Who has Verizon wireless? How is it at Disney?

[Rash]

We're thinking about upgrading to a national calling plan with Verizon so that we don't spend a fortune calling each other while in the parks. Considered two-way radios, but I've heard that due to their popularity the channels are pretty crowded in theme parks. Besides, we travel often and a national plan makes sense for us.

Anyway, the question - does Verizon have a good network in the Disney parks? Or are you roaming outside the Verizon network? Either way, how good are the connections?

 

[DEH3rd]

I have it. It worked fine last year. their new plan is good. now, no roaming or long distance on the national plan. LD & Roaming killed me last year!

 

[AngKWhite]

I have Verizon Wireless and use the America's Choice plan. It is not roaming at Disney or vicinity and reception was fine.

 

[jdonat]

We're on the Verizon national plan
because we're on the home network where we normally travel (Fla, OH, CO). Network services seem to be good. I've had very few problems connecting.
Our "home area" is Chicagoland.

FYI, FRS radios still work pretty well
there, but we've upgraded to the GMRS
radios -they require a licence from the FCC ($75.00 for 5 years). The GMRS
radios, because you need a licence, and
they are still not too common, are great!
We don't know what we'd do without the radios as both our DD's have them, and so does the wife. We've found that we've been
able to talk from the bridge in front of
Splash Mountain all the way over
to Small World.
The trick with FRS radios is to
pick channels and codes that arent easy to remember... And I know that other brands work well, but for us it's Motorola or 'nothin. Check Best Buy or
Office Depot. as they quite often have sales on Moto radios with rebates from Motorola

have fun!

JED

 

[Rash]

We were considering GMRS, but I'm not crazy about the $75 license fee. In your opinion, is FRS only still doable in the parks?

 

[AZKathy]

We are here right now and we are using Verizon Wireless with no problems. We took advantage of their no roaming fees set up; it is great when teenagers want to separate! Much better than the two way radios we used last year!

 

[jdonat]

Yeah... our trick was to use uncommon
number combinations for the radios. MK was
the most difficult because of traffic, and the
rest of the parks were better. If you get a
FRS radio, make sure that it's got the 38
codes -the Motorola and Cobra radios are
compatible.

As far as the GMRS radios go, the $75.00 is
for however many radios you have, from
what I can tell. I just got one licence, and was
able to do it online from the FCC's website.
We'll see exactly how far the GMRS radios range
is in August.

 

[SueM in MN]

We used Verizon at WDW in March. Most places it was fine, but there were pcokets where we went off "Extended Network" and went into roaming. One of the pockets was our second bedroom at OKW. It must have had to do with where we were compared to the antenna or something.

 

[snuggles]

We have both Verizon and Alltel. (long story) Our Verizon phone worked like a charm and our Alltel phone welcomed us to the Verizon community when we used it. Both were ok and since Florida is part of our plan there were no roaming charges for either.

 

[meuseman]

I used verizon and got perfect reception everywhere, even inside the tree of life!

 

[patsal]

Used Verizon in May and I had great reception everywhere I used it. No roaming or LD which is great as well.

 

[GlennandAnn]

We have Verizon and the national calling plan. Our phones work great at WDW, provided we stay outside. We haven't been able to get reception inside any of the buildings in the parks.

Ann

 

[DISNEYBIGGDOGG]

Used it last Thanksgiving at WDW and will be using it next week. I have never had a problem.

 

[iluvdisney]

We also have Verizon and it works better than the 2 way radios we had. It's nice for trying to find out where your partner is for sure esp if they are in another park. I have found a roaming charge on my bill once and called about it right away and I was credited immediately. Sometimes it has something to do with needing to update your phone before you leave with that number they give you to call. But all in all I'm very happy with the Verizon deal of America's Choice.