# Orlando internet that I can purchase and not pay Diamond $30 per week, per computer



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 29, 2010)

We will have multiple computers next month for our Grand Beach Resort, Orlando stay and just found out Diamond uses a company that charges $30 per week, per computer, and we don't want to pay that much for our multiple computers.  

What are my options?  I remember someone saying a person could pay for another service.  

Please help me with this because I have no idea what to do. Our kids have two computers, and we have two computers.  UGH!


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## timeos2 (Sep 29, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> We will have multiple computers next month for our Grand Beach Resort, Orlando stay and just found out Diamond uses a company that charges $30 per week, per computer, and we don't want to pay that much for our multiple computers.
> 
> What are my options?  I remember someone saying a person could pay for another service.
> 
> Please help me with this because I have no idea what to do. Our kids have two computers, and we have two computers.  UGH!



Does your cell phone provider offer data / hot spot service? That works. Or use a router with the $30 service (assuming it is wired not wireless - I'm not sure which they offer). 

Other than those once on site what access other than dialup (yucckk) is limited.


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## jerseygirl (Sep 29, 2010)

My new cell phone allows 5 devices to hook up to it as a hotspot.  It's pricey ($60/month I think) but the Verizon rep told me it's a "no commitment" service, i.e. you can turn it on and off as needed.  I plan on trying it at my next timeshare/hotel without free Internet.

Not sure if you're up for a new phone but many of the new ones have this feature.


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## Talent312 (Sep 29, 2010)

There are such things a travel routers, so you'd only need one connection.
Alternatively, many McDonalds offer wireless hotspots and playgrounds.


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## Miss Marty (Sep 29, 2010)

*Broadband2Go MiFi*

Check out 

Broadband2Go MiFi Prepaid Internet


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## carl2591 (Sep 30, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> and just found out Diamond uses a company that charges $30 per week, per computer,




sound like another reason to stay away from diamond.. bet they are the same company at CPR and diamond is pocketing the extra 10 bucks..


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## csalter2 (Oct 1, 2010)

*Watch Out Carl*



carl2591 said:


> sound like another reason to stay away from diamond.. bet they are the same company at CPR and diamond is pocketing the extra 10 bucks..



Carl,

Watch out how you talk about my Diamond.  

Yes, they do charge per computer and per day. I was really enraged by that last year when I stayed at Grand Beach especially after I stayed the week before at the Marriott Grand Vista and was not charged anything. 

However, I have stayed at Ka'anapali Beach Resort and Polo Towers this summer and Diamond does not charge for internet if you are an Elite member in the Club.

You may want to check, but I think you can use your computer in the lobby area and it's free.


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## rickandcindy23 (Oct 1, 2010)

I just got my new Verizon regular old phone about a month ago.  I guess I could go back to Costo and get something fancier, but I don't know if it's worth it. 

I remember someone saying there was some internet service in Orlando you could pay for per month that didn't work in Disney but did work everywhere else.  It was a particular brand that I cannot think of right now.  I thought it was the same company that provides internet service to Shearwater. 

We will take fewer computers on this particular trip, I am thinking.  Yep, you stay at any of the Marriotts, Hiltons, and Bonnet Creek, no internet charges.  These smaller resorts charge, and it's annoying.  It makes trying new resorts less interesting for me.  I don't want to do this again.  

When we were talking of ways to make our ordinary resorts in Colorado more attractive, the easiest and cheapest thing to add was internet for Twin Rivers and for Val Chatelle.  It's literally about $12 per week for us, and the value to exchangers and owners is priceless toward positive reviews.


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## jjmanthei05 (Oct 1, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I just got my new Verizon regular old phone about a month ago.  I guess I could go back to Costo and get something fancier, but I don't know if it's worth it.
> 
> I remember someone saying there was some internet service in Orlando you could pay for per month that didn't work in Disney but did work everywhere else.  It was a particular brand that I cannot think of right now.  I thought it was the same company that provides internet service to Shearwater.
> 
> ...



We have a trip planned for Ft Lauderdale and we are taking 4 computers with us. We are purchasing the Virgin Mobile wifi card which can connect 5 computers to it. It cost $10 for 10 days up to 200 Mg or $40 for a month unlimited internet. The downfall is the device cost $150 but if you have multiple trips planned either back to this resort or other ones where they charge you, you will save money. I haven't really looked if any of these are available on ebay or anything. 

Jason


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## DianeV (Oct 1, 2010)

Just remember the Disney resorts charge $9.95 per DAY. That is highway robbery


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## timeos2 (Oct 1, 2010)

*No fee is worse than the $95 for nothing special*



DianeV said:


> Just remember the Disney resorts charge $9.95 per DAY. That is highway robbery



 Not compared to the automatic $95 trade penalty they charge for absolutely nothing. At least for $9.95 you get a service (and they don't orce you pay if you want it or not). What a rip off.


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## Big Matt (Oct 1, 2010)

Completely agree with you on the $95.

I'm sure it is just an extra exchange fee that they want to tack on, but don't want it to look like an extra exchange fee.  By not charging it when you do the trade, they don't have to collect it from RCI, and by the time you've exchanged, you can't or don't want to back out.

I just wonder why they haven't raised the price.  You'd think that they would make it a few hundred given their penchant for gouging.



timeos2 said:


> Not compared to the automatic $95 trade penalty they charge for absolutely nothing. At least for $9.95 you get a service (and they don't orce you pay if you want it or not). What a rip off.


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## DianeV (Oct 2, 2010)

Oh I agree! We are staying at Saratoga Springs on an RCI exchange in December and know we have to pay $95 PLUS the daily fee if we want internet. The least they could do is include the internet in the fee or at least give you a few days worth. 

NOT looking forward to paying out all that money


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## rickandcindy23 (Oct 2, 2010)

DianeV said:


> Oh I agree! We are staying at Saratoga Springs on an RCI exchange in December and know we have to pay $95 PLUS the daily fee if we want internet. The least they could do is include the internet in the fee or at least give you a few days worth.
> 
> NOT looking forward to paying out all that money



If you don't have a car, you can get trans to/from the airport, and they treat you pretty special
If you do have a car, you get free parking at the parks ($14 X 7 days is a huge savings)
You can partake of the Disney Dining Plan (okay but not the best food for me, but most TUG members seem to like it)
Disney transportation to/from the parks is pretty great, rarely do we wait more than a couple of minutes
You are staying at Disney  And it's special.  

Why be angry about the fee, when you know ahead of time?  I would pay more, to be honest.   

The only downside is the plain vanilla TV, tossed with a bunch of Disney hoopla that I find very boring.  I love Disney, but the constant advertising of DVC and the parks' new attractions is just a yawn.  I want Fox News and some other channels. 

Owners pay more than I do to use their own units, so I cannot complain at all about paying $95 to Disney.  At least their internet is wired, so you can buy a portable router and have as many computers as you want, so all four of us could have internet for $9.95 per day.  We have done it and found it pretty acceptable for cost.  

If this was Disney, I would have no problem with paying.  Our kids are flying separately and could use Magical Express and just wait for our arrival, but as it is,* we will be using two cars*.   

At Disney, I could order groceries, have them delivered, and feel assured that my groceries would be delivered to the unit and our kids would have food upon their arrival 1 day before us.  Disney resorts would be no problem, because they can hop the bus and go to the parks on their own (the kids are our married kids 33 and 27).


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## rickandcindy23 (Oct 2, 2010)

csalter2 said:


> Carl,
> 
> 
> You may want to check, but I think you can use your computer in the lobby area and it's free.



I so wish that was an option.  

How was your stay?  Are the units pretty nice?


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## timeos2 (Oct 2, 2010)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I so wish that was an option.
> 
> How was your stay?  Are the units pretty nice?



I don't recall if the wireless in the lobby was available for free or not, I seem to recall you had to be on the paid plan to get it, but there IS one free PC/Terminal for guest use there. It is almost always busy & someone waiting but at least it is a short option if you can wait & get in & out of what you need quick.


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## csalter2 (Oct 2, 2010)

*Nice Resort*



rickandcindy23 said:


> I so wish that was an option.
> 
> How was your stay?  Are the units pretty nice?



The resort was great. If you look at the review on TUG, you will see mine. It's the last one. My family enjoyed the resort. We had a few 3 bedrooms and they were very spacious. They have them with and without lockoffs too.


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## gjw007 (Oct 3, 2010)

DianeV said:


> Oh I agree! We are staying at Saratoga Springs on an RCI exchange in December and know we have to pay $95 PLUS the daily fee if we want internet. The least they could do is include the internet in the fee or at least give you a few days worth.
> 
> NOT looking forward to paying out all that money



I stayed at the Boardwalk last December on a RCI exchange.  I was told that since I was on points, even though it was not DVC points, the internet was free.  I never tried it out to see as I didn't want an unexpected expense when I checked out.  I simply went to the library to use the internet.  Not as convenient as using it in the room but since I didn't spend all my time on the Disney property, it was not a major problem.


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## DianeV (Oct 4, 2010)

Yes its Disney and you get Magical Express (but if you pay by the night or stay on DVC points you get it included anyway) If you stay on property any way you get the bus to the parks and free parking. 

I just think that its something Disney adds on because they 'can' and I guess we have to deal with it if we do an exchange


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## rickandcindy23 (Oct 4, 2010)

DianeV said:


> Yes its Disney and you get Magical Express (but if you pay by the night or stay on DVC points you get it included anyway) If you stay on property any way you get the bus to the parks and free parking.
> 
> I just think that its something Disney adds on because they 'can' and I guess we have to deal with it if we do an exchange



Sure, you have to pay to own Disney at $90 per point (less in this economy), and you pay the maintenance fees to Disney as a DVC owner.  I exchange into Disney and know what I am getting and don't mind paying for the privilege.  

I guess if I exchanged my Shearwater with $1,200 in maintenance fees, maybe I would feel differently, but I use Colorado and South Carolina summer weeks with MF's of <$500, so I feel pretty privileged to get DVC cheaper than owners.  Two bedrooms at Disney are a lot of DVC points. 

DVC exchanges are optional, and I choose to use DVC about half the time.


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## donnaval (Oct 7, 2010)

We stayed at Grand Beach last January and wireless was free in the lobby. Depending on which building you are assigned, it can be a little bit of a walk to the lobby.   They had about 10-12 small tables to use, two resort-owned computers that you could use, and other seating on sofas and chairs.  On check-in days, they had free cookies in the lobby making a trip to use the computer very pleasant!


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## jerseygirl (Oct 7, 2010)

Cindy - update on my phone Internet.  I'm at a hotel that's charging $16.95/day so decided to try my phone's hotspot service.  It's working very well. Also found out that it's only $20/month because I already have a $30/month data plan for my phone (required for all new smart phones), and I can subscribe/cancel as needed.  So far, so good.  I too was interested in the Virgin Mobile wifi, but I don't see a reason to add it now that I've tried this service.

Five devices can connect with the password. There's a 2GB monthly limit (or will incur additional cost) but I'm told that shouldn't be a problem as long as I don't start downloading giant files.  Since I admittedly have no clue how many GBs I use, I'm going to watch it on my "myverizon" page to try to avoid any big surprises there!


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## PortableTech (Nov 27, 2010)

Does anyone remember if the Internet in the rooms is wireless, wired, or both?  If it is wired, it is easy to get shared to multiple computers for just one fee.

Doug


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## rickandcindy23 (Nov 27, 2010)

It's wireless, and each computer has to have a code.  We took our router, just in case.  

We had such a slow connection and couldn't do anything quickly.  I am going to be happy when technology is such that anywhere you go, the signal is free and there for you.  That would be great, but for now, we seem to have to pay at many places.  

I haven't been willing to get some of this service with our cell phones.  Maybe we will think about it at some point.  All of our married kids have Droids and pay a premium for the service.  I wouldn't want to do that quite yet.  Maybe the price will go down on such services.


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