Cell phone use at WDW

[disneyred]

from Canada. I am using a rogers cellphone...(but its UNLOCKED)

now can I (when I) travel to disney....

take my same cellphone to disney, buy a sim card (to stick into my cellphone )and prepaid card from an americancompany (verizon, cingular, etc..) and used it that way ?

I thought it would be cheaper as the sim card never expires so, i can use it
in the states....
what do you think , would this work ?

[ChisJo]

You will still have to pay roaming fees...and they are EXPENSIVE!!!

I bought a US calling package for the month when I went last...well worth every penny. You get 100 minutes for US calling, to and from, and well worth it. I wasn't planning on using my phone very much, but did a couple times just to touch base on some topics that email couldn't handle. I think I paid $30 extra dollars, but it I am planning on doing it again this year when I go....that way, people can still get a hold of me and I don't have to worry about getting a RIDICULOUS phone bill.

I don't know how the Sim card would work - I only thought that Sim cards stored the information on your phone so that you can transfer that to a new phone when you upgrade (corret me if I'm wrong???).

Jo

[DiRTyBuNNy]

Originally Posted by disneyred

from Canada. I am using a rogers cellphone...(but its UNLOCKED)

now can I (when I) travel to disney....

take my same cellphone to disney, buy a sim card (to stick into my cellphone )and prepaid card from an americancompany (verizon, cingular, etc..) and used it that way ?

I thought it would be cheaper as the sim card never expires so, i can use it
in the states....
what do you think , would this work ?

You'd have to go through Cingular or T-Mobile because those are the only two that are GSM (and use a SIMChip in their phones) but I don't see why that wouldn't work. They both offer pre-paid phones.

--Mr. DB

[nosnobunny2006]

I don't believe Rogers charges roaming fees anymore.

Beth

[DiRTyBuNNy]

Originally Posted by nosnobunny2006

I don't believe Rogers charges roaming fees anymore.

Beth

Nope, Calls made in the US back to Canada are quite expensive (per this chart at least)

--Mr. DB

[SaraMc]

We have rogers and paid a arm and a leg to call home while in WDW to wish DBIL Happy Birthday. Also the service was not that great. DH and I were in two diffrent parks calling each other and could barely hear each other through all the static.

[nosnobunny2006]

Originally Posted by DiRTyBuNNy

Nope, Calls made in the US back to Canada are quite expensive (per this chart at least)

--Mr. DB

Maybe that's why my charges aren't bad, because I never call back to Canada.

Beth

[disneyred]

ok
so if i understand correctly :

1. my scenario would work if I just made local calls within disney ??
that would work out ok if i was just calling among ourselves in disney

BUT
2. still charge roaming calling to canada..

[fuzzy164]

Originally Posted by disneyred

from Canada. I am using a rogers cellphone...(but its UNLOCKED)

now can I (when I) travel to disney....

take my same cellphone to disney, buy a sim card (to stick into my cellphone )and prepaid card from an americancompany (verizon, cingular, etc..) and used it that way ?

I thought it would be cheaper as the sim card never expires so, i can use it
in the states....
what do you think , would this work ?

I don't think that would work your sim card stores the information such as your phone number when you activate the phone( Rodgers asks you to provide the p/n when you call and they match it up with the phone via sattlilte correct me if I'm wrong here), phone#'s you save to the sim as well if the phone is stolen they can "blow the sim card" electronically rendering the phone useless (thanks for the lesson DD). As well would you not have to be issued a new phone number by the company that issues the sim card?
What if you bought one of the pay as u go cheapies from Wal-Mart in the U.S. for 9.99 and bought a sim card up here would it work( hhhhmmmm might have to go the U.S. this weekend and test my theroy).
Bottom line maybe call Rodgers and ask what if....
Have fun.
Fuzzy164

[disneyred]

hmmmmmmmmm ok. ... I hear y'all

I thought:
my sim card carried all my personal data...so in this case, my canadian info..
so I would take it out.... BUT buy a new sim card in disney and just plug
it into my current phone to use...as if I was a disney residence..

am I losing it now ???

[CanadianGuy]

Originally Posted by disneyred

hmmmmmmmmm ok. ... I hear y'all

I thought:
my sim card carried all my personal data...so in this case, my canadian info..
so I would take it out.... BUT buy a new sim card in disney and just plug
it into my current phone to use...as if I was a disney residence..

am I losing it now ???

You are correct. If your phone is unlocked and you can locate a carrier with prepaid SIM cards... you're good to go.

There's nothing left in the phone to identify it to the network without the SIM card.

Put another SIM card in .. and the phone is only identified with the network of that SIM card.. not the previous one.

Your idea will work - IF you can locate the prepaid SIM card.

Google "PREPAID SIM CARD" and you'll get lots to read.

EDIT: T-Mobile offers these. Rates start at about 20c a minute and go as low as 10c a minute depending on the initial buy-in amount.

HOWEVER: Long Distance to Canada is pricey on their plan tho. 40c a minute... and that's on top of their other rate and this is all in US $.

The Rogers plan includes long distance to anywhere in the US or Canada.

Info on the Rogers plans is available here. I've used these plans and the 75$ plan for 240 minutes worked like a charm for me. That works out to 31c a minute.. TOTAL. In Canadian dollars.

http://www.shoprogers.com/business/w...on&cat=1&typ=2

I got the bill for this all my calls both within the US, and to Canada were 0.00$ -- no charge. I did not exceed the 240 minutes of course. I was charged 10c to call an 800 number each time I called it. I knew about this charge, so the 80c wasn't a shocker.

There's no shortage of people who have nightmare stories about using a Canadian cell phone in the states. Usually this is because they either were horribly mis-informed.. or simply assumed it wouldn't be that expensive.

If you are a Rogers customer, the U-S Add-On for Roaming GSM customers is a very good deal and it works.

Knox

[Northstar]

I think that's the point of getting your phone unlocked... then your phone isn't a Rogers phone unless you use a Rogers SIM card, is it?

Check with the folks who performed the unlocking service (that sounds weird...the phone-unlocking guys) to make sure. They will know because that's their bread-and-butter. But a pay-as-you-go SIM card on North American standard should work fine.

[F4disneyfan]

Your best bet if you really want to do this is to do a google search on cell phone unlocking there are tonnes of sites and they will actually list how you go about this and there are tonnes of places in the Disney area that sell sim cards for unlocked phones then you buy the card pop it in and away you go. A friend of mine has an unlocked phone and has Rogers and Fido on one phone she just swappes out the sim card and she is good to go the phone uses the data stores on the sim it is not stored in the phone.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6625604-1.html

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roa...lockingfaq.htm

http://www.cellphonehacks.com/

[disneyred]

Originally Posted by F4disneyfan

Your best bet if you really want to do this is to do a google search on cell phone unlocking there are tonnes of sites and they will actually list how you go about this and there are tonnes of places in the Disney area that sell sim cards for unlocked phones then you buy the card pop it in and away you go. A friend of mine has an unlocked phone and has Rogers and Fido on one phone she just swappes out the sim card and she is good to go the phone uses the data stores on the sim it is not stored in the phone.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6625604-1.html

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roa...lockingfaq.htm

http://www.cellphonehacks.com/

ok...guess I was not clear enough,,,if you read my beginning post..
my phone is already UNLOCKED....

[Mickey1Fan]

After an almost $400 bill for roaming if I were you I would check with Rogers. Get the information from them and note who you talked to and when.

I was given incorrect information by others. No one on this board, but people I thought knew how roaming worked.