Whats the cheapest way to call UK from Disney

[Portugal1000]

Staying at SSR for 3 weeks from 3rd August. Will need to call home everyday as my mum will be recovering from an operation. She will be out of hospital about 10 days before we leave but will still want to check everything ok every day. Usually she call us at the hotel but on this occasion I need to make the effort. When we were stuck there in December due to snow, spent a fortune on the mobile and enede up buying one of those calling cards. however, when I called from a park once, there was a message to say they would charge an extra 7 minutes, or something like that.
So, is there a cheap way to call from on site or is it a case of having to find an off site phone box and calling from there.
Thanks

 

[wayneg]

We need to make a phone call to get AS level results in August, I planned on getting a $10 calling card. I was given one 3 years ago by someone on another forum, they had already used it and we used it a few times, still had credit on, we couldn't use it all.
This was in a Condo offsite so interested in any respose to using them onsite.
Our other option is mobile at £1.40/minute, no idea how long it will take to be given results, not something we have done by phone before.

 

[jen_uk]

I bought a $10 phone card once from one of the malls and only got about 15 minutes of talk time.

 

[oceanscape]

Get a TracFone for $9.99 from Walmart. It usually comes with some free minutes and you can use their international dialling service to call the UK. When you need more minutes you can buy a top-up online or get a card in store.

We spent maybe $30 in total (including the $9.99 for the phone) and called the UK every day for at least 5-10 minutes (over a 2 week trip).

Info on the TracFone international service here - http://www.tracfoneild.com/?AID=ILDHPB

 

[wayneg]

Never considered a TracFone.
Have I got the figures right?
$10 to buy (I assume + tax?) includes 20 mins
$10/30 minutes? cheaper the more minutes you buy.

Last phone card we used cost $10 but got over 60 minutes.

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

We tend to try to find an Indian or International Food or Grocery Shop (Bombay Bazar, Medina Baza, La Placita Latina) and buy a Da Bomb Card for $5 or $10. You can use it to call from any phone as its a toll free number and you get excellent value for money (around 3 and a half to 5 hours talk time to UK), you rarely use a full card during your stay. We used to use net 10 and sometimes use these to keep in touch with each other on vacation but long term these were not economical or environmentally friendly for our needs (each year we had to throw our phones away and purchase new ones as it was less hassle than reactivating) so we now have permanent US T-Mobile cellphones for use within the US and use Da Bomb Cards for international calls. Whatever you do, don't buy AT&T International Cards, they eat money!

This Link has a picture of what the Da Bomb card looks like;

http://www.getmecallingcards.com/phone_cards/STI_Da_Bomb_calling_card.html

 

[jana]

A lot of times with the phone cards, how many minutes you get is dependent on what type of phone you call from. If you read the small print ( few people do) if you use a pay phone ( in the hotel lobby) you are "charged" a fee , often as much as $3 to "access" the cards 800 number. If you call from the phone in your room I think Disney charges 50 cents (free to DVC members) to access an 800 number , other hotel companies vary, but I can't remember ever seeing one that's more than $1. Just one call to access the 800 number uses 30% of your "minutes" on a pay phone.

I think generally you get more minutes for your money on the cards bought at petrol stations and supermarkets than those in the hotel lobbies, but read the small print before you buy them.

 

[DISWolves]

If you have a smart phone - load SKYPE app and add some credit - using wifi - calls are very reasonable.
Credit lasts for approx 180 days, when it is about to expire, you are sent a text, make a quick call to anywhere (I call my home number) and this resets 180 days again on your remaining credit
UK landlines 1.4p / min
UK mobiles 14.9p / min
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/payg-rates/?currency=GBP#cc=GB

 

[OrlandoMagic]

If you have a smart phone - load SKYPE app and add some credit - using wifi - calls are very reasonable.
Credit lasts for approx 180 days, when it is about to expire, you are sent a text, make a quick call to anywhere (I call my home number) and this resets 180 days again on your remaining credit
UK landlines 1.4p / min
UK mobiles 14.9p / min
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/payg-rates/?currency=GBP#cc=GB

Even better if the person you are calling has Skype on their phone or PC, as long as you are in a free WiFi area you can call Skype to Skype for free!

 

[penlanspice]

We always buy an international calling card from 7-11, we've found these to be the best. We usually get $20 and that lasts us a 3 and half week holiday, DH phones his mummy pretty much everyday for about 20 mins as-well as my family and we've always still got credit left.
Some hotels charge a fee or around $1 some don't, I don't remember ever paying at Disney.

 

[oceanscape]

Never considered a TracFone.
Have I got the figures right?
$10 to buy (I assume + tax?) includes 20 mins
$10/30 minutes? cheaper the more minutes you buy.

Last phone card we used cost $10 but got over 60 minutes.

Yes, the phone is $9.99 plus tax. Obviously you can then keep using it on subsequent trips so it's only the one initial outlay.

They always have deals/coupon codes/special offers on the minutes. We paid $19.99 for a 60 minute to-up card but as a promo they included "double minutes" which meant we actually got 120 minutes. There are always plenty of deals when you login to your TracFone account online.

Highly recommend it, we've saved a bomb. You can also choose an Orlando phone number. It's great having our "own" local number to give for restaurant reservations etc.