How is wifi in the parks?

[NurseNoa]

We will be visiting from overseas. I'm trying to figure out what to do about a cell phone plan. Do not want to pay a fortune for roaming. If the wifi is good, then I can bank on that to use the MDE app and Touring Plans.

Thank you!

 

[AngiTN]

Vastly improved over this past year.
Had you asked this a year ago I'd say you would be in trouble to rely on it.
Now, I have actually found it works more than it doesn't. I think you'll be ok.

 

[chris benton]

I'd say it's "good." You'll have drops, but unless you need to be connected every single second, it's "good." Bring an external charger, and keep your phone connected to it when you aren't using it. You might need to keep the screen bright and the network pinging, + general usage will suck battery life pretty quickly.

 

[jpeterson]

Keep a battery handy (or grab a fuel rod before you get there) but in general the WIFI was good, especially outdoors. Inside some of the ride/show buildings it could get spotty.

And definitely bring a battery! We didn't our first trip and ended up buying a fuel rod at Hollywood Studios. We now come with an array of batteries.

 

[AngiTN]

Good point about battery usage. You will drain through faster than you usually do. I have a big one (in normal usage can charge 3 phones) plus keep one of the fuel rods for emergencies, just in case. We've been known to use both for extreme days.

And yes, there are some dead zones in buildings. FoP and Soarin' both come to mind as having no coverage once you reach deep inside.

 

[Skywise]

OK - not great, not horrible. Sometimes I get better service straight from cellular, other times I get better service via WiFi. Considering that practically everyone you're walking next to has both a cellular and WiFi connection there's a LOT of radio transmissions going on and your device is fighting with everyone else' to make a connection. That's why your battery drains faster - because your cell phone will boost the energy to the transmitter to fight to get a signal.

If you don't need the cell signal you might consider turning it off to save battery life (wifi taking less power overall)

 

[married2mm]

If by any chance visiting from uk and have a sim free phone...
Purchase a £20 SIM card from 3- works a treat for us.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Only places we had connection issues were places to expect it...in show buildings and sometimes at the far edges of parks, or in the middle of the bridges in AK.

 

[Tomh]

The wifi is very good overall. There are some spots where it will drop, but coverage is pretty extensive, and the speed has improved greatly over the past couple of years.

 

[Barbanellie]

We used only Wifi in WDW in 2016, and it worked fine, except as others have said, in places that are deep within big buildings, etc. Wifi in Disneyland was really bad, but WDW was just fine.