Bring own vcr??

[SlightlyGoofy]

We are used to watching some tv before going to sleep and the channels at DW leave a bunch to be desired. Has anyone ever taken their own vcr from home to use in their room? Do the tv's have front controls as I would not be comfortable messing around the back of their tv's.

I bring my own pillows and sheets but when I start to think about taking my own mattress it will be time to stay home. LOL

If you believe this to be a wrong thing please disagree without being disagreeable. Thank you.

SG/Linda

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by SlightlyGoofy


I bring my own pillows and sheets

I don't think they have ports on the front of the tv's. Maybe you could give us a hint as to which resort you are talking about.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

We will be staying at the AS Sports for 16 days leaving next week. I do not remember if they have front connections. If they do it would be simple to hook up a vcr. I am fairly handy in that department. LOL

It would be wonderful to be able to tape a few of our favorite shows while we are out in the parks to have to watch either late at night or while resting in the mornings instead of watching resort tv over and over and over.

SG/Linda

 

[harlock_jds]

the TVs at the AKL have video jacks on the front (at least my room did) so you could easily plug in a VHS, DVD player or a game system. I wish i had known this before i left because i would have brought my own.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Since a vcr is not all that big I have decided to take one and if there are front connections I will be set. Because of health reasons we have to stay long periods of time to see all that we want to see and it would be great to have some of the comforts of home while we are there.

Thank you for the input. I am guessing that most newer tv's have front connections. Will let you know how it came out when we return.

SG/Linda

 

[chamonix]

We bring a small travel size DVD player when we stay at the Poly. (Actually, we always travel with it for the car and plane part of the trips.) We had no trouble hooking it up, but can't recall if there were jacks on the front or back of the TV. Either way it was a simple hookup, not to worry.

I also like to have my own pillow whenever I travel (it's firmer than most hotel pillows, and I also have dust and dander allergies). I also take the bedspreads off the bed as soon as we enter the room and throw them in the closet for the duration of our trip, and prefer to stay in concierge where they double sheet the blankets too. I'm OK with the hotel sheets though I totally understand those who are not. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for that kind of stuff. We all have our personal comfort zones.

Have a great trip!

 

[goin2disneyagain]

Sams did have some small VCR's that would be perfect for traveling. They were the size of a portable DVD player and less than $40. It would be easier to take something like that than a fullsize VCR.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Ahhh Shucks, you guys are so nice. I was a bit afraid to ask for fear that I would be hit by people castigating me for not staying at a deluxe and expecting something approaching comfort. LOL

goin2disneyagain (love your name, could be mine also) I have a stockpile of vcr's as people are always giving me their 'broken' ones. Is usually an easy fix. I will take one of my tried and true ones though as I am picky and extremely careful and would not want to take something that might be defective.

I throw my sheet over the top of the bed as the only comfortable place to sit in a Value is on the bed and I do not want to sit on the comfortor, even at Disney.

chamonix, I was going to buy my grandsons a portable DVD player for their new van until someone clued me into buying a small television set with a built in DVD player. Is much cheaper and keeps the kids from fighting over who can see the screen. You have to make sure to secure it carefully though as anything loose in a car can be hazardous in an accident. Even the small ones could hit someone pretty hard if knocked loose. I am all for anything that keeps kids entertained while travelling. I carry books and such in my car as I encourage reading over watching tv. I am going to borrow some book tapes for our upcoming trip. I have a close relationship with our local library so they will let me borrow them for more than the usual two weeks. Now, what books to pick? LOL

Less than a week to go before we leave. Getting exciting around here. I printed off a bunch of Cast Member appreciation cards today, hope I did enough. So many nice people, so little printer ink.

SG/Linda

 

[twocat]

Where did you print off the CM Apprecition cards or did you make them yourself?

 

[Micca]

I recorded some audio off of the tv at BWI last trip I think you can hookup a vcr for playback pretty easily, but you'll need to do it from the back of the set. It's no big deal to do that, the set pulls forward and will not fall out of the cabinet(at least that's how it was at BWI). DVD players are generally smaller than VCRs, and are pretty cheap. I would recommend purchasing one of the cheap ones and renting a few DVDs before you leave home(I'd say buy some Disney DVDs at WDW but they are way too expensive there).

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Twocat, I am not good at doing the fancy stuff on the site so I fear I cannot hook you up with an url but if you do a 'search' on cast member appreciation cards you should be able to find your way to them. That is what I did when I got lost and could not find my way back. LOL They are cute, several versions.

Micc, you are a person after my own heart, too expensive at Disney. LOL I have a bunch of vcr's, several dvd players and a bunch of tapes and or dvd's. I am cheap on some things so that I can afford things that I really want. I love electronics. As a matter of fact I am hitting Circuit City on Tuesday morning to buy my first digital camera, ignoring Zurg's wise advice to buy way in advance and practice, practice, practice. Who needs no stinkin' instruction manual? LOL

SG/Linda

 

[rcraw45425]

They are very user friendly (our 7 ( 9 year olds use ours) and have come down a lot in price. We paid close to $500 for our 4.1 MP one a few years back, now I saw that Circuit City or Best Buy had a 5 MP one for around $300. I'd recommend nothing lower than a 4 MP. higher the number the better. Ask the salesperson to let you test it and have them print a picture so you cansee the quality. HTH

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Robin, I got burned by Sony once when I bought a defective camcorder so I have avoided them since. I know others love them though. The Nikkon Coolpix is so small and easy to operate so I will stick with that though I love the idea of a camera that puts it directly on disk. I am saving up to buy a DVD recorder to transfer all my many tapes to DVD's for Christmas and after this huge vacation the budget, for the year, has pretty much stretched as far as it is going to go. Have to start saving up for our next DW vacation next. LOL

SG/Linda

 

[cigar95]

In my last few stays, the televisions have all had input jacks on the front panel, but no jacks, either input or output, on the back. These were mostly at deluxe and DVC resorts, so I can't say if the same would hold for the value properties.

As an aside - to watch your external source, set the TV to channel 2, and then go "down" one or two more channels. At that point, it cycles through two or three different external input options.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Cigar, I am electronically capable in that I can hook up most things and can even set up two vcr's to dub etc. but I have no idea what you are talking about

set the TV to channel 2, and then go "down" one or two more channels. At that point, it cycles through two or three different external input options.

Please educate me? (smile) I understand about having the tv and source on the same channel.

SG/Linda

 

[CarolA]

I have not done this at Disney, but did try it at another hotel. No Go! These TVs just don't work well with outside equipment.

 

[cigar95]

Originally posted by SlightlyGoofy
Cigar, I am electronically capable in that I can hook up most things and can even set up two vcr's to dub etc. but I have no idea what you are talking about

OK, all I'm saying is that you have to tell the television set where it's taking its input from. Rather than tuning to a particular channel, you have to tell it to take its input from one of the external sources.

From what I have seen, it appears that the WDW television sets simply treat the external inputs as unnumbered channels. So you can't get to it by tuning to a channel number - instead, suppose you tune to channel 5, then you can use the "channel down" button on the remote to scroll to channel 4, then 3, then 2. If you keep on going, you get the external sources - think of them as channels 1, 0, and -1. (Some television sets may not have all three, and as far as I know only one of them will work - that will be the one corresponding to the front panel input.)

I generally use this to look at my daily videos from my camcorder - haven't tried it with a VCR, but as long as it's a standard video/audio signal with an RCA cable, it won't be any different.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Cigar, thanks for the info. I think I understand. As much as I love to read you would figure I would learn by reading but I have found trial and error is the way to go, for me. LOL


Five days to go!

SG/Linda