How to Do a Split Stay at Disney World (The Complete Guide)

Reasons To Plan A Split Stay at Disney World

We’ve come up with several reasons for planning a split stay at Walt Disney World. First and foremost, it can help balance your budget.

Plan a Split Stay to Accommodate Your Budget

Anyone who sifts through our Disney World Hotel Reviews knows that deciding on a resort is tough. Often, you’ll find a resort and know it’s the perfect fit for your family, only to experience sticker shock from the expensive price tag. After that initial sticker shock wears off, you realize an entire week doesn’t fit your vacation budget. Or maybe your significant other tells you it’s expensive with a telling look that it’s not happening.

This is where a split stay can help balance things. Combining part of your stay at a higher-priced resort with the other portion at a more budget-friendly hotel will help reduce the overall cost. In most instances, we recommend staying at one of the value resorts (or moderates) first and then moving up to a deluxe resort. It’s kind of like saving the best for last.

However, if you’re focused on budget, you can always stay at the more expensive resort when those days are the cheapest. For example, we had a trip where we spent four days at Disney’s Grand Floridian and then moved to Disney’s Pop Century Resort for an additional five days.

When reserving a split stay, you’ll likely book a room-only reservation where tickets are purchased separately. If you’re staying at two resorts, you’ll have two reservations and must pay the deposit for each one upfront. (Deposits for room-only reservations are the cost of one night’s stay. So you will have the cost of two nights for a deposit.)

Plan a Split Stay Due to Desired Resort Availability

Another reason you might plan a split stay is when there’s a lack of availability at your desired resort. After checking rates, a travel agent might say your chosen alternative is only available for the last five days of your eight-day trip. If you have your heart set on staying at a specific resort, you will want to plan a split stay in this instance. That way, you’ll still spend time at your desired resort. You’ll want to secure those dates and then decide where to spend the rest of your vacation. Often, this scenario provides an excellent opportunity to try a new Walt Disney World Resort.

Plan a Split Stay Based on Location!

Our favorite reason to plan a split stay is based on location. As they say in real estate, “location, location, location!” We love to plan our park days based on where we’re staying. For instance, we’ve had a vacation where we spent a few days at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. During that portion of our trip, we mainly visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.

After that, we moved to Disney’s Beach Club Resort for a club-level stay. While there, we spent most of our park time at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Your resort’s location can save you so much time, especially if you plan your park days accordingly.

Planning your park days accordingly includes several considerations. First, when you purchase park tickets, you’ll want to plan what days you’ll visit each park based on your first hotel and then the second. Next, you’ll want to make dining reservations that complement your location. For instance, if you’re staying at a monorail resort, you might plan dining reservations at restaurants located on the monorail.

If you’re staying at one of Disney’s deluxe or deluxe villas, you’ll want to plan for extended evening hours. Guests of these resorts are privy to extra hours in select parks on select evenings. Speaking of extra perks, we suggest planning a split stay in our guide on how to take advantage of complimentary water park admission when it’s offered.

Types of Split Stays at Disney World

In addition to the reasons we’ve already discussed, you might also consider a few types of split stays based on your traveling circumstances:

• Off-Site to On-Site
• On-Site to Off-Site
• On-Site to On-Site

Off-Site to On-Site Split Stays

While these types of split stays are relatively easy to comprehend, let’s briefly discuss them. First, you might stay at an off-site hotel and move on-site. This is how we almost always start our vacations. Our main reason is that we did not want to pay a premium price for a full night when we arrive later in the day.

Under these circumstances, I recommend adding an extra day to your trip and spending the first night at an off-property hotel. We have a list of what we consider the best off-site hotels near Disney World that you might like to consider. Or if you’re a points loyalist, you might prefer our list of the best Marriotts near Disney World.

When we spend the initial night off-property, we like to make things as simple as possible. First, we pack a small, separate bag with essential items and a change of clothes for the next day. Then, we leave the rest of our luggage in the car overnight. In the hotter months (and depending on what we pack), we usually bring everything in with a bell cart. However, we only unpack the separate suitcase for that one evening.

As for the next day, Disney allows guests to check in and take advantage of the resort as soon as they arrive. However, your room assignment is based on availability. When you check in online (before your trip), add an anticipated early arrival time. If your room isn’t ready, check your luggage with bell services and spend the day at the resort, Disney Springs, or the parks. We have a separate article that offers ideas of what to do on your arrival day at Disney World. Disney will send you a notification when your room becomes available.

If you plan on spending a resort day at the pool, have a separate bag with swimsuits, sunscreens, and other essentials. Most resort pools have a space to change or freshen up.

On-Site to Off-Site Split Stays

Another split stay is when you visit an on-property hotel and then move off-property for the remainder of your trip. This is fairly common for people with plans to visit Universal Studios Orlando, take a Disney Cruise, or visit a nearby beach.

Of course, this could work the same as the off-to-on-site version we’ve already discussed. It depends on what works best for your group when you’re planning. My biggest tip is to be mindful when packing and unpacking. When we take long trips, we try to keep the things we know we’ll use easily accessible and not worry about the rest.

You’ll likely want to break up your trip in the middle with a resort day to relax and catch up on laundry, so make sure to include that in your plans. Doing laundry while on vacation means you don’t have to bring nearly as much with you. I don’t know about you, but the less luggage, the better.

On-Site Split Stays

Lastly, our primary focus is on the on-site to on-site split stay, which involves moving from one Disney Resort to the next. Thankfully, Disney does an excellent job of simplifying this kind of stay.

Imagine landing at the airport and heading to Walt Disney World. When you arrive on the property, you see the Skyliner overhead, transporting guests to and from the parks to their resort. Soon, you pass the monorail as you approach your destination, Disney’s Contemporary Resort. You have planned five days at this resort and can’t wait to experience it for the first time. It’s been a dream to stay this close to Magic Kingdom, but you’ve always stayed at Disney’s Boardwalk in the past, which is a family favorite.

So, to keep everyone happy, you’ve planned the last three days of your stay at the Boardwalk. For that portion of your trip, you have dining reservations at Flying Fish and a resort day scheduled. Then, you’ll have an evening when Epcot is open late for deluxe guests. Walking in and out of Epcot and returning to your resort quickly will be so lovely!

Does this example sound like it could make for a dream Disney vacation? It could, and at the end of your trip, you’ll likely be open to visiting even more resorts.

It’s also how so many of us got in the habit of returning to this magical place—a place where we make memories—the best kind—like the first time your child went down the water slide at the hotel pool or the night you stayed in and watched the fireworks from your room’s balcony with your loved ones.

We have found that split stays tend to make vacations feel longer. It’s always nice to feel like you’re getting the most out of your vacation. So, before we wrap things up, here’s how it all works.

How Does a Split Stay Work?

Booking a split stay is basically the same as having two resort reservations, but from our experience, the transition between resorts has always been seamless. On the morning of your first checkout day, bell services will pick up your luggage. Let them know you are transferring to the next resort, and they will take care of the rest. (Make sure to have Bell Services note if you have any items that need to be refrigerated. They will also take care of those for you.)

You can continue with your day as planned. When you check in at your new resort, call bell services from your room. They will bring your luggage. It’s really that simple. Your luggage will be available sometime in the afternoon. Keep any medications or items you might need during the day with you.

Best Practices for a Split Stay

Since we’ve discussed what a split stay entails, I wanted to share a few best practices with you. These tips come from experience and will help you plan. First, you want to be patient, especially if this is your first time planning a split stay. The theme parks aren’t going anywhere. Secondly, let Disney handle your luggage. They do an excellent job at it, and it’s usually not worth the extra hassle or expense to try to move it yourself.

We like to spend at least seven to eight nights at Disney to pull off a split stay. We prefer to spend the first couple of nights at the initial resort and then move to the next hotel for the remainder of our trip. Again, you’ll want to plan your days based on the things we’ve already discussed, including resort hotel benefits. Naturally, it’s ideal to stay at the nicer resort last to build up to that expectation. However, as we mentioned earlier, this might not be the most budget-friendly option, considering how your travel dates fall.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, split stays at Disney World have advantages. Even though they require extra planning, the attention to detail will truly stand out as your family enjoys the vacation. They’ll also thank you (hopefully) for your savvy planning skills. So maybe you’re a mastermind, after all? Or you’re probably like me and already know that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

If you would like to talk to a travel agent about the details of planning this kind of stay, we recommend our friends at Firefly Travels. They will be happy to help you begin the process. For more on the resorts, our guide to Disney’s Resort Hotels is a good starting point. We would love to have you join our newsletter list. You can sign up below, and we’ll send you a copy of our resort-hopping itineraries.

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In the Comments

Did this article help you plan a split stay, or have you already experienced this sort of trip? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know any of your thoughts, experiences, or questions below in our comments.

Check back with Resorts Gal soon for the latest spin on all things Walt Disney World!