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A split stay is the term referred to moving accommodations at any point during your Disney World vacation. See how they are about to become a lot more valuable.
Split Stays
Split stay is the term used to describe staying at more than one hotel (or house, condo, etc.) during your vacation. You may move onsite to offsite and vice versa or you may move from one onsite hotel to another.
Essentially, you are splitting your vacation time between two (or more) resorts.
Split stays can be exciting, but they can also be burdensome. Stay with me as I walk you through why they may be worth the potential headache.
Split Stay Benefits
Staying at more than one accommodation on your trip can have several benefits. It allows you to experience more hotels in Disney World’s resort portfolio. I (Monica) love experiencing all Disney has to offer, and by splitting my time I feel I have experienced more.
They can also be useful for saving money and experiencing Disney’s Extended Evening Hours (EEH), which are exclusively for Deluxe Resorts and DVC Villas.
For example, start off your trip at a value resort from Friday to Sunday to save money, and then finish off your stay by choosing a deluxe resort from Monday to Thursday to take advantage of EEH at Epcot and Magic Kingdom.
Split stays are also useful if you plan to split your time between park areas. For example, a hotel on the monorail provides quick access to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Then, you could move to a hotel on the Skyliner to have easy access to Hollywood Studios and Epcot’s International Gateway. If avoiding the Disney buses or being within walking distance to the parks is important to you, split stays are the way to accomplish that.
Did you know: Disney’s Animal Kingdom is only accessible via bus?
I have laid out several more reasons why you may want to consider a split stay, and more of the ins and outs of the process, in this post. In addition, read more about moving luggage for split stays HERE and the best hotels for split stays HERE.
Split Stay Value Increases
Disney is offering something new for 2025 packages. Guests will receive free tickets to one of Disney’s water parks on their arrival day! Note that there are two water parks at Disney World, but only one is open at a time.
Everyone on the reservation receives free admission to a water park on their arrival day. Note that you only receive this if you stay at a Disney World hotel.
I hope you see where I’m going by now. By doing a split stay, you will now have two (or more) “arrival” dates. You can visit a water park on the first day of your first stay and the first day of your second (or third, etc.) stay.
Be Strategic
We do have some suggestions for how to maximize the value of these free water park tickets. First, time split stays strategically so your water park days are more spread out. If you have a 7-day trip consider moving hotels on day 3 or 4.
If you are trying to park strategize based on proximity to certain parks or taking advantage of Extended Evening Hours in addition to the free tickets, you may have to be very flexible with your dates. Or, you may need to decide what is the most important benefit for your party.
Time your Arrival
Second, your arrival and check-in time at your hotel may cheapen the value of the tickets if you arrive late in the day. Depending on when you visit, the water parks can close as early as 5:00 or 6:00 pm. If you are arriving to Orlando later in the day you may only have a few hours at the water park.
Pirate tip: arrive in Orlando before noon in order to take advantage of the water park tickets.
On the other hand, a split stay can actually be even more beneficial. If you are okay only visiting the water park once during your trip, you can visit on your “second” check-in. This is especially useful if you arrive in Orlando later in the day on your “first” arrival day.
Realistic Expectations
Third, the cooler months may provide no value to this perk if the water parks are closed due to cold weather. This does happen, especially in the months of January and February. So, it’s best to set some realistic expectations that you may not be able to visit.
If you are really wanting to visit a water park during your visit to Disney World, we suggest planning your vacation anytime from March to November.
If you want some assistance with ensuring you receive the full value of free water park tickets, I would love to help. See details below for contacting me for a free quote:
Using a Travel Agent can help you navigate the ins and outs of planning! I am here to help! Please fill out this form and put my name (Monica) in the Special Request box.
Do you like to do split stays? Would you consider one now with the free water park tickets? Let us know in the comments below. And, share this post with a friend who is considering one!
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