Split stay advice for AKL/BC

[wdisney9000]

Just booked BC for late January and are planning on adding a few days at AKL. We fell in love with AKL during our stay in May this year. Originally planned 8 days at BC but thought it would be fun to do AKL for a few days because we felt like staying there really helped slow the pace of our trip because it is soooooo relaxing and peaceful there. We may just spend a whole day at the resort without leaving! We the staying near the Boardwalk as well because we are still young (sorta) and dont have kids yet so we enjoy dining and drinking in EPCOT. We are planning on 4 days at AKL and 3-4 days at BC. We may try and add a night at BLT for our first night as well just to knock it off our "resort bucket list"

We arent worried about doing a split stay and what it will entail, more curious for any ideas or suggestions that may be helpful when doing a split stay. Is it easier for each of us to have 2 suitcases, one for AKL and the other for BC stay or is it easier to just do some laundry if needed? Does Disney offer a wash and fold service at either resort? We are driving down so we will have a car available to switch resorts. My wife and I were racking our brains trying to think of what we should/should not do and then it dawned on me that we could just ask the wonderful people here for their advice/experiences. Im sure there isnt much to know about doing a split stay but I figured theres no harm in asking. Thanks for any help!

 

[luv]

Two suitcases would be ideal, if you can do that. Bring plastic bags with you to put wet items in, in case you have any. Try not to unpack too much at the first place.

Disney has a laundry service. Like all hotels, it isn't cheap.

Good luck!

 

[dreamscometrue]

We have done split stays for last 7 trips. We fly from Canada, and don't have a car, but we find it easy.

Upon arrival, we empty our suitcase contents into the dressers, and over the next few days, fill one empty suitcase with laundry. When it's time to switch resorts, we 'lock' all suitcases and carry on bags with ties, call bell services, and have our bags sent over as we are heading to a park for the day. We then check into our second resort in the afternoon, have our bags sent to our room, do laundry and just hang out at the resort for a few hours. With 5 days of clean clothes, we start the 2nd half of our vacation.

 

[wdisney9000]

We have done split stays for last 7 trips. We fly from Canada, and don't have a car, but we find it easy.

Upon arrival, we empty our suitcase contents into the dressers, and over the next few days, fill one empty suitcase with laundry. When it's time to switch resorts, we 'lock' all suitcases and carry on bags with ties, call bell services, and have our bags sent over as we are heading to a park for the day. We then check into our second resort in the afternoon, have our bags sent to our room, do laundry and just hang out at the resort for a few hours. With 5 days of clean clothes, we start the 2nd half of our vacation.

Cool. We thought the same thing. It would be nice to have all fresh, clean clothes for the second leg of the trip. I may even spring for the expensive fabric softener! Would love to know which resorts you have split. We are excited to try it and are already talking about which other resorts may be a good split to try.

 

[dreamscometrue]

Cool. We thought the same thing. It would be nice to have all fresh, clean clothes for the second leg of the trip. I may even spring for the expensive fabric softener! Would love to know which resorts you have split. We are excited to try it and are already talking about which other resorts may be a good split to try.

We have done the following split stays:

POP and Animal Kingdom Lodge
POP and Wilderness Lodge Villas
Kidani and Animal Kingdom Lodge (Twice)
Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge
Bay Lake Tower and Animal Kingdom Lodge
POP and Boardwalk Villas
Vero Beach and Animal Kingdom Lodge
Coronado Springs and Port Orleans

The latter was before we were DVC members. We did the split stays with POP during free dining promotions. ;-)

One of our fav splits is Bay Lake Tower and Animal Kingdom Lodge (our home DVC resort). The Bay Lake Tower stay is very kinetic being so close to MK, with lots of busses, people, fireworks, the Electrical Water Pageant, etc., while the move to AKL was like being in the middle of nowhere. We sat by the firepit at night with a beverage and all we could 'hear' was silence. It is an interesting contrast

In general, the split stays are just for 2 different experiences on the same trip. (The only reason we ever split Kidani Village and Animal Kingdom Lodge is to get a specific room type ;-)) We really enjoy the split stays; it's like 2 different mini vacations. It's worth trying it once to judge for yourself.

 

[PJean710]

if you book a split stay as a part of a package do you end up having to do two packages, with two dining plans?

 

[disneygirl1]

Love doing split stays! We are doing BCV and AKV split stay in May! Can't wait.

Ideally for us we basically just unload everything at the 1st resort then what every we use and don't need for the next resort will go into a suitcase that won't even get opened at the next resort.

 

[docdebbi]

if you book a split stay as a part of a package do you end up having to do two packages, with two dining plans?

sadly, yes. that means two separate tickets, which can be costly. if you do this, i rec keeping one and upgrading it for the next trip