User Experience of Disney World Wi-Fi?

I see that WDW have been rolling out (free?) wifi in the parks, does anybody have any experience of using the service and if it's any good, reliable?

I have found various reports (like this http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/internet-access/news/02aug2012-hands-on-with-the-new-magic-kingdom-wi-fi-internet-service.htm) of it being rolled out but not one with it completed and in use during a busy time, interested to see if it holds up.

My main use will be keeping in contact with the wife iPhone-to-iPhone using iMessage if we get separated, and also using the new Disney World app which looks quite promising for queue times etc.

If anything it's going to be rather sad as it's one of the few places left that people aren't glued to their phones, I shall not be updating Facebook, Twitter and posting V-Flyer trip reports from the parks (save that for back at the villa )

As a sideline, does anybody know if it's cheaper to get a roaming data bolt on from a UK network, or cheaper to buy a USA SIM card?

[Neil]

Yes, we have used it on our last two visits. It is fully rolled out at all parks and works pretty well. There are certain areas/rides where it either doesn't work or isn't great and sometimes you need to re-connect but for free it's not bad at all.

Just to add, the Disney app is okay, but not the best. It can be slow and sluggish but it is fairly accurate with regards to wait time etc and is useful for finding out things like where/what time characters are, and once the whole FP+ system gets live it should be better.

We used it on our trip last Halloween. It works pretty well, considering how much traffic it must be handling. We were able to do online check-in for our VS flight home on our iPad while sitting waiting for the Fantasmic show to start at Hollywood Studios, and were able to send photos via WhatsApp home to our family from the parks.

My wife and I were also able to keep in touch with each other in the parks, which has always been a problem in the past if we didn't want to run up a huge text message bill when splitting up because the kids (10 year age difference) don't want to ride the same ride.

Oh, one other thing - in the past when we've visited the US (my wife is American but I'm British so we're back and forwards a bit) we've found it nigh-on impossible to just get a sim card to stick in our phones. If you can get one then you have to pay quite a bit upfront, including the standard $35 connection charge.

I used skype quite a bit while waiting for the concerts starting in the America Gardens theatre, Epcot on my Galaxy tablet & android phone. I also checked the BBC news site and used the WDW app from Undercover tourist. I didn't find it particularly slow or fast - it was quite acceptable really.

Katie

It's fantastic!

Managed to get speeds c. 30MB at Epcot which was great for Skype/Facetime.

We really made use of the wait times in the Disney App and found it to be very accurate

Thank you all for your replies!

I should have guessed that Disney had done it properly. So it sounds like we can keep in touch via wifi if we get separated. Last year we used handheld CB radios!

Also thanks for the Skype/Facetime suggestion which I'd totally forgotten about, I think I'll be putting in a call back to my kids Grandpa while there.

I also forgot that my phone was still under contract so I can't put another SIM into it until I get it unlocked at the end so I'll just forget about that idea. If stuck I'll just send a (costly) text message.