Pitch temp & fermentation temp questions for Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes in Belgian

I have 2 extract brews under my belt, next one will be a LHBS Belgian Pale extract kit.

I've done a bit of reading and research on pitch temps, fermentation temps, ramping up the temp, etc and I have a questions hopefully you fine folks can help me with.

First, my plan:
---Brew up the kit.
---Cool wort to 65 F.
---Split brew into 2x 2.5 batches.
---Pitch half yeast into one fermentor, half into another.
---Set one fermentor in a closet downstairs that stays between 63-68 F
---Set the other fermentor in a closet upstairs that stays around 70-73F

After reading this article ( http://untamedbeer.com/2011/03/25/fermentation-temperature-experiment/ ) about fermenting a similar brew at 68 and 80 and getting completely different beers I wanted to try this experiment myself.

Questions:
1. I'm assuming I can just pour half the yeast into one fermentor and half into the other? I thought about making a starter but I don't want to overpitch.
2. Some sources I've read haven't been too clear on the timeline of ramping up temperatures. Should I pitch, let both sit in the 63-68 closet for like 3 days, then move the 2nd fermentor to the warmer upstairs closet? Or just start out the warm fermentor upstairs?

Thanks in advance, and if you see anything that doesn't jive please let me know.

The more I'm looking at it the more I'm thinking the difference between 63-68 and 70-73 won't be enough to taste a difference. Also, worried maybe the hotter fermented beer will be too thin. Hmmm, I'll be interested to see people's responses.

As far as over pitching that depends on what your OG will be. The majority of the esters and polyphenols are formed early in the fermentation so I would keep them separately from the very beginning. I'm not sure if the difference in temperature is enough to make a difference but that's the whole reason for the experiment right!?

You are not going to be overpitching. You NEED a starter. Check out a calculator like yeastcalc or mrmalty and you'll see how badly you've probably been underpitching.

The answer to question #2 is you should leave both in the cooler closet for a few days. 70 -73 ambient mighht be too warm early in the fermentation. Fermentation creates heat so you brew may get much hotter than the ambient. If it gets too hot too fast it will create fusel alcohol. If the temp is 73 the brew can easily get 5-10 degrees over that. If it goes to 10 over ambient it will definitely give you hot fusels.

The other problem I see is if you leave the first beer in the cooler closet it is borderline too cool for that yeast to finish up. If it gets warm during the first part of fermentation and then cools to 63 degrees it may stall out and not finish.

Beergolf, what I'm thinking is not splitting them up, putting them downstairs until primary fermentation has stopped at it starts dipping towards 63, then put the whole thing upstairs. If it dips to 63 for one day max I wouldn't think that would kill fermentation. Or at least something a little shake to the fermenter couldn't cure.

daksin, after looking at Mr. Malty it looks like I do need a starter and probably should've had one for my milk stout. I wish extract kits would tell you these things...

Yea, kit instructions are generally pretty garbage. Toss them out.