Choosing where you will be staying on your vacation to Walt Disney World can be challenging: there are so many great choices! And if you are trying to keep to a budget then choosing can be even more difficult as you weigh the pros and cons of each resort. So what if, after all that, you actually end up choosing TWO hotels to stay in while at Disney World?
I know, you’re thinking “Why would anyone do that? Sounds like a lot of trouble on a vacation!”
Well the thing is, many people DO choose to stay at more than one resort on their Disney vacation, and there are a number of reasons why this might occur. To start, I know that many folks do “split stays” at Disney, especially when visiting during busier times of the year. And some people end up staying at more then one hotel if they decide to add on days to the beginning or end of their trip later in the planning process. Then there are the people that, while they may be staying at a moderate or deluxe hotel for the majority of their stay, will have a late arrival at Walt Disney World, and just want a place to sleep for that first night at a minimal cost. Others take this a step further and stay at a Value Resort for part of their stay and then “upgrade” themselves to a Deluxe Resort for the second part of the stay. And lastly, some vacationers just love so many of the resorts that they can’t narrow it down to one! 🙂
Whatever the reason, split-stays are more common than you might think. As a matter of fact, on our last Disney trip, we had a split stay in two different Disney properties. As this was our 3rd trip during the uber-busy week between Christmas and New Years, this wasn’t the first time that we ended up switching resorts, so we kind of expected that to be the outcome.
And honestly, it has never been a problem because Disney just makes the process so darned easy. “How easy?” you may ask? Let me share just how easy….
What is already a pretty painless process can be even easier if you take advantage of the chance to check-in online before you arrive. Doing this will make the check-in process literally take a few minutes. The thing is, remember to do it for both resorts in advance. 🙂
On the day of your “switch”, have your bags packed and ready to go before you leave for the parks. You can either bring them down to bell services yourselves, or request that they pick up your bags in your room (if you do this, someone needs to wait there for them). Either way, inform bell services where your bags should be sent and then you’re off to the parks. (Don’t forget to tip them for their help!)
Later that day, when you are ready for a break in the afternoon, or at the end of the day, go to your new resort, quickly check-in, and stop by bell services at your new resort to either retrieve your bags or have them brought to the room (please again, remember to tip for the assistance!).
All that’s left is to enjoy your second resort.
Now there are a few things that you should be aware of:
First, this clearly applies only to Disney resort-to-resort changes: obviously you would have to do all the “changing” yourself if you are going from non-Disney to Disney.
Second, keep in mind that this is technically TWO reservations. So if you have the Dining Plan added, your credits from resort #1 would expire at midnight of the day you check out of resort #1….not at midnight of your last day of vacation. The credits don’t get “added together”, they are 2 completely separate Dining Plans. So watch those snack credits carefully, to make sure you don’t lose them!
And I would say that this process will be easiest if you don’t “spread out” too much when you unpack. For some, that is a problem, but for my family of 3 adults (and especially with a short trip), it’s really no biggie: we can be packed up within minutes, making this a pretty stress-less process.
Disney really makes the process of moving from one resort to another so easy, it really gives you a great solution to the problem of deciding between two resorts: choose BOTH! And then relax, knowing that Disney will take care of the rest!
