Inexpensive way of using your cell phone in WDW?

[karensi]

Another vote for Verizon's Americas Choice. I get 300 anytime minutes and free nights and weekends and I pay $45 a month. I think it's great. We recently drove down to Miami and kept in touch with our family all the way down. I love this new plan. Also use it at home to make any long distance calls, such as CRO and the Disney Travel Club for our upcomming Oct. trip.

 

[DMRick]

Karen, how many free weekend minutes? Verizon let us upgrade to 300 free anytime and 3000 nights and weekends for $35 plus tax. Includes free long distance with your minutes.

 

[mikek]

everyone has pretty much shared all the plans.

I like sprint because i dont have to have a contract- last I checked Verizon (the other big one in NJ) forced it on you...

BUT I wanted to throw out for folks who have 'poor coverage' that the phone you get makes a HUGE difference. You'de think in this day and age they would all work good enough- not exactly. I saw a discovery channel show once about the testing guy from verizon and what he does before they allow the model to have their service- its pretty intense- at the time he refused to allow any phone without antennae that could get extended- apparently peeved motorolla off pretty good since they had to redesign a bunch.

I've used cellular/pcs for upwards of 10 years and the Brand you get makes a big difference. When we first switched to Sprint from ATT we thought the service coverage was terrible (back than it WAS new and had plenty of holes- but it also seemed inconsistant- like the bedroom and kitchen having majorly different levels...)- soon after we found by accident that switching brnads of handset made a gigantic difference.

We've used sprint at my company for about 5 years now and have had phones from qualcomm, motorola, samsung, LG, and sanyo. So far sanyo is hands down the best, and qualcom (now qyocera) is the worst. Funny thing is qualcomm invented and owns CDMA (basically the opposite of GSM) which is what verizon and sprint use- so you'de think they made the best- trust me - just not the case. Currently we have sanyo, motorola, and kyocera and side by side in the same place at the same time a sanyo can be perfect, a motorola ok and the kyocera's roaming analog- its amazing the disparity. Never had much luck with the qualcomm(kyocera's) but sprint and verizon are both upgrading their networks with new lucent software to increase data speeds and the kyocera has definately been majorly affected.

So on top of all the plans to wade through do your best to find out about the phones you get. I dont know anyone rating them so i guess best bet is to find a friend who gets great service and buy what they have. I really havent 'experimented' with a couple different models from a 'bad' brand to know if maybe some models just stink- once we get a bad one, we just dont buy that company's stuff anymore- so it may be possible that some qualcomm phones might be good for example (have had 1900's, 2700's, the flat one's, and now the qyocera's with changable faces so I wouldn't try anymore...)

 

[DMRick]

So far sanyo is hands down the best, and qualcom (now qyocera) is the worst.
*******************

Do you mean Kyocera? I assume you do. We traded up to this one, and it's been wonderful...so obviously different folks have different experiences. In the Northeast, mountains are the norm, and so Sprint seldom works when we need it to. Not all of our areas have digital, and Sprint told me I would be out of luck when camping..the time when I use my phone the most. I think it's best for people to talk to others who experience life like they do, and ask what phone works for them. It definately depends on where you spend most of your time using the phone as well. Most campers in our area use Verizon..so we switched to them.
The best phone we've ever had..except it's not practical and isn't digital, was a Motorolla Bag phone. High wattage and perfect for the mountains. But I can't get on line with my laptop with it, so it wasn't a good phone for me.
Contract doesn't bother me at all..since I have just about always had a cel phone, and one year is not a lot of time. Once it expires, I don't renew..and they have never said I had too..unless I wanted to upgrade my service.

 

[safetymom]

DMRick, you are right about the NE. That is one of the pleasures of visiting Florida since it is flat and usually reception is better. I have a Nokia and love it. I have had several models and didn't have any problems. I think a lot of it depends on where you live.

I used to be a fanatic about using my digital phone but found it was just as easy to say to the family meet me at .... at this time. Works a lot better than cell phones or 2 way radios. My kids enjoyed listening to all the dumb conservations on the 2 ways.

I know technology is nice but really we all survived before we had cell phones. So I don't use mine as much anymore.

 

[Barbruka]

Ok - Everyone listen up!

Go to www.lowermybills.com and they will give you the cheapest cell phone plan for your area. They will also tell you about the cheapest plan for insurance, charge cards, regular phone service, etc. for your area. A great site!!

 

[safetymom]

But isn't always about the cheapest plan. I need a plan that has a lot of coverage. If that costs a little more it is worth it.

 

[adisneynut]

Since I live in Ga. I have decided for next months trip that I would use the 4 States One Rate Plan. I have srvice with Cellular One(it hasn't been changed over to Verizon yet). This will give me 400 anytime minues nad if I go over it will be .25 cents per min. I don't plan on going over. I also purchases a 200min. phone card to use.

I don't know if this helps.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

adisneynut

I have had service with Cingular prior to being Cingular since 1988 so I have a little brand loyalty; however, according to www.lowermybills.com, the cheapest in Atlanta is Verizon. I mention this because I believe Cingular covers the entire state of Georgia. As it turns out under their current promotion, Nationwide service is included for the same price of less than the local and regional plans. You might look at this if you ever need your cell phone when traveling outside of the southeast. I have used mine in New Hampshire, Texas, Colorado and Nevada with no extra charges, long distance fees or roaming.

By the way, I grew up in Hazlehurst, where do you live?