Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!umich!telecom-request From: PCOEN@drew.bitnet (Paul Coen) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Dial "0" for Mickey Mouse Message-ID: Date: 18 Mar 91 00:41:00 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 52 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 214, Message 2 of 4 Well, myself and eight friends just came back from a spring break camping trip -- we spent four days at Walt Disney World. One of the things that we played with was the payphones, naturally. They seem to be ITT units, very similar to the "standard" Bell payphones, with the addition of a credit card slot located on the mounting plastic for the keypad (under the keys). They are clearly marked as belonging to "Vista Telephone" or something to that effect; based on the "Vista" in the name, as well as the picture of Mickey Mouse (which did NOT inspire confidence -- I was expecting to get an operator with a Mickey voice) on the information card. The 1+ and 0+ service defaults to AT&T. I never had an occasion to make a local call, so I couldn't say. 10xxx codes work (and they did with the four or so other COCOT companies whose phones I used during the trip). By the way, there are two AT&T public phones at EPCOT (one of the theme parks). They are both located in the AT&T-sponsored part of the "Communicore East" building, along with the games that allow you to pretend to be a network coordinator on AT&T's network. One phone is one of those fancy AT&T do-dads with the credit card slot, a green LCD-type screen, and the "Next call" button, which allows you to make another call on the same credit card without having to re-enter it. The other is in a booth, on the opposite side of the exit door from the "fancy" phone. It's in a large, fairly soundproof booth, and has a speakerphone that allows families to call relatives at home. I have no idea about the local calling capacity of these two beasties. I just thought it was interesting that these two phones exist in the middle of Mickey Mouse's COCOT territory. By the way, the Spaceship Earth ride sponsored by AT&T has a bunch of mistakes in it. One gave credit to Europeans for first inventing the printing press, which isn't correct. The second was spotted by an art historian friend of mine who pointed out that they show Michaelangelo painting some figures on the Sistene Chapel -- including clothes. The clothes were added by a later artist. Much more sinister was the VERY subtle propaganda thrown in by AT&T and the other corporate sponsors (GM was the worst), under the guise of education. Walt must be spinning in his grave. The preceeding may not even be my opinions, never mind Drew U.'s Paul Coen Academic Computer Center Drew University