Cell phone use at WDW

[5mouseketeersforus]

Originally Posted by robinsnest49ers

OK so I just found out that Disney has wifi in all the parks and their resorts. So if you have an iphone or an ipod download the text plus app and use that.

Not sure what to do with the blackberry.

But Make sure you go to your settings on your iphone and turn OFF your

cellular Data
Enable 3G
Data Roaming

To do this go to

Settings
General
Cellular

I'm pretty sure this will work, I am going to try it in a few weeks.

But if you are really worried about getting dinged for something, ask your cell provider if they can disable internet etc. for a specified period of time.

Canadians have always been looking for a way to use their phones in Disney and I think they finally responded by getting wifi. I have heard it works pretty good, will see soon I guess.

Not sure when you are going but I will update this post when I get home and let u know how it went.

Just keep an eye on you phone and make sure the little "?g" is NOT on. If it says "3g" or 4g you are connected to a network and may get charged.

Ok thanks. Will give that a try!!

We are heading down jan 29th for 2 weeks.

[robinsnest49ers]

Well, you are going before me so let me know how it goes.

Good Luck

[Maddysdaddy]

Please see my posts above and over the past few pages with respect to iPhone unlocking with Telus and buying a sim card from T-Mobile.

The unlock is $50 (but if you're nice to the person on the phone, they may waive the fee) and unlimited talk/text/data from T-Mo is $3/day, so even if you have to pay the Telus unlock fee, you're still paying less than you did on your last trip and you don't have to worry about any unexpected data charges.

It's one thing to have free wifi in the parks (which you're sharing with nine gazillion other park visitors), but what about your hotel/travelling outside the park/driving to wherever... Most of us don't blink twice about paying thousands for a Disney trip, or $15 for a burger and drink in the park, but when you ask them to pay $3 for their phone, look out.

The alternative, if you don't want to go to T-Mo and are willing to pay more for less data, is to look at Roam Mobility here in Canada. Their website is pretty informative.

Originally Posted by 5mouseketeersforus

Ok experts.....talk to me like i am a 5 year old - slowly and don't use too many big words

Last time we were in The US, i called Telus and added on the US 30 day packages for phone/text/data. IIRC, total cost was approx $75? Weeks later i got my bill......close to $300!!!!! The data/roaming charges were insane even with the add-ons

Obviously i don't want this to happen again. So here is the situation:

I want to be able to text DH & the kids as well as folks back home, use gmail and also access the web. Not really concerned with using the phone.

I have an Iphone4 with Telus - under contract for another year or so.

The kids have ipod4s so would like to be able to text them and they want to surf the net.

DH has a company BB.

I have an old BB (i think it is the curve?)

What is the least expensive way to do this?

Unlock the Iphone through Telus & then pick up a sim card here or pick up a sim card in the US?
Somehow get the old BB unlocked and then get a sim card?
Other??

Remember i am 5; at least when it comes to this kind of stuff LOL

[5mouseketeersforus]

Originally Posted by Maddysdaddy

Please see my posts above and over the past few pages with respect to iPhone unlocking with Telus and buying a sim card from T-Mobile.

The unlock is $50 (but if you're nice to the person on the phone, they may waive the fee) and unlimited talk/text/data from T-Mo is $3/day, so even if you have to pay the Telus unlock fee, you're still paying less than you did on your last trip and you don't have to worry about any unexpected data charges.

It's one thing to have free wifi in the parks (which you're sharing with nine gazillion other park visitors), but what about your hotel/travelling outside the park/driving to wherever... Most of us don't blink twice about paying thousands for a Disney trip, or $15 for a burger and drink in the park, but when you ask them to pay $3 for their phone, look out.

The alternative, if you don't want to go to T-Mo and are willing to pay more for less data, is to look at Roam Mobility here in Canada. Their website is pretty informative.

Thanks very much.
Embarassingly, i did read through the posts but still didn't "get it". Told ya i was 5.
Called Telus - the fee is now $35. I asked them for the super loyal customer discount (been with them for over 12 years!!!) and he reduced it to $20.
Currently having trouble getting it unlocked (they sent a msg via Itunes but i haven't seen it??) but hopefully it all works out.

[5mouseketeersforus]

Anyone have any experience with roammobility (based in BC)???
Just trying to figure out if it would be easier/better to go with a supplier here vs. T-Mobil in the US??
Roam's plans are $3/day for talk/text/data so for the 14 days i need - it would be $36.95 which includes 1,000MB of data.

My only concern is that i am still on the 3G network.

[Maddysdaddy]

Originally Posted by 5mouseketeersforus

Anyone have any experience with roammobility (based in BC)???
Just trying to figure out if it would be easier/better to go with a supplier here vs. T-Mobil in the US??
Roam's plans are $3/day for talk/text/data so for the 14 days i need - it would be $36.95 which includes 1,000MB of data.

My only concern is that i am still on the 3G network.

Roam 'roams' on T-Mo's network, so if you're in an area where T-Mo has recently upgraded their towers (check the map on their website), you should be getting faster speeds.

The biggest issue with Roam is the limited amount of data you get. 1GB can go pretty quick. They are good in that their plan lets you call back to Canada, but if you go T-Mo and spend 10 minutes setting up a Google Voice account, you get free calling to Canada anyway.

[joech]

We just came back from our Christams/New year trip and the Free wi fi at the parks and resorts are spotty to say the least. We even had trouble in our rooms at Ak.

I ended up getting a couple Verizon pay & talk phones for $15 each for my DW and I. Both phones come with $10 credit to start. The plan I choose was the 99 cents per day with unlimited calling between the two phones.

[5mouseketeersforus]

Ok another question from me (sorry but i seriously don't keep up on all this tech stuff);

My Iphone4s is now unlocked. Once i pu the new sim card in for it, is everything missing? For example, would all of my apps/music/tv shows still be there? Would all of my contacts still remain? What about gmail - would it still be there with all of my messages or would i have to set it up again?

[cyros]

We are leaving for WDW in less than two weeks and as I do not have a cell phone that can work outside Canada at all, I purchased a cheap no contract phone to keep in touch my phone only (no texts or otherwise)with the other half of our party when we split up. I got this AT&T Samsung a157 Prepaid GoPhone (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o04_s02_i02) and I'm assuming I'll be able to activate it and choose my usage plan when I arrive at the rental home and have access to the computer (at least I hope so?) Also, has anyone used AT&T service in the parks? I'm worried now because I have now read that AT&T does not have good coverage. Is this going to work for us or did I pick the wrong provider?

[mjf]

Originally Posted by 5mouseketeersforus

My Iphone4s is now unlocked. Once i pu the new sim card in for it, is everything missing? For example, would all of my apps/music/tv shows still be there? Would all of my contacts still remain? What about gmail - would it still be there with all of my messages or would i have to set it up again?

All of your apps / music / TV shows / contacts / e-mail messages will still be there. Putting in the new sim card won't impact any of those things.

[Maddysdaddy]

Everything will still be there.

One thing you will want to consider doing when you are down in the US, is to buy a $10 (or whatever) iTunes card and setting up a US iTunes account. There are a bunch of apps (including Disney related ones) that are not available in the Canadian iTunes store.

Originally Posted by 5mouseketeersforus

Ok another question from me (sorry but i seriously don't keep up on all this tech stuff);

My Iphone4s is now unlocked. Once i pu the new sim card in for it, is everything missing? For example, would all of my apps/music/tv shows still be there? Would all of my contacts still remain? What about gmail - would it still be there with all of my messages or would i have to set it up again?

[5mouseketeersforus]

Originally Posted by Maddysdaddy

Everything will still be there.

One thing you will want to consider doing when you are down in the US, is to buy a $10 (or whatever) iTunes card and setting up a US iTunes account. There are a bunch of apps (including Disney related ones) that are not available in the Canadian iTunes store.

That is an awesome tip!!! Thnk you so much

[Fabooliss]

Originally Posted by doug74

How do I go about buying US prepaid phones (throwaway) with minutes (60?) online and having them shipped to my resort?

I just want to use it for communicating with family inside the parks..

Bringing my Motorolla 2-way radios, but I dunno how well they'll work..

I'm thinking this might be the best option.. I have a Telus pay and talk phone, but if it's going to be more of a hassle..

I think Walmart will do this, I know amazon will, and you can use PayPal for a us payment.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[YukiPhnx]

Since they now have wifi in all the parks and resorts, I highly recommend getting a calling app or a text app, or both!

Whatsapp is good on iOS and Android. It's a texting app. They have a free trial period and then it's $1 after that. It's definitely worth it.

A great calling app is Viber. It also works on iOS and Android but I don't know about Blackberry. My parents in China use this app to call us.

I'm so glad I no longer have to deal with sim cards and tracphones!

[Jennifer16]

We are traveling in March and just want to check on the wifi status at the parks. I have read in earlier posts that it can be spotty? Is this still the case. Also, just checking if all the parks have wifi now? Thinking that we would use our iPhones and iPods for messaging each other while in park and to use line apps. If this will work then we really don't need to "call" each other so a phone plan does not seem necessary. Also staying at OKW so I figure we will also have wifi at resort. Just trying to make this simple ...