Split stay/multiple passes question

crxbrett

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I searched through the forums for quite a bit, but could not find any threads. So I apologize if this has been posted numerous times before.

Hope this isn't too confusing. So I am going to DW for 14 days in Sep. I have a split stay, so my first 6 nights are at the AKL and the remaining 7 nights are at the Poly. Since Disney doesn't offer 11+ day passes, I purchased a 4-day pass as well as a 10-day pass. The 4-day pass is attached to my AKL reservation and the 10-day pass is part of my Poly reservation. I called Disney to make sure i can activate the 10-day pass on my 5th day at DW (when I am still at the AKL) and the rep said yes. As long as I go to the Poly that day or to any of the theme parks to activate that 10-day pass.

My question is has anyone done this before and how easy/smooth was it? I have plans to hit the Studios when they open that morning I wanted to activate the 10-day pass, so was thinking going to the theme park booth/guest relations before park opening would be easiest. Anybody have any experience doing this? This is my first DW trip that will be longer than 11 days, so I've never had to do two separate passes before and just want to make sure I know what to do. Thanks to anyone taking the time to read this and can provide any help/advice or knowledge with this specific situation. It is greatly appreciated! :happy:
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
You'll be able to activate that 10-day ticket at Guest Relations, however you will *not* be able to pre-book FP+ choices that rely on that ticket for any date before the reservation's check-in date.

You'll be limited to day-of FP availability after you activate it.

-Rob
 

crxbrett

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh wow, the Disney rep made no mention of that on the phone. So activating it early basically voids the ability to use any FP+s I book? So if I book my FP+s in a month, but then activated the pass 2 days early, I lose all my FP+s for the entire trip from that point on?

**UPDATE** After re-reading your post I see what you mean. If I activate the pass 2 days early, I will not be able to book any FP for those 2 days up to the first day of the hotel reservation. I am probably not too wprried about that then. I only had 1 important FP planned those 2 days, so I can just wing it.
 
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nickys

Premium Member
Oh wow, the Disney rep made no mention of that on the phone. So activating it early basically voids the ability to use any FP+s I book? So if I book my FP+s in a month, but then activated the pass 2 days early, I lose all my FP+s for the entire trip from that point on?

No! That isn't what @Rob562 meant.

Your AKL stay has a 4 day ticket attached, as a package. For those days you are at AKL, you will only be able to book FPs for any 4 of those days, at 60 days out from check-in to AKL.

Your Poly stay has a 10 day ticket, so at 60 days out from there you can book FPs for all your Poly days, including the switch over day.

However, until you activate that ticket, you will not be able to book FPs for those other two days of the AKL stay.

Hopefully that clears things up for you. :)
 

crxbrett

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No! That isn't what @Rob562 meant.

Your AKL stay has a 4 day ticket attached, as a package. For those days you are at AKL, you will only be able to book FPs for any 4 of those days, at 60 days out from check-in to AKL.

Your Poly stay has a 10 day ticket, so at 60 days out from there you can book FPs for all your Poly days, including the switch over day.

However, until you activate that ticket, you will not be able to book FPs for those other two days of the AKL stay.

Hopefully that clears things up for you. :)

Thanks for the clarification. I re-read his post a few times and then it made sense. So I won't be able to book FP+s those 2 days, which is not really that big of a deal for me. Phew. That's what I get for trying to save money and game the system lol I messed up.

Thanks guys for the help and info. I really appreciate it!
 

crxbrett

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wouldn’t it have been cheaper for you to purchase an annual pass? Or are you booked under a free dining promotion?

Doing the 10-day plus the 4-day was still actually cheaper than an annual pass by about $150 since I have the park-hopper plus passes. Of course in hindsight, yes I probably should have considered the AP since I would not even have this issue and I would also have the 20% discount as well. I was not doing any free DP promotion for this trip. Oh well. Lesson learned! lol
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Doing the 10-day plus the 4-day was still actually cheaper than an annual pass by about $150 since I have the park-hopper plus passes. Of course in hindsight, yes I probably should have considered the AP since I would not even have this issue and I would also have the 20% discount as well. I was not doing any free DP promotion for this trip. Oh well. Lesson learned! lol

So, these resort reservations are package room+tix?

Because, separately, the AP is $949 and the 10day + 4day tix are $1,025. A big savings of $76!

If you get the AP, you can then call Customer Service to see if there is an AP discount on the rooms, which might affect bottom dollar.

Plus, you'll have the pass in case you want to drop by WDW again sometime later in the year. If you go yearly, just schedule next year in the last two weeks of this AP's duration and not have to repay for tix.

It's not too late to upgrade to AP. WDW really, really likes people to have APs and treats them very well customer-service-wise.
 

nickys

Premium Member
So, these resort reservations are package room+tix?

Because, separately, the AP is $949 and the 10day + 4day tix are $1,025. A big savings of $76!

If you get the AP, you can then call Customer Service to see if there is an AP discount on the rooms, which might affect bottom dollar.

Plus, you'll have the pass in case you want to drop by WDW again sometime later in the year. If you go yearly, just schedule next year in the last two weeks of this AP's duration and not have to repay for tix.

It's not too late to upgrade to AP. WDW really, really likes people to have APs and treats them very well customer-service-wise.

I'm going to throw in a little note of caution.

I'm not an AP holder but, from trying to help many of them trying to sort out issues, a split stay can cause problems as can a stay of longer than 10 days.

Although in theory an AP holder staying onsite gets the same FP bookimg benefits as any other onsite guest, in practice two problems can often arise:

1) they are often limited to a maximum of 10 days worth of FPs, no matter how long their onsite stays. (Non APs get 14 days initially, plus further day's rolling on).

2) split stays can cause problems with FPs, and sometimes a limit of 7 days can be reached. (Non APs get length of stay). This is similar to onsite / offsite visits.

The only solution is to wait until you use a day and then make another day's worth of FPs.
 

crxbrett

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Spent a good amount of time with some very friendly reps at Disney. The solution to all of this was them simply attaching my 10-day pass to my AKL reservation and then moving the 4-day pass to my Poly reservation. Now I do not have a gap in FP+ coverage.

I was about to opt for the AP, but then the rep remembered APs only get a limited amount of FP+s per month, so she said just switching the 10 and 4-day passes around allows me to keep all my 60-day FP+ bookings.

I learned a lot about the ins and outs of FPs and DW APs this morning, that's for sure! :p
 

crxbrett

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm going to throw in a little note of caution.

I'm not an AP holder but, from trying to help many of them trying to sort out issues, a split stay can cause problems as can a stay of longer than 10 days.

Although in theory an AP holder staying onsite gets the same FP bookimg benefits as any other onsite guest, in practice two problems can often arise:

1) they are often limited to a maximum of 10 days worth of FPs, no matter how long their onsite stays. (Non APs get 14 days initially, plus further day's rolling on).

2) split stays can cause problems with FPs, and sometimes a limit of 7 days can be reached. (Non APs get length of stay). This is similar to onsite / offsite visits.

The only solution is to wait until you use a day and then make another day's worth of FPs.


Just saw your post nickys, and you are absolutely 100% correct. This is what the Disney rep said as well. The AP limits you in booking so many FP+s for over 7 days. So the 10-day and 4-day passes work out better for me in this instance since the stay is so long.

Again, thanks for everyone's help and feedback on this!
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
I'm going to throw in a little note of caution.

I'm not an AP holder but, from trying to help many of them trying to sort out issues, a split stay can cause problems as can a stay of longer than 10 days.

Although in theory an AP holder staying onsite gets the same FP bookimg benefits as any other onsite guest, in practice two problems can often arise:

1) they are often limited to a maximum of 10 days worth of FPs, no matter how long their onsite stays. (Non APs get 14 days initially, plus further day's rolling on).

2) split stays can cause problems with FPs, and sometimes a limit of 7 days can be reached. (Non APs get length of stay). This is similar to onsite / offsite visits.

The only solution is to wait until you use a day and then make another day's worth of FPs.

I'm an AP holder and have done split stays. No issues with the FP. You are limited to 7 days if not onsite. If onsite you get as many days as you are onsite up to 14 at once. After 14 you have to just wait the next until you get the rest. I've never had issues with any FP and a split stay with an AP. This has been confirmed by many DVC members on another site too ;)

So as an AP holder with split stays and longer than 7 days you will not run into any issues you have said. The 7 day is only if you are offsite. If offsite it will mess with things, but onsite it does not.

IMO with the free photos and the savings I would ask to see if you can change it to an AP.
 

nickys

Premium Member
I'm an AP holder and have done split stays. No issues with the FP. You are limited to 7 days if not onsite. If onsite you get as many days as you are onsite up to 14 at once. After 14 you have to just wait the next until you get the rest. I've never had issues with any FP and a split stay with an AP.

So as an AP holder with split stays and longer than 7 days you will not run into any issues you have said. The 7 day is only if you are offsite. If offsite it will mess with things, but onsite it does not.

Well others have not been so lucky! Limited to 10 days and not had any offsite visits at all. And CMs unwilling to help.

It's the inconsistency that's so annoying.
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
Well others have not been so lucky! Limited to 10 days and not had any offsite visits at all. And CMs unwilling to help.

It's the inconsistency that's so annoying.

Hmmm, I don't always read other forums but I haven't seen that yet. There are many DVC AP holders that do split stays just fine. Us included. Now ADRs are more of an issue. Not to say others might not have experienced it, but they shouldn't have had any issues due to the way the rules are written out. 14 days max at a time, but like I said, you just have to wait to do the rest.
 

nickys

Premium Member
Hmmm, I don't always read other forums but I haven't seen that yet. There are many DVC AP holders that do split stays just fine. Us included. Now ADRs are more of an issue. Not to say others might not have experienced it, but they shouldn't have had any issues due to the way the rules are written out. 14 days max at a time, but like I said, you just have to wait to do the rest.

Touring Plans (especially on chat) always have posts where people can't book. I've even seen some on MO, though not for a while.

The DVC work around for ADRs is a nice little perk that we get! :)
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
Touring Plans (especially on chat) always have posts where people can't book. I've even seen some on MO, though not for a while.

The DVC work around for ADRs is a nice little perk that we get! :)

Not a fan of touring plans, sorry, so I don't go there. I just saw this discussed on MO a few times recently with no issues. Like I said I've done it too a few times with no issues.

Disney IT does suck though so if it doesn't work I count it up as a glitch. That said with savings I wouldn't let a few days of FPs keep me from saving some money. Especially if it meant I would get the photopass included AND save money (and possible on the room cost as well). I really meant to quote the other person as well about it to say it's not a fact that it would happen. It might happen, but many have been just fine from what I've seen and personally experienced.
 
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