Cell phone use at WDW

[poppypetal]

So confused.
We go to Disney next week and just learned a huge mistake by my husband going to PA for 4 days. Came home with 100.00 in roaming charges and text. 50.00 for each.... ridiculous.
We are with Telus.

But what should we do, or where to go to make this as easy as possible. Can we go to Walmart and get a prepaid with data and text on it? We would like something so if we need to check maps or anything as we are doing a mini tour in Florida...

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm tired of giving money to Telus.

 

[Kurby]

MK and all the resorts have free wifi now. turn roaming off and get one of the apps that use wifi for im's instead of texting.

we only used it that way when we were down in july and came back to a normal bill after 4 weeks in the states not just disney.

if you absolutely must text then pay the text fee otherwise wait until you connect to wifi for free.

 

[poppypetal]

What is a free IM app? or what app should we download for that?

 

[Tiger926]

So confused.
We go to Disney next week and just learned a huge mistake by my husband going to PA for 4 days. Came home with 100.00 in roaming charges and text. 50.00 for each.... ridiculous.
We are with Telus.

But what should we do, or where to go to make this as easy as possible. Can we go to Walmart and get a prepaid with data and text on it? We would like something so if we need to check maps or anything as we are doing a mini tour in Florida...

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm tired of giving money to Telus.

Texting is an SMS system, which means it's separate from data, and there is no Canadian carrier who gives free US texting. And you have Telus, and they actually charge for received texts as well. The only way to deal with that is to block texting on your phone in that regard. So bottom line for texting is that you have 3 choices:

- pay per use
- buy a text pack
- don't text at all (and block incoming texts)

If you don't want to give money to Telus, you can buy a prepaid phone. We just did that (MetroPCS), but after 8 weeks we are done with it. It didn't work in many areas while driving down i-75 and is extremely slow. We will use the phone around the house like an iPod, but we have since cancelled the monthly fee (60.00/month) and added a special Blackberry Canada/US monthly rate to our phones (Rogers is the only carrier who offers this - One Rate), and will just add a long distance phone pack during our next trip. I will not pay for US texting ever again, as it's very expensive for a small amount of texts. MetroPCS charged 10.00/month for unlimited texting to Canada, yet Rogers charges $49.00/month!!!!!

We did research Tracfone, but they seemed yucky and cheap, as well as some other phones at Target and Walmart in the states.

Good luck!

MK and all the resorts have free wifi now. turn roaming off and get one of the apps that use wifi for im's instead of texting.

we only used it that way when we were down in july and came back to a normal bill after 4 weeks in the states not just disney.

if you absolutely must text then pay the text fee otherwise wait until you connect to wifi for free.

Yes, MK as well as Epcot, resorts and Water Parks all have free wi-fi. The wi-fi @ MK was a bit slow and very glitchy for Face Timing on our iPad, but for small things it would be fine, and it's free!

Some good data apps are What's App and Text Plus.

Tiger

 

[poppypetal]

So if we go to Walmart, we should be able to find a prepaid phone there, in the US?
Will we be able to put some data on it?
Like I said we are doing some driving so if we have the data, it can be a back up GPS for us if incase we need something...

 

[MaMudduck]

I'm sure what I'm about to say has probably been said many, many times in this thread already but without reviewing all the previous pages I'll just let you know what I've been doing since 2003:
DH & I can't go anywhere without our computers and at least 1 cellphone.
I am with Rogers (have been for years). And between DH & I we are in the U.S. combined for approx. 6-8 weeks throughout a year. What we did was we had 2 of our cell phone (that we got from Rogers) unlocked by a third party that supplies you the code to unlock them, cost $15 p/p. These 2 phones then became our permanent travel phones. As we did "hardware" upgrades for our phones we just kept our old unlocked phones for travel.
Each time we go to the states, we stop in at an AT&T store and buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card, with a plan we usually go with $2 a day of use which is unlimited US calling, unlimited text, voicemail & call waiting. Long distance, calling to Canada is .25 cents a minute,free incoming calls from Canada.
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html

So when we need both phones (so we can call people within our group) we get 2x $25 prepaid card. expires in 30days if not reloaded.
In July, DD & I were in California for 2 weeks- 1 unlocked phone, but knowing that this year I would need a min of 5 weeks of cell phone within 90 days, I bought a $100 card this card will not expire until Jul. 2013 if i don't roll it over. There are other plans that will included data if that's what you need.

For me this is easier than doing "Tracfone"- it works exactly the same way (same plans etc.) but then I'm not locked to Tracfone (AT&T or Sprint) and I can use my unlocked phone in other places in the world...I can even continue to use in Canada if I want. Bonus: if I save my contacts to the phone-not the SIM card I don't lose them or have to reload them with each tracphone.

Short summary:
1) Get your phone SIM phone "unlocked"- if your worried about doing this use an older phone that you might have. (e.g. I just got a iPhone, but it is my old Blackberry Pearl that I got unlocked)-not all carriers use SIM cards in their phones
2) Buy a prepaid phone plan with a SIM card included, when in US. (Walmart, BestBuy, AT&T store etc.)
3) Put the card in the phone & your all set to go!- No more Rogers roaming

 

[poppypetal]

Would this work?
If i bought one of those trutrac phones for like 10.00 or whatever it says at Walmart.
And then get this... can I split this between the phone and my tablet, so I can use the data on my tablet, but the text and calls from the phone?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straight-...b-Access-Service-Card-Email-Delivery/15443343

 

[MaMudduck]

Is your tablet "locked" to a carrier?- if it is locked- then no, your idea will not work.
Do you really need data (3G)- on your tablet or can you use wi-fi at the parks & hotel?

 

[poppypetal]

Is your tablet "locked" to a carrier?- if it is locked- then no, your idea will not work.
Do you really need data (3G)- on your tablet or can you use wi-fi at the parks & hotel?

My tablet is actually an ereader with wifi... I dont actually have anything else but wifi on it... not sure if this is the same thing?

We want it for security purposes because of the fact we are driving, want it like a GPS if we should get misrouted

 

[Tiger926]

My tablet is actually an ereader with wifi... I dont actually have anything else but wifi on it... not sure if this is the same thing?

We want it for security purposes because of the fact we are driving, want it like a GPS if we should get misrouted

If it is only wi-fi, then you have no signal while travelling in the car. Once you get to Disney, you can use the free wi-fi, or if you stop at a Starbucks or some other restaurant with free wi-fi, and then you would get service on your ereader.

In order to use it while driving though, you must have data of some kind, so you would have to tether your existing phone (not all carriers allow this). Tethering is when you use your phone's data in a connection sort of way to another electronic device.

If your phone is Canadian, than you would incur data roaming charges, so you might as well just pay Telus for a data roaming travel pack.

If you get a US phone, you have to ask them whether tethering is allowed. If it is not, then your ereader will not work for you as a GPS as it is only wi-fi enabled, and you don't have any wi-fi signals while travelling in your car.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[poppypetal]

ok thanks it's a new ereader, so wasn't sure exactly how it would work, being as we needed wifi on it.

i'll check this out when we go look at something in the store... worst case scenario at least we will have a cell phone

 

[Tiger926]

ok thanks it's a new ereader, so wasn't sure exactly how it would work, being as we needed wifi on it.

i'll check this out when we go look at something in the store... worst case scenario at least we will have a cell phone

You are welcome! Why not purchase an actual GPS unit, and then you don't need to worry.

We love our Garmin (has a large screen) as we travel often, not counting several weeks per year to Florida.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[poppypetal]

You are welcome! Why not purchase an actual GPS unit, and then you don't need to worry.

We love our Garmin (has a large screen) as we travel often, not counting several weeks per year to Florida.

Good luck, Tiger

how much is an actual GPS - hmm actualy that gives me an idea, maybe I'll see if we can borrow my moms, and then just get a simple pay as we go phone, since we have friends who live in the US coming to visit with us, this way we can stay in touch when we need to
Thanks again.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

how much is an actual GPS - hmm actualy that gives me an idea, maybe I'll see if we can borrow my moms, and then just get a simple pay as we go phone, since we have friends who live in the US coming to visit with us, this way we can stay in touch when we need to
Thanks again.

You can find Garmin or Tom Tom units with lifetime map updates at places like Costco for less than $150.

If you have an iPhone (don't know about Android) you can download the Garmin app for $50, and it does not use data - the maps are saved in your phone and it uses satellite positioning.

 

[glorania]

okay, just keep in mind i'm a technological moron here....but, i've just bought the new iphone 5, my carrier is with Sasktel. We are going to WDW for the first time this Dec. I'm not concerned about callling back to Canada, but i'm curious regarding texting/wifi. So let me know if i have this straight: Disney resorts and the parks have wifi....so, if i turn off the 'roaming' on my phone can i not just use the wifi and not be charged? I have used my blackberry in the past in the US where free wifi was available and never incurred any additional charges (ie. airport). I would really like to use the line apps for the parks. If we really need to call back to Canada, we will just get a calling card. But otherwise, why not just use wifi to send messages?


OR....would it be possible for DD and i to take our ipods, access the wifi to be able to text each other and use the line apps?

or am i really out to lunch?

 

[Tiger926]

okay, just keep in mind i'm a technological moron here....but, i've just bought the new iphone 5, my carrier is with Sasktel. We are going to WDW for the first time this Dec. I'm not concerned about callling back to Canada, but i'm curious regarding texting/wifi. So let me know if i have this straight: Disney resorts and the parks have wifi....so, if i turn off the 'roaming' on my phone can i not just use the wifi and not be charged? I have used my blackberry in the past in the US where free wifi was available and never incurred any additional charges (ie. airport). I would really like to use the line apps for the parks. If we really need to call back to Canada, we will just get a calling card. But otherwise, why not just use wifi to send messages?


OR....would it be possible for DD and i to take our ipods, access the wifi to be able to text each other and use the line apps?

or am i really out to lunch?

Texting - texting straight through your phone uses the SMS system, which is separate from data, which means you cannot use wi-fi for texting. The only way to use data for texting, is to get a texting app such as TextPlus, and this then uses data through your phone. If you don't want to do this, then you have no choice but to pay for a text package on your phone. The other option is a data message app such as What's App or Kik which uses data (not texting), but it would require that the people who you are messaging also have this program (What's App is similar to BBM, which you would be familiar with since you had a Blackberry).

iPods - you can use these on wi-fi, and if you have the TextPlus app, then you can text each other, or use iMessage (only if you have a newer iPod).

Lines App - this uses data, so you can turn roaming off on your phone as this would through wi-fi.

Hope this helps, Tiger

 

[pampam]

Is the free wifi at the parks too, or just at the resorts?

 

[Tiger926]

Is the free wifi at the parks too, or just at the resorts?

Parks - MK & Epcot (Ak & Studios soon), and Water Parks

Resorts - All resorts & common areas eg. lobby

Tiger

 

[Geodoc]

Is the free wifi at the parks too, or just at the resorts?

As of Sept 20, 2012 so far there is free Disney Guest wifi at all the WDW resort hotels, MK, EPCOT and both water parks. AK , HS and Downtown Disney will eventually have it.......we just didn't know when.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[glorania]

Texting - texting straight through your phone uses the SMS system, which is separate from data, which means you cannot use wi-fi for texting. The only way to use data for texting, is to get a texting app such as TextPlus, and this then uses data through your phone. If you don't want to do this, then you have no choice but to pay for a text package on your phone. The other option is a data message app such as What's App or Kik which uses data (not texting), but it would require that the people who you are messaging also have this program (What's App is similar to BBM, which you would be familiar with since you had a Blackberry).

iPods - you can use these on wi-fi, and if you have the TextPlus app, then you can text each other, or use iMessage (only if you have a newer iPod).

Lines App - this uses data, so you can turn roaming off on your phone as this would through wi-fi.

Hope this helps, Tiger

This helps tremendously!! Thankyou! We will use our ipod/iphone to text each other in the park if needed. nice to know we can do this without being charged. Will have to let DD know not to text back home or the bill will be a fortune! lol