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Free Wireless Internet Pilot at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Thread starter disneydata
- Start date
thewhitequeen
New Member
Wouldn't bother me if they charged for it because most high end places do.
inluvwithbeast
New Member
I thought a poster said earlier that it wa built into your "resort fee"...
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=4508525&postcount=13
AstareGod
New Member
ummm - that's going to be pretty hardHow exactly is a wireless access point supposed to know if you are in your room or not? About the only option is to put in a really bad WAP, with limited range. Or shield the room
From what I read earlier in the thread, it seems like just the public areas (lobby, pool, Wave, etc) will have WiFi while the other Internet Access option will be a wired connection in your room.
Plus I could predict guests would take the monorail or walk over to the Contemporary and bag the free Internet. This has potential for abuse.
As for why the Contemporary was chosen for the pilot, no idea. Maybe someone else can provide some insight on that.
Figment1986
Well-Known Member
when did they tag on another $5 for in room internet... I remember it being $10.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
I have been waiting for one of the cell phone companies to blanket Walt Disney World with a good connection and try to offer cheap Mi-Fi rentals. At $40/week it would still be cheaper than buying 5 - 7 days of a Disney connection.
Mobile hotspots also remove even more incentive for more expensive hotels to offer free internet access. Their customers are the ones who can usually afford these service plans and as they become more common, less people will be looking to the hotel to get internet access. Why offer it for free when less and less of your customers are even concerned if the hotel offers internet access.
I thought that was strange, too, but that's what the release said.
Probably because you said "perhaps"?
Yeah someone did.
The rooms were not wrapped in steel. They were steel frames and what looks like anything but metal paneling. You can see them being assembled in the video at the bottom of this link.
http://www.examiner.com/walt-disney-world-events-in-orlando/disney-s-contemporary-resort-a-look-back-to-1968
Zummi Gummi
Pioneering the Universe Within!
I have no problem with them charging for wireless internet access. Most high end places do.
What I do have a problem with is paying for internet access where I'm tethered to a 6 foot cable attached to the wall.
If you're going to charge people, at least make it wireless. It's 2011.
What I do have a problem with is paying for internet access where I'm tethered to a 6 foot cable attached to the wall.
If you're going to charge people, at least make it wireless. It's 2011.
Sumshine 904
Member
This is good to hear. On my recent trip a few weeks ago at Pop Century, a man that helped carry our luggage said that Disney would LOVE to provide free/wireless internet at all of their resorts, but they're stuck in a contract of sorts with the folks that make you charge money (or something to that extent). He said that once their deal was over, they'd begin providing free wifi.
Whether this is true or not, I don't know. :shrug:
Whether this is true or not, I don't know. :shrug:
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Seems like an odd thing to outsource when Walt Disney World probably has a decent sized IT department to handle all of their own infrastructure. It is also possible to buy out contracts.
From the video it looks as though they were using some sort of wood faced paneling.No - not metal paneling... I was thinking more of metallic faced insulation. It's incredible how much of a signal strength reduction one gets as soon as you run into this
An example - my house has an office in our "FROG" (front room over garage). Originally, the walls were warm to cold zone (attic), and have metallic faced insulation in them. That room is the ONLY one in the house that suffers MAJOR wireless signal degradation - we keep our home WAPs in other rooms, and run pure CAT6 in the office.
Victoria
Not old, just vintage.
I have Verizon and I've always gotten great cell phone and wi-fi coverage in WDW. Even waaay back in 1998 when I got my first cell phone. :lol: Given their existing contract for the mobile app, if any company was going to do what you suggested it would probably be them. However, the comment you made about the rapid expansion of mobile hotspots will probably be the reason why that never happens.
As more and more phones hit the market with built in hotspot capability, there is no reason for any one company to invest millions of dollars to build a public wireless network in WDW. I imagine that eventually all cell phones will become smartphones and the days of owning a "stupidphone" will pass. Besides, I figure that most people who desire regular internet access on vacation are probably tech savvy enough to already own a smartphone and provide their own hotspot that way. :shrug:
wizards8507
Active Member
I like that WDW charges for internet. I'm sure it's not their motivation, but it encourages you to "turn off" for the week and just enjoy the quality time with your family.
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
WDW may have their own IT department, but telecomm is a different story, especially when it comes to infrastructure. They do contract out a lot of their cable placing and splicing. I have seen the crews on site a number of times. I forget what company it is.
One of my old bosses was offered a job by them. Many years ago - maybe 10 - he was at WDW (his wife used to work for TDS - I got lots of good stuff, but I digress) and some guys were splicing up some fiber and he mentioned something in passing like "Ah, fiber splicing, nice hot jacket stripper" and walked away. They chased him down, asked him what he knew about fiber, and offered him a job. If guess if I really wanted a to move there, I could have had a job too.
-dave
The Mouse
Member
I agree strongly with this post. It is a nice break from the real world, I always try to block out the real world when at wdw except for my Stars during hockey season that is.
The telco is SmartCity. They go way back to the very beginning of WDW, and I believe at one time may have even been owned by Disney.
Mickey is King
New Member
This as been a long time complaint of mine. glad to see at least SOME progress on the wi-fi front.
Probably the deluxe resorts will be the only one's who get it , at least at first.
It's a must in today's world. And the kids (20 or younger) certainly DEMAND internet....they have never grown up without it , so to not have it at a resort? c'mon..
Gald to see progress
Probably the deluxe resorts will be the only one's who get it , at least at first.
It's a must in today's world. And the kids (20 or younger) certainly DEMAND internet....they have never grown up without it , so to not have it at a resort? c'mon..
Gald to see progress
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
Ah, that's the company - thanks. An Disney did have a hand in them at one time
Lured by the siren call of the Florida real estate boom in the early 1900s, a young entrepreneur named Otto Wettstein cashed out his Iowa telephone exchanges and moved to Sebring, Fla., hoping to make a killing in land speculation. Within a couple of years he had burned through his $400,000 nest egg and returned to his roots, taking a job at the Dade City telephone exchange. By 1915 he had saved up enough money to buy the company and by 1925 had added six more exchanges to form the Florida Telephone Corporation. By the start of World War II, Florida Telephone had grown to 18 exchanges and was the dominant telephone company in Central Florida.
Wettstein's Florida folly put him square in the path of progress when Walt Disney announced plans in 1965 to build Walt Disney World on 27,000 acres of swampland southwest of Orlando. Florida Telephone management convinced Disney officials they had the expertise to operate the independent telephone company envisioned by Disney and Vista-Florida Telephone System was formed with Disney owning 51 percent and Florida Telephone owning the balance of the stock.
The relationship proved profitable, but also served as a catalyst for innovation, with Disney constantly demanding and getting the latest telecommunications technologies. In 1971 the company installed the first 911 emergency response system in Florida and became the first telephone company in the country to be completely electronic and have 100% underground cabling.
Rapid growth created a need for more capital and in 1974 Florida Telephone Corporation was acquired by United Telecommunications (now Sprint Corp.), a New York Stock Exchange company. Increased capital provided Vista-United with the funds it needed to continue its history of innovation. In 1975 the company opened the first computer-controlled telephone operator center in the country. A few years later Vista-United completed the country's first commercial installation of a fiber optic network, followed by the first fiber optic distribution system. In 1985 Vista-United became the first all-digital telephone company in the United States.
Smart City acquired Vista United Telecommunications in March 2001. Keeping with the tradition of innovation, Smart City Telecom has introduced the nation's first WiFi/DSL network and completed the largest long-range Ethernet project in the world.
-dave