Who has used the 2 way radios?

[Bear Necessities]

at the Disney World Parks (or wished you had)? I have talked to my dh about possibly purchasing a set of the two way radios for our upcoming trip. I have read many threads tellling pros and cons about using them, but he still isnt sold on them....He doesnt seem to think we will get much use out of them, and he doesnt like the fact that it is a possibility that we will be hearing other peoples conversations and vice versa. What has everyone experienced????? HELP!

 

[CRCrazy]

We love them! We used them with great success on our last trip in March - we like to stick together, but our middle daughter, Jennie, is not a thrill ride lover, so we would give her a radio, and she could roam the gift shops outside the ride to her heart's content, and still remain in touch. We didn't have any interference with them. Ours are Motorola Talkabouts with the subcodes.

We forgot them when we packed for our December trip. When we went to MVMCP, we let our two older girls,(both teens), go off at 11:00 for one last ride on BTMRR and Splash at night. They were to meet us at the entrance in 1/2 an hour. We arrived at our meeting place, no sign of the girls! At 12:10, after the park was closed, DH went off to the lost children area, while I remained at our meeting place. At 12:20, the girls came out of Splash Mountain - they had been stuck on the ride for an hour! The CM's wouldn't let them exit, even though they were only 5 feet from the end. A horrible scare to end the night, even though they were safe. The next morning - we went to the gift shop in the hotel and bought a new set of Disney Motorolas - only $60/pr. Not a bad price for WDW. We will never travel without them!

We also use them frequently at home, for hiking trips, or if we are taking car trips with school or another family to keep in touch.

 

[cinlee3]

We also have the Motorola Talkabouts with subcodes. They worked great as we have two DSs who were 11 and 16 and a 4 yr old DD. The two boys could go off on their own for a ride and DH and I would stay with DD. It saved a lot of time waiting.

We also used ours at the resort. DH or I would take one to the pool or food courts and the other would stay back in the room. I took one with me when I went to do laundry and the two younger kids were in the room.

We use them at home too. It was a great purchase and they work great.

 

[pdhepp67]

We also use them everytime we go. We are usually there with two families and almost always break up into groups (girls go shopping, boys go on the rides). Just make sure that you get a set that have the subcodes. My radios have 14 channels and 38 subcodes for every channel (532 total channels). You should be able to find one channel that no one else in the park is using.

 

[dsp2]

They are great if you intend on splitting up, they have about a 2 mile range. Get the sub channel kind.We had no problems with talk over on sub channels.

 

[drewswife]

We have used them for our last 3 trips. They work great. Make sure you get the ones with sub-channels. We only had to change our frequency once because someone else was on it. We ususally go with 2 or 3 families and use 4 or 5 talkabouts at the same time. For us it works much better then the phones because we are so many groups.

Hope it helps.

 

[familydad]

We used them on a trip in November and they worked great! We had 2 adults and 2 kids (ages 12 and 6) but only brought 2 radios. As it turned out, we could have used at least 3. They came in handy in crowded areas where we could "hone in" on each other more easily when we got separated. Also useful when one or more of the party wants to take off and do their own thing for awhile - no need to agree on specific meeting places or times, just check in when you want to get back together.

I agree with the comments that the sub-channel kinds work best. Ours was that type and we only occasionally heard other conversations.

 

[lUVTOGO]

We also have used the radios in the parks and in November we brought them on our cruise. As long as you have subchannels, they work fine 98% of the time.

 

[cgcw]

Glad to hear this. We will be taking them on our next trip. No problem with DS8 or DS2 getting lost but DH was a nightmare. Every time we turned around he was lagging behind or missing. We threatened to get him a nice hot pink leash but I think the radios will be a little less subtle.

 

[Bear Necessities]

For all the wonderful information!! The set I have looked at actually does have the subchannels so I was at least on the right track huh? Now at least after reading all your replies, dh is at least considering them on the off chance that we should get separated or something. Like I told him, we are going to be using the child swapping( I think thats what its called) and I would hate for me and some of the children get separated from dh and the child riding, or vice versa. So in short, Thanks so much you have all helped alot!!

 

[Lezah]

We used them on our 13 day trip in August. They worked great. Only once did we have someone on our channel, but with the subchannels even that wasn't a problem. We used them quite often when my son and I would get into a line for a show or a ride and my hubby would go and get a FP for something else. It also worked well at the resort. My hubby used to leave one on in the room and take one with him to get breakfast in the am before DS and I were awake. That way if we woke up and were worried where he was he could talk to us. We would never do Disney without them. Just make sure you get one with at least 14 channels with the subchannels. They are becoming more and more reasonable now. They also worked to check into restaurants while DH and DS finished up in line for characters or something. I would highly recommend them. We're planning on using them on our Royal Caribbean cruise in April too.

 

[danicaw]

Hubby and I have been talking about getting some of these for years.
We used the in-laws set in 2000 and heard a couple of other conversations. But now they have those new ones with a 5 mile range instead of the standard 2 and I think they are on a different frequency also.

But, this makes me say "Who cares" to the 5 mile range, cause these are too cool.

These are from Motorola and I am getting mine tomorrow!
Its like Disney was thinking of us.

From the Motorola Website....
* 5 Call Tones with Disney Character Voices
* Display Screen with Disney Character Animations
* Disney Character Talk Confirmation Tones
* Up to a two-mile range (01)
* Works with all FRS two-way radios
* 14 Channels, 38 Codes to minimize interference from outside your group
* Each two-way radio requires 4 AAA alkaline batteries (not included)


I don't want to sound like an Advertisement...but, did I mention they come in 3 different colors.

 

[nicksmom]

We have made about 10 trips to WDW and last year I insisted we by the 2-ways before we leave. My husband said he wouldn't use them...said it was not necessary. In years past, I have gotten very upset when not met at the meeting place at a agreed time. Well...last year the whole trip was stress free...we could split up and each take a kid and have no problems! And of course my husband was buzzing me even more than I was him!!! Get them...trust me...he'll use them and you'll all be happier for it.

p.s.
Once in a while someone else talked on our line, but not a problem in the whole scheme of things.

 

[pennylynn]

The radio's are a great idea. There's always the chance of an emergency. But you might want to get them ahead of time and use them before you do to Disney. When we were there with my niece and her family they had to return to the resort unexpectedly and left a radio with me so they could find us when they got back to the park. But my niece's 7 year old son ended up using it because I wasn't used to the radio and kept missing things when his Dad tried to call us. Hopefully the radios are easier to use now.

 

[TEK224]

Do you use the 2-mile or 5-mile radios?
Would they work if you were trying to reach someone in another park (MK to Epcot for example)?
Terri

 

[Rpsemont]

We're getting so much use from ours. We use them at WDW, other theme parks, at the mall, at the beach, other vacation destinations. Cell phones don't always work (or for that matter, sometimes you can't hear someone calling you on these) but generally they are so helpful. It's amazing how much flexibility you have when you use them.

 

[tax58]

We love ours. You need the sub channels to work at Disney World. Great when the boys and girls go different directions.

 

[cgajdzisz]

You'd be surprised how much use you can get out of the radios even outside of Disney. We took ours on the cruise as well and they came in really handy since my dh and dd6 love the pool and I don't. We were able to split up without worrying about where to meet up again. We went on vacation with my SIL and her family and we were able to communicate back and forth while we were in our seperate cars. Those radios are the best tip I have picked up from reading these web boards.

 

[DavidTOT]

Radio's are a very good idea while at any amusement park, my family gets a lot of use out of ours. The downside to them is you have to secure them on the rides in your pocket, but other than that they are great!

Heh, plus its fun to make weird noises at people when you hear their conversations

 

[Bear Necessities]

Originally posted by DavidTOT

Heh, plus its fun to make weird noises at people when you hear their conversations

This is exactly why my dh is completely apprehensive about getting 2 way radios, to avoid this type of "interruption". I guess everyone has their own term as to what fun is, but this is not ours. I guess we for sure will need to make sure we have the subchannels and an alternate if we get interrupted.