Cell Phone Service in the Parks

[nelsonj3]

I've noticed during these extremely busy times in parks that my cell phone is almost unusable. I can barely get a text message out, and it seems to take forever to even receive them. I have an iPhone on AT&T. Does everyone else have similar issues, or is AT&T the worst?

I am a local, and this seeems to happen every year around the busiest times. Also, don't even think about trying to connect to the internet.

Even on normal or light crowded days, cell phone service isn't great in the parks. I realize that this isn't Disney's fault at all, but I do wonder why the phone companies don't invest more in their networks in such a crowded place.

What do you think?

 

[Timekeeper]

I have experienced exactly what you are describing. Most recently, this happened a lot during the Food & Wine Festival, and then of course, during the holidays. The really frustrating thing is that it happens outdoors in the open (where reception ought to be the best). I wonder if/how customers of other carriers are affected by this

Although everyone has their obvious guess as to why this happens, I have yet to see an "official" reason (or technical explanation) from the carriers.

 

[nelsonj3]

I do sometimes notice that if I switch my phone to Edge instead of 3G, I am more likely to get a call or text out, but the internet still hardly works at all.

 

[scpergj]

I have experienced exactly what you are describing. Most recently, this happened a lot during the Food & Wine Festival, and then of course, during the holidays. The really frustrating thing is that it happens outdoors in the open (where reception ought to be the best). I wonder if/how customers of other carriers are affected by this

Although everyone has their obvious guess as to why this happens, I have yet to see an "official" reason (or technical explanation) from the carriers.

We missed meeting up with my Aunt and Uncle last year during the Food and Wine Festival for this very reason. My iPhone, wife's regular phone, and son's regular phone were all useless bricks - we finally received a text message that they sent 8 hours earlier inviting us to dinner......AFTER we left the park and were driving home at 9 pm...

 

[nelsonj3]

We were in the parks on Wednesday, during all of the closings, and my family decided to pick a place to meet when we separated. Of course, that never works out perfectly. I have had text messages arrive hours late as you mentioned before. In fact, my wife and I were looking for my parents outside Via Napoli the other day. We couldn't find them, and we finally went inside to look around. We found them in the back. We assumed they wouldn't seat them without the entire party. After we finished eating and were walking out of the restaurant, I got a text from my Dad saying that they were inside. It was just funny at that point.

 

[Alektronic]

The only network that works the best everywhere is Nextel. Because Disney uses the Nextel network inside and out of every building.

I used to have Verizon and it never worked properly in the parks, outside, even on some rooftops so I switched to Metro PCS and haven't had any problems and get great reception and internet and a lot cheaper also.

 

[Minnie1976]

My husband and I have verizon service. We have never had a problem with receiving text msg or just calling each other in the parks. When we were there in April for the Flower Festival(it was crowded), my son and his wife were with us. They had t-mobile service and none of us had problems getting in touch with each other. We only have the old fashion flip phones no iphones, etc.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

I've never had an issue sending and receiving texts on my iPhone (Verizon is my carrier).

However, it can never, ever, find an internet signal on 3G. It just keeps searching in vain for one, which of course drains the battery. I won't even attempt wifi in the parks, either, because I know how poor that is.

 

[ElusiveWookiee]

I have AT&T. I have always been able to send pictures, and video. On my last trip, I actually Skype'd with my mom back home, from Main Street. I typically have my phone set to EDGE (so the pictures I know were sent on that), but I switched on 3G for the Skype. Both worked fine for me. :shrug:

 

[rct247]

Sprint service has been slow in the parks this past week. Normally it is hit or miss, but never this bad.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Sprint service has been slow in the parks this past week. Normally it is hit or miss, but never this bad.

I would imagine the tower that services the area is way over burdened with the crowds this week.

 

[blm07]

I've got Sprint, I can always make calls and text, but 3g is always terribly slow, and inside buildings drains battery like crazy (and doesn't work). 4g: haha yeah right

 

[Miketic]

I have T-Mobile and its not even a smartphone and have no problems, just saying.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

My in laws have AT&T, and iPhones. They had problems on their last trip with sending home texts & pictures. We either didn't get them at all, or got them much later than they sent them. I have a non-smart phone through Verizon - have never had problems with it. But then sometimes I don't even bring it into the parks with me, and if I do I rarely use it.

 

[MarkTwain]

Have had exactly that problem with AT&T this week. We tried to use an iPhone just to look up the EMH hours on the WDW calendar (why don't they just put them on the times guide!?), and the page took literally 10 minutes to load.

 

[AEfx]

Have had exactly that problem with AT&T this week. We tried to use an iPhone just to look up the EMH hours on the WDW calendar (why don't they just put them on the times guide!?), and the page took literally 10 minutes to load.

Because everyone gets the times guide, and it avoids the complaint line at guest services that says, "Wait you are open three more hours for extra magic this says! It says it right here! It was handed to me when I got in the park!"

 

[MarkTwain]

Because everyone gets the times guide, and it avoids the complaint line at guest services that says, "Wait you are open three more hours for extra magic this says! It says it right here! It was handed to me when I got in the park!"

Got it, that does seem far too likely. Well, shame on us for not checking beforehand then.

 

[Clever Name]

Regardless of the carrier, the most important aspect of cell phone (and smart phone) reception and transmission at WDW is the quality of the phone itself. We all know the problems that the old iPhone 4 had and thankfully the new iPhone 4s no longer has those terrible reception problems. On the other hand, while the iPhone 4s has wonderful user friendly features, it is technically a mediocre performer in being able to send and receive signals from most cell phone towers (regardless of the carrier)..

Frankly, many popular cell phones are rather poor in their reception and transmission capabilities. Generally speaking several Samsung and Motorola models are far superior to any and all other models on the market and are able to both send and receive signals when other phones can’t even get a signal. Of course, some phones are designed for use with a specific network and carrier.

What it all boils down to is that you can have the best carrier (such as Verizon or Sprint) but if you’re using an iPhone 4s then you will get just average to poor reception. With Verizon you’d need the Motorola Droid Razr and with Sprint you’d need the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch to get excellent reception and transmission results at WDW. With regular cell phones at WDW, nothing beats T-mobile paired with the Samsung Gravity TXT or Sprint Nextel paired with the LG Rumor Touch. :wave:

 

[lightboy]

This has nothing to do with phones unfortunately...or service locations...or "bad" reception areas. AT&T is hit the worst.

The original OP was correct. I've had this confirmed by AT&T who did extended research for me. ALL of the towers are overloaded around WDW during the Holidays and other peak times. It happens every year, except this year it's been worse with the new data hungry Apple functions such as Siri and iCloud/Photostream.

It is practically unusable, with most ALL of my text messages failing, and phone calls usually failing every other time. I pressured AT&T, and they've so far credited my account $30 on two occasions. That's a credit on my iPhone 4s mobile account for 10 Days. And I called when those 10 credited days were over, and received another $30 credit.

 

[BalooChicago]

Just back from our trip, half of us have AT&T iPhones, half have VZW. The VZW phones worked flawlessly, and the AT&T phones were laughably bad (both voice and data). In room WiFi (WL Villas) was worth everything it cost (Which is to say it was AWFUL) - I had better WiFi from Southwest at 10,000 feet.