Whilst Disney offers wall-to-wall Wi-Fi in the parks, resort hotels and pretty much everywhere else on Disney property, the quality of the signal in the parks can be questionable.
And in the parks is where you need Wi-Fi the most to keep on top of your Genie+ ride reservations. As soon as you’ve tapped into a Genie+ ride reservation you want to be straight on your MyDisneyExperience phone app to be able to make your next ride reservation.
No time can be lost in maximising your Disney day and Genie+ service!
So, it can be quite frustrating when you’re tapped into a ride and about to go on the ride to find that you can’t book the next ride because you can’t get a decent Wi-Fi signal.
Clearly this is not a problem if you have a data plan that works in the US (and you can therefore use data rather than Wi-Fi to access MyDisneyExperience).
Unfortunately for us, our mobile/cell provider doesn’t provide us with US data coverage without taking out a second mortgage.
So, over the last few visits to the US we have bought a single US SIM for our primary phone (which is the one we use with MyDisneyExperience) and slotted it into the iPhone when we hit the tarmac at Orlando or Miami airport.
Of course, because of the change in phone number to a US number we lose any calls coming into the phone, but all the apps (like Apple’s Messages, WhatsApp, email and Skype) work flawlessly.
This helps hugely with using MyDisneyExperience to manage the rides and attractions, and, nearly as important, enables Google Maps to get us to our rental house from both the airport, initially, and home from the parks using the most efficient route possible.
We purchase our US SIM card from Sim Corner for around £30. The SIM card is valid for 30 days and provides you with unlimited data, US calls and texts during that period. Just purchase the SIM card, activate it just before you go, and pop it into the phone when you land.
You can always pop your UK SIM back into your phone in the evenings when you’re back in your hotel room or house when the Wi-Fi’s better to pick up anything that requires your SIM/number to be in your phone.