Where to buy cellphone in WDW ?

[roxazul]

Where can I buy a cheap cellphone in WDW ?
I only need one for child safety reasons, so even if only 5 minutes are included it will be ok.

I live in Canada and my cell shows no service whenever I pass the border, but I really need one in case of an emergency as I'll travel alone with a 5yo

 

[disneyag]

Check with your cell phone carrier in Canada. It may need to be "unlocked" to give you service across the border (mine US phone needed this to travel to Ireland.) That might be cheaper than purchasing a new phone.

 

[evaready51]

Check with your cell phone carrier in Canada. It may need to be "unlocked" to give you service across the border (mine US phone needed this to travel to Ireland.) That might be cheaper than purchasing a new phone.

My Verizon phone worked in Toronto and Montreal

 

[Bell30012]

If not, find a cheap Metro PCS phone on e-bay. The service is $35 a month and has excellent coverage for Orlando. www.metropcs.com

Disclosure: I don't work for the company nor do I get a referral. But probably should...

 

[moray26]

Go to the nearest Radio Shack or Walmart or convenience store and buy a $15-$20 prepaid phone- I recommend Tracfone or Virgin Mobile. They both come with like 2 minutes of service to start you off (but you'll prolly want to buy additional time, or minutes, anyway) and take about 5 min. to program yourself. They are virtually "throw-away" or vacation phones.

 

[berley]

We're Canadian and didn't want to fool with our own plan. We went to the Virgin Megastore in DTD earlier this year and bought a $20 phone and a $20 phone card. It had enough minutes for us for the week (not heavy users).

Good luck!

 

[tzolkin]

i had borrowed my sister's cell phone so DH and I could find each other if we split up (we have one child too short for some of the rides). it died on our second day there right when i came out of space mountain and we had to search all over for him and the baby. we had our car, so DH picked one up (Net10) at walmart when he went out to get some groceries. i believe they have ones that are around $30 and include 300 minutes. service was fine throughout the parks and hotel.

 

[Traveliz]

Where can I buy a cheap cellphone in WDW ?
I only need one for child safety reasons, so even if only 5 minutes are included it will be ok.

I live in Canada and my cell shows no service whenever I pass the border, but I really need one in case of an emergency as I'll travel alone with a 5yo

If you are only getting it for child safety reasons I would probably just not get it - sounds like you are flying -- so basically everywhere you are you will be surrounded by phones (say in your actual hotel room) or by people with cell phones (park, buses, etc).

In a real emergency who would you be calling for that five minutes? 911? I can't think of a place you would be where you would be faster calling 911 than another person, CM, bus driver.

If I am missing something here - sorry - although I don't travel without a cell phone these days there were years in my child raising years before they were even invented....gosh makes me sound old. I don't want to say I did it so you can but rather everywhere you will be you will be by phones and people with phones or blackberrys, or intercoms, or ways to contact help.

Liz

 

[noahdove]

I have a cell phone, and my girls get a little upset with me when I don't turn it on I have a pet peeve, that when I am out and having a great time, I don't have time to chat on the phone...if I could get away with it at home, I wouldn't have a home phone either. When I am at Disney, I will most likely have it turned on...but won't answer. I will leave the resort number and once we check in, I will give the room number to the family...that way, if they want to chat, they can call us in the room...I do agree, that so many people would be willing to let you use their phone if an emergency happens..

 

[cglaura]

The Virgin MegaStore (not sure of exact name) in Downtown Disney WestSide sells Virgin Mobile Phones. I think the least expensive is $14.99 and they usually come with $10 free airtime. If not least expensive top up card is $20. You only need to topup $20 every 90 days (or $10 every 45 days) to keep phone active.

I have a Virgin Mobile and have never had any service problems anywhere in WDW.

You can check out the models on virginmobile dot com

 

[honkytonkmama]

I 2nd going to walmart your 1st day there, look for a pre-paid phone. They are cheap, and you can just recycle it at the end of your trip. I had a go phone for a while, it was nice.