Cell phone use at WDW

[RatherDrive]

I just looked at roam mobility. it seems you have to get a new cell#. is that correct? I just switched from rogers to bell. I think rogers had better travel plans. Looks like I'm in for $20 for the data plan and then $30 for a talk and text plan with bell.

I got a Chicago number with our Roam Sim card. I thought about keeping my Roam plan but for the amount of time that I would actually use the phone in the US was limited so we opted to not use the Roam in the future. Remember that Roam requires you to keep your sim card in service so you will have to use it at least once per year otherwise you will need to get a new sim card and number.

how good is the wifi at the resorts (cabana bay). If I can switch to wifi at the resorts, I should be good with the smaller of the two data plans.

On our trip to Florida, both WDW and Universal, in 2013, we decided to only get a talk and text plan with our Canadian provider and not use data since we could connect to Disney's Wi-Fi easily and it was reliable. Not sure if it was just me, but I had better success with the Wi-Fi at WDW than the Universal resorts, we stayed at Royal Pacific. I always lost the signal or had issues with weak signals at Universal. I used their app as suggested, while it worked it proved slow.

 

[hardis5]

I just looked at roam mobility. it seems you have to get a new cell#. is that correct? I just switched from rogers to bell. I think rogers had better travel plans. Looks like I'm in for $20 for the data plan and then $30 for a talk and text plan with bell.

They will assign a US number to your Roam sim (your phone needs to be unlocked) and after initially being assigned a number you will have the opportunity to select another US region to have a number within. We chose the Kissimmee area so our area code for our Roam US number is 321.

 

[Queen of Oakville]

Keeping the card active isn't a problem. We travel to/through the US at least twice a year, plus we do a lot of cross-border shopping trips - 2 to 3 times min.

What concerns me is the new number. I supposed I could get bell to forward all calls/texts, but then I have too do this every time I travel, which makes it more complicated. I'm not sure how easy it is to get bell to forward calls (i.e. self-service or you have to call in).

does the resort wi-fi work in the parks or just within the resort? I would assume its the latter.

 

[xlxo]

I just looked at roam mobility. it seems you have to get a new cell#. is that correct? I just switched from rogers to bell. I think rogers had better travel plans. Looks like I'm in for $20 for the data plan and then $30 for a talk and text plan with bell.

Yep you get a US number that friends can call you with. BTW... if you have other travellers, Roam has a TWO sim deal for $15.

Rogers? Check out this comparison...
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/rogers

What concerns me is the new number. I supposed I could get bell to forward all calls/texts, but then I have too do this every time I travel, which makes it more complicated. I'm not sure how easy it is to get bell to forward calls (i.e. self-service or you have to call in).

• I have voice mail on my Canadian number. I just call my Canadian number to retrieve my voice messages on Roam Mobility to call them back.
• Email is my preferred way to keep in touch on my smartphone. You can use the Roam Mobility data. People won't know the difference on which sim your email is working on.
• Text messages? I use BBM. iMessage also works with Roam Mobility's data.

 

[Queen of Oakville]

Yep you get a US number that friends can call you with. BTW... if you have other travellers, Roam has a TWO sim deal for $15.

Rogers? Check out this comparison...
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/rogers

• I have voice mail on my Canadian number. I just call my Canadian number to retrieve my voice messages on Roam Mobility to call them back.
• Email is my preferred way to keep in touch on my smartphone. You can use the Roam Mobility data. People won't know the difference on which sim your email is working on.
• Text messages? I use BBM. iMessage also works with Roam Mobility's data.

My first step is to get my phone unlocked. not sure how long it takes and I leave next week, so I may not have enough time to sort all this out for this trip.

I have an iPhone. My work email pulls/pushes to my phone through a microsoftt exchange server. my personal imap email also pushes to my phone. If I swap out the SIM card - do I have to make any changes in my settings or does it all just happen automatically? same with imessage - it just recognizes the new cell connection and it all works?

you make it sound easy : )

 

[Queen of Oakville]

Yep you get a US number that friends can call you with. BTW... if you have other travellers, Roam has a TWO sim deal for $15.

Rogers? Check out this comparison...
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/rogers

• I have voice mail on my Canadian number. I just call my Canadian number to retrieve my voice messages on Roam Mobility to call them back.
• Email is my preferred way to keep in touch on my smartphone. You can use the Roam Mobility data. People won't know the difference on which sim your email is working on.
• Text messages? I use BBM. iMessage also works with Roam Mobility's data.

My first step is to get my phone unlocked. not sure how long it takes and I leave next week, so I may not have enough time to sort all this out for this trip.

I have an iPhone. My work email pulls/pushes to my phone through a microsoftt exchange server. my personal imap email also pushes to my phone. If I swap out the SIM card - do I have to make any changes in my settings or does it all just happen automatically? same with imessage - it just recognizes the new cell connection and it all works?

you make it sound easy : )

 

[xlxo]

My first step is to get my phone unlocked. not sure how long it takes and I leave next week, so I may not have enough time to sort all this out for this trip.

I have an iPhone. My work email pulls/pushes to my phone through a microsoftt exchange server. my personal imap email also pushes to my phone. If I swap out the SIM card - do I have to make any changes in my settings or does it all just happen automatically? same with imessage - it just recognizes the new cell connection and it all works?

you make it sound easy : )

It is easy to unlock a phone...

• If you had the phone for more than 90 days, call 611 to have Telus provide you the unlock code to be done in 5 minutes. It's $35.
• The competition likes to over charge you nearly double with $50 plus GST.
• There are mall kiosks and cellphone repair places that can unlock your phone cheaper. However, your phone may relock the moment you sync your phone.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Total, techno-novice here:
If I use ROAM (which seems to be about $30 for 7 Days in Orlando) but have to pay to unlock my phone at an additional $35+ than it seems more economical to me to add on my providers roaming package at $40 for the month (I'm with Koodo). Or do I still have to unlock my phone for the Koodo roaming to work as well? Clearly I don't "get" technology! The only reason I even want my phone is to access WDW apps for Fastpass+ and ADR (for possible changes). I may send the odd social media photo post. No need to call or text Canada unless there is an emergency. Given these limited needs, is there a third option I should persue?

 

[RatherDrive]

You don't have to unlock your phone to use your provider's roaming packages, your phone is locked to your provider. Unlocking allows you to use any other carrier's SIM card. Disney offer's Wi-Fi at no cost to park/resort visitors so you don't need a data package, maybe just a talk and text. We used this option last year and it worked really well. I just turned the data off on my phone and used Wi-Fi. The only place the wi-fi doesn't work is when you are on the buses between the parks and your resort.

 

[xlxo]

Check out this Koodo comparison... are you happy with 250mb? Or are you happier with 2gb with unlimited 2G?
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/koodo

 

[Disney_Alli]

A few differences between Roam (I've used numerous times) and Telaway looking at their offerings, Telaway sells a fixed minimum of days (i.e. 10 days) so if I want 5 days you are paying for a minimum of 10. Their prices are in USD (at least on their website) and comparing 10 days, Roam is $39.50 CDN and Telaway is $49.97 USD. Add in the current exchange rate and the price difference grows even more. I have always added to my existing sim with Roam (keeping the same number) but it appears you can only buy the prefixed number of days with Telaway while needing to order a sim each time (which adds $9.97 USD to the cost). The local number may be an advantage, but they only offer numbers for 4 cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal). If a call to one of these cities is long distance for you within Canada, this feature is not worth much.

I'm with Bell so Roam won't work for me plus since we're out of the country for 22 days roam adds up quickly. We're in Calgary so that would eliminate the possibility of the LD charges... Now to see about getting my phone unlocked...

 

[xlxo]

I'm with Bell so Roam won't work for me plus since we're out of the country for 22 days roam adds up quickly. We're in Calgary so that would eliminate the possibility of the LD charges... Now to see about getting my phone unlocked...

Check out this Bell comparison...
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/bell

• How many of those 22 days are you in the states with Roam coverage?
• Roam offers discounts if you choose a 22 day plan instead of a single day plan
• how many mb does Bell offer for those 22 days? how gb does Roam offer? fyi.... Roam is offering you 2G UNLIMITED data!

 

[Disney_Alli]

We leave Calgary for FL on August 7th and don't return until the 30th

Using Teleaway it's unlimited calls, texts and unlimited 3G data

 

[xlxo]

Just had a look at the Telaway website to compare with Roam...

• Telaway offers coverage in Anchorage. They map does not show coverage in Skagway, Juneau, or Ketchikan where the Disney Wonder goes.
• Telaway daily rates is a little bit more expensive than Roam. Telaway charges in US funds, not sure about Roam.
• Telaway has a contact information in Quebec, but is the main company from Australia? Roam Mobility is based in Vancouver, Canada
• Telaway has coverage in Idaho and Wyoming.
• Telaway appears to offer service in Australia and UK. Roam provides service in Mexico.
• Telaway throttles your 3G data after 5gigs. Roam Mobility provides you 4G data and you decide the quantity when it will be throttled based on the days you subscribe to.
• Telaway mails you the SIM... Roam SIMs are available at airports, duty free shops, drug stores, and various other retail outlets

 

[Disney_Alli]

Just had a look at the Telaway website to compare with Roam...

• Telaway offers coverage in Anchorage. They map does not show coverage in Skagway, Juneau, or Ketchikan where the Disney Wonder goes.
• Telaway daily rates is a little bit more expensive than Roam. Telaway charges in US funds, not sure about Roam.
• Telaway has a contact information in Quebec, but is the main company from Australia? Roam Mobility is based in Vancouver, Canada
• Telaway has coverage in Idaho and Wyoming.
• Telaway appears to over service in Australia and UK. Roam provides service in Mexico.
• Telaway throttles your 3G data after 5gigs. Roam Mobility provides you 4G data and you decide the quantity when it will be throttled based on the days you subscribe to.
• Telaway mails you the SIM... Roam SIMs are available at airports, duty free shops, drug stores, and various other retail outlets

Thanks for all that great info! I was thinking Roam was that new thing for Rogers - my bad!

 

[xlxo]

I was thinking Roam was that new thing for Rogers - my bad!

Yah Rogers is appears to be trying to confuse customers. Here's a comparison... pay attention to what Rogers wants to charge you. Again Roam Mobility is the bargain.
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/rogers

 

[PhotoJen143]

I don't know if anyone has posted this already...
But buy a Roam SIM card. Get it at London drugs for 10 bucks and then log onto the website and buy a really cheap Canadian plan for the states. I usually buy 60 days at a time. It's $106 with unlimited calls in Canada and USA with 24GB of data. It's fantasstic!! That's the way to go. For sure!!

 

[bankr63]

Yah Rogers is appears to be trying to confuse customers. Here's a comparison... pay attention to what Rogers wants to charge you. Again Roam Mobility is the bargain.
https://www.roammobility.com/compare/rogers

The Rogers information on the ROAM site is old. Rogers Roam Like Home plan is $5/day to extend all your Canadian bundle into the US. Just back from 12 days. My son was using my ROAM Sim in his Nexus 5. I am now on Rogers RLH on my Samsung Galaxy SIII. DW is part of the that plan as well on a Samsung Galaxy Core LTE. I will have to wait a bit for the final Rogers bill to see if there were any hidden surprises. Will post back with a real world comparison when I get the bill. One thing to consider though is that you are still paying for your Canadian plan while it is dormant up here in Canada - that should be factored into the cost comparison as well.

As far as service goes, Rogers appeared to be better - they roam primarily on ATT which does have better connections in many locations. I did catch my phone on T-Mobile a couple of times as well. ROAM is only on T-Mobile, and DS did have a couple of service issues, but nothing that couldn't be solved by moving a couple of hundred yards. It was interesting that he could never get a signal INSIDE Disney attractions, where my ATT was solid; outside in the fresh air, he was fine. Guess Disney must have a deal with ATT?

 

[jkquinn]

I will have to wait a bit for the final Rogers bill to see if there were any hidden surprises.

I've used my 'roam like home' about four trips now and my bill is marginally higher...it's really just $5 a day so pretty good value. I used to have an ATT sim card in an unlocked phone and it worked out to be more expensive without data so glad Rogers now offers this option.

 

[Mortlives]

I've used my 'roam like home' about four trips now and my bill is marginally higher...it's really just $5 a day so pretty good value. I used to have an ATT sim card in an unlocked phone and it worked out to be more expensive without data so glad Rogers now offers this option.

We just switched to Rogers specifically for Roam Like Home.