Split stay or not?

[jcjen519]

We are planning a spring break trip end of march/early April. It will be my husband and myself (late 30s), our 9 yr old son and our 3.5 year old daughter. Trip will be a total of 8 nights. We own at akv and have 4 nights booked in a 1bedroom cl room. We've stayed there before many times. My plan has been to book a 1 bedroom bcv if possible for the 1st 4 nights at the 7 month mark which we are coming up on.

Plans are to hit Epcot in the evenings while at bc. We would be traveling to mk and hs from there as well as spending afternoons at the pool. Current plan is to spend a good bit of time at the resort/pool as well as doing a few late afternoons and evenings at akv while there. If we did all bc we'd likely spend less time at ak and do more Epcot time. That would also be fun but we have been looking forward to really exploring pandora and ak in general.

I've been watching and it seems doable to grab the 1 bed at 7 months. Assuming availability would you book 8 nights at bcv or just grab 4 and keep the 4 akv nights as well? After typing this out I think I am leaning toward split stay but would love to hear what others think! Thank you!

 

[jerseygal]

We enjoy split stays and usually do splits to enjoy 2 different resorts. Assumong the pool rehab at Jambo will be completed by your trip,would do a split. Enjoy!

 

[mom2rb]

For the first few years owning DVC, we did split stays every time. We just wanted to stay everywhere. We then realized that we have years and it is ok to just stay at one. Try to get BCV but if you don’t, be happy at AKL, you will stay there another time.

 

[jcjen519]

We enjoy split stays and usually do splits to enjoy 2 different resorts. Assumong the pool rehab at Jambo will be completed by your trip,would do a split. Enjoy!

I did think about the pool rehab but decided I was safe as long as it starts on time. Maybe I should consider booking a back up?

 

[DVCJoy724]

Personally I enjoy split stays. I like experiencing 2 resorts on the same trip. It can be tough to be "homeless" that day though so make sure you plan a full day at the parks on your move day.

 

[disneynutz]

Split stay especially since to snagged CL.

Bill

 

[DVCBillyJoeBob]

We did our first DVD trip last December for 9 nights. (5 @ AKV-Kidani, our home resort, and 4 @ BCV). Similar plan as discussed about, went to Epcot twice and DHS once while at BCV.

Positives:

• Seemed like 2 vacations
• Nice to experience different resorts being new to DVC
• BCV location was great for access to parks, loved not using buses.
• Transfer was relatively painless. Dropped off luggage at AKV and picked up after a day at the parks.
• AKV was beautiful with great restaurants. More isolated than BCV, but we liked the theme more. Also the 2 BR was bigger than at BCV and had an extra bathroom which was very useful.

No so great:

• We decorated for Christmas and was a bit of work to take down and put back up at BCV
• Packing was easy for me, but the wife seemed more bothered by moving in the middle of our vacation. Depends on the personalities of the people in your group.

I would do a split stay again, especially on a longer trip. But will leave it up to the wife for the final decision. Not worth it if it makes her not enjoy the vacation as much.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Split stays might be tougher with little ones. Will your daughter nap in a stroller if your villa isn't ready after you check out of the first place? You may have five hours (or even more since it could be a busy time) until your second villa comes available.

 

[jcjen519]

We did our first DVD trip last December for 9 nights. (5 @ AKV-Kidani, our home resort, and 4 @ BCV). Similar plan as discussed about, went to Epcot twice and DHS once while at BCV.

Positives:

• Seemed like 2 vacations
• Nice to experience different resorts being new to DVC
• BCV location was great for access to parks, loved not using buses.
• Transfer was relatively painless. Dropped off luggage at AKV and picked up after a day at the parks.
• AKV was beautiful with great restaurants. More isolated than BCV, but we liked the theme more. Also the 2 BR was bigger than at BCV and had an extra bathroom which was very useful.

No so great:

• We decorated for Christmas and was a bit of work to take down and put back up at BCV
• Packing was easy for me, but the wife seemed more bothered by moving in the middle of our vacation. Depends on the personalities of the people in your group.

I would do a split stay again, especially on a longer trip. But will leave it up to the wife for the final decision. Not worth it if it makes her not enjoy the vacation as much.

Thank you! Good stuff to consider. I'm hoping that if I pack well and plan well the move won't be too bad. We will also have access to the lounge at ak on check in day so if we do find ourselves waiting around there's always that.

 

[jcjen519]

Split stays might be tougher with little ones. Will your daughter nap in a stroller if your villa isn't ready after you check out of the first place? You may have five hours (or even more since it could be a busy time) until your second villa comes available.

That's a good point. Our kids are pretty great with travel. We wouldn't want to push it but if she needs a nap that day I would expect she'd be likely to take one in the stroller. I'm guessing that is a fairly popular spring break time so it may take awhile to get into villa number 2.

 

[jerseygal]

I did think about the pool rehab but decided I was safe as long as it starts on time. Maybe I should consider booking a back up?

If you have the points and if you are a pool user and you consider the walk or shuttle to Kidani to be inconvenient OR if you are concerned that the Kidani Pool might be overcrowded IF the rehab is not complete by you trip, AND there is a resort available for your dates, by all means book a backup. Just don't forget to cancel one or the other more than 31 days before arrival!

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I personally don't like split stays. I like to get my room, unpack and settle in. I don't like living out of a suitcase. I don't like having to re-pack so we can move to another resort and then have to repack again to go home...not something I enjoy doing and it's a waist of my valuable WDW time. We have done several split stays, I gave it more than one try and it's not for me. Also one time we moved from Wilderness Lodge to the Boardwalk but our luggage was never move by WL so there we were at 10PM with nothing. Finally around 11PM our suitcases showed up. Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper. After that we moved our own luggage which requires a taxi if you don't have a car...Just my two cents. Whatever you do I hope you have a wonderful and magical vacation. Enjoy!

 

[Jennifer Bowers]

I vote for split stay. My first trip as a DVC member was 4 nights at 4 different resorts. It was a blast! Granted we didn't have our kids with us, but planning to do a split stay with them in January. We took our luggage down to bell services and the transfers were very smooth. The luggage was usually available by 4pm at our resort. We did live out of our suitcases though..... It was nice to get a clean room and new supplies every night!

 

[Shellyred8]

I vote for the split stay. And if you can't get BCV, try for BWV. I actually really like doing the AKV/BWV split stay. We do our AK and MK days while at AKV and then do EP and HS while at BWV. If you do stay at one of the boardwalk resorts, you might want to do the Fantasia Mini golf while you are there. It's just on the other side of the Swan Hotel, so just a short walk.

Have a great trip!!

 

[jcjen519]

Thanks for all the input guys! After speaking with our son as well we've decided to plan for the split stay. He really likes the akv club level and likes the idea of the two hotels. We think it will be a fun trip!

 

[gharter]

i would do the 4 and 4 split. Disney makes transferring from one resort to another really easy. You also get the chance to see 2 really nice resorts. When our kids were young, they loved the Beach Club pool. Now that they are older, they love AKL.

 

[97bear]

we did our first split stay this summer between BLT and GF (first time to stay there)...Disney made the transfer easy with luggage and we were able to check in early. GF is an awesome resort!

 

[mel&me]

Doing a split stay in less than a month, At AKV Jambo than going to VGF.
Never stayed at VGF before looking forward to it.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I think a split stay for the length of time you have is a great way to experience 2 different resorts, and as another poster said, kind of like 2 different vacations with different park/dining options (best of two worlds). Personally I'm not a fan of BCV, but the access to Epcot & DHS is undeniably fantastic. As far as the kids, mine always went with the flow, fun was had no matter where, when, move or not! Good luck with your choice.

 

[kateandy08096]

I do split stays often. I did one in April. Staed 3 nights in 2 bedroom at OKW and then 8 days at AKL savanna view. End of AUgust we are doing 3 nights at Polynesian and then 3 nights at OKW. In oct we are going 3 nights in 2 bed at Disney Grand Cali and then 5 nights in 1 bed at Grand Cali. Never had an issue and gives a chance to chance see other resorts.