“The last resort? – No! We’ve still got two left.”
Seven days, four Disney Vacation Club resorts and zero parks – is that your idea of Disney Heaven or Disney Hell? I will find out for myself this July when after 35 years of Walt Disney World holidays, I will be enjoying, hopefully, my first resort only vacation.
One of the biggest frustrations for DVC members is the unavailability of rooms if you want to book a last-minute getaway. But…as the old saying goes…if Mickey gives you lemons then make a large gin and tonic (we are Disney adults only after all). With a lot of refreshing and modifying you can usually cobble together a couple of days here, and a couple of days there to make up your full vacation stay. It’s not as stressful as you may think and there are lots of positives to this kind of holiday.
My week consists of two days at Copper Creek, two days at The Polynesian, two days at Beach Club and a final day at Jambo House (with a waitlist request to change this to another night at Beach Club).
The first advantage will be not having to unpack fully, although my OCD husband will hate this. He will love putting outfits for the different stays in packing cubes though which is my first tip to reduce stress during a split stay.
The second tip is to make use of Bell Services to transport your luggage from one resort to another. Drop your luggage off whenever you are ready, sing a few lines of ‘Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo’ and it will magically appear at your next resort by 4pm that day.
Another advantage of a split stay is that you get free access to a Disney water park on each arrival day at your resorts. I know I said no parks, but I didn’t say no perks – and it’s hard to turn your nose up at anything the mouse gives you for free these days.
Talking of water, with the suspension of pool-hopping, you will have the opportunity to enjoy several different pools during your stay. You can bet your bottom dollar that we will be storming along the bay during our stay at Beach Club.
More positives include not having to set an alarm for silly o’ clock in order to rope drop a park and not being tied down to lightning lane timings.
If you love Disney Dining, then you can co-ordinate eating at your favourite resort restaurants with your different stays. If you want to dine at resorts you do not have a booking at, then the Disney busses will take you there. The downside is that you will have to first travel to a park or Disney Springs then onto a resort as busses do not travel from resort to resort. The upside is that you will not be stumbling along to the bus-stop with chapped thighs, aching limbs and feet made of stone like a zombie extra from Michael Jackson’s thriller video.
We’ve all done the Disney shuffle-run when we see our bus pulling up to the stop, after a rope-drop to fireworks day at the park.
Staying at the different resorts also gives you the opportunity to view the amazing décor and atmosphere of the lobbies that all have their own individual wonder. It also gives you the opportunity to spend more money in the shops, as often the resorts have hard-to-get items of merch that you haven’t been able to get in the parks.
The different resorts also have different recreational activities. Who doesn’t want to watch the animals at night, using night-vision goggles at Animal Kingdom Lodge or watch a movie under the stars? Our favourite activity, however, is people watching. Fill your resort mug, grab a comfy chair and watch the world go by.
Staying at the monorail resorts will also give you a good view of the fireworks and the Electrical Water Parade on the Seven Seas Lagoon.
If you are a DVC member and are lucky enough to get tickets, you could tie your stay in with a Moonlight Magic Night. It’s a free perk, with free popcorn and mickey bars and rare character meet and greets. I know it’s a park, but I refer you to my earlier paragraph on water parks. Don’t bite the paw that feeds you.
If your idea of a ROSS (Resort Only Split Stay – I might have to trademark that haha) was Disney Hell, I hope I have given you a few ideas that may change your mind. If it was Disney Heaven, then you probably already knew most of the information, but hopefully you enjoyed my first blog for WDWAO.
Have you ever booked a resort only split star? Was it Disney Heaven or Disney Hell?
Tell us about your experience.
I just did a split stay on my most recent trip. It was pretty easy, but we also had our own car. Prior to leaving for the parks, we packed our suitcases up and drove from All Star Music to The BoardWalk. We parked our car and took the boat to Hollywood Studios. Our room was ready around 10:30am and we were able to grab our luggage and unpack midday while taking a break from the parks. I would split stay again in the future. Your resort only vacation sounds amazing!
I do enjoy a split stay, especially when doing DVC stays, as part of the DVC deal is that you don't get regular housekeeping. So moving hotels and getting a sparkly new room is nice. I don't know if I could do this many moves in one trip though. It's a lot in such few days. A great way to experience so many resorts though. I look forward to your follow up, post trip, to find how it was. A really interesting blog.
Sounds fun to me but it wouldn’t be a good use of time for a first few trips because park time is lost
We have done a split stay a couple of times. I don’t like to change hotels more than once thou. We actually are doing a non Disney resort tonight,( we get in late) and moving to a Disney resort tomorrow so we can get free water park access. I agree take what you can get for free. 😂
This made me laugh I love it!! May have to try a split stay on a trip next year