Do you take your cell phone in the park & where do you keep it?

[Otterhead]

The pouches are NOT rated in any meaningful way, like an Otterbox or LifeProof (same company now anyway).

I'm not sure what you mean by 'rated'; is there an official ratings system for keeping things dry?

All I know is that the pouch I have is super durable & kept my camera bone-dry after hours of being submerged on the Great Barrier Reef; I don't know how it's rated. D for Dry?

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'rated'; is there an official ratings system for keeping things dry?

All I know is that the pouch I have is super durable & kept my camera bone-dry after hours of being submerged on the Great Barrier Reef; I don't know how it's rated. D for Dry?

I believe there is an IP rating system for protection

 

[Kamikaze]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'rated'; is there an official ratings system for keeping things dry?

All I know is that the pouch I have is super durable & kept my camera bone-dry after hours of being submerged on the Great Barrier Reef; I don't know how it's rated. D for Dry?

There are ABSOLUTELY ratings for keeping things dry - I would figure a diver would know them.

For full immersion, you are looking at the ATM scale. For water-proof capability, you are looking at the IP code. For instance, the newest LifeProof cases are IP-68 rated, which is the highest rating on each scale (6 and 8). First number is solids, second is liquids - higher the better.

I looked up the target one which was originally mentioned: http://www.target.com/p/dry-pak-waterproof-pda-gps-pocket-pc-case-5x8/-/A-10545621#prodSlot=_1_2
This is WATER RESISTANT - not WATERPROOF. That is lower than the waterproof standard, and as I said, are not meaningfully tested. It just means surface water that gets on it will run off and will not get through the seal.

Quite honestly, you're insane for taking a waterproof pouch diving. You're lucky it didn't leak. Even the phone cases are only rated at 'up to 2 meters for 1 hour'. (30 minutes for the Otterbox.)

In other words - like I said originally, you might as well just use a Ziploc bag.

 

[Bairstow]

I definitely bring my smartphone with me as it's the best camera I own these days, and the only one that will shoot HD video.
It's also kind of essential for contacting/finding the rest of my party, double-checking menus or prices, and a dozen other useful theme park functions.
In especially boring/insufferable queues (Soarin, Small World, etc) it's good for browsing the internet or running some kind of game to keep me from contemplating acts of deplorable violence.
I can run Google Tracks in the background to create a GPS map of where we've been in the park and how far we've walked, which is fun.
..and that's before we even get into the MDE app.

I just keep my phone in my pocket, and keep a ziploc bag on hand in case of rain or water rides.
I highly recommend bringing an auxiliary USB battery for re-charging on the fly.

 

[buttercup14]

Last trip I left my phone in the hotel safe most days, no issues with leaving it behind, anything I needed to know i just asked a cast member, it was nice to be on my phone while I was there. The few days I did bring it I kept it in a water safe belt bag, which I kept under my shirt, it was a bit of a pain having to go to the restroom every time I wanted to retrieve something from the bag, but everything I kept in there I knew would be safe

 

[Otterhead]

There are ABSOLUTELY ratings for keeping things dry - I would figure a diver would know them...
Quite honestly, you're insane for taking a waterproof pouch diving. You're lucky it didn't leak. Even the phone cases are only rated at 'up to 2 meters for 1 hour'. (30 minutes for the Otterbox.)

Haha, well, I'm not "a diver". I'm a guy who went diving on vacation several times.

I appreciate your help. You're right, the item you mentioned is only water resistant. Thankfully, it's not the waterproof pouch I used. If using a pouch made specifically for immersing my phone in water, and doing so repeatedly with no problems at all, makes me insane, then yippee, send me to the crazy farm!

 

[BJones82]

I've gotten them for $10....

Lol, you can find them for free, but average costs are there. Not everyone is willing or has the knowledge to feel comfortable buying cell phone batteries from cheaper places. To get a free one you just go on CL find someone with a broken phone which uses the same battery and get it for free or super cheap for parts... But as I said not everyone is comfortable doing this...

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Yes and I keep it in my Vera Bradley wristlet or cross body.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Lol, you can find them for free, but average costs are there. Not everyone is willing or has the knowledge to feel comfortable buying cell phone batteries from cheaper places. To get a free one you just go on CL find someone with a broken phone which uses the same battery and get it for free or super cheap for parts... But as I said not everyone is comfortable doing this...

I'm lost. You said portable charger was $50. I was saying you can get those for $10. I don't know why that was laughable.

 

[BigHero4]

We take at least one of our phones into the parks so that we can be reached in the awful event that one of us is lost or separated from the rest of the family. We also use them for FP+ and to keep us on schedule. Just make sure you have a full charge before heading to the parks. They do (I think they still do) have charging stations at MK if needed. We rarely use the phone for the camera as we carry a dSLR camera with us on our trip.

 

[BJones82]

I'm lost. You said portable charger was $50. I was saying you can get those for $10. I don't know why that was laughable.

Hey sorry I miss understood your statement, I thought you were talking about cell phone batteries. The important thing when buying a portable charger is making sure it has enough stored power for your battery for how much you want. Often the cheaper you go the less power it has. The iPhone 6 and 6Plus have fairly large batteries so anyone buying portable chargers for them would have to purchase them accordingly.

Anyway I just miss understood your statement

 

[Tom 55]

I'm still about 6 months out from my trip (first time in 10 years) and I was just thinking about how obsessed we are with out cell phones these days (myself included!).

Do you take your phones in the parks? I worry that I'd lose it. I normally keep mine in my back pocket, but there would be to much going on to safely have it there. If you do, where do you keep it during the day?

As I'm typing this I realize that if you are with a group, you'd probably need one to communicate with others.

We also use our cell as our main way to take pictures of our daughter because we can share them easily, but since it's going to be our daughter's first trip, I'd like to bring a real camera as well. I just hate thinking about juggling ALL these items!

Sure I take my smart phone. I use the app that shows wait times on rides and access to " My Disney Experience". I carry it in my pocket. It has a hard case so I do not bend it. I also carry a small digital camera in a case in the other pocket. I also carry zip lock bags, so that when it rains or I go on a wet ride I stick the camera and phone in the bags. That way I can enjoy getting wet without worry.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Apparently I can't say f a n n y

I was wondering why it keep ***** it out!! LOL

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Read through all the posts since I was on last..

I think what i'll probably do, is take some sort of small lightweight cross body back for my phone and leave it at that. Since we plan on doing the Memory maker, my cellphone should suffice for everything else! I will have to bring some ziplocs to keep it from getting wet.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

I take mine, but mostly for two reasons; one is to keep in touch with family members that are separated from me (e.g. sleeping in at the resort while I'm at the 7am EMH) or casual My Disney Experience usage (e.g. rezzy management). I keep it stashed in my camera bag (where it's also protected).

I didn't travel all the way to WDW to be one of those people with my nose buried in my phone... Though honestly, I don't really do that anyway.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Exactly. I don't want to be buried in my phone on vacation either. (admittedly, I can do that sometimes at home when I'm bored). On past vacations I never had my phone with me until the end of the day, but that was the beach, so didn't really need one.

 

[Kamikaze]

Haha, well, I'm not "a diver". I'm a guy who went diving on vacation several times.

I appreciate your help. You're right, the item you mentioned is only water resistant. Thankfully, it's not the waterproof pouch I used. If using a pouch made specifically for immersing my phone in water, and doing so repeatedly with no problems at all, makes me insane, then yippee, send me to the crazy farm!

Thats what I'm trying to tell you - they don't make things like that. You THINK its waterproof, and luckily for you it has stood up thus far - but it isn't rated for it.

 

[Otterhead]

Thats what I'm trying to tell you - they don't make things like that. You THINK its waterproof, and luckily for you it has stood up thus far - but it isn't rated for it.

Um, okay! It's a few years old; it might be rated for it, but I don't have the packaging anymore to check. It's most definitely waterproof, and has been 100% leak-free after hours of being submerged. Maybe I'm just lucky, it's true. I don't dive or snorkel enough to shell out for a $50 case, so my pouch is a decent option.

I tested it by stuffing it full of tissues and submerging it overnight. Dry as a bone.

 

[bebert]

I recently started taking a lightweight drawstring back pack to the parks and it has been great. I usually load it with my phone, extra baggies for water rides or monsoon rains, case for glasses or sun glasses, protein bars, wet wipes and a small sunscreen. I cant stand walking around the parks with a wallet, phone and car key in my pockets. Plus I also, tend to lose money out of my pockets if if I am constantly reaching to get my phone. It also allows me to carry items for my kids when I dont trust they wont lose them.

 

[nolatron]

DW and I brought our iphones. I kept mine in my pocket (where I always do) while my DW switched between pocket and our small backpack.

We used them for taking photos and video a lot of times, checking wait times on the Disney app, a few times to change FP+ bookings and for reaching each other if we had to split up for like a rider swap or something.

Other than that though, they stayed stashed away pretty much while we enjoyed our trip.