Prepaid Cell Phones for Disney

[dannysmommyval]

Hello everyone,

I am leaving my son's cell phones at home and am trying to figure out the best deal for prepaid cell phones for Disney. I want to make sure we are all connected. They are 10 years old.

I am wondering if anyone could help me with a few questions....
Which ones are the best bang for my buck? I need it for 10 days.
Would I register the number up here in NJ or down there in the FL area code?

Probably dumb questions but the area code one has me miffed - but then again I am here instead of sleeping (I am soo excited about the trip!).

Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

[powellrj]

we just got DD a new cell phone and found the net 10 ones to be the best buy. We paid $25 for her phone and it came with 300 minutes. It only charges .10 a minutes for calls and .05 for texts. There is no daily access fee.

I would get a NJ area code because then they would be easier to use at home.

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

my son has a prepaid cell phone and we just purchased extra minutes for our upcoming trip this week, he can call my husband and they can talk mobile to mobile for free while in florida, as its a go phone by at&t and my husband already has at&t network

 

[dougsmom98]

A few years ago, we found a deal on a prepaid Tracphone. We talked to a customer service and for some reason we had to register our phone in Florida. We live in Maine though and I think that had something to do with it. I use it up here with no problem, it is just a pain to remember the phone number. I would definitely call the customer service people to see what they suggest. I think out phone was $9.99 and then an additional $10 for 150 minutes.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Walmart carries AT&T go phones cheap (like 9.99)
great service,m easy to use and you can put some $ on each one and program with the numbers that you need to sue. Either 25cents a minute or 1.00 usage per day and 10 cents a minute,. Minutes roll over if you keep active. Kids can also text, but costs extra.
You can then just let expire and not renew and just use up your minutes (which I think you can start at 15.00) anyway.
We actually bought refurbs on their website (much more expensive phones at reduced prices as they are our primary ones) and we love em, never an issue and have always used them at disney versus walkie talkies as too many people are on those channels now.
You set up in NJ and then just plug in FULL phone numbers (with area codes) when you go to use, it'll just go thru like regular.
Good Luck and have a great trip!

 

[tzolkin]

DH and I use the Net10 phones.

Last year I didn't have a cell phone, so I borrowed one from my sister. Of course DH and I split up so I could take our oldest DD on Space Mountain, we exited the ride and found that the phone would not work. After we found eachother, DH went to Walmart and bought me a Net10 phone. You could choose your area when programming the phone, so we put our home location in (so I have a local number at home). It only took about 5 mins in the hotel room to set up. They come with 300 minutes and 2 months of service.

We had no problem with service in the parks/resort. The phones would not work in some of the buildings (like in line for Soarin, etc), so you will need to keep that in mind. But I believe that was just general cell reception and not because we had Net10.

This year, my MIL will be joining us for part of the trip and I'm planning to get her a phone as well. They have nicer ones that cost a bit more, but the basic one is around $30 (with the 300 minutes and service). It's cheap enough that if she doesn't want to keep the phone we will still have got our money's worth by using it during the trip.

 

[dannysmommyval]

You guys are great!
Thanks for the great information - I am a bit of a nut when it comes to keeping in touch with the boys. I know that they will not be out of my sight for any period of time (the rides I chicken out of) but it will be good to know they have a way to contact me if possible.

 

[JB2K]

Hello everyone,

I am leaving my son's cell phones at home and am trying to figure out the best deal for prepaid cell phones for Disney. I want to make sure we are all connected. They are 10 years old.

I am wondering if anyone could help me with a few questions....
Which ones are the best bang for my buck? I need it for 10 days.
Would I register the number up here in NJ or down there in the FL area code?

Probably dumb questions but the area code one has me miffed - but then again I am here instead of sleeping (I am soo excited about the trip!).

Any info would be greatly appreciated

I am a normal Verizon customer, but for the sake of having walkie-talkies and phones in an easy-to-manage package, my DW and I opted for a pair of Boost Mobile prepaids while at WDW (the driving force behind this was two-fold -- we didn't risk losing our everyday phones, plus Boost works-off the Nextel network -- the only cell phone company with towers on WDW property).

Boost is pretty straightforward -- $1 a day for mobile-to-mobile (Boost/Nextel/Sprint). walkie-talkie, and text. You can set it up online and choose either a NJ or FL phone number.

Plus, an unexpected perk -- their phones are rugged-enough to take what a 10 year-old can dish out.