Cell phone use at WDW

[Maddysdaddy]

Anyone have any experience with roammobility (based in BC)???
Just trying to figure out if it would be easier/better to go with a supplier here vs. T-Mobil in the US??
Roam's plans are $3/day for talk/text/data so for the 14 days i need - it would be $36.95 which includes 1,000MB of data.

My only concern is that i am still on the 3G network.

Roam 'roams' on T-Mo's network, so if you're in an area where T-Mo has recently upgraded their towers (check the map on their website), you should be getting faster speeds.

The biggest issue with Roam is the limited amount of data you get. 1GB can go pretty quick. They are good in that their plan lets you call back to Canada, but if you go T-Mo and spend 10 minutes setting up a Google Voice account, you get free calling to Canada anyway.

 

[joech]

We just came back from our Christams/New year trip and the Free wi fi at the parks and resorts are spotty to say the least. We even had trouble in our rooms at Ak.

I ended up getting a couple Verizon pay & talk phones for $15 each for my DW and I. Both phones come with $10 credit to start. The plan I choose was the 99 cents per day with unlimited calling between the two phones.

 

[5mouseketeersforus]

Ok another question from me (sorry but i seriously don't keep up on all this tech stuff);

My Iphone4s is now unlocked. Once i pu the new sim card in for it, is everything missing? For example, would all of my apps/music/tv shows still be there? Would all of my contacts still remain? What about gmail - would it still be there with all of my messages or would i have to set it up again?

 

[cyros]

We are leaving for WDW in less than two weeks and as I do not have a cell phone that can work outside Canada at all, I purchased a cheap no contract phone to keep in touch my phone only (no texts or otherwise)with the other half of our party when we split up. I got this AT&T Samsung a157 Prepaid GoPhone (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007X6FFLS/ref=oh_details_o04_s02_i02) and I'm assuming I'll be able to activate it and choose my usage plan when I arrive at the rental home and have access to the computer (at least I hope so?) Also, has anyone used AT&T service in the parks? I'm worried now because I have now read that AT&T does not have good coverage. Is this going to work for us or did I pick the wrong provider?

 

[mjf]

My Iphone4s is now unlocked. Once i pu the new sim card in for it, is everything missing? For example, would all of my apps/music/tv shows still be there? Would all of my contacts still remain? What about gmail - would it still be there with all of my messages or would i have to set it up again?

All of your apps / music / TV shows / contacts / e-mail messages will still be there. Putting in the new sim card won't impact any of those things.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Everything will still be there.

One thing you will want to consider doing when you are down in the US, is to buy a $10 (or whatever) iTunes card and setting up a US iTunes account. There are a bunch of apps (including Disney related ones) that are not available in the Canadian iTunes store.

Ok another question from me (sorry but i seriously don't keep up on all this tech stuff);

My Iphone4s is now unlocked. Once i pu the new sim card in for it, is everything missing? For example, would all of my apps/music/tv shows still be there? Would all of my contacts still remain? What about gmail - would it still be there with all of my messages or would i have to set it up again?

 

[5mouseketeersforus]

Everything will still be there.

One thing you will want to consider doing when you are down in the US, is to buy a $10 (or whatever) iTunes card and setting up a US iTunes account. There are a bunch of apps (including Disney related ones) that are not available in the Canadian iTunes store.

That is an awesome tip!!! Thnk you so much

 

[Fabooliss]

How do I go about buying US prepaid phones (throwaway) with minutes (60?) online and having them shipped to my resort?

I just want to use it for communicating with family inside the parks..

Bringing my Motorolla 2-way radios, but I dunno how well they'll work..

I'm thinking this might be the best option.. I have a Telus pay and talk phone, but if it's going to be more of a hassle..

I think Walmart will do this, I know amazon will, and you can use PayPal for a us payment.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[YukiPhnx]

Since they now have wifi in all the parks and resorts, I highly recommend getting a calling app or a text app, or both!

Whatsapp is good on iOS and Android. It's a texting app. They have a free trial period and then it's $1 after that. It's definitely worth it.

A great calling app is Viber. It also works on iOS and Android but I don't know about Blackberry. My parents in China use this app to call us.

I'm so glad I no longer have to deal with sim cards and tracphones!

 

[Jennifer16]

We are traveling in March and just want to check on the wifi status at the parks. I have read in earlier posts that it can be spotty? Is this still the case. Also, just checking if all the parks have wifi now? Thinking that we would use our iPhones and iPods for messaging each other while in park and to use line apps. If this will work then we really don't need to "call" each other so a phone plan does not seem necessary. Also staying at OKW so I figure we will also have wifi at resort. Just trying to make this simple ...

 

[Geodoc]

We are traveling in March and just want to check on the wifi status at the parks. I have read in earlier posts that it can be spotty? Is this still the case. Also, just checking if all the parks have wifi now? Thinking that we would use our iPhones and iPods for messaging each other while in park and to use line apps. If this will work then we really don't need to "call" each other so a phone plan does not seem necessary. Also staying at OKW so I figure we will also have wifi at resort. Just trying to make this simple ...

All the parks have wifi now....Downtown Disney should be live soon.....if it isn't already. In August we found the wifi at MK just fine and used our iPhones and iPod touch devices to communicate with iMessage! The Disney apps for wait times etc are great!!! Just be aware like most public wifi, it times out after awhile.....so always good to keep an eye on that. I'm glad that WDW has made wifi available almost everywhere now.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ccudmore]

We were at WDW just over a week ago and loved the free WiFi. Put the phones on Airplane Mode all week and then enabled WiFi. iMessage and My Disney Experience worked with no problems. In-park coverage was pretty solid with the exception of the Jungle Cruise plaza. Even worked inside a number of rides. Lots of people using FaceTime to video-call people, especially while waiting for parades.

Art of Animation had WiFi but that was pretty spotty. Good in common areas but hit and miss in the room.

I usually end up with $100 in data fees each trip but this time it was $0.

 

[eculmone]

We were at WDW just over a week ago and loved the free WiFi. Put the phones on Airplane Mode all week and then enabled WiFi. iMessage and My Disney Experience worked with no problems. In-park coverage was pretty solid with the exception of the Jungle Cruise plaza. Even worked inside a number of rides. Lots of people using FaceTime to video-call people, especially while waiting for parades.

Art of Animation had WiFi but that was pretty spotty. Good in common areas but hit and miss in the room.

I usually end up with $100 in data fees each trip but this time it was $0.

I have a Blackberry. When I put it on Airplane mode it shuts off my WiFi?? Is there something special I need to do?

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

I have a Blackberry. When I put it on Airplane mode it shuts off my WiFi?? Is there something special I need to do?

I would like to know this too. Any Blackberry experts out there who can help?

 

[bankr63]

For my BB I go to the top bar on the home screen, and press the select button. That opens the manage connections window. Select Mobile Network to turn OFF the checkmark. Select Wi-Fi if it is not on so you can join the wi-fi network.

 

[mamabear0222]

We were at WDW just over a week ago and loved the free WiFi. Put the phones on Airplane Mode all week and then enabled WiFi. iMessage and My Disney Experience worked with no problems. In-park coverage was pretty solid with the exception of the Jungle Cruise plaza. Even worked inside a number of rides. Lots of people using FaceTime to video-call people, especially while waiting for parades.

Art of Animation had WiFi but that was pretty spotty. Good in common areas but hit and miss in the room.

I usually end up with $100 in data fees each trip but this time it was $0.

Flight mode is an awesome idea!!

Sent from my Samsung S3 using DISBoards

 

[mamaCta]

Can I have some clarification? When you say there is wi-fi in all the parks, does that mean DL as well of just the WDW parks?

Does anyone know? I'm debating if it is worth $40 each to add international texting to 3 iphones.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Unless something has changed in the last few months, there is no wi-fi in DL or DCA. There is wifi in the hotels (worked reasonably well at the GC when we stayed there in September, but barely worked when we stayed at the DH last February).

 

[rockchica]

Hi Everybody!
There's a fairly new company in town called Roam Mobility that specializes in giving Canadians cheaper rates for roaming. Basically how it works is you order one of there SIM cards and they assign you an American phone number that's yours to keep (you just have to use there service once a year). You get free calling, voicemail, texting to Canada and the States for $2.95 a day and if you want to add data it's only an extra $1 per day for 100MB. This is the route I went as I am traveling solo and wanted the comforts of having a cellphone with me.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Hi Everybody!
There's a fairly new company in town called Roam Mobility that specializes in giving Canadians cheaper rates for roaming. Basically how it works is you order one of there SIM cards and they assign you an American phone number that's yours to keep (you just have to use there service once a year). You get free calling, voicemail, texting to Canada and the States for $2.95 a day and if you want to add data it's only an extra $1 per day for 100MB. This is the route I went as I am traveling solo and wanted the comforts of having a cellphone with me.

Roam's service is good as long as you don't plan on using much data. To be clear though, unless they've changed their pricing scheme recently, $2.95 a day is if you sign up for a month - the cost is more than that if you sign up daily or weekly.