Anyone use walkie talkies at WDW?

[mrtoad]

Thanks. That is good to hear. It will save bringing the heavier walkie talkies and if we need to change a PS we can from anywhere.

Luckily we have great nationwide though we don't have great minutes so I need to be careful.

Thanks,
Mike

I had cingular when I was a cp and got reception everywhere except in the MK tunnels (which you shouldn't have to worry about). Sometimes I couldn't get one deep in the buildings, but at that point there's no need because you're usually on a ride or something.

I had sprint on my November 2003 trip. It was crap. I couldn't even get service in the room at the resort (I had to go outside to make a call). I didn't really get service anywhere in the parks and my battery was always dead by like 3:00 because it would wear itself out constantly searching for a signal. They also have the nation's worst nationwide plan (roaming fees everywhere after the salesman told me I had nationwide service with no roaming).

I've had verizon for my last 2 trips (wow, you must think I switch around a lot!). I haven't really had a hard time at all with finding a signal. Everytime I wanted to make a call, I had a fairly strong signal. BTW, I also have an LG verizon phone.

I would strongly recommend using cell phones whenever possible. I have never really had a problem with the cell phone route (except when I had stupid Sprint :fork: ).

 

[MagicMan17]

We even have "Stupid Sprint" and had no problems on our last visit. Go the cell phone route, you won't regret it. Whereas, you may regret going the walkie talkie route. Regardless of what you choose, you'll have a great trip I'm sure.

 

[Jacks Sally]

We've used them before and they helped out alot

 

[tigsmom]

We have used them and they are nice but heavy. For those who said cell phones, how is the coverage on property? Have you had any issues where you could not reach each other? I would prefer to use cells as well as they are lighter anyway. We have LG phones and use Verizon if that matters.

We've used both AT&T and Sprint and have not had problems. We got the family plan (free calls) and it works very well for us.

 

[disneyfamily]

We used a set of 3 channel walkie-talkies a couple of times. Each time it seemed like there were others that had the same kind of walkie talkie or at least used the same frequency. Not very fun trying to find out where your family is and all you get is white noise and rude, obnoxious kids. We use Nextel now or at the very least cell phones. The reception at WDW is much better now than in the past.

 

[clearpath]

I've read a number of frustrating accounts from people trying to use them in the parks. Even with the "subchannels", they said it was extremely difficult to try and contact thier other party.

I brought my FRS radios with for one trip, be we never actually used them in the parks. We used them mainly when we caravaned with 2 cars on the road. They worked great for that as long as you did'nt get too much distance between the cars.

I did a bunch of research to see if there was some other solution that would work better in the parks, but not require special licensing from the FCC. That's when I discovered Multi-use Radio Service (MURS). Multi-use is a newer 5-channel License free service that FCC opened up in 2000 with 2-watts of power (4 times that of FRS). It never really caught on, so you hardly ever hear anyone on the 5 channels.

I can see why they had trouble marketing it, only 5 channels, when FRS/GMRS had 14 to 22 channels. But I would much rather have 5 channels with virtually no one ever using as opposed to 14/22 channels that everybody and thier brother is using. I read one persons account of using thier Multi-use radios on a cross-country trip, from east to west accross the US who reported that only 1 time did they ever hear one of the channels in use, somewhere in Montana....not bad. One guy who used them on a Disneyworld trip said he NEVER heard any of the 5 channels in use while in the parks. He said he freely communicated between others in his party, never having to worry about anyone using the other channels. He said "it sure beat using FRS/GMRS radios that everyone else was using"

Also, because Multi-use is on the VHF band (as opposed to FRS/GMRS on UHF), you get better signal propegation which means greater distance, especially over hilly terrain where FRS/GMRS fails miserably.

I did some comparison testing between 5-watt (max power) GMRS radios and my 2-watt Columbia Multi-use radios. The Mutli-use radios far outperformed the GMRS radios, getting 2 to 3 times the range.

That's why I call Multi-use the "best kept secret" in two-way radios.<!-- / message -->

 

[dolbyman]

use cell phones .. set them to vibrate/no sound

much better .. no annoyance

 

[bgraham34]

The last time i used Walkie talkies were back in the 90's. Since Cell phones are easier to use that is what i use. I dont have roaming charges down there so it works out.

One thing i really hate is those nextel sounds.

 

[Nemo14]

We used to use them, and it can be difficult to find a channel that isn't busy. We have Verizon cell phones now with family share and it works much better for us.

 

[superniftychick]

I used them back in Feb. It ended up that al you could hear for most of the time was people pressing the "call" button over and over so all day long you would hear the annoying beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep sound:hammer: and lots of people on every channel. By the third day we left the walkie talkies in the hotel and just met up every few hours to check in it was much easier.

 

[AEfx]

We had alot of troubles with our walkie talkies... they didn't transmit well in certain areas and even with the different channels we had alot of overlapping (and kids playing games answering all calls). We have mobile to mobile so thats what we use now.

I've heard this a lot, especially in the MK.

That's why I switched to T-Mobile before big family trip last year, as there are no roaming charges (I was ready to dump my current provider anyway). I can make a call at home, from WDW, or California and it's all the same.

That's how we keep in touch at WDW, and text messaging is great to have there - so as not to disturb people who are on rides or in shows yet let them know our whereabouts.

AEfx

 

[jonabyte]

I have an 8 mile range one that barley worked in MGM, it was fine in epcot and MK and most other places in and around the area. The range was not very good there though.

 

[clearpath]

Agreed that cell phones are the best option, but for those don't have 2 cell phones, or free roaming down at Disney, Multi-use radios are a great alternative to overcrowded, underperforming FRS/GMRS radios.

They don't make consumer grade Multi-use radios anymore, but you can still get the dis-continued Columbia Multi-use radios on Ebay for around $40 to $50 a pair. Probably alot cheaper than trying to equip yourself with some kind of cell phone solution just for the trip.

Just make sure you get radios that are "fixed". Most of the Columbia's Have a squelch problem from the factory that requires an internal adjustment to correct.

As far as radios that advertise 8, 10, 12 or more miles...forget it. You'll get maybe a little better than 1 mile at best with FRS/GMRS.

 

[jim1051]

cell phones only, always on vibrate.

Walkie talkies in crowds need to be so load that they are annoying and not very effective unless you also use earphones, too complicated.