Splitting an on-site WDW trip/DDP question.
 

For Aug 2020 we would like to stay on-site as we have never done this and would like to give the Disney bubble experience a go.

We want to use a dining plan and also (to be difficult) would like a split stay to experience two different hotels. (it also brings the cost down as two weeks at AK Lodge is a lot for us.)

One hotel POR is a moderate for 5-7 days so will qualify for QSDP and the other is AK Lodge so will qualify for the full plan.

I'm happy to have a week on QSDP and a week on DDP without upgrading the QDSP - however my question is... is this possible? Looking at the site I can only book one hotel with tickets at a time, so I figure I'll have to have them linked by Disney somehow, will the dining credits also link?

Sorry if it's covered elsewhere. I had a search but couldn't find anything.

The free dining is only valid with a ticket purchase so you would only get the free dining on either the POR or the AKL stay as I suspect you will only be buying 1 lot of park tickets. The only way to get 2 dining plans is to make 2 separate bookings and 2 lots of tickets.

We do split stays but only have the 2nd hotel for 2 or 3 nights to limit the amount extra spent on food. You would still have the dining on the check out/check in day but would have to pay for any food beyond those dates.

Unfortunately to do this you would need to buy 2 lots of tickets so it really would be worth it. The dining plan comes tied with the ticket purchase. Would a compromise be a moderate with upgraded dining plan ? Maybe move hotels at the end of the holiday to have a couple of nights in Animal Kingdom Lodge for the experience and pay oop for your meals.

I would also wait until room discounts are offered or look at renting DVC points otherwise you will be paying rack rate for the 2nd booking so not very cost effective. Or look at booking club level for AKL as you will have access to the lounge/snacks/drinks for free. But again this is expensive (club level also gives you access to booking fast passes at 90 days out but the cost is £50 per person, minimum of 3 days, 2 night stay).

Thanks for the replies and the good advice. :)

I think the best option for us is to stay at POR for the whole stay and stay on qdsp/poss upgrade to DDP or perhaps do a week at AK on the full DDP and then stay offsite for a week or maybe as suggested stay at POR for most of the stay and a couple of nights off plan at AK.

Decisions decisions!

Daves DVC has a cost/calculator so you can price up dates and resorts but you can't book DVC earlier than 11 months (I think).