Battery charging at the parks

[Dizneydaz]

I went to Sea World SD yesterday and noticed something cool! There was a sign up by the lockers at the kid's play area that said their lockers had electrical outlets inside for recharging batteries. How neat is that! I'm sure the question I'm asking is posted somewhere else, but where, in the world, can you recharge your batteries? I think I heard somewhere you could do it in the camera centers. Is this true or is there some other location?

In January my Dig. Cam. ran out of power a few times. Unfortunately, it doesn't take regular batteries (my old one did) so I either need to buy a 2nd battery (I'm thinking of it) or charge it a least for a short time while in the parks.

in advance.

 

[disneyag]

I know the camera shop on Main Street used to do that for guests.

 

[Dizneydaz]

anybody else?

 

[Dizneydaz]

Anyone know for sure?

 

[FigmentGuy]

Maybe one of the sitdown restaraunts? Go in and have a bite and ask a CM to charge it during your meal? or try and find a wall outlet near your table?

 

[Dizneydaz]

I never thought of that-thanks Figment.

 

[FigmentGuy]

I never thought of that-thanks Figment.

Now don't blame me if you spend $100 a day "charging" your battery as you eat great meals/deserts. ALSO dont blame me for the 20lbs you might gain doing so also! haha kidding!

 

[babywewe]

I would get a second battery if they dont cost too much. My camera takes rechargable sony batterys. The batterys are only like 8bucks a set.... so I was able to get second pair without breaking the bank!

 

[FigmentGuy]

I have three batteries for my camera. (It doesnt take standard ones). Mine was $30.

 

[skyscanr]

Well we just got extra batts for our digital cam along with a few mem cards now have 4 batts and 4 card should be able to take about 2,000 to 3,000 pics before i have to recharge or download

 

[Luvchefmic]

I discovered in MGM near the outside tables near the cafeteria there are outlets, I've been locating them for a few years now and no one has ever said a word when I plugged in to re-charge I can't remember exactly where they are in every park but if you make a game out of it you'll find them all over the place

Ruthie

 

[webshark3]

Well we just got extra batts for our digital cam along with a few mem cards now have 4 batts and 4 card should be able to take about 2,000 to 3,000 pics before i have to recharge or download

You've said the best way to do it.
1) Determine the mx number of pics you could take in a day (example 400)
2) BEFORE the vaction, see how many pics you can take with flash on 1 battery (example 200)
3) Buy batterys to meet the capacity. (In this case 1 spare)

This way, you won't run low on battery, and have to run back to a locker or resturaunt where your spare was left. You also won't spends that "100s" on meals try to charge your batteries.

I carry 3 cameras. 1 DSLR, 1 video, and 1 P&S. Two batteries for each was always plenty at about an hour of video per day and 320 photos per day (DSLR).

 

[lyzziesmom]

I have 4 sets of batteries for my camera. What I do is, while I am in the parks I have one set in my camera, two extra sets in my camera bag, and one set recharging at the hotel. Then the next time I'm at the hotel, I put the freshly charged set into the camera, and recharge the ones I used that day. That way, I always have a freshly recharged set of batteries in the camera, plus some charged-up spares ready to go. I also find that if charged batteries have not been used in a while, they tend to lose some of their charge. Of course, this method may not work if you have expensive batteries, but even with one spare you could keep one charging at the hotel each day, or recharge them both overnight.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Thanks everyone, unfortunately I do have an expensive battery. My old digital could use 2 AA's in a pinch. My new one takes a lithium ion battery. So at this point I don't have a spare. I did recently pickup a 1GB card for a great price of $29. So I won't have to worry about downloading when my card (512) is full. I checked on Kodak's site and my battery lists for $29.95-Yikes! There is what looks to be a comparable one on sale for $9.95. The difference is the MaH. The cheaper one is 1050, the other one is 1700. So---does anyone know what that number means? Does it mean it needs to be charged sooner? The 1050 one only takes 2 hrs. to charge, the 1700 takes 3 hrs. (that's the same as the one that came with my camera-it doesn't take anywhere near 3 hrs. to charge) Of course, I didn't realize that the battery I now have is only good for about 300 charges. I'm definitely going to have to buy at least one battery soon. Maybe more.

If anyone knows the answer regarding MaH, I would apprecitate a post-if not, I'll call Kodak and ask them. TIA

 

[webshark3]

From starbatteries dot com

"What does the mAh rating of my batteries mean?
The mAh rating refers to the storage capacity available for a particular battery. A battery with a capacity rating of 2400 mAh could deliver a current of 2400mA for one hour. Higher mAh ratings for the same battery type will generally mean longer run times. This does not apply when comparing different types of batteries. This means that you may not be able to predict how long your electronic device will run just by looking at the capacity rating. When powering high drain electronic devices like digital camera, an alkaline battery will only deliver a small fraction of its rated capacity. For example AA alkaline batteries typically have a capacity rating of over 2500 mAh and AA NiMH batteries have similar ratings of 1800 to 2400 mAh. But when it comes to actually powering an electronic device like a digital camera, the NiMH batteries will often run the device for three or four times as long. A NiMH or NiCd battery is likely to deliver much closer to its rated capacity when it is powering high drain devices. Alkaline batteries have a high rated capacity but they can only deliver their full capacity when the power is used slowly. This means that a NiMH battery with a rated capacity of only 1600 mAh can tale many more photos than an alkaline battery with a rated capacity of 2800."

Also, every manfacuter has their own way of "rating" their battery. I have a 710Mah Pentax battery that easily out performs a generic at 800Mah. Be carefull of that.

Thanks everyone, unfortunately I do have an expensive battery. My old digital could use 2 AA's in a pinch. My new one takes a lithium ion battery. So at this point I don't have a spare. I did recently pickup a 1GB card for a great price of $29. So I won't have to worry about downloading when my card (512) is full. I checked on Kodak's site and my battery lists for $29.95-Yikes! There is what looks to be a comparable one on sale for $9.95. The difference is the MaH. The cheaper one is 1050, the other one is 1700. So---does anyone know what that number means? Does it mean it needs to be charged sooner? The 1050 one only takes 2 hrs. to charge, the 1700 takes 3 hrs. (that's the same as the one that came with my camera-it doesn't take anywhere near 3 hrs. to charge) Of course, I didn't realize that the battery I now have is only good for about 300 charges. I'm definitely going to have to buy at least one battery soon. Maybe more.

If anyone knows the answer regarding MaH, I would apprecitate a post-if not, I'll call Kodak and ask them. TIA

 

[Dizneydaz]

Thanks webshark-I figured it would be something like that. I think I'll buy both-the 1700 (which is exactly the same as the original battery) and a few of the $10, 1070 ones for spares. Thanks again for the info

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I shared a bench with a CM to watch the AK parade in December. He was a sweetheart and mildly disabled but with a full, functioning heart and lots of enthusiasm. In the course of our visit he shared with me a device that he got from Radio Shack that recharges batteries in only 15 minutes. I think it only does AA but I could be wrong.

I plan to bring my recharger and keep a couple of sets of batteries in my purse along with my extra memory cards. I did well with just one set of each last time and took movies as well as pics AND it also included the Osbourne lights!

Slightly Goofy

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

On days that I know will be heavy picture taking, all day in the park and then night parades, wishes, I'll take my charger in my backpack, when we have lunch, I'll try to find a spot with a outlet, plug it in, and charge while I ate. Friends of mine did charge their cam recorder at the camera shop in MK, just before a parade one evening, this was last year in May.