which phone?

[abbyandangel]

Right now I have basic cell phone service with AT&T. I was thinking about upgrading to the Iphone. It sounds like it has several features I would like and has apps specific to WDW. My DH heard about the Palm Pre available only through Sprint. The phone looks comparable to the Iphone but I know nothing about Sprint. No one I know uses Sprint. Could someone please share their experiences with Sprint in general and/or the Pre?

 

[AlanLivingston]

I've used Sprint for years and never had a problem with it. It works in many cases where other service doesn't, but that could just be luck. Most of my use is in major metro areas. It works fine in Disney as well as at my Mom's house in a tiny little town in Kansas.

The Pre will be available on all carriers in a few months. If you can wait to switch, you'd get a better choice of carriers early next year.

I'm not a big fan of the iPhone. It has a bunch of issues that make it not appropriate for me. But for casual use, it's probably OK. You're locked into AT&T, though.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I vote for the iPhone. I absolutely love mine. The apps are great and there are many more available than there are for the newer Pre. I have had my IPhone for a couple of months and I am not overdramatizing when I say that it has revolutionized my life.

 

[bradk]

technically you aren't locked into AT&T with the iPhone, there's ways around that. I'm on T-Mobile with an iPhone myself. the only downside is it uses EDGE for internet, not 3G (but I do have unlimited internet)

 

[ktlm]

I got an iphone last week and I absolutely love it. It is so much easier to work than my old Blackberry Pearl. I downloaded a free Disney app that shows ride wait times. I am compelled to look at it at least once a day even though I am nowhere near Disney. There is also an app for .99 that has all the WDW restaurants with all the menus listed, but I haven't bought that one.

 

[mollymar]

I love, love. love my iphone. I travel constantly and have never had a problem with service. I didn't know about the WDW apps though. Please tell me more. Especially about the one with ride wait times.

 

[mmiller711]

Does anyone know if any of the Disney apps work on the ipod touch or just the iphone? Thanks!!!

 

[subtchr]

I am just like the PP - I got the wait time app and look at it all the time, even though I am in Ohio and my trip is not for over 3 months!!

For the poster who asked about the WDW apps, just go to the iTunes store and do a search for Disney World apps. There are quite a few out there, but make sure you investigate thoroughly (read detailed descriptions and reviews), especially before you buy any paid ones. Some of them look kind of useful, others either have issues or are superfluous, especially for those of us familiar with the parks.

I am considering the restaurant one, though, it looks as if it might be quite useful, and it's only .99.

What I love about the free wait time one is the way it works - people who have it are the ones who give the information, so it's always pretty current, and will only get more so as more people use it. So it's not based on info that they get from Disney, it is people walking around the parks and posting their wait times. The creators say it will always be done this way, so that it will always remain a free app. How cool is that?

For the iPhone/iPod Touch question, you can download any app onto your Touch, the question is whether it is useful without a wi-fi connection. For example, the ones that just have park maps might be fine, but I would think something like the wait time one would NOT be, because there is no Wi-Fi available in the parks, so the info would not be updated.

Sign me up for the iPhone fan club. It is insane what this little thing can do, it's like a sci-fi communicator or something. Love it, love it.

 

[GoHerd1028]

We have been Sprint customers for years and have neer had any issues with coverage in our area or anywhere we travel. Just the other day we decided to upgrade to the Palm Pre and we love it so far. Now, there are not as many apps available yet as the i-phone has but they are adding new ones all the time. Just last night they added three more that were not there yesterday. Our service plan is less expensive than the AT&T service plan for the same type of coverage. Good Luck...whatever you choose you will enjoy!

 

[searlproudbottom]

I just upgraded to my new Iphone on Thursday. This phone is amazing. Today I downloaded all my Disney Apps and my Itunes library.
If you are interested in Disney Apps check out Kevin Yees’s column at http://miceage.micechat.com/kevinyee/ky081109a.htm

 

[Millermom0606]

I LOVE my Iphone... LOL... but then we also have Macbooks, so we're just Mac ppl

 

[webprinter]

I just got a new ATT phone. DH wouldn't let me spend the extra $30per month for the IPhone but we played with it in the store and it is really neat. I wanted it so bad for the Disney apps. I ended up with the Samsung Eternity which is still nice, but doesn't have the apps.

 

[blkhwks55]

My wife and I both got the Palm Pre. We love the phone and the plans available through Sprint are cheaper than AT&T. Also if you belong to a credit union, you ca get a discount through Sprint. Well worth looking into. If you switch and don't like the service or phones, most companies have a 30 day return/trial policy.

Tony

 

[luvthemouse71]

I think the iphone is a neat little phone. But, I am not impressed with AT&T(had them for a while some years back). I could get an unlocked one, but what I ended up doing is I bought an Ipod Touch, and have a Tmobile MyTouch 3G phone. This way I get to use the same cool apps(although the ipod Touch has wi-fi, not 3g) and I still have an awesome phone. The Mytouch is 3G, and most of the apps are free.

 

[bradk]

with the ipod touch, another alternative is to subscribe to a MiFi service from someone like Verizon where you basically have a thin card that generates a 3G WiFi cloud good for up to 5 devices

 

[jldixon62]

Totally love the Iphone, but had to go with a blackberry for work Not groupwise for I phone yet without purchasing a patch which the colleg won't pay for,

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

The iPhone is the best phone ever. We have not had a problem with AT&T. I can't help you with Sprint, because where we live, nobody I know even uses it.

LOVE MY iPHONE

 

[letthewookiewin]

Personally I would get the iPhone. I have one and my entire family loves it. We haven't been to WDW since October 2006, but I often look at the map applications that I have on my phone when I am missing WDW. The WDW apps are great. If you have kids there are many great applications for them as well.

 

[kaffinito]

Iphone.

I hate At&t's customer service, but I love the Iphone. It's a great tool that I use every day for business and personal reasons, and I can hardly wait to get the WDW apps on it for our upcoming trip!

I heard that the maps are great and less face it, the ability to DIS while there is going to be so much fun in the lines!

 

[heycher]

For what it's worth, this is part of what I just wrote up after our trip about my use of the iphone. It was AWESOME.

IPHONE- Wow how invaluable I felt that my iphone was on this trip! Some apps that I thought might be really useful weren’t for me (maps and wait time apps), and other apps were highly useful. The one we used most was the dining app, where you can look at menus from every restaurant, etc.. Very cool! That was another thing that we did to kill time in our short lines, was look at the menus and figure out where to go or what we might order , etc. It came in particularly handy to make decisions regarding childrens menus. They are SO super limited especially with the counter service options, that we could look at a couple of restaurant options (IN ADVANCE) before getting to say, (Columbia harbour house) which didn’t have a child dining option that would have worked for us. Saved us a lot of leg work and unhappy kids! Our dinners were all ADR’d so no changing those though! (more on dining in a bit). I did populate some wait time apps wait times while we were there. I just didn’t find the return times to be recent enough for things we were looking to ride to make it real valuable for me. Maybe I helped someone else out though by populating wait times I saw!