I understand that free wifi is now available to guests who stop on Disney property?
How reliable is it?
I am thinking of taking a laptop so that we can let people at home know we've arrived safely via Skype etc and just wondered if the connection was capable of this or if it is more for general Internet browsing?
Cadac,
The Wifi isn't quite terrible but is close to it. I have yet to understand why you can get a signal but can't send or receive email reliably. I find the rooms are pretty bad in this regard and have experienced it at WDW and DL in many hotels. I work everywhere I go and it can be a real nuisance. On the other hand, cell reception is usually very good so I can often make up for bad Wifi with 3G connections on my phone or iPad when the computer doesn't cooperate. On the other hand, it is much better than being overseas!
Hope that is helpful.
~'70 When Magic Kingdom was a trailer visitor center, ~'76 Polynesian Resort, ~'83 Disneyland, ~'85 Dixie Landings, ~'98 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Disneyland Hotel, '00~ Disneyland Hotel, ~'03 Port Orleans French Quarter, ~'04 Animal Kingdom Lodge, ~'04 Caribbean Beach Resort, ~'09 Port Orleans Riverside, ~'09 Boardwalk Inn, ~'09 Beach Club Resort, ~'10 Double Tree WDW, ~'10 Wilderness Lodge Villas, ~'10 Hilton Parc Soleil, ~'12 Wilderness Lodge, ~'12 Grand Californian Resort... more to come as I try to remember more visit details...
The Disney WiFi is a pretty new thing, with major updates to the system happening in the past year. I haven't stayed at a WDW since it became standard, so I can't really say myself. Prior to the updates, I found things to be touch and go. One vacation my access would be perfect, the next trip I would want to scream because uploads were so slow it was useless.
Check out these two articles that we've posted about it:
http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/articles/wi-fi-now-available-all-disney-world-resorts
http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/articles/free-wifi-comes-select-disney-resorts
Who has been to WDW and used the Resort Wifi in the past 6 months? Information from folks that have traveled in that time would be best. Can anyone help?
We just got back yesterday - stayed at POR. Forget using the wifi with your smart phone. That was a complete disaster. The connection either failed completely, or was cutting in and out.
I don't know if using a laptop, netbook, etc. would work better, but I heard complaints from others too. I figured I didn't need a laptop, since my phone is fully internet capable. I was hoping to use the wifi connection instead of the regular phone connections, and save some data usage. No luck. 
Diana
Time marches on. Eventually you realize it's doing it across your face.
Well when we were there in January at the Poly it was pretty good. I was streaming a web cam the entire trip and it never dropped. Try to upload pictures to photobucket was a pain sometimes, but over all I say it was really decent. Never lost signal.
At Animal Kingdom it was great. I brought a MiFi with me just in case, and we never used it. I uploaded 70-100 photos a night with no problem over there internet. So at least AKL Jambo was reliable for us.
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[url='http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/pick-mases-dinner-disney']- My Interactive Trip Report '11[/url]
Thanks guys 
I will probably just take my iphone then and try and use Skype that way. If not I will just get myself a phone card, just in case.
Would be nice for it to work but as it's free I can't really complain lol.
We were at POFQ 2 weeks ago and our experience was as follows:
Laptop - no problems
iPad - spotty reception
And we were sitting next to each other.