2-Way Radios

[Diane D]

Does anyone know where I could find 2-way radios to purchase at a discounted price?

 

[Diane D]

I meant to post this on the Parks board. Sorry! Will re-post.

 

[ducklite]

Those things really annoy me. There is nothing ruder than people who go into a show and in the middle of the show someones radio starts squawking, and then they have a conversation with someone that goes something like this:

"WE'RE IN THE LITTLE MERMAID! WE'LL RENDEVOUS WITH YOU AT 1600 HOURS IN FRONT OF TOWER OF TERROR"

If you buy these things, please have the common courtesy to TURN THEM OFF when you go into shows and restaurants!!!

There is NOTHING that is THAT important that you should disturb 800 other people. If you are a candidate for organ donation, you'll have a pager set on vibrate.

Instead of radios, invest in cell phones. You can set them to vibrate, not answer when it is inappropriate to do so, and let VM pick up instead.

Anne

 

[Dalpal]

We just got cell phone and are planing to use them in WDW. Has anyone done this ? Do they work well(reception)? They have to be better then 2 ways. Last time we used them we could hear everybody but the people we were trying to talk to.

 

[ducklite]

Depends on your service provider. When we had Sprint it was terrible--there was NO service in the AK or MGM, scattered service in the MK, and OK service in Epcot. Now, this was a couple years back, so it might have changed. With Verizon we have at least acceptable service everywhere, but mostly great service throughout!

Anne

 

[Dalpal]

Thanks,
Thats what we have.

 

[lizzie64]

Don't you pay roaming charges ? I know I have 3000 free minutes, but I believe I have to pay roaming charges if I'm not in my home area.

I find your wholesale clubs have great deals on the 2-ways. BJ's, Costco and Sam's. Also Best Buy.

 

[ducklite]

Hey Lizzie--Nope! Not for Versizon anyways--their network extends all the way down the East coast

My son thought it was cool too, he called his buds from down there.

Anne

 

[lizzie64]

Originally posted by ducklite
Hey Lizzie--Nope! Not for Versizon anyways--their network extends all the way down the East coast

My son thought it was cool too, he called his buds from down there.

Anne

Thanks Anne,

We have Verizon, so that's good to know. We'll have all our phones with us.

 

[denman007]

Verizion National plan rocks....NO roaming No long distance charges and tons of mins.

$35 for 1st phone
$20 for each add.

Best way to communicate between parties in Disney!

 

[lizzie64]

Originally posted by denman007
Verizion National plan rocks....NO roaming No long distance charges and tons of mins.

$35 for 1st phone
$20 for each add.

Best way to communicate between parties in Disney!

That's exactly what we have Denman. Cool. Where have I been living that I didn't know about the no roaming charges.

 

[LtlTee]

And I agree, there is a common curtesy that should be followed when using them, as well as cell phones.

I prefer the 2-way radios for a few reasons. We let our 12-year-old go the arcade for short periods by herself or to the food court to grab something quick, but she has to stay in touch. While we feel she is independent enough to begin to venture out on her own, I am real hesitant to let her take a cell phone. On our last trip she lost her camera and her wallet, putting them down somewhere. I'm not gonna care (as much!) if she loses one of our $45 2-way radios. I have #s and all kinds of stuff programmed into my cell, and it would be a huge inconvenience if anything happened to it. Plus, we use the 2-ways all the time at home. If the kids are outside in the neighbor's back yard, I can always be in touch with them.

Our kids' ages are 12, 6 and 2 1/2, so we split up frequently. The radios are invaluable in this respect. I have had problems with our cell phone reception in the parks in the past (we don't have Verizon and are unfortunately locked into our plan for another six months or so.) We have never had a problem with our radios with other conversations or interference -- the key is to getting radios that have subchannels.

There will always be the people who don't turn the 2-way radios off in shows (so you can hear the message that Anne described), or the people who have their cell phones programmed to ring the theme song from The Dukes of Hazzard over and over again while you try to enjoy a relaxing dinner, or the ones who sit smack dab in the middle of the row instead of moving all the way down. I'm sure some of these people are rude in the "real world" and it doesn't go away when they arrive at WDW.

 

[shovelhd]

Some of the better GMRS radios i.e. Talkabout 5820 have a vibrate feature. Just like with a pager or cellphone, you have to remember to set them this way. FRS radios are no more obnoxious than cellphones.

Chris

 

[BethR]

We have Verizon, but do not have the Nationwide plan. So we have roaming charges at most places outside of PA.

We like the 2 way radios. But I will be sure to remember to shut them off when we go into attractions.

Diane - if you are not going anytime soon, then I suggest that you watch this board for good deals on 2 way radios. Last year we bought 4 of them for $10 a piece at Circuit City on a tip that we got on this board.

Good Luck!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by shovelhd
Some of the better GMRS radios i.e. Talkabout 5820 have a vibrate feature. Just like with a pager or cellphone, you have to remember to set them this way. FRS radios are no more obnoxious than cellphones.

Chris

For the few people who have the radios that they set on vibrate and don't answer at inappropriate times, I agree. But most people don't have these radios, and they leave them TURNED ALL THE WAY UP SO THEY CAN HEAR IN A SHOW. Regretfully everyone else hears as well.

DH and I have used our cell phones at WDW for years now. We always leave them on vibrate (I don't even know what my cell's ring sounds like!) and let VM pick up when it's not an appropriate time to answer. Do I talk on the phone while sitting on a bench in the warm sun at Epcot? Sure! But no one can hear my conversation, and I'm not in a place that I'll be disrupting everyone else's experience.

Anne

 

[Poohnatic]

Originally posted by Dalpal
We just got cell phone and are planing to use them in WDW. Has anyone done this ? Do they work well(reception)? They have to be better then 2 ways. Last time we used them we could hear everybody but the people we were trying to talk to.

I bought the Motorola FRS for our last trip and they worked well....then I finally got DH to agree to upgrading my cell to the family plan with 2 phones (I commute 45 minutes to an hour to work, so I've had my cell for a while). Now we've got free mobile to mobile. I have to say, it's been great everywhere. I used that cell phone all over WDW and got cell to cell calls w/o any problems. (It's funny to have your phone ring w/the Illuminations music while watching Illuminations!)

I will tell you, I much preferred using the earpiece when using the phone at WDW. I left it clipped to my pants all week. I also went out and bought ear pieces for the FRS's when we got back. Like Ducklite, I found it annoying when others would YELL into theirs, but I can understand the hard to hear the others in your party thing! Our rule was outside use only (except for the bathrooms, my DH can be strange, LOL)

Suzanne

 

[gapere]

F.Y.I. I have the Verizon nationwide plan and I still had an $8.00 phone call when I had to call cust serv to fix a reservation error when I was down there. (I called from Port Orleans)

Since I never pursued why I roamed I can't say for certain why I did. My own theory is that Disney owns the exclusive rights to the cell phone towers on its property and hence maybe everyone roams but again, I'm just speculating.

I have since purchased two ways for our trips to Downtown Disney as my wife and I inevitably split up since she loves to shop for hours and I head off to DisneyQuest.

I bought mine for twenty bucks after rebate from CompUSA. You can usually find a deal for a pair from places like BestBuy and CircuitCity.

 

[Disbug]

We have the NEXTEL motorola phones with the Direct Connect feature. That worked great! In fact, on a few trips when DH stayed home with Disney Baby, the older girls and I would use the Direct Connect feature to let him in on the fun while we were riding the ride (we promised not to key the mike while riding "It's a Small, Small World. That song drives him crazy!)
I find it interesting that people with the two way radios were interrupting the shows. It seems like most times you went inside a buiding, the reception was terminated. (Maybe only on the cheaper radios?)

 

[Mskanga]

I have done both, 2 way radios and cell phones, with the 2 way radios I never had a problem, however I always shut it off during a show and told my dh , if I don't answer is because I'm on a ride or in a show. I have the vibrate feature with the cell phone and guess what?? I couldn't tell when someone was calling because I didn't feel anything, so I had to keep it on ring but again , the phone was shut off during shows and during rides since most of them are loud , you can't hear it anyway.
I have verizon nationwide plan and I never paid roaming charges from anywhere in WDW , we also have free mobil to mobil , believe me it worked great!

 

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

a lot of people will have these two way radios at the parks as you will soon find out. One of the best hints that I can give you is get a set of two way radios that lets you lock your channel in and block other unwanted signals. My mother bought a set of these and she said it was well worth the money because she did not have to hear other peoples conversations or keep swithing channels to be able to talk.
also I think i remember reading in one of my travel books that you can rent pagers and/or cell phones from disney resorts. if this has changed please excuse the mis information.