aussie visit wdw - phones?

[award101]

Heya. Just wondering what other aussie guests do for mobile phones in the parks etc. We are with telstra and meeting Canadian family there as well as have some friends who live in orlando and it will be needed to make plans, catch up etc How does the international phone thing work without costing an arm and a leg?

 

[PrincessInOz]

I normally buy a US prepaid plan when I arrive in the US.

You need to make sure that your phone is unlocked. If you haven't unlocked your phone, ring Telstra and they will need to do it for you.

There are a number of options for purchasing a US phone plan. There are a number of Aussies that have bought plans/SIMs either online or from local places here to take it with them.

I tend to get to a phone retail shop when I arrive. My personal preference is AT&T because my family and friends are mostly all on AT&T. AT&T will give me the SIM for $0 when I walk into their shop and purchase a phone plan.

The plan I go with is the Go Phone Prepaid plan. I get the $2 per day prepaid plan which includes all talk and text. You can get one for the smart phones, if that's the type of phone you have. Depending on how long you are going for, they do offer a one month, $60 prepaid option that includes 2 gB of data.

Others on here will have their personal preferences. I would suggest that you stick with Verizon or AT&T for coverage purposes.

 

[ssour]

If you're on Disney property and have access to WiFi you could just use Viber or Skype and pay Skype's rates for calls to US numbers. But if you're planning on ringing them regularly then an international or US sim will be a better option.

 

[burne99]

I also get a prepaid once I am there, make sure your numbers are saved to your phone not just your sim. You can usually add on international call pack to call home but some don't include mobiles. I also purchase phone cards here from a newsagent, I go with daybreak but pick one for yourself, so people in Australia can use it to call usa mobiles cheap. I usually get about 3 hours worth of calls for a $10 card that is currently on sale for $8, great for kids or parents to call you. Must cheaper for all.

 

[teddykins]

I got the $60 2.5gb AT&T SIM card when I was over there and it worked so well for the two weeks we were there, only time it didn't work was when we were on the ocean to half moon cay but once we got maybe 3 or so hours back near Miami we got service again. We did have reception on the ship through the military wifi but it was slow and expensive.

Wifi in the parks is a bit slow now that everyone is doing fp+ so found it easier to just use the AT&T card around the parks and I did *everything* on my phone, upload to FB, check mde, photopass plus site etc and the data lasted the two weeks plus I was able to call back home and text my other friends who were in the US so it was simple and nice not to worry about it all

 

[losfp]

I like to plan everything to the nth degree, so even though I know a lot of people recommend buying a prepaid sim when you get there, I ended up getting a couple of USA SIM cards sent out before we left. That way I could double check the size/fit etc, and have all the documentation sorted out. All I had to do was ring the activation number when we landed at LAX and within 5 minutes, I had call and internet reception

 

[LisaAJ]

Were these the T-mobile ones losfp?

I've been meaning to compare these to to the AT&T plan.

We have been given a US smartphone by a friend but I may just use my old iPhone 5c. Not sure yet.

 

[losfp]

Were these the T-mobile ones losfp?

Nah they were AT&T. From what I could figure out, they would give us the best coverage through our travels in 2012. Still had zero reception from the Grand Canyon through to Monument Valley. Had some panicked messages left at our hotel at Monument Valley by my dad - he was worrying because I hadn't posted any photos or status updates to Facebook in over 2 days hahahaha.

 

[award101]

Thank you kindly for everyone's replies. I greatly appreciate it we have a Samsung smartphone so AT&T sounds good.

 

[LisaAJ]

Nah they were AT&T. From what I could figure out, they would give us the best coverage through our travels in 2012.

Where did you order those from?

 

[losfp]

Where did you order those from?

From memory it was USA SIMs. I probably paid over the odds, but I was willing to do that so I wouldn't have to find a shop when we landed and so there wouldn't be problems with getting the right SIM or plan etc.

 

[LisaAJ]

From memory it was USA SIMs. I probably paid over the odds, but I was willing to do that so I wouldn't have to find a shop when we landed and so there wouldn't be problems with getting the right SIM or plan etc.

Thanks, I might look into it

 

[award101]

Does the whole resort have wifi or is it only in your resort? Thinking of just going with my current phone and just using Facebook chat for phone calls.

 

[ssour]

Does the whole resort have wifi or is it only in your resort? Thinking of just going with my current phone and just using Facebook chat for phone calls.

In WDW the whole resort has WiFi. It can be slow at times and in the parks if you're not using it it tends to boot you off quickly, so you have to re-connect but I've not really had any issues with it. Our resort room was really slow one time and we called the support desk, they sent put a tech who rebooted the router our room was supposed to use and that fixed it - so be sure to question them if it's particularly slow.

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Heya. Just wondering what other aussie guests do for mobile phones in the parks etc. We are with telstra and meeting Canadian family there as well as have some friends who live in orlando and it will be needed to make plans, catch up etc How does the international phone thing work without costing an arm and a leg?

Hi
For our trip we purchased a $2 a day plan for unlimited text, phone calls to USA landlines and USA mobiles, you only pay for the day you use your phone, we also purchased an international kit for $10 so we can keep in touch at home.the sim is already activated before we leave Australia, you just switch your phone on when you arrive and it connects to their network.Your phone has to be unlocked, I find it safer this way so I don't risk any hidden charges on my post paid phone.