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View Full Version : Digital CB Radios in Disneyland?



Aussie
05-23-2005, 07:13 PM
A couple of trips ago I saw heaps of people with those digital CB Radios, communicating with other members of their party.
Last trip (Sept 04) I saw none.
We are going back this December and think they would be handy for our teenage son to go off on his own. Does anyone know if you can use them and how effective thay are??

disneygalforlife
05-23-2005, 07:38 PM
They work okay as long as you spend a little money on them. When we first went we bought $20.00 ones and they did not work at all. The next trip we went on we shelled out $75.00 and they worked great. The best reception that we got was went I was outside the Princess Shop is DL and my husband was coming off the Tower of Terror! The downside is that most of the time you are sharing the frequency with other people in the park. Once it was really noisy and I thought it was my husband who said meet me in the Disney Gallery. When I got there it was someone elses husband was there and he was waiting for his wife! You just need to be clear and started using names when you are talking on them. Nowadays, my husband and I are on the same cell phone plan and get free long distance and free phone to phone so we use our cells like walkie talkies and this works the best!

tmshpkns
05-23-2005, 07:41 PM
We bought the disney ones because we thought they would be good for the same thing. They didn't work worth a darn. Even cell service in the parks is spotty - you just have to keep trying to call.


Tom

TimBuk2
05-23-2005, 07:55 PM
Get good ones, they work pretty well in the park. So long as both parties aren't inside a ride.

SeansMom
05-23-2005, 07:58 PM
We used them on our trip in April. Seemed to work okay if we were in the same park, and it was handy to send part of our group one way and part the other. BUT...just like everything else in DL, you're sharing! It was next to impossible to get a station/channel that other people weren't using. It did serve its purpose though...a kind of back up for that "meet you in two hours at the wishing well" plan.
If you don't already have a set, check out Costco. If you want to save money, check ebay or even the local pawn shop.
Enjoy the Christmas decorations!

jennia
05-23-2005, 09:39 PM
We used them for the first time this week. We have the Motorola brand FMRS radios. We mainly used them to let the 2 boys split off from my husband and I for short periods of time and then meet back up. For this purpose they worked GREAT.

On channel 1 we found lots of people using it. However, we moved to channel 7 and usually no one else was on that channel. (I guess it is easier to just turn it on and talk than to move to a higher channel!!) We also set time limits just in case the radios didn't work. For example oh Tom Sawyer Island the kids were to call us or check in half an hour after we sent them off. That way we figured that if the radios didn't work we wouldn't have to wait all day for them to check in.

Klutch
05-24-2005, 05:35 AM
You also have to be careful with the radios that actually use "citizens band". Those frequencies are used by truckers and their "conversations" are rarely anything other than pornographic. :eek:

Sorry, but that's the way it is these days. Apparently, the FCC just doesn't give a hoot anymore unless it's Janet Jackson in the Superbowl.

b52hbuff
05-24-2005, 07:00 AM
We used them on our trip in April. Seemed to work okay if we were in the same park, and it was handy to send part of our group one way and part the other. BUT...just like everything else in DL, you're sharing! It was next to impossible to get a station/channel that other people weren't using.

From a technical perspective, you are only sharing 14 frequencies.

Some radio manufacturers have something they call 'privacy codes'. All these do is keep your radio from receiving a transmission that doesn't match the code.

So if you're on Channel 1/Code 1 and someone is transmitting on Channel 1/Code 2, you won't hear them. However if two people are transmitting on the same channel at the same time (even with different codes), there will be a 'collision' and you may or may not hear your intended party.

I'd say if you have the money, cell phones are a better option.

adriennek
05-24-2005, 10:12 AM
I've used FMRS, cell and HAM radios at Disneyland.

FMRS was the worst by far, Cell and HAM are probably tied with Cell having a slight advantage.

HAM are probably the least convenient and most expensive to get if you aren't alreadly licensed and don't already own the equipment. But if you are, they're less expensive than cell phones and there's a repeater on top of the hotel, although I think we've just used simplex and had few problems.

We ran a couple of articles about 4.5 years ago about this topic- so some of the information may be slightly outdated but Here's an article about FRS radios (http://www.mouseplanet.com/akrock/akrock9.htm). Here is the article I wrote about HAM radios. (http://www.mouseplanet.com/akrock/akrock12.htm)

Adrienne

swrdfghtr
05-24-2005, 11:56 AM
We used them for the first time this week. We have the Motorola brand FMRS radios. We mainly used them to let the 2 boys split off from my husband and I for short periods of time and then meet back up. For this purpose they worked GREAT.

Funny how times changes, isn't it? Back when Walt built the part the whole point was for families to enjoy themselves together, because in the amusement parks of the day they really couldn't. But you do see more and more folks at DL splitting off so the different age groups can do their own thing.

Pat-n-Eil
05-24-2005, 12:19 PM
Many modern radios are a combination of FMRS and GMRS. If you see radios advertised as "5 mile" or more, they are likely GMRS and technically you are required to get a license to use those channels. I believe the FMRS channels are numbers 1 through 7 and if you set it to channel 8 or higher, you are in the GMRS range.

I recently picked up some Motorola Talkabout T5700 (or something similar) which we used on a road trip to the coast, and they worked great. My boss has used these radios at Disneyland with much success.