".

We have done a few split stays over the past 3 years. They have all been 4/4 or 4/5 splits. We only have one small child and an OL, and it has not been ideal. We will still be doing split stays in the future, but I would not spend fewer than 4 days at any one resort, unless it was for something like AKV_CL, and even then I would have to think about it. And, unless I was staying for at least two weeks, I would not do more than 2 resorts.

I have to agree with Bill and the others, you are setting yourself up for an exhausting trip, even with the "relaxation time" at OKW.

 

[disney ny]

I know many people advise against it but we are going to try it this trip in August. We split it just like you were thinking- by resort. We are doing 5 at BLT, 2 at AKL, and 3 at BW. There are a few reasons why we chose to do this. First we decided to go from 7 to 10 nights and we didn't have enough points to do BLT for 10 nights. Also, since we have never stayed there we didn't want to only stay there in case we didn't love it. So we are going to try the whole moving twice thing and I figure I got three more days at Disney out of this so I can handle moving even with little ones. So I say why not try it?

 

[disneynutz]

I know many people advise against it but we are going to try it this trip in August. We split it just like you were thinking- by resort. We are doing 5 at BLT, 2 at AKL, and 3 at BW. There are a few reasons why we chose to do this. First we decided to go from 7 to 10 nights and we didn't have enough points to do BLT for 10 nights. Also, since we have never stayed there we didn't want to only stay there in case we didn't love it. So we are going to try the whole moving twice thing and I figure I got three more days at Disney out of this so I can handle moving even with little ones. So I say why not try it?

Everybody should try everything, just expect to spend time packing and unpacking, re-building your nest, being without a room until 4 PM or later on move days, 3 times the possibility that you will have a room cleaning or maintenance issue, a room location issue or check in issues.

Bill

 

[nalajms]

and then do the OKW 3 nts....

It's the OKW that will mess you up. BLT and BWV are close to a park so you can check in, then head out while waiting for a room. What's your plan for OKW? We typically split between MK and Epcot resorts. A few times we've split the Epcot stays between BWV to BCV (only due to lack of availability).

Packing is reasonable if you can plan ahead. That means 1 luggage for each stay rather than unpacking everything for each stay. My kids seem to bring a ton of stuff! So moving, even with the 1 luggage rule, eats up a few hours on checkout day. I have to go through all the drawers and under furniture to look for their toys. I can't even count how much stuff we've forgotten.

Also be careful if you plan to add a dining plan to any of the reservations. We had a lot of issues with this on our last trip.

 

[abarnes64]

It's the OKW that will mess you up. BLT and BWV are close to a park so you can check in, then head out while waiting for a room. What's your plan for OKW? We typically split between MK and Epcot resorts. A few times we've split the Epcot stays between BWV to BCV (only due to lack of availability).

Packing is reasonable if you can plan ahead. That means 1 luggage for each stay rather than unpacking everything for each stay. My kids seem to bring a ton of stuff! So moving, even with the 1 luggage rule, eats up a few hours on checkout day. I have to go through all the drawers and under furniture to look for their toys. I can't even count how much stuff we've forgotten.

Also be careful if you plan to add a dining plan to any of the reservations. We had a lot of issues with this on our last trip.

This 1 bag rule is my style. Minimal packing. Less to drag. Haha, it's a theory anyways. When you have kids.....one can try.

Home resort is SSR. We are at the mercy of room avail once we reach the 7 mo window.....only a few days left! Come on Friday! If possible, we'll keep to BLT and BWV. OKW is a backup plan should the BWV book up.

Plan B; BLT and OKW

Plan C: BLT, BWV and OKW whew! That's alot to write down

 

[hakepb]

It's the OKW that will mess you up. BLT and BWV are close to a park so you can check in, then head out while waiting for a room. What's your plan for OKW? We typically split between MK and Epcot resorts. A few times we've split the Epcot stays between BWV to BCV (only due to lack of availability).

Packing is reasonable if you can plan ahead. That means 1 luggage for each stay rather than unpacking everything for each stay. My kids seem to bring a ton of stuff! So moving, even with the 1 luggage rule, eats up a few hours on checkout day. I have to go through all the drawers and under furniture to look for their toys. I can't even count how much stuff we've forgotten.

Also be careful if you plan to add a dining plan to any of the reservations. We had a lot of issues with this on our last trip.

Great point On the dining plan...
I've heard the system doesn't really check you out of your old room until you use all of your credits. (And if you have not checked out, you can't check in...

 

[abarnes64]

Hang heard that about DP but I could see how that could be an issue. We will be using TIW so DP no issue, TG!

 

[WebmasterCricket]

With 2 I want to scratch my eyes out, I could never do 3.

 

[nalajms]

Hang heard that about DP but I could see how that could be an issue. We will be using TIW so DP no issue, TG!

Even with out DDP we had issues using the MB for charging on checkout/checkin days. So make sure you take the rest of your wallet with you.


The up/down side (depends how you see it) of multiple stays is the multiple mailings (Dumbo magnets), numerous emails, and multiple MBs. We are just overloaded with them. I'm pretty sure we have enough to cover the handle of our double stroller. BTW MB make GREAT bag/mug holders on the stroller handle. Not as easy to get things on/off as the clips, but very sturdy. I only leave 1 set activated on my MDE.

 

[abarnes64]

I am thinking about the 8 nt stay we had at the All star movies resort back in Nov 2013 and I would have happily moved to another resort for better accommodations and to be closer to parks. The bus rides with sleeping babies was EXHAUSTING

 

[abarnes64]

Even with out DDP we had issues using the MB for charging on checkout/checkin days. So make sure you take the rest of your wallet with you.

The up/down side (depends how you see it) of multiple stays is the multiple mailings (Dumbo magnets), numerous emails, and multiple MBs. We are just overloaded with them. I'm pretty sure we have enough to cover the handle of our double stroller. BTW MB make GREAT bag/mug holders on the stroller handle. Not as easy to get things on/off as the clips, but very sturdy. I only leave 1 set activated on my MDE.

Haha! The magic bands- oh no! We also have a split stay pieces together with cash nts and DVC points in Sept with four reservation numbers! Tons of dumbo magnets and the bands I forgot about? Will I get 4 sets of four bands? Holy cow! And then my Dec trip too? I could have 8 sets of four bands? I'll tell them not to send them all but they likely will STILL send.

Great suggestion for bands as stroller straps. Heck, I can make those bands Christmas ornament thingies on my Disney tree! Woot!

 

[nalajms]

I'll tell them not to send them all but they likely will STILL send.

Yup you'll end up with a bunch. And if you don't confirm your shipping address, they will be waiting for you when you check in. Have them ship it everytime. We like the box. It's just the right size for some of those little toys, like a lego set

I've been practicing decorating on our extra MB.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am working on jan ressie at my 7 mo window on 1st day avail and we will be 8 nts 9 days. Has anyone seperated the stay by park? I am thinking that with 2 little ones this might serve us well to be near epcot (BWV) for 2 nts then MK (BLT over wknd for cash to conserve DVC points) for 3 nts and then do the OKW 3 nts....

We have our first split stay upcoming in Sept between OKW and AKV kidani, so we'll see how splitting works for us.

I am dying to stay at BLT and BWV both and I think it would be awesome to be close to the parks and then to move onto OKW for relaxing stay for DTD and AK and HS.

We will have owners locker,

Anyone brave enough to try this or too much packing? Thanks for any perspective

Nuts? I think so, yes. Too much packing. (You'd still have to pack your OL up too). Too much time wasted. IF (big if) I would plan a split I would say minimum of 4-5 nights per resort. The other resorts will be there for your next trip. Nothing more relaxing than 1 resort per trip IMO.