Cell Phone Reception in Parks

[IamaDisneyFan]

My parents are in Disney right now and have had a lot of problems with their AT&T cell phone signals. Calls keep dropping or there is no signal at all. It is through all of the World. They wanted me to see if anyone else is currently experiencing problems as well or have had problems in the past.

TIA

Also, sorry if this is the wrong spot for the post. I wasn't sure where to put it.

[LauraByTheSea]

Do they have iPhones? I've been having problems the last 2 days with the network, but was just in WDW last week and had no trouble whatsoever. Except inside rides, but that's kind of expected...

[VWL Mom]

I'm no expert by far but are they trying to call up north when they have problems? AT&T still has power problems with their cell towers in NJ and CT (from the storm) so maybe that has something to do with it?

[IamaDisneyFan]

They do not have smart phones/iphones. Just regular, simple phones. And the problems have only been the last day or two, so I don't think it's from the storm. They are calling me in PA, so I don't think the towers in NJ would be affecting us. I have no idea about phones though, so maybe that is it. :confused:

[Itchy]

Well it may be the carrier. My personal phone is a verizon and I had no issues in the parks and very minimal at the resorts in the rooms.

When I was still working my work cell was an ATT phone and it did not have the same signal that my phone had. I carried both and would compare from time to time.

Verizon may be better since Disney has an application for their smart phones for park information that the other services do not have.

Hope this helps..:mickey:

[texas211]

I have sprint, and unfortunately, work has no problem contacting, texting or emailing me while there.

[greengeen]

Easy, just put the phones away. Nothing more irritating than cell phone callers in the parks!

[Melanie]

Easy, just put the phones away. Nothing more irritating than cell phone callers in the parks!

Again, NOT an answer to the OPs question. Please remain on topic!

I have AT&T (iPhone) and my reception varies. Some days I have no issues at all, and some days I get frustrated with pics/tweets not loading, calls dropping, etc.

One day last week, I was riding Spaceship Earth and my brother called. Since we've been dealing with some pretty heavy issues with my mother (yes, a reason to ALWAYS have my phone in the parks), I stepped outside the Project Tomorrow area to call him back. We were able to talk for about a minute and the call would just drop. I tried walking around to help reception, but after the fourth call I gave up and called him later that night. :bang:

[Tink#64]

Sorry, we're not there now, but we have T*Mobile & have never had any problems with service in WDW & we use them with each other in the parks and talking to family at home. :call:

[brivers222]

I have AT&T... last year we didn't have any problems what so ever with reception.

This year we each have iPhones so looking forward to using the wait time aps for real!

[Disney Goof]

I'm not sure on our carriers, but on Verizon you dial *228 and it will update your roaming capabilities. This really helps with reception.

Not sure what it is for ATT though, sorry.

[magicofdisney]

US Cellular changed hands to AT&T, which switched over to Cingular, who then went back to AT&T. All this to say I've had cell service since they were US Cellular.

Although the name has changed, it's still the same infrastructure. In all that time I've rarely had problem with service within Florida. I can't testify to service outside of Florida, however if there is a current problem, my experience says it's minimal or limited. Hopefully it will be resolved quickly for them.

[Victor Kelly]

It has everything to do with cell tower repeaters, and where they are in relation to those repeaters. If the repeaters are partially functional or just weak, it will affect your cell signal. There could also be dead spots in between cell towers as well.

I have verizon and even in some places in WDW it can be iffy.

Location, location, location.

[MNNHFLTX]

I use ATT and yes, the reception can be spotty in the parks. This especially seems to be true of Epcot.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

I was in WDW 2 weeks ago and my AT&T iPhone worked fine the entire trip.

[Jared]

As others have mentioned, AT&T typically has pretty spotty service in the parks. (It's pretty lousy here in New York, too, but that's a conversation for a different thread.)

I have the Verizon iPhone, and the reception is flawless. Honestly, I'm always shocked to hear that there are areas of major cities (or tourist destinations in this case) that do not have consistently reliable cell service. Whether or not you like the idea of people using their phones in the parks, mobile communication is part of the world now, and I totally understand why dropped calls and weak Internet signal would be extremely frustrating.

[disneymom2000]

I was there about three weeks ago and I have AT&T and an iPhone and I had a few problems with reception. Some areas I would have full bars (close to the hub) and then as I moved out towards the outlying areas of the parks it got worse. No use trying to use them in the restrooms or in the middle of restaurants.

[Joannelet]

We were there right before Halloween with family with all carriers and the reception at all parks and in all phones was awful. My hubby and I have Verizon and at times no bars. The rest of the fam I don't know all their carriers but it was awful. Phones wouldnt ring, you would get messages hours later, dropped calls. I thought verizon was having issues because of all the Disney apps now being used etc. During midweek I just left my phone in the room safe. It was more of a worthless effort trying to get in touch with people.

[Carol]

I have had A T & T forever and have stellar service - especially in the New York willywags.

That being said, I did have spotty service at Epcot last week. First time ever while at Disney.

[W24toISMdirect]

We ussually have a fairly large group which splits off a lot, whether it's me criss-crossing parks on my own to fetch FastPasses, or the girls sleeping in then meandering around World Showcase while the boys have gotten up early to bust a gate and are still riding rides. So cell phones are a must, and we've seemed to do ok with a mix of AT&T and Verizon.

[IamaDisneyFan]

Thanks for your helpful replies! :thumbsup: Reception was very spotty for them and would vary each day. I'm glad that it was me they would cut out on and not on my autistic sister who was at her home. She would have panicked if the call dropped on her and she couldn't get them again. Thanks again!:mickey:

[Victor Kelly]

WOW. Seems a lot of people are having ATT issues. Even my Verizon Droid had issues, but not as severe as some people.

My wife and I only carry my phone since it acts more as a PDA than phone. All of our reservations are on it. And I typically left it in the locker. But beware, tunr off your phone or you will have a dead battery. The phones automatically try to boostpower to aquire a signal, which will deplete the battery in no time. So even if you are carrying it, and know you cannot get a signal, just shut it off to save your battery.

[SAnderson70769]

I have an AT&T iphone for personal and AT&T blackberry for work - they both get "OK" reception in the parks but inside WDW hotels rooms i always have to go near the door or outside the room.

[Victor Kelly]

Hotels are built with reinforced concrete which disrupts cell and UHF radio frequencies. As cell phone are UHF, they are line of sight and subject to interference by topagraphy as well as structures. \

I had to learn this stuff the hard way.

[texas211]

So Sprint reigns supreme at WDW... And im the only person who uses it..

[PopPhan]

Interesting....I have had AT&T service for quite some time and have never had problems in the parks or resorts.

But, then again, I don't live my life on the cell phone as more and more people seem to be doing recently.....

[LudwigVonDrake]

In July I had no problems with AT&T. The only time I wouldn't have a signal would be if I was deep in a ride.

[SandmanGStefani24]

my Sprint service has always been great in the parks, but poor in the resort rooms. (value resorts that is.)

[Dopey's Girl]

I generally have had no problems with park reception on my AT&T iPhone. Resorts are another story...that can be spotty.