Buying cell phones for use in Disney ?

[DisneyRookie2007]

There are a few threads on this already, but I want the opinions of Canadians who have done this before.

We do not currently have our own cell phones, so that option is out.

For our next trip (Mar 2012), we want to purchase 2 pre-paid cell phones for use while we are in WDW to be able to keep in touch with our DD and her friend, and perhaps to call home on occasion.

Net10 does not ship to Canada - I've emailed them on that already - too bad to as they have a phones and minutes packages available at a reasonable price.

From what I read it's best to buy the phones at Target or Walmart and activate them when we get to WDW or online before we leave?

We might be able to vacation in Maine later this summer and if so, we will buy a couple phones at that time. I just want to know the least expensive phones/packages so we don't overpay for what we want.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We will not likely use the phones again so I don't want to be sold on a more expensive option for future top-up of minutes, etc.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Interested in this too!

 

[Kat&Dom]

My mom had bought a prepaid phone at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago when she went with us. She had to call a 1-800 number to activate and activation took a couple of days. She bought the cheapest phone package - I think it was about $20 and she had lots of leftover minutes. A lot of her "snowbird" friends use this option when they are down in the States.

 

[bankr63]

I gave a fairly detailed review of our experience with Net10 phones this past March here:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=40440781&postcount=369
We weren't totally satisfied due to coverage issues with the provider, but otherwise I think it is a good idea and worth the cost. It's not much more than a good set of walkie talkies and has a lot more range and flexibility.

Activation was quick and easy, took minutes to complete for everything but the international dialling.

We bought our phones at Publix grocery store.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Are there any places in the Orlando airport that cell these phones? I'm sure there wouldn't be anywhere on site at Disney - and we never rent a car when we go - so we will need to get something prior to going or at the airport when we arrive.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I have a Tracfone. I bought my first one about 6 years ago but at that time if you let the minutes expire you had to either get a new SIM card or a new phone....this is not the case now. Anyway, I bought a new one last year while I was in the US for the weekend. I bought it at Walmart and the phone was $10 and a 60 minute phone card was $20. With Tracfone you can find codes online that will get you extra minutes or extend the expiry date for free. I find this to be a big bonus.

There is also a couple of good features....
1. they have a 1-800 # that you can use to make long distance calls that will bill the calls at the regular per minute rate....so no long distance fees.
2. you can go online and register the phone to get a local number that will allow friends/family at home to call you without incurring long distance charges.

One thing to know is that on the phone I have I can not send text messages....I can receive them though. I'm guessing that I needed to buy a higher model of phone to be able to text. I have never gotten around to calling the customer service number to enquire about this.

 

[tgropp]

We purchased the "Net10" package for $34.00. This included a LG cell phone and 225 minutes. We used this phone for our Christmas vacation and all our childrens spouses phoned their parents, we phoned our family members and used it more than we needed and had plenty of minutes left. I had read that it was also good not only in all U.S. states but also Puerto Rico, St Thomas and St Croix. We addaed another $20.00 and used the phone while on the cruise as all three couples that were with us used the phone to keep in touch at home. It even worked one night while I was sitting on the balcony and could see island lights from a distance. It had amazing reception. Since the minutes expire after three months, we gave the phone to our friends as they were travelling to Florida for Spring Break and they used the phone during their vacation and there were still minutesleft. We intend to give the phone to our friends while they go to Florida. All they have to do is add on $20.00 for 200 minutes.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I see an opportunity for a phone share!

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

I see an opportunity for a phone share!

I wonder if there is also an opportunity for friends/family in the USA to purchase a phone (or two) on the NET10 website and then ship it here to us in Canada ?? I wonder if this would be economical to ship to Canada ?

Net10 seems to have phone and free minutes packages while stores like Walmart and Target have only the phones - meaning you have to buy additional minutes.

 

[zebsterama]

Thanks to everyone for this information. Looking forward to hearing more!

Cheers,
Zebsterama

 

[zebsterama]

We purchased the "Net10" package for $34.00. This included a LG cell phone and 225 minutes. We used this phone for our Christmas vacation and all our childrens spouses phoned their parents, we phoned our family members and used it more than we needed and had plenty of minutes left. I had read that it was also good not only in all U.S. states but also Puerto Rico, St Thomas and St Croix. We addaed another $20.00 and used the phone while on the cruise as all three couples that were with us used the phone to keep in touch at home. It even worked one night while I was sitting on the balcony and could see island lights from a distance. It had amazing reception. Since the minutes expire after three months, we gave the phone to our friends as they were travelling to Florida for Spring Break and they used the phone during their vacation and there were still minutesleft. We intend to give the phone to our friends while they go to Florida. All they have to do is add on $20.00 for 200 minutes.

Wondering where did you end up buying the Net10 phone/package?

Thanks,
Zebsterama

 

[tgropp]

Wondering where did you end up buying the Net10 phone/package?

Thanks,
Zebsterama

We purchased the phone at Walmart in Port Huron.We activated the phone over a 1-800 number and you do the same if you want to top it up

 

[zebsterama]

We purchased the phone at Walmart in Port Huron.We activated the phone over a 1-800 number and you do the same if you want to top it up

Thanks very much for getting back to me so quickly!

Cheers,
Zebsterama

 

[stefanospops]

Verizon Prepaid plans are another option, especially with larger groups. Verizon has a plan where you only pay for the days you use your phone, so no minutes to worry about expiring, however you need to keep the account active by making a payment to it. The cost is $1.99 per day for unlimited evening and weekend and $0.25/minute during the day. Or you can go to $0.99/day and pay $0.10 per minute evenings and weekend.

The best part though is that either of those options gives you unlimited Verizon to Verizon calling. So if you both have Verizon phones your cost is $2 a day or $14 for the week you are there if you use it every day. Skip a day and save the $2!

 

[Baltica]

If you have an unlocked GSM phone (from Rogers or elsewhere) lying around you can pick up an AT&T SIM card for it off eBay and use it for that company's prepaid GoPhone plans.

It's worked perfectly every time I've done it. You can have everything set up online with AT&T and have your phone numbr all set before you leave home. AT&T service clicks in as soon as you cross the border.

 

[Distopia]

This doesn't apply to the OP (sorry for butting in!), but for others with existing phones, I thought I'd pass this along. I just learned last night while getting a phone upgrade with Bell that they offer a "Florida package". For a set fee, you have minutes/texting instead of the outrageous roaming charges and per text fees. We are not big cell users and only made a handful of calls to each other in the park (none home to Canada) on our last trip, but ended up paying over 100$ extra that month. Now, I forgot to ask pricing and details, but the customer support chat is very quick and easy. I'll try to find out later today.

 

[pigletto]

This doesn't apply to the OP (sorry for butting in!), but for others with existing phones, I thought I'd pass this along. I just learned last night while getting a phone upgrade with Bell that they offer a "Florida package". For a set fee, you have minutes/texting instead of the outrageous roaming charges and per text fees. We are not big cell users and only made a handful of calls to each other in the park (none home to Canada) on our last trip, but ended up paying over 100$ extra that month. Now, I forgot to ask pricing and details, but the customer support chat is very quick and easy. I'll try to find out later today.

That will be very helpful for some people. Last trip I checked on the Virgin Mobile US plan and it was Ridiculous. I forget all the details .. but even with the plan, if we were to use our blackberries in the parks to contact one another we were going to be charged roaming every time we turned the phones on.

I think $40 PER PHONE got us an hour and 20 minutes of use. Totally not worth it. We made do without our phones just fine and used a calling card for home.

 

[wdwmike59]

We bought a TracFone is Buffalo and activated online from home and as soon as we crossed the border again, bingo it worked. The phone we bought has double minutes for life so we got 120 minutes for 20 bucks. The phone also cost 20 bucks. Beauty.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

We bought a TracFone is Buffalo and activated online from home and as soon as we crossed the border again, bingo it worked. The phone we bought has double minutes for life so we got 120 minutes for 20 bucks. The phone also cost 20 bucks. Beauty.

I wish we lived closer to the border as that is exactly what I'm looking to do as well.

I'm giving some thoughts to getting someone from the USA to order from NET10 for me as 1 of their phone packages right now is for $25 and includes 750 minutes....I just have to find a friend or relative willing to order online for me and ship to me here in NB......

At least I have 9 months to put this in place....

 

[-Soleil-]

Is there a way to use an Iphone in the US with a prepaid card? There are some neat Disney apps but since there's practically no free wifi at Disney, I can't use an Ipod touch for the apps. In Canada Apple sells unlocked Iphone's, so it would be easy to just buy a SIM card in the US if that's an option available, anyone know?