Walkie-Talkies in Disneyland?

[TheSixOfUs]

Hey, has anyone used walkie-talkies in Disneyland? We got a mediocre Costco set for Christmas and were wondering if they were worth taking to Disneyland in case we get separated?

 

[cuchu2005]

I don't know about DL (never been), but we use them A LOT @ WDW.

We have a pair of Motorolas that don't even have rechargeable batteries, we picked up at Target a couple of years ago, for $ 15.

Granted, you won't be able to reach the other walkie talkie at the other enf of the park, but they have an acceptable range.

Have fun,

Mx

 

[ccudmore]

We've used them often. We like to keep in touch if we split into two groups and being from outside the US, our cell phone roaming charges make it a lot less expensive to use walkie talkies.

Cheap to moderate ones probably won't cut it. You'll either find that the many buildings cuts the reception range down to almost nothing. Also they have only limited frequencies that will also be being used by other people. A friend of ours tried some moderate priced ones and as soon as they got to the park tried using them and radioed "Bob, are you there". There was very quickly 3 other parties unrelated to them who radioed back "No Bob here".

The best option is to get a good quality set of FRS radios. They're usually easily affordable and have options for selecting multiple channels so you can find one that's not being used by others.

 

[Mamu]

If you have texting service thats the way to go. There were 10 of us there in September, everyone went different ways. We texted each other constantly about where to meet up.

 

[chartle]

There have been a few posts concerning walkie talkie in the parks.

A few years ago they were pretty much useless because of all the cross talk with the limited number of channels.

Now that most people carry cellphones I guess the channel issue is solved.

Still getting a cheap prepaid cheap cell phone with texting is the best way to go.

Main issue with walkie talkies is that they will not work well in buildings, I know cell phones have the same issue sometimes (Soaring) but they have voice mail and once out of the building a text will still get to you.

 

[nigel-bigel]

We used walkies several years ago and they worked fine most of the time. However, for some reason during the parades they would not work at all. It wasn't a noise issue, as I we wouldn't even hear static. The walkies were just dead. As soon as the parade was over they went back to working normally.

I know nothing about radio frequencies. How did WDW do this?

 

[ccudmore]

The parade controls are all radio remote controlled - music, lights, etc. When the parade is running there will be a TON more wireless communications going on, which will likely interfere with a lot of radios that use "unlicensed spectrum" (radio frequencies that aren't set aside for purposes such as cell phones, etc)

 

[nigel-bigel]

Thanks!

Nicole