Need two-way radios or not? What do you think?

[chilihead]

My mom suggested that we may want to get some two-way radios for our trip in May. There will be 6 of us together and we won't be together the whole time. What do you all think? Would our cell phones be just as good (we don't have long distance charges)?

If you vote for the radios, which brand?

Thanks!

 

[EEyorelover22]

We had radios in June 01 and they worked great. We had them last year June 03 and we couldn't hardly use them because so many people have them now. Maybe it was just us ???

We still used them when we were meeting up for dinner, etc, but they were somewhat annoying. I guess I'd try the cell phones.

Maybe others have had better experiences when it's not so busy.

 

[all4fun]

With a party of more than 2 adults, some sort of communication device is definitely helpful if your party decides to split up for a short time. I believe most of the major cell carriers work fine in WDW. If you decide to get the radios, however, then make sure they have the sub-channels, which will help prevent cross-talk with other people not in your party. We had the Cobra FRS which worked great at WDW. We just bought Motorola Talkabouts but we haven't actually used them at WDW yet. I can't tell you personally how well they work at WDW, but I have read many positive reviews from other DISers. The 2-mile range FRS radios work fine, however if you get 5-mile GMRS range radios, remember they do require a FCC license, which is $75/immediate family and lasts for 5 years.

Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[Sansaarai]

Or you could just meet at a certain place at a certain time. Using this can save you some cash.

I have never seen someone with a radio understand what the other person is saying.

 

[Traveliz]

Well we use the radios and I have always been able to understand what is being said to me...

I am one who prefers to skip the faster thrill type rides and the meet here at this time thing really crimps my style. Its hard to tell how long the other part of the group will be off and with the radios they can let me know when they are done.

We do have cell phones now (multiple ones) so we might try that next time but I imagine we will still use our radios.

Liz

 

[abitjaded]

We use both. It helps to have something "free" to talk within the park. The more channels the better, we found a channel with very little use by others. The phones come in handy for longer distance communication. Make sure you have messaging on the phones. Both of these methods do not work inside many of the attractions, but you can pick up the messages outside. Bring extra batteries, they are really expensive in the park. (Now if we just had some kind of GPS system to find my mom, who cannot get the hang of either method....)

Carla

 

[HaleyB]

I didn't find the two way radios very helpful, cell phones were much more useful for us because we could leave messages.

 

[Pirate-Jeff]

REMEMBER:

That with FRS/GRMS radios you get what you pay for.

The Cheapest radios work poor at best. The mid range work ok and the higher price range radios work very well.

Trust Me I have 4 sets, All are Motorola's.

My 1st set is junk and the kids won't even play with them because they are that bad. talkabout 101's

2nd set is better and work OK. T5410's

3rd set is very good and have many extra features, weather alerts and extra privacy filters. T6220's

The 4th set doesn't have as many bells and whistles as the 3rd. set but have more range. But you need a license with them. 5720's

My favorites are the 6220's for quality and they have good range too. (worked from our room at the Poly to inside Space Mountain's Que)

Since I purchased my 6220's they have gone down in price. I paid close to $70.00 for each of mine, but I saw them at BPS for $19.99 each on Sunday 4/4/04.

An ear bud is a great help in noisy locations too.

Jeff

 

[ucmann]

I would stay away from the radios. It is very true that since so many people have them now, you can never seem to hear the conversations that concern you and your family. I have Sprint phones with the free PCS-PCS, so calls between the phones are free. I would suggest getting this plan for your phones, esspecially if they are the same carrier. I believe all of the major carriers now offer this option and it is only around $5/month and can be turned on and off per month as you please.

 

[higgin704]

We use our cells. Works nicely.

 

[Teaching in NV]

We used radios two years ago - they were pretty much useless - I don't know what was going on, but even with the privacy filters we couldn't hear each other talk and we kept getting interrupted by kids breaking into our conversations

Last year we switched to cell phones and had a MUCH better time - though a few of our messages got lost in transit (I actually got one of the messages my husband sent me while we were in the park in October a month later)

Even with cell phones or radios - its always a VERY good idea to make emergency alternate plans to meet at a certain place at a certain time ... just in case.:happy1:

 

[FatCow]

We have another workaround about 'sharing' our band with someone else...

... we speak different language! (each of us knows at least 3 different languages fluently so it's like tripling our number of channels )

 

[Marty Joe]

We have the radios that vibrate when someone is trying to talk to you. This is great when someone gets off a ride or when someone gets done shopping - you just buzz an alert. Also, if you have a little one (old enough to understand how to use it, young enough to wonder off accidently), it is a piece of mind. Even if you don't use it - its great to know thats its there just in case.

 

[Davene]

We use radios everytime we are there. Cell phones are ok, too, but I prefer the radios. We have Motorolas (purchased many years ago). Does anyone know if old version Motorolas can communicate with newer models as we are thinking of getting more so the kids can have one?

4 more days until our magical vacation begins ....

 

[MamaTink]

DAVINE:
The new motorolas WILL communicate with the old ones. I have the old,old ones from when they first came out and I just got some new ones on Sunday and they work fine together-the channels are the same.
FYI: Target has nearly all their walkie talkies on clearance (mine were over by the cell phone stuff, but check in the camping section, too). I got the 5-mile ones for less than $30, which is less than half what I paid for one of the original ones. Ain't technology grand!

 

[Davene]

Thanks, MamaTink! I appreciate the answer. I will have to hit Target before we leave in 4 days! Thanks!

 

[MamaTink]

DAVENE,
We have more in common than walkie talkies! WE leave in 6 days AND DH is from NC-above Charlotte. Where are you staying? We're at AKL.

 

[DisneyDude10171]

I vote for cells. We have had good luck with Cingular and Verizon service using Motorola and Nokia handsets, fyi.

 

[M&M's Daddy]

My vote is for Cell Phones.

We used two ways, two years ago. They worked okay. But during certain periods like during the parades, there were so many people using them that it was impossible to get through to your intended party. We also used up a TON of batteries. (like three AA batteries per walkie talkie per day they were used).

We were there the last week of March used our Cell Phones extensively. We have Cingular with a Nationwide plan and also a ton of unused rollover minutes. So our cell phones usage didn't have any incremental cost to us.

It was very rare that we didn't have a clear signal. I think once when I was in the bowels of Space Mountain, I didn't get a clear signal. But as stated before, we could always leave messages to each other.

 

[Davene]

MamaTink,

We will be at Beach Club Villas! We are leaving Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon and will stop 1/2 way down and then get to our final destination on Sunday! Yahoo!!! This trip can't come soon enough!