Wi Fi reception at Resorts..

We had excellent wi-fi signal at the Boardwalk. In fact, I noticed that we had a wi-fi router in our room on the wall behind the television cabinet. I'm not sure if each room has them or if they're installed in just some.

We streamed a couple of TV shows while we were there too without any issues. Disney seems to be constantly improving the wi-fi performance in the resorts and the parks.

I'm confident you'll have no problems.

Thanks for asking this, I wanted to know too. It will not just be your DS who is Happy

I still hardwire into their network to upload pictures and such at times. When people start coming back to the resorts the Wi-Fi can get rather bogged down at times.The Poly has always been the worst though.

Bay Lake Towers had great Wi-Fi on our last trip. I was streaming with 3 devices and had to laptops going pretty much 24/7 and never really dropped connection at all.

I didn't realize they had the hardwire available. Then again, I didn't really look for it. That's great to know for next time though. I would have used the hardwire for sure.

The only problem you have is if you don't bring a cable, they may not have one in the room. Its usually in a bag hanging in the closet, but I noticed them missing lately. I always bring at least 1 - 25' network cable with me and sometimes 2.

I'll second Ken's opinion that it is improving. We still have issues at times, but it has definitely seemed better on our last two trips than it did last December.

Wi-fi is fine but don't expect it to be lightning fast. I brought my laptop on my last trip and well, it was definitely different than the speeds I get at home.

The wifi works ok, FaceTime and Skype however are a PITA as they constantly freezing and glitching...

The only resort I've ever had trouble with the wifi at has been AKL Jambo House and that was only during one trip in 2010. Usually I have a strong connection in the room.

Wifi ? Why fi in my day we made do with a pen and paper, our souvenirs and the park maps to keep us entertained in the rooms. Kids these days! I don't know. Our TV was the window!

Last year we stayed in the ghetto resorts (read all star resorts) and the wifi was pretty nifty

Getting a little off topic but...

As cool as all this mobile stuff is, I think we are now seeing a huge problem with distracted people. Texting and driving is the new drunk driving and it's really bad where I live. I see it all the time. Heads bobbing up and down while behind the wheel clearly fiddling with a phone or something. Cars drifting across the center line and back etc.

And it's not just driving. How many people have you seen just walking around with their face glued to their phone, then bumping into other people. Recently, in Toronto, someone bumped into 2 guys while texting. Words were exchanged and he ended up getting stabbed over it. Crazy stuff.

As excited as I am about the Apple Watch, I fear it's just going to add further to this problem. Now people will be driving and getting "tapped" on the wrist constantly and I'll bet we'll now see "watching and driving" happening. I really think this is a serious problem presently. A lot of people have no idea what to do with themselves if they can't use their devices. Sad really.

As for Disney World, I remember when they didn't have wifi in the parks, people just weren't using their phones. In a way, it was nice to see that and to be truly disconnected from the outside world. Now, you see people having full on conversations with people offsite and walking around completely distracted.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

I find myself quite guilty of this. I frankly feel quite lost with out some sort of connection. I am TRYING to get better about it. When we went on our honeymoon cruise, I loved that for 6 of the 7 days (THANK YOU St Thomas) that we were "disconnected". For our November trip I am going to try to keep it to a minimum. I will have my phone for pics and such... IT IS Food and Wine... but not posting and checking up on things all day long.

We are also trying to cut out so much of it at home. There are times when the 3 of us are all on our devices and not even looking at each other....

On topic, Last trip we were at Art of Animation. Wi-fi service was OK at best. I agree when the resorts start filling up at night it is worse. I guess technology is still a work in progress.

The wifi at Saratoga Springs has been fantastic. No problems whatsoever and a really strong connection.

I'm the same way. I'm trying really hard to not be as connected to my phone and I feel so much better when I'm not glued to it constantly.. In Disney I really make an effort to only use my phone for pictures and I guess now, the MDE app. I'd much rather live in the moment than be absorbed in my phone the whole time.

A suggestion if you really want to discipline yourself is to put your phone in airplane mode while in the parks. That way you can still take pictures but the cell reception and wifi are off.

I heard one of the points of the criticism for the Fastpass+ was that it would require people to be smartphone savvy being that they can change or alter their FP+ reservations from their phones on the fly, otherwise, they would have to devote time to the FP+ kiosks and by then, maybe all the FP+ reservations are out and a park visitor can't make any changes or worse, not get any FP+ reservations, period. Though I did read Mandy's recent post at how the Fastpass+ kiosks are being handed over to the attractions so to speak. So I would think that the most recent change regarding the FP+ kiosks would be helpful for people who don't have the latest smartphones or are unwilling to pay for data usage on their phones.

When on family holidays to our fave place in Devon there is barely a signal and wifi is only in a small area (and it's not fast) so I love those weeks where I get a bulk message delivery when I hit a hot spot, the rest of the time it's really peaceful.

My plan for disney is to carry iPad and or phone. That way I can check the app and take photos, but also if I'm stuck in a very slow queue/ bus ride ect. candy crush (or some other daft game) will help pass the time.... But I will also reserve judgement for when I'm there, I may not even take them out if I'm too busy.

It's good to know that most if not all areas are good for wifi. A quick question, do you have to keep logging into it/ does it time out?

That's really good to know! Fingers crossed AKL and GF are just as strong

No problems on the recent visit to WL. We would only check emails in the afternoon but it was fast and no problems uploading pictures.

As far as changing FP+ on the fly is concerned, we haven't needed smartphones (which we still don't have; I won't toss a perfectly functional stupidphone just because it isn't the latest technology). We've adjusted our FPs a day or more ahead of time using this laptop, and then changed them up very last minute using the FP+ kiosks. It's been very easy, no long waits, no hassles.

That's good to know, thank you. This information prove handy when I want to go bag free. Are there more than 1 screen at the kiosks to use?

Well, we just checked in to SSR last night, turned on my iPhone and iPad after the flight and my devices picked up the rooms Wi-Fi and auto joined. Good speed too.