Cell phones or Walkie Talkies???

[PrincessTigerLily]

With our newest addition to our family, we will now be traveling to WDW as a foursome, no longer a threesome! Previously my husband and I just carried our cell phones in case we got separated. I have read on some posts that others have used walkie talkies. Is there an advantage of one over the other that I am missing? Thanks!

 

[disneynutt1225]

Personally, I think there's too much regular noise (from people with similar frequencies) with a walkie-talkie. I'd much rather use my cell phone to keep in touch.

 

[Thekidsmom]

We have the disney motorola walkie talkies, the mickey mouse and buzz lightyear ones. We got them off EBAY and have never had a problem with people breaking in on our convirsations. And last year with my neice joining us, the kids had a blast with them because they can hear the character voices.

 

[dbenlee]

I have read a lot on this subject on these boards and it sounds like the most people feel the cell phones are better. Apparently there are a lot of people using the walkie talkies and you can have a very difficult time reaching the person you want to talk to. Cell phone is a guarantee you will be talking to the right person versus talking to some one you don't even know.

 

[Molly K]

I saw those Mickey 2-way radios a while back but can not find any now. Any one seen them at any store/online lately?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Cell phones are fine. Don't bother with the walkie talkies.

 

[Lilo312]

we took high end walkie talkies once and had two issues
1) there only 2-3 channels to use and everyone else is using the same channels. you were able to hear other peoples conversations. We had to make sure that we were talking to our party and not someone else. This was quite annoying
2) even though it's good for two miles, we found that we had to be quite close to pick up the signal. we think there much interference with lots of disney technology around.

We found that cell phones are the way to go. We each have cingular, so its unlimited to call another cingular customer. Very handy to since we split up quite often.

 

[Thekidsmom]

Actually good walkie talkies have alot more than 3 channels. There should be a several main channels and then several secondary tuner channels.

 

[natalie from pa]

Cell Phones really seem to be the better choice as long as you have a nationwide calling plan!!!!. You can change your plan for the month that you go to WDW and then change back if you are on a local or regional plan!

 

[alle_rednic]

after lots of discussion and thought we're (me, mom and step dad) are planning on getting walkie talkies. we thought of taking our cell phones (although my mom would have to change hers to work in america) but what if they get stolen??

i havent seen any disney walkie talkies. where can i find them?

 

[Thekidsmom]

I got my disney walkie talkies from ebay. I typed in disney motorola walkie talkie. I looked last night, the ones on there now are used, the ones we got were new in the box, but if they work it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[ZoZo]

Another cell phone fan. I really thought they were great! A few of the people that I saw using walkie-talkies seemed to be having trouble hearing each other (too much static) -- plus everyone can hear both sides of your whole conversation!

I'd say that, if you already have cell phones, just use them and don't invest the money in walkie-talkies.

 

[Molly K]

Ok, I am understanding the use of the cell phone at the parks. But what about the walkie talkies at the resort. We plan on staying at the All Star Movies and from what I understand it is a small hike to the food court and pool. So does it sound good to have them for use like when DH goes to the food court and I change my mind and want something, I can use the walkie talkies to contact him. I would rather take a walkie talkie to the pool instead of my phone too.

 

[HappyCamperToo]

Personally, I think there's too much regular noise (from people with similar frequencies) with a walkie-talkie. I'd much rather use my cell phone to keep in touch.

Plus you can get an inexpensive phone at tracfone's website for the price of a walkie-talkie with no contracts and no monthly fees. Let me know if anyone wants details about how to get one with 100 bonus minutes.

 

[Piglet843]

JMHO - We are going to bring our Cell Phones - for the room and emergencies only.

For the parks - we bought some Walkie Talkies for $25 at Best Buy - they have 22 Channels and like 30 more privacy channels.
Chances of getting on someone elses line goes way down with these!! (and hey - whats wrong with listening to other people - it could be fun - kinda like people watching - except people listening!! )

I wouldn't chance breaking, soaking, or losing my cell phone at a park - but no big deal with the walkies!

 

[alle_rednic]

can you but walkie talkies at disney??
i'll be getting a disney watch there (since i don't have one) and if we can get our walkie talkies from there aswell it'd be one less thing to carry on the plane

 

[jeancbpugh]

We prefer cell phones. If you go in an attraction solo, you can put your cell phone on silent. If your husband wants to contact you, he can leave a voice mail that you pick up as you go back outside.

Or he can text message you.

Plus you can call friends who aren't at WDW, and let them listen to parade or ride music, or the announcements on the monorail!

Previously my husband and I just carried our cell phones in case we got separated. I have read on some posts that others have used walkie talkies. Is there an advantage of one over the other that I am missing? Thanks!

 

[goingback]

Unfortunately our cellphones are not nationwide (have to change that soon!) but we've had no problem using our Walkie Talkies.

One tip I received about changing channels. To set our channels you need two numbers like 10 & 2. When someone else was on our channel, instead of saying "change to 12 & 4" we said instead, "change to Ryan's Birthday" (which was 12 & 4). That way no one knew what numbers we were talking about and we were able to get a free channel.

By the way, our Walkie Talkies had a 2 mile range and we could even talk to each other deep inside the Haunted Mansion.

Another thing about using Walkie Talkies is that you can have more than two users at a time. We have four so all four of us can hear at the same time.

 

[Piglet843]

One tip I received about changing channels. To set our channels you need two numbers like 10 & 2. When someone else was on our channel, instead of saying "change to 12 & 4" we said instead, "change to Ryan's Birthday" (which was 12 & 4). That way no one knew what numbers we were talking about and we were able to get a free channel.

Another thing about using Walkie Talkies is that you can have more than two users at a time. We have four so all four of us can hear at the same time.

Good tips - It will be our first time having some walkies to use - and I really believe we will like that better than the cell phones. But hey - everyone is different!!
I'll post how it goes!!

 

[OKW Lover]

Please - whichever you choose, don't disturb the other guests when you use them. On the radio's there is no need to crank up the volume so everybody around you hears the conversation. Headsets are cheap for either radios or cell phones. A good investment not only for WDW, but even at home.