What I have learned...

[BroadwayHermione5]

Split stays can be fun but also stressful (especially when going from universal to Disney! Much prefer ubering to universal in the middle of the trip!)

I often say those of us who frequent Disney should have a degree in something because of all we know lol!

 

[grapefruitjellybean]

Split stays can be fun but also stressful (especially when going from universal to Disney! Much prefer ubering to universal in the middle of the trip!)

I often say those of us who frequent Disney should have a degree in something because of all we know lol!

I have a PhD in Disney. I wish there was a way for me to monetize on it.
I mean split stays on Disney property. We stayed at Royal Pacific after Disney and let me tell you; that was a much easier. The higher category hotels at UO are totally worth it.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

oh no! Kona had always intrigued me because of that French toast I see all over sm. Was it bad?

I would try Kona at breakfast but we rarely do sit down breakfast. That lunch experience in 2017 was so awful that I wouldn't go back. My entree was terrible and the service was terrible. It was so bad, we got a percentage taken off our bill and any attraction fast passes for our party of 6.

 

[Lovetherodent]

I've learned:

When the DDP was still a thing, we'd do split stay with one night (late/early flight) to keep the number of credits at the number of days we'd be in the parks. Now, however, I'm with the OP; not worth the hassle. Then again, our trips are usually just under a week.

I like one TS, in the evenings, and then hit some night attractions.

Sleep in on the day after Extra evening hours, and always do extra evening hours.

Spend the money for a deluxe. They feel less chaotic to me.

Rope drop, take a break, go back around dinner time.

Get Memory Maker and take all the pictures. It's a hoot!

 

[Maremax]

We’ve been going for many years and I started following the boards by our second trip. I did the whole week long trip with DDP, ADRs, one rest day mid trip, midday breaks, etc. which I feel is the norm when people are giving advice. We’ve tweaked a lot over the years

Get park tickets for everyday of the trip. Our “rest days” are getting up late, doing the pool and hitting up a park around 4-5 pm.

No full rest days. See above. When we did do them we were wanting to go into a park by 4 pm.

Midday break if doing RD. Always.

Sleep in day after two early mornings.

Cut back big time on ADRs. Disney really has a lot of good QS places.

Grocery orders will be for just water. Last two trips too many snacks and breakfast foods went to waste. We just enjoy the snacks too much at Disney. A couple days we hit up Starbucks in the parks for breakfast and on sleep in days we would munch on Gideon’s or whatever snacks we brought back to the room as a late breakfast.

Go to the parks bagless as much as possible.

Fly in the day before and start the next morning fresh.

Split stays really aren’t our thing but if I absolutely had no choice I would do one. Our last trip was not a split stay and we really enjoyed it much better than the last two trips that we did move. We don’t base our park days on where we are staying so it’s not a plus for us. I’m not only going to Epcot and DHS when I’m at BC or only doing MK and AK if I’m at the poly. I like to hop around so it doesn’t benefit us with saving transportation time.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It’s nice to have a clear perspective of how you experienced your trips and not all negative.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I will second @Lovetherodent ! Get Memory Maker!

 

[miked1978]

1. Never go in the summer
2. We hate the bus transportation and that's one of the reasons we pay more to stay at a resort that has transportation options. I'm not paying extra to Uber.
3. If it wasn't for transportation the value resorts would 100% work for us. We only sleep in the room so it's kind of a waste for us to pay to stay at the nice resorts. But yet we still do.
4. I'm a foodie but the last few times ive been disappointed in the food. Especially at the sit downs. Next trip i will do more snacks then anything.
5. Me and OP might have some words about the Dole Whip remark. Especially the coconut flavor.
6. Did i mention i hate the bus transportation? I'm salty about it due to a # of bad experiences. PSA: If you are on the bus and a woman doesn't have a seat and is standing there holding her baby, tell your teenage son to get up and let her sit. My wife had this happen to her. An older gentleman who could barely walk offered his seat but she declined so we both stood there staring at the family with 2 teenagers. C'mon be courteous.

 

[kylenne]

Split stays work for me because I pack light and live out of my suitcase on vacation. I never unpack (except for cruises and that's just because there is no room to have your suitcase out on those). But I can see how they wouldn't work for everyone.

It's less about how much you pack and more about how you pack tbh. I love split stays and I'm a chronic overpacker who refuses to live out of suitcases on vacation. The trick is being organized, for me that means color coordinated packing cubes. I "unpack" by popping the cubes for resort #1 in the drawers and I put my dirty clothes in the laundry bag as I go. Even with all the stuff I bring it never takes me longer than 5 minutes to get my stuff together for moving day, and the majority of that time is spent on toiletries and charging cords. Anything longer than a weekend trip I do a split.

 

[bakerworld]

So much depends on what portion of life being currently lived.
When we went with the kids I learned to feed 'em breakfast in the room, do as many rides as we could before 1p, eat a late lunch, leave the park for afternoon pool time, and the kids activity level propelled us back to the parks for evening. Now, we mosey out of the room mid-morn on a cup of coffee, do a ride or two before a refreshment break, discuss another ride or just heading over for a mid-afternoon drink with snack, and return to a park for the evening or, if we spend the afternoon at the Springs, head back to the room. Life Changes so vacation at Disney changes too.

Split stays are a good learning experience when you've already experience multiple park vacations and are moving on to trying to stay at as many on site resorts as possible.

Kids love character meals and breakfast is perhaps the only meal of the day ours actually paid some attention to the food once the characters show up. Lunch or dinner we be waving goodbye to $$ spend on the food portion of the character meal.

Can't argue with Uber (back in our day it was a yellow taxi) but I always thought parents with young kids were missing out on the nap opportunity a bus ride provided.

Our biggest learn was walking. Not sure it would've worked with kids (maybe strollered) but it's so nice to walk from HS to Epcot - or reverse - or Saratogo to Springs (using the bridge to avoid all the Disney stores).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Split stays may depend also on your transportation situation. Since we always have a rental car a split stay wouldn't be a problem. That does however mean you have to be comfortable with leaving your luggage in your car or you could leave it at the hotel and pick it back up later.

We did a split stay at Universal and left our luggage in our car in the parking garage of Endless Summer after check out. Then when we checked out of Royal Pacific we left our luggage due to time constraints on check out day with bell services so we could get to the parks ASAP although in all honesty we did cut it somewhat close to the cut off time for picking it back up late at night (I think the latest was like maybe 10 or 11pm), then we moved to our third and final resort at a Hampton for our WDW portion of the trip. We'd do a split stay again for sure with Universal and theoretically it would be feasible at WDW too.

Food well we've had some good some bad. We're not big ADR people although we made some in 2017 and 2022. Some were made last trip in May 2022 because we had friends there as we were there for a Disney wedding so eating together was made a priority at times but we did enjoy San Angel Inn Restaurante in Epcot by ourselves for example. But otherwise my husband and I would be fine with QS at the end of the day.

The stopping and taking it in I completely agree it can be a FOMO there of feeling like you went too hard and missed the little details. Also agree with the comment that the more trips you take the easier it is. We def. are still a go go go couple when at Disney or Universal but Universal lends itself more to relaxation in the first place. We can still go go go and yet take more breathers there than at Disney. Even so with us not going very frequently we find we can be more selective about what attractions we choose to do skipping some that might have just been time fillers in the past or low wait times. Plus interests change too over time. A must do on a prior trip may be like "eh it's no biggie let's do something else instead". With kids I'd imagine that happening more frequently.

 

[jimim]

Now that I am a professional Disney attendee and planner I know what works and what doesn't work for me and my family. I wanted to share and this is just my own opinion.
What are some of your hindsight lessons?

1. Avoid a split stay. I wasted half a day packing, checking out and checking back into my new resort. I didn't want to leave valuables with Bell Services so I stayed with a few of my belongings and waited at the new resort for our room. Also, a split stays counts as 2 reservations which affects your 60+ day dining reservation. Never again.
2. I only need a place to sleep. I admit I'm high maintenance and I love the finer things in life; including hotels. Not the case on a Disney vacation. A stay at the Poly was once on my bucket list, but for the same cost I would much rather stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. It's AoA forever for me.
3. The food is not worth the hype, most of it at least. I was incredibly disappointed with most of the things we ate and nothing blew me away. Looking at you: cinnamon bun at Gaston's, Dole Whip, corn dog nuggets, brioche ice cream, just to name a few. Shout out to Docking Bay 7, Skipper Canteen, that cheeseburger pod place in AK, and Skool Bread because that was tasty.
4. Character meals are a one and done for me. We started off the trip with breakfast at Topolino's, the food was ok and I felt like we paid $500 for the characters.
5. I wish I could have stopped more and taken everything in. I was in an intense go mode for the entire trip. Next time I'm going to try to remember to sit down, stop, and take it all in.
6. Next time I will book more off days for pool days or resort hops.
7. Ubering to the park is totally worth it. Note for self - call Uber 20 minutes before I want to leave in the morning.
8. Leaving a park mid-day for a break with the intention of coming back in the evening never works for me. Once I'm in bed with my bra off, I'm done and it's impossible to get motivated to go back. Coffee and an indoor show is the answer.

all the food you mention is just what it is, quick snacks that should be seen as that. . . snacks. not hyped food.

there are awesome restaurants for dinner in various signature hotels. we very rarely eat park food unless we want a snack. the bowls where they sell the cheeseburger pods in AK over at Avatar are actually pretty decent for a park lunch.

split stays are a pain but can work if you plan them properly.

leaving park mid day is our go to for 20 plus years. in and out by 11-12. do whatever at hotel. shower. nice meal at varied hotel (not park) and then back in park for night. that is our go to time for hard to get on rides.

character meals are that. for kids or fans to meet characters. they just happen to have food MOST the time. the castle USED to be good, but I'm talking 15 plus years ago. Tusker house for breakfast isn't bad. it's breakfast. Topalino I have heard is pretty decent. Didn't do it yet but I think the character costumes look awesome at it. We are out of that phase wit the kids. We will do them again when with friends down there cause it makes for a fun time.

We have zero issue with transportation. Always at he park for rope drop with zero issues. You got to know how the system works and make it work for you.

Just my opinion from 40 plus trips over past 22 years since me and my wife have been together and now with a 13 and 10 year old.

 

[PFopma]

Now that I am a professional Disney attendee and planner I know what works and what doesn't work for me and my family. I wanted to share and this is just my own opinion.
What are some of your hindsight lessons?

1. Avoid a split stay. I wasted half a day packing, checking out and checking back into my new resort. I didn't want to leave valuables with Bell Services so I stayed with a few of my belongings and waited at the new resort for our room. Also, a split stays counts as 2 reservations which affects your 60+ day dining reservation. Never again.
2. I only need a place to sleep. I admit I'm high maintenance and I love the finer things in life; including hotels. Not the case on a Disney vacation. A stay at the Poly was once on my bucket list, but for the same cost I would much rather stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. It's AoA forever for me.
3. The food is not worth the hype, most of it at least. I was incredibly disappointed with most of the things we ate and nothing blew me away. Looking at you: cinnamon bun at Gaston's, Dole Whip, corn dog nuggets, brioche ice cream, just to name a few. Shout out to Docking Bay 7, Skipper Canteen, that cheeseburger pod place in AK, and Skool Bread because that was tasty.
4. Character meals are a one and done for me. We started off the trip with breakfast at Topolino's, the food was ok and I felt like we paid $500 for the characters.
5. I wish I could have stopped more and taken everything in. I was in an intense go mode for the entire trip. Next time I'm going to try to remember to sit down, stop, and take it all in.
6. Next time I will book more off days for pool days or resort hops.
7. Ubering to the park is totally worth it. Note for self - call Uber 20 minutes before I want to leave in the morning.
8. Leaving a park mid-day for a break with the intention of coming back in the evening never works for me. Once I'm in bed with my bra off, I'm done and it's impossible to get motivated to go back. Coffee and an indoor show is the answer.

WOW. I am also a Disney vet with many trips since the 70s. Some of these things like split stays we would only do with a 7 or more nights stay. We did it back when they would pick up your luggage and transfer it to the new resort. Now I would only do it if we had a car. Or Uber to the new hotel. We always planned a pool day around the move. We'd take a beach bag with our bathing suits and spend the day at the new resort pool. And then they would text when our room was available. It was nice to have a break from the park in the middle of the stay. It also helps to plan which parks around the area you are staying If you are on a monorail hotel then plan your Epcot and MK days while at that resort.

We also enjoyed breaks in the middle of the day. Especially when the kids were younger. That nap or pool break really helped. Sometimes we would go to a different park later. We always got park hoppers.

I find doing Disney at a slower pace is a great way to really take in all the little nuances that most people miss. And it helps with your stamina last through evening shows or fireworks.

The food is mostly good - but can be hit or miss. We have our favorites. I enjoy the Festivals and when they are happening I don't plan many ADRs and we get park hoppers because we usually end the day at Epcot for Flower & Garden or Food & Wine.

I have a trip coming up the end of May that we just planned 2 weeks ago when we found out that the schools will be closed for 6 days because they are giving everyone the unused snow days back. My sister and I are taking my 9 yr old nephew. The first kid trip in a very long time.

 

[PFopma]

Now that I am a professional Disney attendee and planner I know what works and what doesn't work for me and my family. I wanted to share and this is just my own opinion.
What are some of your hindsight lessons?

1. Avoid a split stay. I wasted half a day packing, checking out and checking back into my new resort. I didn't want to leave valuables with Bell Services so I stayed with a few of my belongings and waited at the new resort for our room. Also, a split stays counts as 2 reservations which affects your 60+ day dining reservation. Never again.
2. I only need a place to sleep. I admit I'm high maintenance and I love the finer things in life; including hotels. Not the case on a Disney vacation. A stay at the Poly was once on my bucket list, but for the same cost I would much rather stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. It's AoA forever for me.
3. The food is not worth the hype, most of it at least. I was incredibly disappointed with most of the things we ate and nothing blew me away. Looking at you: cinnamon bun at Gaston's, Dole Whip, corn dog nuggets, brioche ice cream, just to name a few. Shout out to Docking Bay 7, Skipper Canteen, that cheeseburger pod place in AK, and Skool Bread because that was tasty.
4. Character meals are a one and done for me. We started off the trip with breakfast at Topolino's, the food was ok and I felt like we paid $500 for the characters.
5. I wish I could have stopped more and taken everything in. I was in an intense go mode for the entire trip. Next time I'm going to try to remember to sit down, stop, and take it all in.
6. Next time I will book more off days for pool days or resort hops.
7. Ubering to the park is totally worth it. Note for self - call Uber 20 minutes before I want to leave in the morning.
8. Leaving a park mid-day for a break with the intention of coming back in the evening never works for me. Once I'm in bed with my bra off, I'm done and it's impossible to get motivated to go back. Coffee and an indoor show is the answer.

Forgot to say that I have done trips where I planned for a year and others that were last minute with very little planning. But the best trip I ever had was a 10 day trip from the end of Oct through early Nov. We got to experience Halloween and then moved into Christmas as all the parks transitioned overnight. We went to the last Halloween Party and the first Christmas Party. I am looking forward to doing another trip like that sometime.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

the bowls where they sell the cheeseburger pods in AK over at Avatar are actually pretty decent for a park lunch.

Satu'li Canteen is considered one of the best QS places plus it's not too bad on the wallet either.

I actually haven't gotten their cheeseburger pods but my husband did, he liked them. For me I like to get the sliced beef bowl I forget what sauce I get but it's sooo good.

 

[Robber Baron]

1. Avoid a split stay.

I don't like split stays. We always go for 7 or 8 days and I like to unpack without worrying about packing again and stressing about the room location I'll get at the next resort. On a split stay it would always be in my mind that I have to pack and move in 3 or 4 days, then once I move I'd be thinking I only have a few days left. Seems like a lot of people split to experience more resorts. We've made over 30 trips, if we want to stay somewhere else we will, next time.

2. I only need a place to sleep.

I like to have a nice coffee shop to walk to, a bar close by. Many times I want those things where I don't have to wait out a pouring rain to get to.

3. The food is not worth the hype

We like 99% of the Disney food we eat. But, you won't find me eating a hot dog, or any kind of dog nugget. The only hamburgers I've eaten at Disney have been at the Concourse Steakhouse. I discovered a long time ago that every Cinnamon Roll at Disney is dry, so, I don't have to eat those anymore.

4. Character meals are a one and done for me.

We did character meals when the kids were little. Even when they were little a couple character meals was enough for them.

5. I wish I could have stopped more and taken everything in.

Every trip we say we are going to slow down and smell the roses. Every trip we hit rope drop every morning. Though, we do take more mid day breaks now, I like to relax at the pool.

6. Next time I will book more off days for pool days or resort hops.

We have never scheduled an off day. I can have a pool day, or, non park day at a lot of places more luxurious and less expensive than a Disney Resort.

7. Ubering to the park is totally worth it. Note for self - call Uber 20 minutes before I want to leave in the morning.

We do not mind the buses one bit. I hear a ton of complaints, but I guess we've just been lucky. Lucky for 7 days at a time on over 30 trips. The only exception is we take an Uber or Lyft EVERY time Disney Springs is involved.

8. Leaving a park mid-day for a break with the intention of coming back in the evening never works for me.

We take mid day breaks and always go back. Maybe I'm hyper.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I like to have a nice coffee shop to walk to, a bar close by. Many times I want those things where I don't have to wait out a pouring rain to get to.

If you're the type of person that only needs a place to sleep you're probably grabbing that coffee and looking for a place to get out of the rain while being in the parks already not leisurely sticking around the resort.

 

[grapefruitjellybean]

I think it's important to note that I have only been to Disney 3 times in my life. Once as a kid with my family but I don't remember much, then after I graduated grad school with my partner where I didn't care about half the rides and was heavily tipsy most of the time, and then a few months ago with my 2 kids and partner. I'm also the ideal Disney guest, according to Disney. That once in a decade going for 2 weeks*, spending money left and right on Genie, ILL$, custom droids, etc etc. Did I mention I'm also Canadian so add 35ish% on top of it all.
Time was money so I felt like I had to get it all in.
Next time, I will plan a shorter trip and only do Disney. My youngest is still too small to ride Hagrid's so we'll wait. My ideal is 10 days: 2 MK, 1 HS, 1 AK, 1 EP, 1TL, rest days in between. AK and EP would be half days because we only care about Avatar Land and Guardians.
Memory Maker is always the way to go. I'm always the one to stop and take pictures so I'm rarely in the pictures. And I love seeing my kids's faces on ride pics. Sometimes I will watch them when we are on rides just so I can appreciate the wonder and joy on their faces. And that my friends, is what we call Disney Magic.


* I drank the koolaid and now I'm planning a visit every year.

 

[snikki]

I sometimes wonder if those who hate the buses aren’t from areas with a lot of public transportation. I live in an area with great public transportation and waiting 5-15 minutes for a bus or train doesn’t bother me and is the norm for me. The bus or train being crowded with people standing happens.

Once I get to 20 minutes at Disney I’m getting a bit annoyed but that’s only happened 2-3 times in all of our trips. Our longest wait was at the Beach Club waiting for a MK bus.

I’m also rarely in a rush at Disney since it’s vacation and I tend to always give myself a buffer with time. I may get antsy because I’m dying to get to a park but I’m usually never running late for something.

 

[Leigh L]

It's less about how much you pack and more about how you pack tbh. I love split stays and I'm a chronic overpacker who refuses to live out of suitcases on vacation. The trick is being organized, for me that means color coordinated packing cubes. I "unpack" by popping the cubes for resort #1 in the drawers and I put my dirty clothes in the laundry bag as I go. Even with all the stuff I bring it never takes me longer than 5 minutes to get my stuff together for moving day, and the majority of that time is spent on toiletries and charging cords. Anything longer than a weekend trip I do a split.

We do the cubes too and almost always do a split stay for longer than weekend trips. We live out of the cubes and easy-peasy to move.

I love how you color-coordinate them! (Usually, we use masking tape and label the name of the resort on it, lol.) Thanks for posting this idea.

This next trip is the first or second time we're not doing a split at WDW and it's going to feel so strange

 

[kylenne]

Satu'li Canteen is considered one of the best QS places plus it's not too bad on the wallet either.

I actually haven't gotten their cheeseburger pods but my husband did, he liked them. For me I like to get the sliced beef bowl I forget what sauce I get but it's sooo good.

We usually get bowls (I like the combo with the chimichurri) and then split a cheeseburger pod meal between us, or just get the kid's version as a snack later in the day. Molly put me onto getting a cup of the creamy herb dressing on the side to dip them in and it takes them up a notch. I find that without it, it's still good but the bao can sometimes be a little dry.

We do the cubes too and almost always do a split stay for longer than weekend trips. We live out of the cubes and easy-peasy to move.

I love how you color-coordinate them! (Usually, we use masking tape and label the name of the resort on it, lol.) Thanks for posting this idea.

This next trip is the first or second time we're not doing a split at WDW and it's going to feel so strange

I have a set of Away luggage so I use their packing cubes since they are made to perfectly fit in their bags. The maroon is a 4 pc set so I will use that for the shorter stay, and the pink ones are 6 pc so I use that for the longer. My gf has my hand me down set from eBags (purple) and a couple of Eagle Creek cubes (black). Just makes it so much easier when you know one color is for one resort and the other is for another.