Anyone use 2 way radios to communicate?

[DisFam95]

What advice can you give? What features to look for? Did they work well?

I'm preggo and cannot ride the coasters and my friend's husband can't ride due to motion sickness so we'll have the kids and I don't want to be tied to a bench or 1 store. I'd like to be able to wander a small area and have the 2-ways so our other party can find us.

Any commenst appreciated!

 

[SnowyPrincesses:)]

If you're staying at a Disney resort I'd ask about renting the two way pagers, then you don't have to listen to anyone else one your walkies.

 

[jlcbshaw]

We have used them in the parks and as SnowyPrincesses stated unless you want to hear everyone else, I would consider another option. We finally gave up on our radios due to all of the "chatter" from everyone else that was using them in the parks.

We are planning on using our cell phone this year. We have unlimited calling for our phone with no roaming and everything that I have read about phone receiption is good. If this isn't an option for you I would check into the pagers.

Good luck.

 

[vicb]

We used them last year. Yes there is alot of "chatter" and once I even held a conversation with the wrong husband too funny! But overall they did fine and helped us out in several incidences.

My advice- pick a channel and a back up one to try too. Don't use a cute disney code name like "Goofy Dad to Minnie Mouse Mom". Everyone does that and it can be very confusing. Don't refer to your spouse as "honey, hon, sweetie, babe" etc. as you may end up making plans with the wrong guy (that's what happened to me).

 

[Bellefan66]

Yup, lots of chatter. And how many "Goofy Dad" and "Goofy Son"'s where there....a zillion!! So needless to say, we had SEVERAL conversations with someone else's hubby and son! This time we will use our cell phones,or a rented pager.Still have the walkie-talkies' as a momento.

 

[DisFam95]

Too funny about talking to the wrong hubby!!!! How do the Disney pagers work?

We do have cell phones w/ T-mobile and unlimited calling/no roaming. I just remember when trying to call our friends last year there our calls would never go through and it was so choppy and we finally gave up calling them. But they had a different service. I knows ours has the little chip in it that can be used overseas so DH thought it was our friends bad service/phones.

Thanks!

 

[kimwim8]

I think it depends on which type of 2 ways you have. We bought Motorolla ones that had subchannels, which helped A LOT! We didn't have any interference at all. PM me if you'd like to know the exact brand. I think they cost us around $80, but we figured we'd use them every time we go to WDW. My sister went with us to WDW last time & bought much less expensive 2 ways without the subchannels & she had a LOT of interference.

I'm not saying that it's all about how much they cost, but that I think the different features are what help them work better.

 

[robinb]

Yes! We use radios in the parks and they are invaluable. The solution to the problem of cross talk is two fold. (1) Buy identical GMRS radios and (2) Use the "private" feature found on those radios.

The GMRS radios are better than FRS radios because they are more powerful and they have extra channels. I find the higher channels to be less busy. I really like the Motorola T5950 Rechargeables (http://commerce.motorola.com/cgi-bi...=255363&prmenbr=126&twoway_cgrfnbr=9&zipcode=). We use them at WDW and all summer.

Please note, you must pay the FCC to receive a licence to use GRMS radios: (http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/generalmobile/index.html). It's $80 for a 5 year licence. One big advantage is that you can use your FCC call sign when communicating instead of "Goofy Dad".

 

[G00fyDad]

How do the rented pagers work?

 

[SandrainNC]

Yes there is alot of "chatter" and once I even held a conversation with the wrong husband

I did that too!!! We were coming off of Space Mountain and I heard "my husband" fussing at me to hurry up because his fast pass was going to expire. I started yelling in the radio that I was going as fast as I could, we just came off the ride, blah blah blah. And then the person came back on and said "I think you have the wrong person". Oops!

I thought the radios were great but ours didn't work well when we were in line inside. Like inside Test Track I was trying to let my DH know it had broken down and it would be a while and he couldn't hear me. And another time my BIL was inside (whatever that ride is called with Ellen in it at Epcot - Energy or something like that) and we couldn't find him. We kept trying to call him but because he was inside he couldn't hear us.

Sandra

 

[jehma]

We do have cell phones w/ T-mobile and unlimited calling/no roaming. I just remember when trying to call our friends last year there our calls would never go through and it was so choppy and we finally gave up calling them.

We had AT&T last time and had no problem. We have Verizon now, and don't expect a problem, and with unlimited mobile to mobile it'll be free.

 

[G00fyDad]

DW and I plan to use our Cingular phones down there. We are also going to try to get the walkie talkie feature phones.

I looked at Cingular coverage maps. The orange areas showed the coverage areas for Cingular. Almost the entire state of Florida is orange. Cingular people shouldnt have a problem.

 

[ljones]

Planning to use next week

Will post effectiveness when return

 

[DreadpiratK]

We use the two-way radios all the time, including in Disney. The trick is to make sure that you have models with sub-channels. The standard FRS radio has 14 channels, and they get pretty crowded, but on slightly better models you have 38 sub frequencies to choose from on each channel, so your likely to find one without someone else using it. Just make sure that you have a pre-determined second channel to switch to, if someone gets on the one you are using.

We use our kids b-days, so when a channel gets busy, or someone is bothering us on it, we just tell the kids to move up to Erin's channel 4/28 or Ben's channel 5/22. That way annoying people can't follow you.

Many models have a privacy feature that scrambles what you say for everyone else, so look for that , but it means eveyone in your party has to have the same make and model. These things have gotten very cheap recently, you can pick up a decent pair for under $50.

Sounds like using proper names, or picking unusual call-signs might be a good idea too, from what I'm reading here!

Our last trip we made sure all the kids had one, just in case, but stayed together most of the time so we didn't use them much. I felt a lot better just knowing I could call them whenever they were out of my line of sight, or they cold call me if they got lost.

 

[Bellefan66]

The talking with the wrong spouse stories are hilarious! My DH and DS were coming off of SM and the girls and I were over by the castle waiting for the fireworks. I was telling him,tell me where your at so I can wave, and he's like, I'm right by the castle...well, there is more than ONE side to the castle...WHERE by the castle...and someone else's DH is yelling, I'm standing directly infront of it where the **** are you?? At that moment I realized this wasn't MY dh, BUT I could see this guy, yelling into his walkie and I knew he was yelling at me!!! TOO funny!! :

 

[Ambassador]

We use radios when we go separate ways (rarely), and arrange a contact time. We use unique 'handles' such as 'Alfalfa' and 'Darla', and set contact times following every twenty minutes from the original contact point. If no message is received within a five-minute window, you wait for the next message twenty minutes later. That way you don't listen to all the chatter crackling away.

We have cell phones for back up only: too many interruptions from the outside real world.

 

[G00fyDad]

...We have cell phones for back up only: too many interruptions from the outside real world.

What interuptions?

 

[robinb]

What interuptions?

I can not tell you how many times my husband's work has called him while at WDW. He now leaves his cell phone back in the room and I carry mine in case friends or family needs to reach us.

 

[G00fyDad]

I can not tell you how many times my husband's work has called him while at WDW. He now leaves his cell phone back in the room and I carry mine in case friends or family needs to reach us.

Ohhhhh

 

[missminniemouse]

We also have Motorola models with subchannels and they have worked great for us over the past few years. We always set a backup time and place to meet just in case we can't reach each other for some reason. Most of the time we stay together in the parks, but on occasion, when the kids are both particularly cranky we split up and each take one in different directions.