two way radios

[mikei22a]

i have a set of motorolla t5400 with 2 mile range, they have multiple channels and was thinking of bringing them in december. i was wondering if any one has them or something simmilar and how did they work?

 

[tigsmom]

We also have them and we used them once in WDW... it was so crowded and so many people used them (or similar ones) that we had trouble with overlapping. Other people have used them & swear by them. We now use our cellphones and have had no problems with reception. Just remember to turn off radios/cellphones when you are in shows.

 

[HennieBogan1966]

We used them a couple of years ago for a family reunion, and had a little problem with people being on the same frequency. As long as you don't mind that once in a while, you're okay.

 

[dolbyman]

Oh I hated thiose retro thingys ...

on my whole trip I had 2 interruptions of shows because of cell phones but 20 or more because of those stupid walkie talkie thingys :veryconfu

if you have to use those (must be a new trend or so ) be sure to switch them off in rides or shows :brick:

 

[Chape19714]

^^I agree, they can be very annoying.

I would say NOT to bring them because so many people use them, they is barely ever a free channel, you will probally end up sharing your conversation with another family or group. It is not worth it in my opinion. They are very simple to work, just set them on the same channel, and hold down the button to talk, let go of it to listen.

If you KNOW your group will be splitting up, be sure to either bring cell phones, or just bring 1 cell phone, and the others can call you from pay phones (which are all over the parks, normally by restrooms), so you can keep in touch.

Other than the 2 potions above, or if you don't like them THEN bring the 2 way radios, just be aware of the above statements on them.

HOPE that helps (and you could understand it!)

 

[Raven66]

We did use them one year. In one of the parks they worked great, but when we went to MGM they were horrible. So many people talking at the same time. We used them because I don't go on RnRC so my family wanted to be able to find me. Well, so much for that idea. :lol: We take cell phones now but we don't turn them on unless we get separated and we never turn them on when we are on a ride.

 

[TTATraveler]

If you have cell phones, I'd go with them. Everyone walks around with those 2 ways and the way some people abuse them, they are very obnoxious. You also may run into interference problems on them as well, due to the amount of people using them.

 

[Speedbird]

We always take ours, because we find them very useful, even use them so one of us can run to the food court and call back what's good. We don't have any trouble, but ours are on British frequencies so there's not many others in the area.

 

[tigger248]

My aunt and uncle brought them last November and we tried to use them for about an hour or two (my teen age cousins kept splitting off from us). We could never get a hold of each other due to frequent use by other guests (everyone uses those things!) and there was a lot of static making it where everything was cutting out (though that could have been due to the make of the walkie talkie as I don't know how good they were). I much prefer to use cell phones (when possible). But, my experience with the walkie talkies was that they were VERY annoying and a hassle to carry around (since we couldn't use them). I'd recommend not taking them and using cell phones whenever necessary. I have Verizon and didn't have any coverage issues at all there. Cingular gets good reception there too. Sprint doesn't (at least as of November 2003, the recently added cell towers may have solved that problem).

 

[monothingie]

Nextel's work suprisingly well in the parks and on property. I know they are annoying but if you have unlimited Direct Connect in your service plan, communications between each other is simple, direct, and you don't use any plan minutes.

HOWEVER, please remember to set your Nextels to silent when experiencing an attraction. This can happen to you: I was riding the Jungle cruise when a family member blurted out over the push-to-talk "Do you want me to get you a turkey leg?" Needless to say everyone on the boat heard that, and I became the innocent butt of jokes for the rest of the ride.

 

[macopia]

Nextel's work suprisingly well in the parks and on property.

Nextel has towers all over property. There shouldn't be a dead-zone anywhere.

 

[monothingie]

I know, I've seen the pictures of the Nextel Trees all around property.

Now if they could only be kind enough to install a couple of towers in the NYC Tri-State Area...

 

[erasure fan1]

With a two way radio, if it is says 2 mile range, that is a line of sight number. At Disney you cant get 2 miles line of sight (for the most part) any place in the parks. The problem with others interfering with your radios can be greatly reduced by getting a set of radios that uses what’s called quite codes. Only radios on the same channel and quite code will come through your radio. This gives you over 500 combinations on the average radio. The other thing to look for on the radio is a vibrating alert feature so you don’t make everyone mad in shows and also when its noisy you can tell if someone is trying to get you. We use them and they come in handy but they are not the end all be all for park communication. The cell phones come in handy too.

 

[tk421-sw]

Or do what I do and just call the pay phones in the parks from your call phone.

407-938-9891

If anyone can figure out where that pay phone is located in WDW, I will send them a free gift from Star Wars Weekends when I go.

 

[MyNameisStitch]

We've taken our 2-ways every year that we've gone except for our last trip to Disneyland. Now we all have cell phones with Family Talk and they worked alot better. But I was amazed at the radio traffic on the FRS radios. I got into some amusing conversations on my 2-way at a hotel off property. I even had one family singing to me for some reason :lol:

If your going to be splitting up and you don't have cell phones they're a good idea but i'd recommend an earpiece because if you have it clipped on your belt its very likely you'll miss the person that your wanting to talk to because of all the noise.

-DGJ

 

[CaliSurfer182]

I haven't really used my radios since I got my cell phone. My wife and I use Sprint, and we have never had a problem calling each other when we get seperated. Cell phones are just to convenient.

 

[brich]

I love those Motorola 2-ways. It's fun to relax and listen to other families turmoil and the stress associated with a family trip to WDW. hehe. I feel like such an audio pixie voyeur... Stick with a cell phone and use the silent ring. And set up meeting places in case you get seperated. What did we do before all this technology???

 

[aimster]

I usually go the parks by myself, but if I'm meeting someone somewhere, we just use our trusty cell phones.... just put them on Silent when you go on attractions/shows.

Plus with cell phones, most have text messaging capability so if you don't want to annoy people around you talking ont he phone, just shoot a quick text to see where everyone else is.

 

[monothingie]

Or do what I do and just call the pay phones in the parks from your call phone.

407-938-9891

If anyone can figure out where that pay phone is located in WDW, I will send them a free gift from Star Wars Weekends when I go.

I called it, hoping that somewould pick it up and tell me where it was...No one picked up...