New DVC member--Anyone ever change resorts halfway through?

[disneylvrs]

Hi Guys! :wave:

My husband and I just joined the DVC :sohappy: and we made reservations to stay at BLT in September. We are taking our 2 year old and like that BLT is so close to Magic Kingdom. My husband is thinking that we should transfer to Boardwalk (which we love) so we can be close to Epcot for some of the vacation. We are kind of in the mind set of it would be good to get places quicker with our toddler.
Has anyone transferred to another resort before and what is your experience? We were told by a friend that the cast members will move your luggage for you. Is this the case? Personally, it seems like alot of work to me.

Thanks for any advice!

Susan

 

[artvandelay]

I've stayed at All Stars on a Saturday and moved to SSR on Sunday to save points. Bell Desk CM's will take care of your luggage and send it to your new resort. Moving from DVC to DVC could be a lot of work if you've stocked the 'fridge. I've stayed at the Boardwalk and it's a great resort, especially with a young child.

 

[tjkraz]

I've done a split stay several times. Suffice it to say that the only split stay I find tolerable is when we spend a couple nights in a studio FIRST and then move to our typical One or Two Bedroom villa.

Staying in the smaller room first means that we don't have any groceries to deal with. And we pack all of our stuff for those first couple of days in one suitcase to minimize the mess.

Other than that, split stays are just a pain in the rear. All of the time spent re-packing and unpacking again offsets any savings realized by being closer to a different theme park. You will also be without a room for at least 5-6 hours. Disney will move your luggage but there's no guarantee of exactly when it will arrive at the second resort. Gratuities are expected at both ends (collecting luggage at Resort 1 and delivering at Resort 2) so there can be a fair amount of $$$ involved. Condition of food items transported is a crap shoot. Dining credits are split among the two resort stays if you are buying the DDP.

No matter where you stay, it's going to take time to get from Point A to Point B at Walt Disney World. If you want some control, best thing to do is rent a car. Other than that, you just have to deal with the shortcomings of Disney transportation.

 

[disneylvrs]

I've done a split stay several times. Suffice it to say that the only split stay I find tolerable is when we spend a couple nights in a studio FIRST and then move to our typical One or Two Bedroom villa.

Staying in the smaller room first means that we don't have any groceries to deal with. And we pack all of our stuff for those first couple of days in one suitcase to minimize the mess.

Other than that, split stays are just a pain in the rear. All of the time spent re-packing and unpacking again offsets any savings realized by being closer to a different theme park. You will also be without a room for at least 5-6 hours. Disney will move your luggage but there's no guarantee of exactly when it will arrive at the second resort. Gratuities are expected at both ends (collecting luggage at Resort 1 and delivering at Resort 2) so there can be a fair amount of $$$ involved. Condition of food items transported is a crap shoot. Dining credits are split among the two resort stays if you are buying the DDP.

No matter where you stay, it's going to take time to get from Point A to Point B at Walt Disney World. If you want some control, best thing to do is rent a car. Other than that, you just have to deal with the shortcomings of Disney transportation.

Thank you for the advice. We didn't think about the the fact that we will be checking out and then checking in again so there will be some time without a room. Our daughter would not be able to take her afternoon nap. Therefore, we decided against transferring.
I really didn't want to pack everything up and we are going to have some groceries because we plan to eat breakfast and lunch in our room since we have our daughter and it would just make things easier.

Thanks for the help!

 

[ncstate7991]

disneylvrs,

Your thread is very near to me because we just came back from WDW. We stayed at BWV for two nights then BLT for two nights. It was my wife, 2.5 year old daughter, and 6 mo old daugter, and myself. I HATE DISNEY'S ONSITE BUS TRANSPORTATION! Disney's Magical Express is okay because it does provide a huge benefit! There is our background.

We really enjoyed the split stay because we were able to fully do everything at HS, EP, and MK by walking to and from the park and resort when we needed to for naps, etc. When a child started melting down in the early afternoon we just started walking and 5-10 minutes later we were back in the room. The walk in a stroller is more relaxing to our children than the bus. No waiting 5-15 minutes for a bus with a screaming child, packing stroller etc onto a bus, driving around for 5-10+ minutes, and then getting back to the resort.

On the morning of check-out bell service took care of 4 bags and one brown paper grocery bag. It was guaranteed for arrival at BLT by 3pm (1-3 was the timeframe). We took the bus to MK. At 1pm our 2.5 year old was ready for a nap. We took the monorail to the Contemporary (first stop when leaving MK) and checked-in. Here is a tip I would give you, when we checked-in our room was not ready. I would try to go straight to the Contemporary (or your new DVC resort) and check-in early. If the room is not ready it puts you at the front of the list for a text when it is b/c you have already checked in. 15 minutes after we checked in we received our text and our room was ready. I called bell service the minute we arrived and 10 minutes later they were at our door with all of our bags, including groceries, in perfect condition. We did not have any cold groceries.

Being able to walk to HS, EP, and MK made the move worth every minute to us! The DVCs have a pack 'n play in every room, and we aren't in our room from 9am-1pm during the day anyways. The negative is having to pack and possibly having to wait until 4pm for your room.

One last note, when we unpacked we left one suitcase out as the dirty clothes suitcase. We have travel cases for our bathroom items, and travel bags for our clean clothes. All of this made re-packing for the transfer from BWV to BLT much faster!

Feel free to private message me if you have more questions.

 

[bmarkelon]

A couple years ago we did a split, FW Cabins to FWL. It was fabulous to upgrade but I will never do a split again. Too much trouble packing back up and checking in again. We had two kiddos at the time, 3 now!! Switching day was by far the worst day. Of course the DH expected me to get us all packed up and set to go while he nursed his hangover. Good times.
We started talking about doing it again this upcoming August trip (splitting Treehouses and BLT) and all we had to do was bring back the bad memories of moving last trip and that was ditched quick.
Long story short, it's not worth the trouble. Enjoy BLT!! We sure do, you can beat it with the little one having MK right next door.

 

[fredtom]

We've transferred between resorts many, many times... just about every year. It's easy... Just call Bell Services to pick up your luggage and let them know you'll be changing resorts. Be sure to tip them. I believe all transfers happen between 1:00 & 3:00 PM each day. You can still check into your new resort even if your bags haven't yet arrived, or even if your room is not yet ready.

My wife and I enjoy splitting our stay between resorts because each one is such a different experience and it feels like starting a new adventure and a new vacation... provided you're staying more than just a couple of nights, so you won't feel rushed and like you have to move just when you were getting settled in to begin with. I wouldn't recommend transferring if you're not staying at least three nights at each resort.

If you're on the Dining Plan, your DDP credits don't expire until midnight on the departure day from your first resort. So, you can carry them over through the arrival day of your second resort. Year before last we checked out of SSR and into Kidani Village with four table service entitlements left between the two us, which we planned to use at Jiko... and did. Just remember to use your previous KTTW card with the leftover credits-- and not your new resort card-- if you do this. DDP credits do not transfer from one resort stay to another. They are separate plans.

Have a wonderful time.


"An Adventurer's life is best!" :lol:

 

[tjkraz]

Here is a tip I would give you, when we checked-in our room was not ready. I would try to go straight to the Contemporary (or your new DVC resort) and check-in early. If the room is not ready it puts you at the front of the list for a text when it is b/c you have already checked in.

What you describe--particularly the bold section--is not necessarily true. Many times DVC rooms are pre-assigned due to the high occupancy levels. When rooms are pre-assigned, you simply do not gain access to your room until it is ready regardless of when you arrive at the front desk.

Your experience was something of a best case scenario. Great for you but honestly there is no way to guarantee things will go as smoothly every time.

People who have checked into resorts at 9am often do not get a room until 4pm. Luggage often is not available until later in the evening and bell services can take an hour or more to deliver depending upon how busy they are. It's very much a "plan for the worst and hope for the best" situation.

 

[Todd L]

It seems so easy to get to Epcot from Blt...The Monorail from the Contemporary to the Transit station hop on the Epcot Line...

Id hate to move mid vacation...seems like a real Hassle.

Id say save the Boardwalk for the Next trip !!

Good Luck!!

 

[DVC Dave]

Hi Guys! :wave:

My husband and I just joined the DVC :sohappy: and we made reservations to stay at BLT in September. We are taking our 2 year old and like that BLT is so close to Magic Kingdom. My husband is thinking that we should transfer to Boardwalk (which we love) so we can be close to Epcot for some of the vacation. We are kind of in the mind set of it would be good to get places quicker with our toddler.
Has anyone transferred to another resort before and what is your experience? We were told by a friend that the cast members will move your luggage for you. Is this the case? Personally, it seems like alot of work to me.

Thanks for any advice!

Susan

Welcome Home Susan!

We have had a split stay for the last 4 vacations we have had due to the fact that we own 2 different DVC resorts. We schedule our trips at the 11 month window so we make sure we have reservations. We then get on a waiting list for 1 resort to try to stay at one for the whole trip. We usually go for an extended trip and don't always go at the slowest times so its not always easy.

We always have a LOT of groceries. but the bell desk is great at taking all your stuff - even the frozen stuff! Yes you will have to repack your clothes and such but some pre planning works well...either have a dirty clothes suit case or do some laundry before you leave.

In addition we usually schedule a Pool day the day we leave one hotel and go to another. We leave our room at 11. Go and hang out by the pool for a bit. We then head over to our new resort and check in....eat....and go the pool! We have had good weather so far.

 

[worldfanatic]

We always change resorts. It's like starting a new vacation!!!!!

The fridge is no worry. Who wants to cook on vacation????

Just pack the booze in the luggage, have the bellman transfer the bags, and hang out at Downtown Disney for a few hours until our 2nd vacation begins. AWESOME!!

 

[disneyrcks]

We always change resorts. It's like starting a new vacation!!!!!

The fridge is no worry. Who wants to cook on vacation????

Just pack the booze in the luggage, have the bellman transfer the bags, and hang out at Downtown Disney for a few hours until our 2nd vacation begins. AWESOME!!

I completly agree with this! We have split resorts ever since becomming DVC members in 2008. However, it is just me and my hubby so we do not have to take a child's needs into consideration. I see you have decided to do just one resort this trip and I think that's great! More to look forward to next trip. No matter what u will have a wonderful time and make awesome memories! Welcome Home! :wave:

Worldfanatic what do u mean the fridge is no worry?!! All of our beer is in there lol :ROFLOL:

 

[worldfanatic]

Worldfanatic what do u mean the fridge is no worry?!! All of our beer is in there lol :ROFLOL:

:ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

You're right, what was I thinking?

But fortunately the beer doesn't go bad.

A good excuse to hit the new resort's lounge while the beer gets acquainted with the new fridge.:wave:

 

[katrina1122]

We haven't DVC transfer but we did do Pop to AKL transfer, it was simple...

Called bell svcs we were checking out of Pop, they just had us leave the bags and cooler in the room, so no tip was involved as we never saw them.

Stopped by Pop check out, they called ahead to AKL that'd we be checking in around 4:30 and got us on the list.

Took bus to MK.

Took bus to AKL about 4:00. Checked in, room was ready immediately. Called bell svcs for luggage, it wasn't at the resort yet so we headed to dining ressie at BOMA and said to leave in the room if we weren't there. While heading out the door of our room the luggage arrived, so we tipped bell svcs and all was ok...except our styrofoam cooler DIDN'T make it. Not a big deal just some milk and juice, but that was a tad annoying.

No kids involved in our transfer, but it was so super easy. If you wanted to you could keep swimsuits with you at the park on transfer day, so if you hit the new resort with no room ready you can nap/swim at the pool.