16 Night Quadruple Split - am I nuts??

[lorenae]

I'm soooo different than you! I have a split stay in January- not because want one, but because I"m waitlisted for Shades of Green for our first two days.
I didn't reserve the days I actually needed in time to get the whole reservation in one hotel because of not knowing the actual date/time of my friend's flight, so I'm two days at the cheapest place I could find (All-star Sports), and then moving to SOG.

I will have a car, though, so I'll just put my stuff in my car in the morning and head to the parks before going over to SOG.

I think of the list there, I'd choose Beach Club for sure. Walking to Epcot, great pool, awesome vibe, etc. If AKL is a must do, then those are the two I'd choose.

Nothing magical about the Poly, but a great place to watch the fireworks or do the lauau if you're inclined.

The theming of WL never appealed to me (too 'woodsy' for me, and I live in the Northwoods so I want something different than what I have), but others love it, so you may want to consider the theming and the ease of transportation as primary factors in your choice.

Nothing stinks more than leaving a park late at night with hordes of others and waiting for a crowded bus. That's one thing the contemporary can give you- walking distance to the MK.

 

[_19disnA]

Relocating that many times on one vacation would be annoying and waste time packing/packing/moving.

 

[Maxie86]

I'll give the OP some encouragement. We did a three resort split in July plus the first night at the Hyatt at the airport for only 8 nights. One night Hyatt, two nights Poly, three nights BWI and two nights GF. We use packing cubes and only unpack clothes we will wear at each resort. GF and YC are our favorite resorts and frequently do a YC/GF split. I will add that we do stay CL though so being homeless is not a big deal if the room isn't ready. Depending on how busy the resort is it is entirely possible to have a room ready early in the morning. In July our Poly and BWI room was ready around 9 AM. If the room is not ready we just leave our bags with bell services and go to the park until we get the room ready text. While AKL savannah rooms are awesome the rooms are small compared to other deluxe resorts except WL. I would do it though since it was a request but maybe only for two or three nights unless you are planning on multiple days at AK. Good luck with your decision, with a little organization it is very doable. I wouldn't do it with small children, but with older kids or adults it is a lot of fun to experience different resorts. Do online checkin and tell them you are checking in at 9 AM with no other requests. You will have a chance of getting a room early. I've had rooms ready as early as 7 AM.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Have you sat down with the kids and see what they wanted to do? (Other than AKL) Are they going to be ok with packing up and moving so frequently? Worst vacation is crabby teens that don't want to get up and pack and move every 4 days. (Been there, done that) Have a fun filled 16 days!

 

[Karin1984]

I would first check with the children. Do they want to switch hotels. I don't know many teens who enjoy resort hopping. And if they do, ask their input where they want to stay.

 

[tidblgrrer]

We love split stays and frequently move to different hotels even when traveling to destinations other than Disney. I agree that you should ask the teens about their preferences and I would ask the other parents how well the friend "moves". My kids are very "Hotel Trained" so they can move in or out in a few minutes. (On vacation we are crazy people and are exiting the door less than 30 minutes after the alarm goes off even when we have five in the room) Their friends are not that "speedy" and I would hate for you to waste hours of your vacation waiting for someone to pack or move-in.

 

[Pooh2]

We did a 9 night, 3 resort split stay plus last night at the Hyatt airport hotel.

We had a car and preferred to move our own stuff.
Because it was extremely hot, we did not want to leave medical equipment and camera gear in the car during the day so packed up early and stopped into the new hotel to leave stuff with bell services. Bell services said we could get at our stuff if needed before our room was ready.

If you want to have bell services move your stuff for you, just stop at the desk on your way to the park and your bags should appear at your next resort.

We are doing a split stay on our upcoming Christmas trip with two resorts. Debating adding a 3rd resort to try out the new gondola system!

I think you have a great choice of hotels for a split stay to enjoy each area. Four nights at each resort is a great way to get a good feel for that resort and surrounding area. If I were too stay at one resort for 16 days, the restaurants/stores/pools might get a bit redundant. Variety will keep the trip fresh for the duration.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

 

[WDW_Michael]

16 nights is plenty of time to do some split stays, but i think 4 of them is probably one to many. Id suggest doing 3 resorts, maybe 5 days, 5 days and 6 days. I'd also suggest booking them in in order from least excited to most excited. So if you're most excited for AKL, then stay there last..this way you're never dissapointed when transferring to the next resort.

Id also suggest doing one resort that is near each park. So do AKL cause that is right next to AK. Do one of the 3 (poly/contemporary/wilderness lodge) because they are all right near MK. and then do Yacht Club because that is right near Epcot and HS.

The only reason I wouldn't do a universal studios hotel is because I think its best to split the universal studios days up. If you stay at the hotel, you'd have to go to the universal studios parks consecutive days.

 

[tarak]

I think changing rooms every few days will prevent you from really getting a feel for the resort. I could see two resorts, but not four, or even three, because moving my luggage that often would get old. I love AKL and have stayed there many times (last trip ended a week ago). If you go with AKL, I suggest planning a couple of resort days while you’re there to just enjoy the ambiance and the sight of a zebra a few hundred feet off your balcony. Personally, I didn’t like the wilderness lodge at all. Too dark and dank (complete with an old-cheese odor in our room). I love the idea of WL, but just had bad experiences each time I stayed there. If you’re looking for proximity to the Magic Kingdom, I’d go with the Polynesian. I’ve not stayed at the Contemporary because thematically it doesn’t excite me at all. The Poly has that relaxed feel to it, the salt water quiet pool is amazing, and you have easy access to two parks. With WL, you’re taking a bus everywhere but the Magic Kingdom.

I prefer the Beach Club over the Yacht Club, but they share a pool. The pool there is, in my opinion, the best on property, and you can’t beat the walk to Epcot. I found the walk to Hollywood Studios easy as well, although the rest of my family disagreed. Also, with regard to the busses, if you don’t have a car and you’re relying on Disney’s bus system, the busses for BC/YC, Boardwalk, and the Swan/Dolphin are pretty much interchangeable in terms of how quickly you get to your room because the resorts are so close to each other. We stayed at the Boardwalk in June and whichever bus showed up first, that’s the bus we took.

Personally, I’d choose AKL and the Beach Club and spend eight days at each. Or perhaps split it 5, 5, and 6, with the longer stay at AKL.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

What an amazing trip!

 

[nkereina]

It would be too much for us. Being able to unpack and make your room "home", and immerse yourself in the bubble for the whole duration is part of the experience for us. We would not want to be reconciling folios, catching Ubers with our luggage in tow, and checking out/checking in every 4 days. We like to "take care of business" at the start and end of our trips and then escape from reality in between. I'm also neurotic and would worry that our new room wouldn't be a good location, or would have a maintenance issue, or have noisy neighbors. I'd rather only deal with those things at one resort.

If you decide to go for it, plan your move days strategically since you will be homeless for a while, potentially. You don't want to try to plan a break or pool time with no room ready yet. I would also recommend using Uber or mini vans to move your luggage because I have heard it can take hours when Disney does it, and there are often delays.

How much time do you plan to spend at Universal? We love Hard Rock Hotel and will spend 2-3 nights there at the end of our trip for 2-3 Universal park days. I prefer to do it at the end of our trip because its a much more relaxed, slower paced experience at Universal. Its a good way to wind down after being tired from our time at Disney, and it helps to ease the sadness of having to leave Disney too!

 

[L_MD]

I'm a fan of split stays, so I don't think you're crazy. I'm doing a split (1 night at POFQ, the rest at POP) with an upcoming trip in April, and it's only a 5-night stay! In 2018 I did a POFQ/AKL split (4 nights/3 nights).

However, I think you should cut down and stay at only 3 hotels. They're all AMAZING picks, but with only a 3-split you'll be able to enjoy the others more.

Plus, my own personal opinion: you're not going to want to leave AKL. I was so sad I only did 3 nights there. There's so much to look at, see, do...it's just SUCH a cool place. You're going to want more than 4 nights there I think.

Edited to add: I saw your question about other considerations for hotels. From your list I'd definitely keep AKL, Poly, and WL. Personally I'd toss out Yacht Club if I was only doing a 3-split stay because I'm not a fan of the theming. But if you're holding firm on a 4-split, don't swap it for Gran Destino. Either keep Yacht or switch to Beach so you can access the (amazing looking) pool and in walking distance of Epcot.

 

[cakebaker]

I intensely dislike splits stays, although I’m doing one on our next trip. We park hop and we like to go back to our resort every day. A split of 4 days each would mean 4 of our days would be disrupted- plus the packing and unpacking, moving of luggage, getting familiar with the resort layout and transportation- nope, would never do it. Maybe a single split for that length of time, but 4 is just too much for me.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I think it's too much moving, but you didn't invite me so...
Two nights Universal, not necessarily HRH. Personally I like Royal Pacific.
Four nights near MK.
Five nights either around Crescent Lake, or at a Skyliner resort.
Five nights AKL.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Hi all - planning our 1st trip to WDW in early summer 2021. This will be the trip of a lifetime for my 15 year old step-daughter, her friend, and me. We are planning on staying 16 nights as I honestly have no idea when (or if) I will be able to return and want to make the most of our visit. That being said, I am really struggling with all of the amazing resort options. I would absolutely love to be able to stay in each of the 3 main park areas. We also have our hearts set on Animal Kingdom Lodge for at least part of the stay. So, I am entertaining the option of a 4-resort split which would give us 4 nights in 4 different resorts. So here were my initial thoughts:

Animal Kingdom Lodge - 1st 4 nights
Yacht Club - 2nd 4 nights
Wilderness Lodge - 3rd 4 nights
Contemporary or Polynesian - Last 4 nights

Other considerations include Beach Club or Gran Destino Tower for the 2nd 4 nights. Possibly even the 1st 2 nights at Universal (Hard Rock Hotel). So as you can see, I’m struggling with all of these choices and would welcome input! First, am I nuts for even considering 4 hotels in 16 nights? Second, any advice on our narrowed list of choices? Thanks in advance for the replies!

This is just my two cents. well....yes I think you are nuts for planning 4 split stays for a first visit. If you'd been to WDW before and had some experience at the resorts/parks, I'd say more power to you but for a first trip, it's just too much. I've been going to disney for decades and I wouldn't do this nor would I recommend anyone do this for their first visit. If you do Universal let that be your split stay period but honestly, there's a reason why split stays are a hassle, it's because they are.

You would have 4 different reservations (deposits), different FP window times, different magic bands, luggage logistics, 4 separate room check ins, it's too much even for experiences DIS'ers. If you have your heart set on making this a trip of a lifetime, maybe do 2 WDW resorts, 8 nights at AKL if that's a priority and maybe 8 nights at another resort.

Sometimes things sound good on paper but actually executing them is another story. Good luck whatever you decide on, it will still be an amazing trip!!

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I think it's too much moving, but you didn't invite me so...
Two nights Universal, not necessarily HRH. Personally I like Royal Pacific.
Four nights near MK.
Five nights either around Crescent Lake, or at a Skyliner resort.
Five nights AKL.

I like this plan. I would do this, and consider staying at Caribbean Beach for the skyliner resort, and then using the savings of that (vs deluxe like Beach Club) to make my last stay Club Level.

 

[karen4546]

i don't think it is too much moving. If there is a place that it is easy to move then it would have to be WDW. They will send your luggage on to the next resort and if you do online check in , then you will have a text message with your new room number. I would choose EITHER BC or YC not both. I think if you plan your park days around the resort you are staying then that will be great. There really isn't four days worth of Animal Kingdom for me but I have been several times. But, you could hit up typhoon lagoon or Disney Springs during that time. Make a day within each quarter to have a resort day. I think that at BC/YC you have so many more choices - Boardwalk, HS, Epcot etc.

Maybe make the first 3 days at AKL, then 2 at WL, then 3 at CR/Poly, then the last days at YC/BC. Any way you do it, it will be AWESOME !!!

 

[JaxDad]

It sounds doable and even fun. You know yourself and your family best though.

Also, just thinking out loud, isn't it really a triple split? Or is "double" implied for a regular split?

 

[tguz]

I am not a fan of split stays, let alone 4, but I will also say that we are entertaining the idea of a split stay for our honeymoon to get a taste of a deluxe resort for the last couple nights.

 

[godders]

I love a split stay, I do and I did Royal Pacific Resort, Caribbean Beach, All-Star Movies, Contemporary & Art of Animation in 14 nights in 2015. I think doing a split stay would be great for your first trip but just maybe not so many? While it is wonderful that Disney moves your luggage for you, I had delays every time getting my luggage, even when I'd checked in, gone to my room and then gone to a park till close. Having to wait up after park close when you're going to be up for rope drop is a struggle.

Could you do a split stay of two - say Animal Kingdom and Beach Club and then maybe spend a day exploring the other resorts? Could make it fun like you have to have a signature snack and speciality drink at each?