How easy is it to switch resorts mid-trip??

[JESW]

I have heard people on these boards doing it and I just wanted to know what is involved. I have mentioned trying this to DH but he's concerned it might be too much trouble.

Here's why we would like to try it. We love both the Polynesian and the Yacht Club. We love the Polynesian because of the atmoshere, closeness to the MK and being on the monorail. But we LOVE the YC and how close it is to EPCOT (our favorite park) and how there are things to do along the boardwalk at night.

For us it would be a dream vacation to stay at both resorts.

I would love to hear your opinions/experiences on switching resorts.

TIA!

Jill

(we are sorta toying around with planning another trip where we would spilt staying at the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge - two resorts we haven't stayed at yet)

 

[Bwalker]

Hi Jill!

For what it's worth, we resort hop all the time and really enjoy it.

A typical 7 night stay will usually be at 3 resorts for us (sometimes even four!). And then on top of that, we'll end up talking ourselves into driving down a day early (or staying a day later) - and they are usually at different places - sometimes even (dare I say this??) off property

Since we are DVC (we love to hop the DVC resorts as well) and the points go up dramatically on Fri-Sat nights, we'll usually take that opportunity to stay somewhere else. We've stayed at all of the All-Stars, GF, AKL (my personal favorite!), POR, CSR, and next month will be our first stay at Caribbean Beach.

We do not find hopping around to be inconvenient at all - in fact we find it fun.

However, here's probably why:
1. Our kids are really adults (18 and 21) and they love Disney as much as we do. I am not so sure this would be my idea of a vacation is I had little kids.
2. We always have a car. It is easy to pack up and leave stuff in your car all day. In fact, we've gotten to be very good at packing so we needn't bring every single bag in to every single hotel.

I understand that Disney provides a service to move your stuff from resort-to-resort. However, with the cut backs, I would check into this before "assuming".

I understand what you mean about enjoying certain aspects of each resort and I guess that's why we hop. We love being on the monorail line and having coffee at the Poly in the morning. We love the convenience of BWV to Epcot. We love to relax at OKW. We love taking the boat to DD from POR. And for just hanging out - the AKL! So many resorts!!!! Too little days!!!!

Have fun,

Aloha,
Lorraine

 

[maddy]

We also resort hop every trip. There have been some good threads recently on 'best practices' but in a nut shell. Pack for ease of moving, look at where you are moving to too plan your park visit and make it part of the "fun" of Disney. maddy

 

[Simba's Mom]

I resort-hop often, most recently a few weeks ago. Very easy! Also a DVC member, I arrived late Friday, and rather than use those precious points, I spent the night at ASSports. Saturday morning, I packed up, brought my bags to bell services and told them where they were going, then hopped a bus to theme parks. At the end of the day, I just hopped the bus going to my new location and checked in there. Once in my new room (BCV), I called bell services there, and they brought up my bags. BTW, if you go to BCV, the CM was the nicest man!

 

[mikesmom]

It's not really difficult, and they do move your stuff, but I'm not crazy about it, and DH doesn't like it at all! Youve heard the pros, so here are the cons-

- You essentially have no "home" between 11 am checkout time and 4 PM check in time. If you're the type that likes a mid day break, you are out of luck

- if you're moving food, they will refrigerate it for you (and do a good job), but if any of it's freezer items, most resorts recommend that you carry it over to the other resort yourself and hand it to bell services so there is no chance of a problem. Obviously this is more of an issue if you are using a DVC property with the kitchen

- if you are the type of family that really likes to "settle in" to a hotel room it's a real hassle. If you can live out of your luggage it probably would be less of a problem. My family likes to unpack, hang things up, chill a bottle of wine, put away snacks, lay out some books, put toiletries out on the sinks (or fill the drawers if that is an option). This is a group that likes to make themselves at home! Obviously, packing all that stuff up and moving it every couple of days would be a pain. If you have the type of family that just uses the room for sleep and shower, then you might be fine . But then why spring for the moderates or more if you're not going to really enjoy the resort?

- you do have to check it each time. If it's a busy time of year you may be standing in line for each check in which cuts into your vacation time. If the room is not ready, you may even have to stand in line to check in, then stand in line again later to get your keys once the room is ready!

for us, unless it's unavoidable, changing resorts is just not worth it!

 

[BethC1952]

We stayed in three different (we stayed at one resort twice) resorts (plus a cruise on Wonder) during our two-week trip. Disney moved our stuff from All Star Music to Port Orleans Riverside. Luggage arrived sometime after 1 PM. We checked out of AS Mu at 11 and went right to PO R. Our room was ready, so we left a few things in the room and went out for the day, having our luggage delivered when we returned. Our next stop was the Dolphin. Since this isn't a Disney hotel, we took a cab (less than $10), and, once again, our room was ready, so we checked right in, got settled and went out for the day. Our next stop was our cruise on Wonder. We had Disney transfers, so they moved our luggage for us. When we returned, we went back to PO R, once again with Disney transfers.

I would resort-hop again, but I think I would want to stay more than one night in each place (one night at AS Mu and one night the first time at PO R).

Beth

 

[Calcio]

Hello JESW

Over Christmas last year we did exactly what you are considering for exactly the same reason.

We started at the GF because it is so lovely, on the monorail with instant access to the MK, and because we had never stayed there before.

We changed to the Boardwalk Inn half way through the visit, because we love MGM/EPCOT, the BWI is so nice, and we love the activity along the Boardwalk at night.

The mechanics were very simple:

1. The night before the move, we told the front desk that we were checking out tomorrow morning, and moving to the BWI. The front desk asked our preferred time for a bellman to come get our luggage, and we set a time.

2. On checkout morning, we packed and were ready for the bellman. He arrived spot on time, and we handed the nice man our luggage along with a tip for his efforts. He gave us the tags for our luggage.

3. We left the GF and did our thing in the parks and travelled by monorail during the day, ending up at EPCOT in mid afternoon. We walked through the International Gateway to the BWI. We checked in at BWI, and our luggage was waiting for us. We went up to our room, unpacked, and were ready to go again.

If you wish to enjoy more than one resort and location, I really recommend it. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it with small children who like to settle in, but in our case with 2 adults and a 16 year old DD, who enjoy multiple parks and activities, I worked out great.

Good luck!

 

[soccer mom]

On the other side.....we did if for the first time this year. Two nights at BC and 4 nights at Polynesian. Although the transfer itself was very easy, I never felt "settled" those first two nights at BC. Didn't want to completely unpack so we lived out of suitcases. Just decided I like to "move into" a room and make everything as convienent as possible. Maybe if it was just myself and my DH it would be different, but we had three teens with us.

 

[Angel1]

Switched from the Polynesian after 3 nights, and went to the YC for 4 nights. I did this with DH & 3 kids, aged 11, 8 & 3. It was no big deal at all.

We completely unpacked in both places, and it did require about 1.5 hours of packing time on my part. I put all the "dirties" in one suitcase, and simply repacked everything else.

We called the bell man, left by 9:30 or so, went to Epcot for the day, and walked through the Int'l Gateway to check in at the YC by 3 p.m. Kids were in SB by 3:20!

Go for it! It's great to have those 2 perspectives (monorail and MK focused, and then Epcot/walking/boat to MGM focus) in the same vacation!

Best wishes!

 

[liquidsky88]

We are planning to resort hop on our next trip. We were not sure if we wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge or the YC. So we decided to stay at each resort for a week. We are using our checkout day from the YC as a "off day". We are just going to relax and take a break at the pool. It could be the change of pace you might need too!

 

[ead79]

I just switched resorts between the Poly and the YC myself. I often resort-hop, and I don't find it to be a big hassle. As a matter of fact, I really like getting to experience more than 1 resort per trip. We just checkout out of the Poly, went on over to the YC and checked in, then went to Downtown Disney until they had our luggage in our room. The room was ready early (around 1:30--which was a real plus) which was nice because we were ready to get our stuff out and get settled in.

 

[bigsis1970]

Ok I stayed in 4 resorts in 9 nights w/ myself, DD 9 and DS 6 .
We stayed 2 nights ASMO , 4 nights OKW , 2 night AKL and 1 night ASSP.. I can stay we only really unpacked at OKW and I am not sure i will do soo many ever again . Maybe 2 or even 3 but i would need to be at least 4 nights per stop ! I found it not to be a huge hassle but rather not feeling very settled anyplace. I like to unpack and use the drawers but with a two night stay that seemed silly so we lived out of suitcases. we did have our own car and packed it up the morning of departure and then if needed ( which we never did ) it could all stay there if our rooms were not ready ( but they all were !) I am currently planning my next trip w/ hopes to stay at the Poly, YBC and CBR . ( 4 nights at each spot ! ) Good luck to you in your decision. Michelle

 

[MELSMICE]

I didn't think I would ever resort hop, but we did on our last trip & it was no problem at all. Even DH said he would do it again & he has always been totally against it. Bell services took care of everything.

The only thing I would do different is pack the suitcases for the different resorts so you don't have to bring each one into each resort. So, if you are staying in one place for 3 nights I would pack one suitcase w/ enough clothes for the 3 nights & leave the others in the car.

I would say if you really want to experience both of those resorts that you should at least give resort hopping a try. If it's not for you you don't have to do it in the future.

 

[danicaw]

We almost always hop.
Usually just to 2 resorts.
Our last trip (13 nights) was AKL, DCL, and BCV.

It has never been a problem for us. Because of the way we like to tour and the things we like to do in the Orlando area we always rent a car, so we have always moved ourselves instead of having the resorts do it.