Any suggestions on Hand-held radios for use in parks?

[reddog]

Hi there-

We won't be going to Disney until April, but since we will be traveling with a 7 year old and 7 month old, I thought a pair of hand held radios would be quite helpful. I'm thinking about getting them anyways as a Christmas gift for my son to be able to use with his friends. Any suggestions on what you found to work well (plus any info on good deals!)?

Thanks

Laurie

 

[KathyFP]

We tried on our first and second trip with two different brands. They did not work very well for us. A lot of interference and able to hear a lot of others conversations.

 

[Kallison]

My neighbor told me not to bother, too many other conversations going on. We use cell phones to find each other, but we also leave detailed instructions where to meet when lost. It's amazing how you can say -- meet me in front of Tony's and not find that person in a crowd, so we'll say meet me on the bench next to the Goofy statue in front of Tony's.

 

[jdads2]

We tried this a couple of yrs ago, before they became THAT popular. What a joke! Too, many people using them. You might want to bring it and maybe you'll luck out and have a rare frequency.

My DW and I are bringing our cell phones.

 

[jiminyfan]

WE have 5 and 7 mile 2-ways and tehy work great. Last trip wife talked to me from the bus on the way to MK while I was on the Speedway with my son.

the 2 mile really are not worth it, unless you are looking for someone you know is close by.

Also get the ones with 38 sub channels you can always find at least one empty channel.

 

[momof4boys]

We tried them on our trip 2 yrs ago. We actually bought really good motorolla ones. They were a joke. We could never find a channel where there wasn't alot of interfence from others talking. We ended up giving them to the kids for playing with their friends. This time we plan on using our cell phones.

Good luck!
Regina

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We went last Easter and on the advice of the Disboard skipped the hand-helds and brought both our phones. Worked great!

My husband disagreed with that decision so of course I pointed out all of the people with hand-helds and one poor family that was in line at Peter Pan and was frustrated that they couldn't contact the rest of their party as they neared getting on the ride.

Had to prove that the Disboard was right ! Cellphones are the way to go.

 

[mom2of2]

Have had experiences with both. The cellphones worked ok except that we kept getting cut off and since DS12 kept loosing things I didn't feel comfortable giving him my cell. The 2 ways --Motorola T5400--I bought for the boys at X-mas (Target umm $50 I think!) worked out great, especially at CBR. They would go to the arcade while we lounged in our courtyard and they would check in ever few minutes. I also use them here at home when my oldest DS goes to a friends house.

 

[reddog]

Well that has helped make my decision. I will spend the $ on a second cell phone instead. My husband has one for work but can only use it in the northeast, so we will have to purchase another family phone, but that seems to make more sense right now!

Thanks for all your help!

Laurie

 

[castlegazer]

Please, please heed Kallison's advice. Cell Phones are prone not to work as well - most problems occur in MK. We were never able to reach our friends when we tried in MK and our plans to meet were less than detailed - we said meet us in the cinema on Main Street (the thing is huge with two entrances) so we wasted a good hour looking for them before we just gave up and went on with our day alone.

Two-ways definately did not work for us in MK but in Epcot, as long as we were only a country away they worked limitedly - enough to have running jokes but in an emergency where we got separated they didn't work. We did have a good plan here so we were able to meet back up again.