Walkie Talkies?

[Korbs]

Hi,

Our next trip will consist of myself, partner, mum, stepdad and two little bro's. The plan is that we will take my bro's early in the morning in time for park opening and will meet up with mum and dad later on. Therefore, i was planning to buy a set of walkie talkie's to enable us all to stay in touch, (instead of taking mobiles).
Has anyone else used them and did they work out ok?
And, am i better off buying them before i go or getting them out there?

Thanks

 

[peewakio]

They are only good for in the parks or within a 2-3 mile radius. So if you were in Universal and the parents in Belz Mall that would probably be fine, but any further than that they would be of no use.

 

[bubblefactory]

i believe it's best to buy out there - they are cheapest in Walmart and I have heard some UK ones are not on frequencies legal in the US.


Alec

 

[RUSHBURY]

Hi Korbs

We've used walkie talkies, bought from Walmart, for the past 4 years and have found them invaluable for keeping in touch, in the parks.

We go with another family which makes a party of 9 in total and we have 4 walkie talkies so that we can all split up into small groups, some like the big rides and others like the shows etc etc.

I don't know the range of the walkie talkies we've got but they are brilliant for the parks.

I would recommend buying the walkie talkies in Florida as they have a different frequency to UK.

Helen

 

[Homer Timpson]

Agree with other re frequencies in each country - they are not compatible legally - though they do work physically

We bought a pair of Motorola T5200's on amazon.com - and had them delivered to our accomodation in Vistana.
They worked well in the parks for most of the time - the only 'extra' I would look for next time would be a vibrating model!!

Sometimes, with the general noise within the parks, it's hard to hear them. Well, that's what some members of our group claimed

Certainly well worth the investment. The fact you can go your separate ways / take a break / skip a ride etc, and regroup with ease - especially in the heat - is a handy option.

Brian

 

[edie w]

We're interested in buying some walkie talkies too.

I don't think having them delivered to us in Florida will work, as we're staying in a villa. Any suggestions of where to buy them? Some people have suggested Walmart, which I think is a bit of a trek from Indian Creek (behind Splendid China).

And what type would you recommend? We don't want to spend too much, we'll always be in the same park (except perhaps USF/IOA), and we really need 3 or 4 as there are 10 of us.

 

[Mike Jones]

I've read advice on other sites about keeping in touch in/around the parks.... (we use UK walkie Talkies borrowed off a friend, and they are fine within each park,but if we'd had to buy them they would have cost us £40-£50 per handset...) one alternative suggested on wdisneyw.co.uk was to hire mobile phones out there.. surely that would be cheaper than buying the w/t's?

 

[RUSHBURY]

not 100% sure about this but I was told that UK and US operate on different frequencies and that each other's is illegal in the other's country - I bought the US walkie talkies, FRS frequency, from Walmart. I think UK is PMR frequency - perhaps someone can comment on this

Helen

 

[edie w]

Yes it's definitely illegal to use UK walkie talkies in US and vice versa. In UK we us a PMR (personal mobile radio I think) frequency of 446-447MHz (approx) and in the US it's FRS (family radio service) or GPRS (???) 462-467 MHz.

But worse than it being illegal, the UK frequencies are the same as the US emergency services frequencies - so you could just be interfering with an ambulance or fire engine getting directions from base.

Re. hiring phones, we have thought about it but as we intend to visit Orlando again x several in the future, buying 2 way radios ($25 ish per pair, I believe) seems a good investment.

Looks like I'm off to Walmart bright and early on our first morning!

 

[Homer Timpson]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...=4511&type=19&dept=4125&path=0:4125:4138:4511

Pair of walkie talkies at Walmart - £22

Can't go wrong at that price.

Brian

 

[Sweeney Todd]

We were considering taking mobile phones but mine is not tri-band so I will have to upgrade (possibly talking about more than 100 squid there!)
Me and the wife are both on Orange Just Talk and while I know the roaming charges for talk are expensive does anyone know (approx) how much it would cost us to text each other whilst in Florida?

If too pricey may well go the Walkie Talkie route. One thing that puts me off is the range and lack of privacy. Anyone know how much to pay for one with lots of channel options?

Sweeney

 

[Sweeney Todd]

Derrr! Should've checked the link - thanks Homer!
Not as expensive as I first thought then.

Sweeney

 

[DisneyBB]

We bought them last year from Walmart. I think we paid about $15 each for them. The ones we bought have 4 channels and you choose which one you use. If the parks are busy you pick up everyone elses messages. We had a code name we used so we could tell who was who ! It is quite interesting to listen to other peoples, as you have no choice, I am not being nosey!