Cell phone use at WDW

[petbren]

We recently returned from the World.
I activated a Tracfone from home, online, and got 20 min. of airtime by doing so.
We only used it when necessary, to call hotel, dining reservations, etc.
Unfortunately, it looks like we won't be doing a return trip until 2009.
I have 13 min. left on the phone, expire April 5, and a 60 min. extra air time card.
If anyone is interested in purchasing this from me, please PM me for details.

 

[ddawg]

If I buy the virgin mobile phone what would it cost to call back to canada and to receive calls from Canada?

 

[teag_98]

The phone with charger and double minutes for life was just $12.88. It came with 10 minutes of free calling. A call to Canada was just a cent per minute and text messaging was only three cents. This is the cheapest rate to go!

Charleyann

HI, can you tell me where you bought it at WDW? I need to order two and don't know quite where to start, it would be a lot easier if I could just buy them when I get there.
Thanks!

 

[PrincessNED]

If I buy the virgin mobile phone what would it cost to call back to canada and to receive calls from Canada?

It's 15 cents per minute if I recall correctly, no extra to receive.

 

[jtdl]

I agree texting is better...you can even text to a home phone number if you want. When they answer they will get an automated message that verbally tells them what the text message says....so even if they don't have a cel phone you can still text anyone!

I have a plan that includes free text messaging (Solo) and it was still free - NO ROAMING CHARGES - when I sent/received texts while in Orlando. When I called and asked about options for the US, I was told that the texting is free anywhere in North America and, again, no roaming charges. I had to put a credit card on the account in order to have the phone activated in the states but nothing was ever charged. I'm not sure why, but service is cut off as soon as I cross the Bluewater Bridge into Michigan without the cc on the account. I guess they must activate it a different way or something

 

[F4disneyfan]

We've used T-Mobile Pay As You Go in the past...just a cheap phone bought at Walmart in Detroit before a trip. For $25 it came with 30 minutes/60 days if I remember correctly.

For a recent trip we bought a Tracfone for $15 at Walmart in Detroit which came with 20 minutes total during online activation at tracfone.com (which we did in our hotel room with the laptop) and bought a $10/30min card to add to that, which also adds 45 day to the service end date. You can make international calls for the same price as calling in the US by calling a 1-800 number first or by assigning up to 10 1-800 numbers to your most dialed international numbers, for faster dialing, which is explained on their website. So DH programmed the phone with all the numbers we might need here at home, into the address book. It was nice to be able to call home and not see all the minutes eaten up because we were calling Canada. I returned to Florida this month and just bought another $10 card to add to what was left from the previous trip last month. The desk top tells you how many minutes you have left and when the service end date for the phone is if you don't top it up. Right now our service end date is March 10, 2008.

We just picked up a tracfone in Port Huron for 49 bucks with lifetime double minutes so any card you add to it automatically doubles in minutes. The phone also retains teh double minutes even if you let the service become inactive after the 90 days so next time you call to activate the phone you will still get teh double minutes. Not only that but Tracfone will assign a local Canadian number to you to give to people at home so they can call that to reach you on your tracfone in teh US without them incuring any long distance charges.

 

[F4disneyfan]

are you sure about this?? someone from work said that they tried and called the tracfone hotline .. but they only took orders using a United states credit from a U.S.A. address ??? can anyone confirm this ??

thanks !

Tracfone will ship to Canada and sell to a Canadian address using a Canadian CC. I just spoke with them a week ago regarding this mind you we just drove to Sarnia to visit family then hopped over to Port Huron and went to Wally World and picked one up.

Here is the phones we purchased. It is the Motorolla flip with the double minutes for life.
http://www.tracfone.com/get_a_tracfone.jsp

 

[robinsnest49ers]

as Kartersmom said, yes you can text from your cell to a landline and.. you can send texts from your computer to a cell (both Rogers and Bell have "send texts" from your computer on their websites). my friends are on their way down now and we are texting back and forth, her on her phone, me on my computer.

she has an add on through bell that gives her texting in North America for $10.00/month. that means you can text in the parks too instead of calling (you can't hear half the time anyway), or using walkies.

So far Bell is the only carrier I know that gives you text that includes north america (they have 2500 texts/$10.00 now). I have a Rogers phone and am seriously trying to get them to cover all of North America, not just Canada. Maybe if we all email/call customer service we could make this happen.

cmon Canada let's get them to make a change Let's get Rogers Texting

 

[canadaman]

I have a bell phone and I am considering using there connect USA plan when I go to disney world.
it gives you 100 minutes. It says that roaming and long distance are included. It costs $40/ month. That seems a little expensive but i will only need it one week anyways.
Has anyone else used this plan before?? Were there any hidden costs using it??


Thanks.

 

[BLBCB]

In Manitoba, if you don't live in a major city you are limited to only having MTS cell service and even then there are many places around here where you don't get any service at all. We do have the add-on for free text messages for about $10 I think, and we used this last August in Florida, as well as Disneyland in February. No charges at all to send or receive text messages. I'm still from the generation though that I prefer to talk to someone instead of condensing my "orders" for everyone in a few words. I've never been a girl of few words! LOL

Does anyone know how long you have to activate the phones? I'm thinking of ordering some and I like to plan ahead. If I order them early do I have to activate them right away? Another issue could be if we had to cancel our trip. As long as I didn't activate the phones when they arrived could I wait and activate them later when we were again able to travel, even if it was up to a year later?

 

[CanadianGuy]

I have previously been a big fan of getting the USA Roaming package (I'm with Rogers) but this trip has made me completely swear off that option for any future trips!

I'm not sure what has changed with the two main Rogers roaming partners in the US (Cingular & T-Mobile) but I had no end of trouble with my phone last week. From my room at Pop Century, I could not make or receive calls. I could occasionally get text messages if I put my phone, on TOP of my refillable mug, on top of the TV armoire... and angled it 'just so.'

Coverage at DTD was pretty good.. but MK was hit or miss and on previous trips it was excellent. Basically, I was reduced to using text messages to communicate because the call would drop within the first 30 seconds anyway. Annoying!

My friend had a TracPhone and he had much better coverage than I did and generally didn't have any problems.

Next time, I'll have a TracPhone too! Tomorrow I have to call Rogers and politely inform them I'm not paying for the US Roaming option ... I ended up using less than 30 minutes of 240 I paid for.. and most of those were redials on dropped calls in the first three days... and that I want the texts credited too! (Wish me luck on THAT front.. ha ha)


Knox

 

[Kurby]

i made a bunch of calls for information AFTER going to the states and buying a 900 minute card (which when you convert the minutes per call is actually only 300 minutes since it takes 3 minutes per minute to call back to Toronto) anyways we figured this would be a good option when in hotel rooms driving down to call back home.

turns out we didn't need to do this.

We have Bell mobility and unlimited text messaging. which means that texting back and forth to each other if one is at the snack bar and one in the pool or doing laundry or whatever we can text for free.

PLUS

when i text message to a land line they get an automated voice that speaks the text message i send and they can send me a voice message to which i just call an 800 number to receive - again all free.

so i think we'll use up that calling card then stick with text messages.

 

[roxazul]

Where can I buy a cheap cellphone in WDW ?
I only need one for child safety reasons, so even if only 5 minutes are included it will be ok.

I live in QC and I'm with FIDO, so my cell shows no service whenever I pass the border, but I really need one in case of an emergency as I'll travel alone with a 5yo.

 

[wee-haggis]

If I were to buy a Trac Phone and activate for 90 days,if the time expires and I want to use the phone several months later,will I have the same assigned phone number?.......is there a reactivation fee?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks

 

[tmli]

I just bought one and my understanding is that there is no reactivation fee and the number stays with the phone. I am not sure what the maximum would be before they re assigned the number.

I just bought mine at a Target in California for $28.99 and it included double minutes for life!

 

[endy]

I bought a Tracfone this week. I think I read on their site that you lose the number after it goes inactive and if you don't reactivate within a certain time you also lose the minutes.
By the way if you search online for tracfone codes you'll get lots. I bought 60 minutes and got 60 free doing this. That should give me tons for next month in CA. It also added extra days before it's inactive.
I did the Int'l number thing too so anyone trying to reach me calls a local Calgary number.
So I've only got $30 invested in it which is a whole lot less than using my Bell phone.

 

[m&n's mom]

My husband and I both have blackberries using Telus - we had no difficulties with receiving calls or emails while at Disney in Jan 08 at the resorts, parks etc. We also use the mike or walkie talkie portion without charge.

 

[mithuri]

We're visiting WDW next week and we just bought 2 cellphones from virginmobileusa.com - they are basically free - you only pay $20.00 for airtime and shipping is free. Airtime is apprx 0.20 cents/min. We're staying offsite and have requested to have them shipped to our hotel. (We just received a FEDEX tracking number from Virgin, so hopefully, we should have them when we checkin.

 

[canuck12345]

Hello, I just joined the forums and was considering getting a Trac Fone.
I was just wondering if these phones will work when I leave the US and get back into Canada?
Or if they would work in border towns like Sarnia?

I would like to use it while in the US but will it work at all in, say, Sarnia?

 

[I Am Canadian Eh]

Wouldn't count on it working all that much in Canada... might be hit or miss. I've heard of it working for some people, not for others.

Probably will be okay in border towns - I use my Virgin phone a lot in Niagara Falls and Sault Ste Marie with no problems - basically because you're still picking up the US towers.

And if not, hey it's a pretty small investment