walkie talkies in the parks

[Vickie46]

Hi.. Does anyone use these.. I know most people have cell phones.. but we only have one... I saw some at Best Buy that is 20.00 and will go up to 6 miles... are they worth it? My husband likes to ride the rides where I don't and my child doesn't... I just don't want to get separated and don't want to stay in one place while he has all the fun at the rides... any advice.

 

[Nala56]

We have used walkie talkies for all 7 trips. We take turn riding rides with DD, so makes it easy to know when the ride is over and where to meet. We've never had much trouble with others on the same channel. I think we got ours at Sears about 8 years ago and they cost about $50.00, but only good for 3 miles. Sounds like you found a good pair and good price.

 

[Lancer]

We tried a motorola brand(about$40) a couple of years ago. The problem was almost everyone else in the park had them too and despite 30 some channels, it was very difficult to get a hold of the other person with multiple parties on the same channel. Switching to several different channels did not improve the situation. There were times when however when it worked just fine. I dont know if a more expensive model would work any better? Perhaps with the popularity of cell phones less people will be using the two-way radios. We started using Nextel cell phones. For $20 it may be worth a try, you can always use them at home.

Hope this helps
Lancer

 

[HydroGuy]

We use Motorola TalkAbouts on all of our trips. Some of ours have 2 mile range, and some 8. The problem with the ones that have longer range is that you have a greater chance of getting interference from others on your channel for the simple reason you are picking up signals from a larger area.

 

[Vickie46]

I see. ... so do you think the shorter the distance the better then.. the ones I found say 6 mile.. do you think that is ok?? How many people are you all talking is on it at one time??? So many you can't get a word in?

 

[Robo]

How many people are you all talking is on it at one time??? So many you can't get a word in?

That's about right.

I've tried the "walkies"...

But another vote here for cel-phones.

They will WORK over any distance (you can even call HOME on them), and they are PRIVATE (no little kids jawing with "Uncle Jake" across the parking lot.)

 

[HydroGuy]

I see. ... so do you think the shorter the distance the better then.. the ones I found say 6 mile.. do you think that is ok?? How many people are you all talking is on it at one time??? So many you can't get a word in?

I would vote for shorter distance. I am basing my opinion here on numerous trips to DisneyLand. We're planning 1st trip to WDW one month from today

In year 2000 they worked great at DLR. Last summer sometimes they worked fine, and sometimes it was a pain in the rear. Cell phones are a good option - if everyone has one in the group. We will use both next month. Walkies for default, and cell phone when walkies fail.

 

[Robo]

Cell phones are a good option - if everyone has one in the group. We will use both next month. Walkies for default, and cell phone when walkies fail.

You must carry a whole PILE o' GEAR on ya... walkies AND cell phones.

Add iPods and Gameboys and you can all star in your own new final scene in the Carousel of Progress!

shshshhshs
"Come in Dad"
shshshshshshhsh
"Hello Dad, Come in Dad"
shshshshshshshs
"---I----an't hear---ou---Call ---e on---ell-pho---"
shshshsh
blee blee bloo bloo blee (auto dial)
"Hello?"
"Dad, grandma just scored 390 points on the Gameboy!"
"390? Let me tell your mother. Dear, Dear? (Oh, she's got on the iPod.)
I'll text message her... OK, call you back later."

 

[wdwlvr629]

Tried the walkies a few years ago, didn't like to use 'em...it seemed that everyone in the park was on the same channel (regardless of which channel we chose). I recommend the cell phones, hands down!

 

[SnackyStacky]

I've heard lots of good things about the walkie-talkies, but only the higher end models.

I would just stick with cell phones. You can get a Virgin mobile pre-pay for $20, and add some minutes to it.

 

[TastefullyChris]

I agree...walkies have a lot of interference. If you only have one cell phone, check with your carrier...lots of them have "family share" plans where you can share the minutes on your package with a family member and add a second phone for only $10 a month. Another option would be to pick up the cheapest "pre-paid" phone you can. Cell phones can also be used to call home or call for pizza, allowing you to bypass using your hotel phone with its EXHORBITANT rates!!! I think I read that Disney resort phones charge 75 cents per local call and have a hefty surcharge for long distance.

 

[Robo]

I read that Disney resort phones charge 75 cents per local call and have a hefty surcharge for long distance.

My rule is to never pick up the phone in my room except to call someone (or to set up a service) IN the SAME HOTEL I'm in.

OR-- to answer our "wake-up call" from Mickey and Stitch.

 

[Hannathy]

We used them 3x without trouble. You need to change the channel it is set to from the box to a channel you pick and then pick a code, then your radio will not recieve unless it is your channel and code combination. The chance that many people will pick the same channel and code is lessened because there are so many combinations. And even if there are a lot of people on these are not for 5 min. conversations they are to say "Got the FP's, heading to BTMR meet there." We only turned them on when we seperated.

Only one time was someone on our channel and that was at Easter, and only a couple times. WE like them because at that price everyone can have one and it makes it easier to meet,so our 12 yr old had her own. Normally we don't need 3-4 cell phones so I can't imagine getting 4 cell phones for $40.(with minutes) and then only using them for a week. For kids it is also much more of an instant reaching someone- as soon as they squeeze the button you hear it on your radio.

We will take our one cell phone with us

 

[beattyfamily]

Cell phones with the walkie talkie feature are the best!!

Nextel has great reception all over WDW (except in rides and they should be off then anyway!).

 

[Vickie46]

so would you all buy the 6 miles for 20.00??

 

[dhcoffey]

We just got back yesterday and used the walkie talkies with a 10 mile range. I think the 6 mile range would be fine, too. We never had a problem with any other people on the channels we were using once and we had 4 that we were using, one for each of three kids and one for my DH and me. The cell phone carrier we use doesn't work in Fl and I don't want to buy another cell phone just for WDW, so we'll stick with the walkie talkies.

 

[rejobako]

Just my opinion, but with cellphone "per minute" prices coming down so much over the past few years, it doesn't really make sense for us to use walkie talkies given the many disadvantages in reception, size, and convenience. We have a pair of walkie talkies that we bought back in 2002, and have rarely used them.

Last week at SeaWorld I noticed that someone had dropped a walkie talkie into the shark tank exhibit. Strange no one reached in to try to retrieve it.

 

[HydroGuy]

You must carry a whole PILE o' GEAR on ya... walkies AND cell phones.

Add iPods and Gameboys and you can all star in your own new final scene in the Carousel of Progress!

shshshhshs
"Come in Dad"
shshshshshshhsh
"Hello Dad, Come in Dad"
shshshshshshshs
"---I----an't hear---ou---Call ---e on---ell-pho---"
shshshsh
blee blee bloo bloo blee (auto dial)
"Hello?"
"Dad, grandma just scored 390 points on the Gameboy!"
"390? Let me tell your mother. Dear, Dear? (Oh, she's got on the iPod.)
I'll text message her... OK, call you back later."

No, just the walkie-talkies for everyone in the group, and two cell phones which we would have anyways and can double as backups.

But your concern is appreciated. If you PM me your home number, we can use you as an intermediate contact if we have trouble. We'll try not to use your number when it is after midnight.

 

[Stitch65]

Vickie, we got 6 mile ones at Best Buy for about 26 bucks... They are Cobra brand I think? They have that whole channel/code combo thing, so I'm hoping that they'll work without too much interference. We have cell phones, but are choosing to leave my husbands in the safe since the man just "had to have" a blackberry. I said, "NO way are you bringing that thing to the parks!"

 

[Twende]

We used walkie talkies on our trip in December and they worked very well. We do not have cell phones so that was not an option.

We only had trouble once with some crazies that were being really rude. We simply changed channels and no more problems. We had a few set channels in case the one we had set was busy. We also learned not to say "Go to channel # whatever" as the crazies followed us! Instead we said go to your sister's birthday and that works!