Complimentary WiFi Now Available at all WDW Resorts

[Tom]

I saw this news article pop up on the home page today - but I haven't seen a thread.

We're checking into Coronado on Wednesday. She has a netbook and I have a tablet. We were going to take our wireless router, like we always do, but I was hoping to hear from anyone who is currently staying at the resorts to see if the wifi REALLY is working.

I'd love to not have to pack the router if it really does work.

This is incredible news!

 

[Hakunamatata]

I saw this news article pop up on the home page today - but I haven't seen a thread.

We're checking into Coronado on Wednesday. She has a netbook and I have a tablet. We were going to take our wireless router, like we always do, but I was hoping to hear from anyone who is currently staying at the resorts to see if the wifi REALLY is working.

I'd love to not have to pack the router if it really does work.

This is incredible news!

Totaly agree. More proof TDO's reinvestment in the resorts and parks. :sohappy:

 

[accord99cutie]

There has been free WiFi at Coronado for quite a while. We used it on our trip last Sept/Oct.
It is new to quite a lot of other resorts though.

 

[britdaw]

Nice to hear!! I know a lot of people will be stoked to hear about this!

 

[Tom]

There has been free WiFi at Coronado for quite a while. We used it on our trip last Sept/Oct.
It is new to quite a lot of other resorts though.

Good to know it works well at Coronado. We'll be there Wed and Thu nights, then on DCL till Monday, and at Wilderness Lodge next Monday night. Hoping it works there as well. Would like to hear from anyone who tests it out.

 

[Master Yoda]

I was at Coronado a couple of months ago followed by a stay at the Beach Club. I ran several speeds test on a variety of phones and laptops. Most came in at an anemic 1.4-1.6 mbps.

 

[Tom]

I was at Coronado a couple of months ago followed by a stay at the Beach Club. I ran several speeds test on a variety of phones and laptops. Most came in at an anemic 1.4-1.6 mbps.

But....it's free.....and I don't have to lug around my router. I'll take almost any speed if I'm not paying $9.95/night.

 

[Master Yoda]

But....it's free.....and I don't have to lug around my router. I'll take almost any speed if I'm not paying $9.95/night.

True. It was acceptable for email and some minor surfing but not much more.

 

[Brandon.]

Awesome news! I was so tired of plugging in or going into their business center

 

[disney fan 13]

Good news

 

[SyracuseOrange]

This is great!

 

[Polydweller]

True. It was acceptable for email and some minor surfing but not much more.

I wouldn't make such a broad statement yet. At the Poly I was easily able to stream video, upload pictures and so on. It was fine and no noticeable slow downs. From my IT management I don't trust those speed tests in public settings. Many places throttle those because of the strains on the systems and from my tests the Internet at Disney does incorporate both filtering and specific throttling. Use it for typical uses and it's fine.

 

[Master Yoda]

I wouldn't make such a broad statement yet. At the Poly I was easily able to stream video, upload pictures and so on. It was fine and no noticeable slow downs. From my IT management I don't trust those speed tests in public settings. Many places throttle those because of the strains on the systems and from my tests the Internet at Disney does incorporate both filtering and specific throttling. Use it for typical uses and it's fine.

I was commenting about the 2 specific resorts I tested at, not all of Disney property. I do not fully trust speed tests either, but the web experience I had would lead me to believe that they were correct. Steaming video from YouTube was beyond lethargic, Netfix would not even allow me to stream and general surfing was painfully slow. If I have used Disney's wired connection before and had no issues like I did no their wifi.

 

[NoChesterHester]

I'm sure this was a major investment just due to the amount of area covered and the bandwidth needed.

I look forward to the WiFi on my next trip, no matter how slow.

 

[Captain Neo]

better late than never I guess

 

[Dwarful]

At last! Add this to the fridges at the values and I think Disney is starting to know that some families (not us...not yet)are going off site to get more bang for the their buck...i.e., wi-fi, fridges, coffee makers, larger rooms, etc., and Disney is trying to add more perks. For some of us the theme, early entrys/late nights, dining options, etc., are enough...but there are a heck of a lot of hotel rooms close by for a lot less that lure many more guests off site.

 

[Shide]

We just got back from a 2 week trip and we used the wifi at Beach Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was almost unusable at times. On both my iPad and iPhone I had to constantly keep reconnecting. It was free but very unreliable.

 

[tecowdw]

This is nice but a couple of the resorts I have stayed at the service is kind of shotty. The only place I had a good, consistent connection was BoardWalk Villas. The bad ones I've experienced are Wilderness Lodge Villas, Kidani Village and Yacht Club. At all of those places the connection would drop quite frequently and it just got frustrating. At Kidani, I switched to the LAN connection (free to DVC :sohappy: ) and never experienced dropped connections.

So, some improvements on quality (free or not) need to be made in my experience. Next time, I'm taking my long patch cord and sticking with the LAN!
(and I think that should be free now since the wireless is)
:shrug:

 

[Tom]

I'll still take free, since all I do is check email and get on the forums when I'm trying to fall asleep. I don't stream anything or download large files when I'm at WDW.

As long as it works at Coronado and Wilderness Lodge next week, that's all I need for now.