Walkie Talkies in Parks

[Dyanna]

Anyone ever use them in the Parks to communicate with other family members? We are thinking of using them for when either DH or myself go on rides with DD's & the other one is staying behind with the baby we can let each other know where we are located when they finish a ride.

[disneymom15]

We've used them in the past. Problem was, so many other families also used them. Made it hard to talk because others would chime in.

[ibrowse17]

Please do not do this. The sound of a hundred walkie talkies always going off is like nails down a chalkboard. Set times to meet if you want to keep in touch.

[JPL]

I have noticed as cellphones have become more common place the Walkie Talkie use has declined greatly.

[Buttercup]

I guess I'm in the minority. We used them last time - we had a large group of 11, and the walkie-talkies were great! Especially when we were all trying to squeeze our way through crowds during parades, fireworks, etc. -- we could figure out where each other was in the crowd.
I guess I can see how they'd get annoying for other people if they were bleeping during an attraction or something - but as long as you turn them off during rides and shows, I can't see why they would cause a disruption.:confused:

[irish1967]

We had a large party the our last visit as well (26) and utilized cell phones as well (adults and teenagers all had them)

My BIL has used walkie talkies in the past and when we were discussing communication in the parks during the planning of the trip, he mentioned that his preference would be the cell phones because of the ability to leave a voice mail if the person on the receiving end is on a ride and unable to answer.

[ThanxForNoticin]

We have used the walkie-talkies in the past - they work pretty well around the property. However, in the last couple years, cell phone communication is more effective. But I wouldn't hesitate to use them if you need to keep in touch at times. You just need to find a frequency that's not being used by other groups.

[cperry92380]

We tried using them during our June 04 trip and had a HORRIBLE using them. Seemed like everyone else in the park had them too, so you were getting alot of other folks conversations. Even with the ones with a channel and subchannel option, there was still a lot of interference.
We'll just use cell phones from now own... and remember... PUT THEM ON VIBRATE OR SILENT WHEN ON RIDES OR IN SHOWS!!!!!
Be courteous!!!

[disneybob]

FRS/GMRS Walkie Talkies should work as long as your in the same park. Even though the ranges say 8,10,12 miles thier effective range is less than a mile. so it's even qeustionable that they would make it from one side of the park to the other.

[Lynn J Mc]

I personally think they should be banned from the park. They are loud and distracting. The people I have seen using them have to ask the same quesiton over and over because the reception is terrible. I don't think you will be pleased with the service.
The only thing worse than listening to a one-sided cell phone conversation is listening to a 2-sided walkie-talkie conversation.
We have found that cellphones are very effective. We don't talk loudly and never use them in shows. We always have a place to meet in the event something happens to phone (poor reception, dead battery, etc).

[mttafire]

I have noticed as cellphones have become more common place the Walkie Talkie use has declined greatly.

I agree. The walkie talkies also can have major problems with others talking on your frequency. Personally, I think phones are the best way to communicate in the parks.
If no phone...Then the old, Meet me in front of Walt's statue should work.:thumbsup:

[pook@wdw]

We use them regularly in and out of the parks! If we have someone break in we just go to another channel. One of the things I like to do, is to listen in while another is on an attraction. I listened to my DBIL on EE from start to finish! It was hilarious!!:haha::haha: to hear them screaming and when they came out of the cave, they were yelling, "HERE WE COME!" So I could record them coming out and down the hill. :thumbsup:

[pixiesmimi]

We use them every trip. They are great when separated. Once in a while we get other conversations but not very often. We just change channels. They aren't any worse than people using the Nextel phones that beep every time they go back and forth and you can hear the whole conversation. We also use cell phones but I find that not only do I not hear it ringing but don't always feel it on vibrate either. We use the cell phones as back up to leave a message if we can't get the others while they are on a ride. The range is pretty good too. Great for giving the kids one when they go off alone and they don't have a cell phone. The CMs use them so what is so wrong with it?

[kakn7294]

We didn't see anyone using them in August but there were plenty of people (including me) using cell phones (and mine is always on vibrate only at the parks). We've used the walkie talkies in the past at Busch Gardens and they were a pain because everyone was using them at the time. With fewer people using them now in favor of cell phones, it might not be so bad. You can always take them and if they don't seem to be working out after a day or two, leave them in the room.

[Grizz16]

Instead of using walkie talkies or cell phones, you could just meet at the ride exits. Most of them have benches nearby.

[SamG]

We used them in 2005 and again this year. I like them better than cell phones... IMHO, phones take a long time to connect. With the radios, pick a strange channel & sub code. I bet you 90% of the people complaining about interferrence never changed the channel or the sub code. Change both and you have a better chance of finding a (nearly) empty channel.

As far as "meet at the exit", Disney does such a good job of "hiding" the line to the attraction, it's hard to just "wait"... especially with a little one who can't go on the ride. The radios give the waiting person the chance to walk around, see the sights, etc, and still get back to meet the riders at their exit.

I also can't believe people complain about the radios beeping, but don't say anything about people leaving cell phones on. Someone who leaves one on will leave the other on also.

As far as repeating what's being said into the radios, that's probably more because there's a slight pause (1 sec) between hitting the talk button and the words being picked up. Some people start talking as soon as they hit a button and you miss some words.

Since you can generally get a set of radios (including charger) for <$100, I say go for the radios!:thumbsup:

[#1donaldfan]

We used them in '04, or should I say, we took them and discontinued use on the first day. It was much easier to just plan a "meet" at a time and location. They were just something else to keep up with. Plus, if you don't take along real good ones your channels are limited as well as your range. We quit taking the cell phones also, more often than not we would miss the call anyway. I dunno though, we saw plenty of them in the last few years, mostly cell phones, but from time to time we'd see people use the radios.....

[cperry92380]

I bet you 90&#37; of the people complaining about interferrence never changed the channel or the sub code. Change both and you have a better chance of finding a (nearly) empty channel.

One would think this would be the case, but we DID have the channel/subchannel options and we changed them to different combintation on seveal occassions, with no luck... it was like EVERYONE was able to figure out our channel combos.
Too much trouble if you ask me, cell phone would probably be the best way to go.
But maybe if you're going at a slower time of year, interferance wouldn't be such a problem, but I would still suggest taking cell phone ... just in case!!:mickey:

[MsMin]

We used them years ago (03 and 04) but have since switched to cell phones. WE had 7 last year and you just can't predict when you can get out of a ride and it's not fair to have everyone waiting so we use cell phones. Text msgs work great b/c you don't even have to answer.
I also use a light stick at night in the heavy crowds. It's a little LED and great to track someone.
The biggest problem w had w/ radios that if you leave them on the batteries die quickly, they don't last as long as a cell phone but even they can lose a charge in the day searching for service in a ride.

[jclightchasr]

Used them once and had so much interference from talkover that the only value they had was listening into other peoples converstions (and sometimes joining in) for entertainment :thedolls: I would use a cell phone set on vibrate with a bluetooth earpiece so you can hear the phone ring if you don't feel it vibrate. This helps keep you from missing calls. Although I would disable the bluetooth if you were in a noisy area and talk directly into the phone.

[Marilyn Michetti]

Oh, Lordy ! The first year we took them, I thought, "Marilyn, you should market this idea". Well, a bizillion other people had the same million dollar flash. One guy with a foreign accent, (Jersey maybe), kept yelling, "I'm on this frequency".

Anyway, we never took them again, even tho' I did have some fun with them until DH told me, "that's not nice". I just said, very excitedly, "OH MY GOSH, Tom Cruise is over by Splash Mountain", "HURRY"! I don't know if the guy on "my" frequency ran over to SM, but I would have.:secret:

[2Epcot]

I have used radios on many occasions with great success. I love them.


I have noticed as cellphones have become more common place the Walkie Talkie use has declined greatly.

I think this is true. On my last visit we had almost nobody on our channel.


We've used them in the past. Problem was, so many other families also used them. Made it hard to talk because others would chime in.

In the week we were there we only had someone on our channel twice for maybe 5 minutes on two seperate days.


I guess I'm in the minority. We used them last time - we had a large group of 11, and the walkie-talkies were great! Especially when we were all trying to squeeze our way through crowds during parades, fireworks, etc. -- we could figure out where each other was in the crowd.
I guess I can see how they'd get annoying for other people if they were bleeping during an attraction or something - but as long as you turn them off during rides and shows, I can't see why they would cause a disruption.:confused:

We also had a very large group. We had 10 radios with us, but only used about 8 at a time on any given day. Cell phones are great when the distance is long (someone still at the hotel), but in the park it was great to be able to talk to several people at once, or back and forth among members of a group as we all converged on a ride or show.

Also, I turn the beeps off on my radios for transmission. We do use the call tones to get a person's attention, but that isn't any different then someone's cell phone ringing.


I bet you 90% of the people complaining about interferrence never changed the channel or the sub code. Change both and you have a better chance of finding a (nearly) empty channel.


One would think this would be the case, but we DID have the channel/subchannel options and we changed them to different combintation on seveal occassions, with no luck... it was like EVERYONE was able to figure out our channel combos.


I tend to agree a lot of people don't use the sub codes, or they pick very common numbers.

I have been using the same radio/sub code combination for about 8 years, and almost never have anyone on my frequency. I'm certainly not going to give out what I use, but it is rare to have much interference. On our last trip, I didn't change our frequency all week (it is rare that ever do), and we used the radios at all the parks.