Disney Resort split-stay?

[Shooby doo]

Done it 3 times with Disney but also moved to Universal but in the latter case it's normally a shorter stay.
Something to consider, having done 7 nights at both AKL & WL, before moving, is that at the beginning of your holiday when you are still on UK time (for us anyway), we are up early & away & TBH in that week see very little of that first resort & in hindsight it was a bit of a waste IYKWIM We have also done a 10 night first stay & that was totally different (3 week holiday). Now on a 2 week I'm not sure I could be bothered, it's not like it's a massive hassle because it isn't but it isn't exactly what I want to be doing on holiday either & for us 2 moves would be enough. There's a reason to move to Universal, for instance, where moving about Disney...
We loved both AKL & WL & could have quite happily stayed there for the duration but then once we move to SSR (our DVC Home) we just feel it's easier to do offsite things, we've got a full 3 weeks here in Sept & although I played with the idea of a split stay, decided against it.
SD

[Busyb]

We did 5 nights at Universal then hired a car for the day and moved to 5 nights at Disney sports and then 5 nights at Pop Century. We got an Uber across for about $10. I liked the change so we didn't get bored at the resorts but I think 5 nights at each minimum as less than that, then it would have felt like a hassle.

[Rescuer]

We’ve done all sorts of combinations with Disney, universal and idrive.

Christmas 2018 we did 5 nights at the contemporary and 6 nights at the beach club. This was my bucket list kind of Disney trip, there was no free dining to consider as it was Christmas. It was all about location for us and ease of walking to parks.

We’ve also done art of animation combined with AKL. We had free dining in that trip. We booked art of animation for a couple of days resort time then headed to AKL where our tickets and free dining started.

I love a split stay, I don’t think 3 resorts is too much. The most we’ve done is 4 and I’m just about to book 3 resorts at universal for our trip next year. Just pack accordingly do you don’t need to open everything up in each resort.

If Disney do offer free dining though you may want to take advantage of it by moving the order of your stays around. It’s a pretty big perk which we have loved when we've had it.

[themacfamily]

Originally Posted by nothingless

We have done this twice and LOVED it! The first time was on our honeymoon, just the 2 of us, and we stayed 1 week Wilderness Lodge and one week Beach Club. Loved the 2 different locations, local amenities and just the totally different feel of the resorts, almost like 2 holidays! I don't have a trip report for this as it was in 2015 but we both loved it.

The second time was last year when we did Disney for 21 days, and booked rooms with DVC points at around 6-7 months out. Because we booked so late, we weren't able to do 7-7-7 nights and just decided to be flexible and book what was available instead to make up our 21 nights. We ended up with 4n SSR, 3n AKL, 7n Poly, 6n OKW, and then 1 night AoA just paid in cash (because I'd moved our flights one night as it was loads cheaper to fly on Mon than Sun!). On this trip we had our 3.5 year old with us, and I have a pretty detailed trip report of it in my signature. This time we also loved it, my daughter included! We just really loved the thrill of discovering a new resort, going to check out the pools and playgrounds, seeing what yummy foods or snacks there were, trying out the transportation (from boats to monorail!) etc. I used packing cubes to making the moving easier, and we didn't find it to be much hassle at all. Would 100% do split stays again in the future, for us it REALLY added a lot to our trip to be able to experience the different resorts. That said, we're not rope-drop-to-close people when it comes to the parks and spend a fair amount of time at the resorts. We usually do more half days at the park than full days, and take a lot of afternoon breaks. If you only use your room to sleep, I wouldn't really recommend resort hopping, but if like us you spend a lot of time there, it's so worth it.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

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Thanks for your contribution! I'm happy to hear it worked out so well for you too! Getting me excited :-)

[Tinks2014]

Originally Posted by wdw-wanderer

We’ve done this on previous visits and it feels like two holidays. With the current capacity restrictions on Disney buses I’d be tempted to have part of the holiday at a Crescent Lake resort (Beach Club?) so we could walk to Epcot & Hollywood Studios, and then perhaps the Contemporary in order to walk to the Magic Kingdom. That would only leave the Animal Kingdom to reach by bus (or car, if you’ve rented one).

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We were looking at this for a split stay . Was thinking contemporary and maybe beach club/boardwalk or even a value resort . However if Disney perks are not back considering one of the Swan or dolphin as the they are in a great position and a lot cheaper. So 10 nights at Disney and then one of the universal hotels as they look fab .

[Apricota]

I’ve done animal kingdom lodge and then moved to beach club. First part was work related (😃 and included Disney back of house tours) beach club was added on as I was there... both good, very much enjoyed Beach club.

Last visit I stayed in a Nemo suit with my two then 13 year lads and that was amazing. Just brilliant for us all.

[orlandoamber]

We are considering doing this 2022 too if there’s no free dining (I feel pretty sure there won’t be!).

I want to do something like:
6 nights WDW
3 nights universal
6 nights WDW

For WDW I’m going to choose between MK/monorail resorts, Epcot/Boardwalk resorts, skyliner resorts and resorts with boat transport to Disney Springs. Ideally I’d do an MK/monorail resort and an Epcot/Boardwalk resort... but I am not made of money

[nolypops83]

I've done 5 at Beach Club, 5 at Saratoga Springs then 4 at Hard Rock and it was fine. Moving between Disney resorts was a breeze. Bell services sorted our bags, we went off to Epcot for the day and then checked in at SSR after park closing. Got our room, our bags and then someone in a golf cart took us to the building. Got and uber from Disney to Universal which was about $30 then our room was ready straight away at 12pm. A quick unpack and off to the parks for the rest of the day.

[SuziQz]

Originally Posted by orlandoamber

We are considering doing this 2022 too if there’s no free dining (I feel pretty sure there won’t be!).

I want to do something like:
6 nights WDW
3 nights universal
6 nights WDW

For WDW I’m going to choose between MK/monorail resorts, Epcot/Boardwalk resorts, skyliner resorts and resorts with boat transport to Disney Springs. Ideally I’d do an MK/monorail resort and an Epcot/Boardwalk resort... but I am not made of money

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Would you need 21 day tickets if you split it like that? Otherwise do the 2 x WDW 1st and then move to Universal

[orlandoamber]

Originally Posted by SuziQz

Would you need 21 day tickets if you split it like that? Otherwise do the 2 x WDW 1st and then move to Universal

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It’s only over 15 nights so shouldn’t be a problem as we’d skip disney days in the middle and probably wouldn’t go to a park on either our first or last day.

We could well do universal then 2x WDW though but I quite like the idea of breaking it up!