Cell phone use at WDW

[I Am Canadian Eh]

Just back from WDW... noticed at the ticket centre at Walmart on S.John Young Parkway (so I can assume the others as well) - a shelf full of the $9.99 Virgin Mobile phones. Went into home electronics and cheapest ones they had were $20 - but sure enough they had the cheap ones right there where you get your passes - so obvoiusly they know people are doing just this.

Besides - this way you can give your "new" # to only people that really need it, and leave the rest of the world behind! I quite enjoyed not getting a phone call for 2 days.

 

[Beechnut]

We bought 10$ virgin phones and got 10$ worth of free minutes. They came uncharged, but with a house charger (6hr recommended 1st charge - overnight) We activated them on line and used them to call each other while there, as well as make local calls. We have about $2 left on one of the phones. They shut off (out of service) when we crossed the border.
For reasons nothing to do with the US phones I made a call on my own cell. one phone call was 42.00 . and we were charged 0.60 for each text sent from the canadain phone. (again my problem, I thought 'unlimited' meant unlimited. not unlimited only in canada. - my problem )

So when I do it again. I'll dig out the phones and top them up with 10bucks and off we go again.
By far the most economical way to do it.

My 2 cents

 

[Kurby]

bell used to be unlimited in the states for text messaging and as of august 08 then changed that to 60 cents a message. of course they push their "Florida" plan but when i mentioned the 10 buck phones we could get in the states they hummed and ahhhhed. in this day and age there is no need to pay 60 cents a message or 6 bucks a mb when using your laptop. it's insane

and lets not discuss the long distance rates hotels gouge you for - it's completely insane.

i just wish those 10-10 numbers worked on cell phones.

but for me - we bought a 900 minute card for $20 bucks which gives us about 300 minutes to call canada with - more then enough minutes to call home.

but of course my parents decided that they were going to go to england at the same time we go to florida so now there's no one left at home to call so we prob wont use the calling card. good thing they don't expire.

 

[Ginzu]

I will be waiting to hear this works out for you ?? you mention going to best buy to pick up the SIM card for 02 ..?? is there one close to disney ??

I'm not sure - check with the Best Buy website and their Store Locator function. I think there's one near the Universal Studios area but I've never been to Orlando yet - so I'm going into unknown territory...

 

[CanadianGuy]

4 - or you can buck and up pay the charges to use the phone you already have. if you can afford disney a few calls should not matter.

I cannot disagree with this statement enough.

On one trip to Florida, my cell phone bill was over $1000 because I decided to "Buck up and pay for the calls.." My whole trip to Disney didn't cost $1000!

Obviously .. that's a lot of cash and i gotta tell ya, yes a family emergency was involved so at the end of the day - I had to make those calls. However, had I had a disposable phone - it woulda been much less.. probably around $150.

Live and learn. I won't ever take my Canadian phone down there again.

Knox

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Konx, that's awful. I hope your cell phone company was sympathetic to your family emergency and refigured your charges. That'd be decent of them.

 

[taycreekcropper]

Hi all!

This is my first post and I am planning my first trip April 5 for WDW - Staying at Pop Century.

This post intrigued me, I don't want to pay all the charges incurred but I do need to call home every couple of days or my MIL will be all stressed out.

So is it true that I can buy a disposeable cell phone at Wal-mart for like $20 and use that to call home to Canada?

Please show me the way........

 

[mom2the3cs]

Hi all!

This is my first post and I am planning my first trip April 5 for WDW - Staying at Pop Century.

This post intrigued me, I don't want to pay all the charges incurred but I do need to call home every couple of days or my MIL will be all stressed out.

So is it true that I can buy a disposeable cell phone at Wal-mart for like $20 and use that to call home to Canada?

Please show me the way........

What I did last year, and it worked out well for us.
In a post on this board someone said they ordered a phone from Virgin and had it shipped to Pop.
This is what I did as well, ordered it online, and it was waiting for me when I arrived and checked in at Pop Century. called the 1800 number the next morning (after I charged the phone over night) and got the mins that came free with the phone activated. I called home to canada daily.. and on the last day I ran out of mins.
Paid 19.99 for the phone, with free shipping to the resort, and 20$ phone credit.
Hope that helps

 

[taycreekcropper]

awesome thank you so much! I'll do just that......

 

[pampam]

Hi all!

This is my first post and I am planning my first trip April 5 for WDW - Staying at Pop Century.

This post intrigued me, I don't want to pay all the charges incurred but I do need to call home every couple of days or my MIL will be all stressed out.

So is it true that I can buy a disposeable cell phone at Wal-mart for like $20 and use that to call home to Canada?

Please show me the way........

If you don't really need a cell phone with you, just buy long distance phone card from No frills, value Mart etc. It's $.04 a minute. I just got back from Pop. We were there 23 days. I had a $10.00 card, phoned home every day, either on the hotel room phone or a pay phone, and still have $2.40 left on the card. WDW used to charge for using the room phone, but now there is no extra charges for local or 1-800 numbers, and this card uses a 1-800 #. I know this thread is about cell phones but this is another option.

 

[taycreekcropper]

Hi

Is there a link to this no frills or value mart you can send me, I am in NB, is this an American Company or Canadian? That would work too?

thanks

 

[NJR]

You can buy phone cards (VOX) at Sobeys too

 

[4_canucks]

I went on the virginmobile.com website today but the cheapest phone that comes with airtime is $39.99. If you purchase a $10 no contract phone you can also buy $20 of airtime separately. I guess they are out of the $10 or $20 phones that come with $12.50 airtime (as some previous posters had mentioned).
So i called the virgin megastore in Downtown Disney - the cheapest prepaid phones they have on the floor right now is $50 (then you have to buy airtime) . I asked if they sell SIM cards (since we do have unlocked GSM phones) but the person i talked to had no idea what a SIM Card is.

We are 4 canucks flying down from the Great White North and taking the Magical Express - no chance to pick up a prepaid package anywhere enroute. We are also cutting close in terms of timing (arriving next wednesday) so i guess at this time my options are:

a) rent a car/hail a cab from the resort to get to the nearest Target, they seem to have some nice prepaid bundles that are stores-only. Or hit Walmart/Bestbuy
b) pay Rogers for the $40 US plan, for two phones it'd be $80Cdn
c) pay Virgin $50 for a prepaid phone and $20 for airtime card, for two phones it'd be $140US
d) go on EBay and hope that the seller would ship priority TODAY
e) forget the phones, just use telepathic powers to connect with the family (yeah right)

My ideal would have been the AT&T $29.99 bundle that allows us to have unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls (since our main use would be to call each other while at the parks). Besides not accepting Canadian billing addresses, AT&T also has a one-week backlog just to PROCESS orders, then we get the 2 day shipping for free..so that wouldn't work.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears (pun intended)..

 

[taycreekcropper]

I went onto VirginMobile last night and the phones are $10, if the Virgin Mobile store sells pay as you go cards then you'd be just fine? The pay as you go seems like a perfect set up, plus you can have the phone delivered to your resort before you arrive for free.

If you try this option, keep us posted, I leave in 30 days!!!

have a great trip!

 

[taycreekcropper]

VOX works in Florida, I can use this on the Disney phones? I wish this was much easier what a pain just to save a load of money on calling. I need some way to contact people.

 

[4_canucks]

I went onto VirginMobile last night and the phones are $10, if the Virgin Mobile store sells pay as you go cards then you'd be just fine? The pay as you go seems like a perfect set up, plus you can have the phone delivered to your resort before you arrive for free.

If you try this option, keep us posted, I leave in 30 days!!!

have a great trip!

Thanks. i believe the mega store does sell Pay as you go cards but we'd need a virgin SIM Card (right?). When i called, the store clerk didn't seem to know what a SIM card was, plus i do not see that as a purchasable item on their website...we'd have to use the SIM that comes with one of their non-contract phones.

To get a non-contract phone, the cheapest model they have on the store floor is the $50 one (as of this afternoon). So to get the $10 models, i'd have to order from their webiste, but at this point we might not get the phones in time. Free shipping says 3-5 business days and i'm already within that window (arriving on wednesday).

I'm now considering an O2 SIM card from eBay (again we have unlocked GSM phones). It's advertised to come with 50 minutes free airtime. Of course I would have to assume the risk of not getting it in time.

 

[taycreekcropper]

For those of us leaving next month...here is the e-mail Virgin Mobile sent me
******************

Thanks for contacting us here at Virgin Mobile.

Glad to know that you plan to use Virgin Mobile phone while you stay in USA!

To answer your question: you can buy a new phone at many retail outlets nationwide, or you can purchase one directly from Virgin Mobile. If you choose to purchase the handset directly from Virgin Mobile you can do so by calling one of our advisors or via our website at www.virginmobileusa.com. The website lists our retailer outlets, information about our phone models (with an impressive set of features you won't find on any other phones out there), and great stuff about Virgin Mobile.

Keep in mind, with Virgin Mobile, you're free. Free from binding contracts, monthly bills and hidden fees. We offer simplicity, fun and the kind of customer satisfaction that makes you feel good all over. You'll stay with us because you love us. The only requirement we have is that you Top-Up (how you add airtime to your account) $20 every 90 days to keep your account active.

We have several service offers from which to choose - one that will be guaranteed to fit your needs!

Here's just a little bit more about our 20¢ per Minute plan: Add money to your account, then talk all you want ? all calls are 20¢ per minute. When you run low add some more. Just make sure to add at least $20 every 90 days to keep your service working . . . even if you have money in your balance.

Further, we only ask you to Top-Up $20 every 90 days, even if there is balance on your account. However, if you did not Top-Up your account after 90 days your account will become inactive and you will not be able to make/receive calls and if you still do not Top-Up, your account will remain in inactive state for yet another 60 days and then the account will expire and you will lose your number and balance on the account.

With Virgin Mobile phones, you can certainly use your phone to dial internationally, including Canada!

To know more about the listed countries, the code and pricing, you might want to access the link below,

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/rates/internationalCalling.do

What’s more if you happen to be a brand new customer then, I think you have made the right decision in choosing Virgin Mobile as your phone carrier, because we are offering “FREE” bundled airtime on select few handsets, for more info please access the link below,

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/phones/catalog.do

Once you have accessed the link you will view that free bundled airtime is being offered on Super Slice and Cyclops phone models, just click on “DETAILS”, to know more about the eligibility criteria, you can even place online order using the link.

Our International customer service number is (215) 757-9645. However, please be aware that calling this number will incur International toll charges!

Welcome to USA!

Hope we have been able to shed some light on this for you! If you have any additional questions or concerns, feel free to contact us via the web or by dialing 1-888-322-1122. We'll be delighted to assist you.

Ralph
Virgin Mobile At Your Service

 

[pampam]

Hi

Is there a link to this no frills or value mart you can send me, I am in NB, is this an American Company or Canadian? That would work too?

thanks

It's Canadian. If memory serves me correctly, it's Loblaws. Do you have any stores near you that sell PC or President's Choice products? They are all under the same umbrella. You might try www.valuemart.ca.

 

[redrosesix]

I went onto VirginMobile last night and the phones are $10, if the Virgin Mobile store sells pay as you go cards then you'd be just fine? The pay as you go seems like a perfect set up, plus you can have the phone delivered to your resort before you arrive for free.

If you try this option, keep us posted, I leave in 30 days!!!

have a great trip!

We bought phones from Virgin US for our trip in Feb.

You can also top up your Virgin phone through paypal (also by giving them a CC over the phone or online too, I think) We had them delivered to ASMusic (it took 3 days) and they were waiting at the front desk when we arrived. They also have a good rate on l.d. minutes.

Also, you don't have to top up if you're back in Canada and not using the phones. Just let it de-activate and lose the minutes left over. Then when you go to the US again, re-activate the phone and top it up. You'll get a new phone #.

Yes, it is that easy.

 

[redrosesix]

Hi all!

This is my first post and I am planning my first trip April 5 for WDW - Staying at Pop Century.

This post intrigued me, I don't want to pay all the charges incurred but I do need to call home every couple of days or my MIL will be all stressed out.

So is it true that I can buy a disposeable cell phone at Wal-mart for like $20 and use that to call home to Canada?

Please show me the way........

Welcome to Dis -- the place that will save you lots of money

The phones from Virgin US aren't really disposable, they just de-activate if you don't top them up. If you're going to Walmart anyway, you can plan to buy a phone there, but I liked having them waiting at the resort when I arrived. We each had a phone, so it was great to keep in touch with each other in the parks.

And yes, you can also call home to Canada - their l.d. rates are way better than ours.