In park communication About This Page:

[travelmom]

What are your thoughts on using walkie talkies inside the parks? I am traveling with another family with a younger child and I imagine we will want to split up at times to pursue different activities. I know we could use our cell phones..but wondered about the walkies in the parks. thanks..

[CinderAbby]

I see pretty much cell phones. We thought about taking some walkie talkies two years ago, but we find them very noisy and in a place as big as Disney, someone else is bound to be on the same channel. And some of the language I've heard through them (not at Disney, we used our phones instead) is not something I would want my daughter to hear. Nor would I want someone else knowing what our plans are because we didn't stop to censure what we were saying.

[jimmymac]

Getting a clear frequency can be difficult on a busy day. I'd go with cell phones

[JoanneS]

We used our cell phones and they worked out great. We just had to remember to check them every so often because we left them on vibrate so we wouldn't annoy everyone around us with our loud obnoxious ringtones. (Thank you DD15!) I think they're a little more private than walkie-talkies and we already had them!

[christiejay]

As Cinderabby said, you do pick up on a lot of other peoples' conversations.

We have used them before, keeping them on for most of the time, but it just kept getting too annoying.

On our last trip, we were very specific when we split up our group, about when and where we would be meeting up again. If I was the one waiting in the park, I left my walkie talkie off until almost time for the other group to be coming back in, then I turned it on so I could listen for them. Trying to hear your other group while you're in the middle of doing something else doesn't work too well, because you're so caught up in everything around you.

So I would suggest have a general meeting place and time, and use the walkies as a fallback, like if you get to the meeting spot and don't see them.

Also, have some sort of code word so you know it's your group calling you. That way you don't keep buzzing in asking, "Joe, is that you?". You can use your favorite character's name or something, like "Stitch, come in". Or come up with something else that will be very unique.

And like Cinderabby alluded to, don't give too much info over the radios. Just general checking-in with each other type of stuff, or if you're running late or something.

My favorite walkie talkie story goes like this:
We along with my inlaws had checked in at Fort Wilderness and had planned to meet my family for supper at Trails End. We were running a little late due to I-4 traffic, so of course they arrived first. We had planned to meet out front on the porch, but when we got there none of us saw them. So I radioed them. I told them we had just got there and were running late. I asked them where they were, and they said they were on the porch like we had talked about. I was standing on the porch and couldn't see them, so I radioed back and asked where, telling them that I was on the porch too and couldn't find them. Finally I saw them waving to me from the other side, and realized several people around us were laughing at me So yes, other people do listen in on your conversations!

[dizprincesslauren]

Cell phones work better there than the walkie talkies. Please though, as a curtesy to others, please don't use them and/or have them on vibrate during the shows. If we needed to communicate during these time, we used text messaging and it was much better and didn't annoy everyone around us.

[travelmom]

Thanks for your input..cell phones on vibrate or text messaging it is!!