Keeping in Touch whilst in Florida

[Queenie]

Hi all,

I'd like to get some UK perspectives on this as it's something that could potentially become an issue for us this year. As many of you will know, my mum is coming with us to Florida in Sept, she likes to do lots of stuff that we're not really interested in and vice versa. As a result we're probably going to want to split up and go to different parks/shops etc quite often. What I'd like is your opinions on the best (and cheapest) ways to keep in touch.

All 3 of us have Tri-band enabled mobile handsets that we know work in the USA. Scott's contract lets him send and recieve texts and calls but my PAYG phone wouldn't let me make calls (I could receive calls and send/receive texts.) I'm not sure how to tell about mum's phone which worries me slightly (she has no idea what provider she's on, let alone what contract!!) All I know is she's on an O2 contract but which one I have no idea. My main worry with keeping in touch this way is the cost, are there any cheap SIMS we could get 3 of to use out there - would it be worth buying 3 in the USA that we can keep to use there in the future?

The other option is walkie talkies, this is something I know nothing about except what I've read on allears. According to them the maximum range is 2 miles - that would be useless for us as there's a good chance someone will be in Universal, Seaworld or a mall whilst another is in Disney or back at the hotel, those gaps are way more than 2 miles! Are there British sets that could span those distances or are we stuck with using mobiles?

Cheers for any info you can give us with this. I'm starting to worry about mum out there as she won't drive and we're in the timeshare which is a good 15min drive from Disney/I4 so if she doesn't want to come with us she could have problems. There are shuttles from our resort to Disney/Universal and Seaworld but they're very limited in times and I'm worrying about what happens if she misses the last/only one! Surely it's the mum's job to worry about the daughter, not vice versa!!!

 

[sandshal]

Don't know whether this will help but Ive heard mixed reviews on walkie talkies and they will only work up to a certain distance so no good if your parents are in the villa and you're at a park. Not sure about the SIM card option.

Ive just purchased two tracfones from www.tracfone.com they are $19.99 which includes a 60 minute card and a really smart Nokia recon phone (which to be fair looks brand new). I had them shipped to my sister in Texas who activated them on my behalf just to make sure they work OK, then forwarded on home but they can be activated quite easily on arrival in Florida on the web or by phone, you can also buy them at Walmart but this offer on their website appears to be excellent.

If you need any further info on these phones let me know.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

We have two of these TracFones, it does not matter where we go in the uSA we can get pre paid cards and restart them every time we go back

http://www.tracfone.com/

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Don't know whether this will help but Ive heard mixed reviews on walkie talkies and they will only work up to a certain distance so no good if your parents are in the villa and you're at a park. Not sure about the SIM card option.

Ive just purchased two tracfones from www.tracfone.com they are $19.99 which includes a 60 minute card and a really smart Nokia recon phone (which to be fair looks brand new). I had them shipped to my sister in Texas who activated them on my behalf just to make sure they work OK, then forwarded on home but they can be activated quite easily on arrival in Florida on the web or by phone, you can also buy them at Walmart but this offer on their website appears to be excellent.

If you need any further info on these phones let me know.

Shucks, just beat me to it!

 

[sandshal]

Obi, how do you find coverage in Orlando? they seem to work fantastically in Houston but Im hoping they're going to work as well when we step off the flight! - What experience of reception have you had round the parks?

PS with regards to the seating problem we had earlier this year with the amalgamation of the two late flights, we have now managed to prebook 4 seats together (Rows 61 & 62) in the twos at the back of the plane (although obviously not guaranteed!) - Virgin have actually really impressed me lately - I eat my words!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Obi, how do you find coverage in Orlando? they seem to work fantastically in Houston but Im hoping they're going to work as well when we step off the flight! - What experience of reception have you had round the parks?

PS with regards to the seating problem we had earlier this year with the amalgamation of the two late flights, we have now managed to prebook 4 seats together (Rows 61 & 62) in the twos at the back of the plane (although obviously not guaranteed!) - Virgin have actually really impressed me lately - I eat my words!

They had excellent coverage in both Orlando and Kissimmee. In fact we did not have a connect5ion problem whatsoever with the Tracfones.

 

[sandshal]

Cheers Obi, looking forward to giving them a try!

 

[StephenKay]

Hi there,

Being in the Services, we tend to spend a fair time in the US, the best value way we have found is the "Sprint" prepaid international calling cards. These can give you 3-4 hours for $10. There is the usual call this number nonsense but it works well. We also use tracfone to text home, very economical.

 

[jockey]

I have used my mobile in the past and it has been expensive. Walmart sell handsets forapprox $20 - but the tracphones seem pretty good too.Probably best to purchase one then you can use it for future trips. What the best way to purchase these phones - do you order from the website if so howmuch was the shipping to the UK, or do you purchase when in Orlando?

 

[Cyrano]

This looks interesting. Would be interested in knowing also if you order for delivery to UK?

 

[sandshal]

The only problem with ordering from the Tracfone website is that it is set up for American residents ie zip code etc. I used my sisters address in Houston and had it sent to her but then it would not accept my credit card as the address registered was mine not hers. If you are interested, I would suggest getting their telephone number from the website and calling them direct, they should then give you shipping costs etc. To be honest the deal is so good even if it costs you a tenner to get it home its a good deal and they're well worth the trouble. If anyone needs any further info or a referral for a free 100 minutes let me know.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

This looks interesting. Would be interested in knowing also if you order for delivery to UK?

We bought ours from the Super Wal mart in Kissimmee

 

[alisonbestford]

Whatever you do, unless they've improved their service immensely, don't hire phones from 'Carphone Warehouse' before you go!

We did this a couple of years ago and arrived home to a bill for around £200!!

Most of the time we hadn't even been able to keep in touch, as the 'roaming' service provided, was so bad

It's important to us that we can keep in touch so we just take our tri-band O2 mobiles now and text
I would be very interested in the local mobile phones though