Do I Really Need a Portable Charger?

[keithandmissy]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 which has amazing battery life to begin with. But, to prolong battery life I turn off everything except the Wi-Fi while I am in the parks. This allows me to go from rope drop to as late as midnight or 1 a.m. and still have battery left. That's with moderate use of the MDE app checking waits, a few texts, a few photos, and looking one or two things up online.

 

[buggy2727]

Just went on DD's class field trip today - not in a great service area, trying to take pictures, sending some of them to other mom's not in attendance, *trying* to log-on to DIS boards so not to miss anything!!! After about 4.5 - 5 hours my phone was completely dead. Now mind you, the thing that killed me most was searching for service (not wi-fi, just regular service). Great test run and just made me even more happy that I spent $30 and got a portable charger for Disney. Like PP mentioned, many variables but I know on a "normal" day, I need a charge by the end of the night. And much sooner if I have some free time for candy crush!!!!

 

[xie]

We take a couple of Ankers with us (bought from Amazon). We have used them frequently.

The MDE app is not as big of a hog as it used to be, but it still does eat battery. Also, the in-park wifi, while improved over what it was last year, is also still spotty, so your phone will use juice trying to reconnect when the network takes a poop (often). If you turn wifi off, the cell towers are overloaded in and around the parks and you'll reconnect to those a lot too. We might also play games when standing in a particularly heinous queue.

There are outlets in the bathrooms (and yeah I see people, mostly teens, sitting on the bathroom floors charging all the time). There are now some charging stations around the park, for example some picnic tables in New Fantasyland have outlets nearby. A lot of the restaurants have outlets in the walls as well, and I've never seen anyone get scolded for using them.

Still, it's easier to just take a little charger with you, because you can plug it into your phone, put it back in your bag/pocket and keep on walking, instead of sitting somewhere waiting for it to charge from an outlet. Time is precious at Disney... if you aren't on a ride or standing in line for one, you're wasting it.

 

[xie]

I also find closing the MDE app to help. It's a battery drainer for sure due to location services, data use, etc. Data use, Network signal strength/quality will definitely negatively affect battery life in a densely packed location like WDW.

On a side note, has anyone noticed at&t's coverage to have improved? I found VZ and at&t about the same last year, but with the distributed antenna systems, repeaters, small cells and additional macrocells ('towers' for the layman) at&t should have improved. Most of the improvements were announced last July and completed in February though at&t did admit a lot of it was for cast-member locations. http://about.att.com/newsroom/Mobilizinmagic_at_walt_disney_world_resort_and_disneyland_resort.html

We were there April 1-5. AT&T is a little better than last year, but not much. 1-2 bars most of the time inside the parks, and often even though it says you have bars, data isn't working anyway. I found I was turning on the wifi a lot since Disney has improved it a bit. I would dance back and forth between Disney's wifi and AT&T until I got MDE to connect.

AT&T seems significantly better around the resorts to me. We go a lot and as recently as last year it was pretty crappy, but we had 4-5 bars and good service as long as we were outside the parks this time.

I think there are just too many people concentrated in the parks running devices and they (cell providers) just haven't quite got enough equipment to handle it yet.

 

[mamabahama]

Oh yes, we wish we had chargers! MDE is a battery hog. Especially now that you can add 4th FP+ and then some and manage them from the app.

Pretty sure the issue was MDE as once my phone got too low (5c) I added the app to DH phone (5s) and his battery life started dropping quickly.

Also both DDs phones (5c) were dead by the end of the night with photos, text and snap chatting friends back home. And my teens are nowhere near as bad on their phones as some.

I had a cord with me and there are two big power strips on the back wall of the space mountain gift shop - stools too - and we also plugged in at Gaston's Tavern for a bit of a quick charge. This helped a little but wish I had invested in a charger before the trip.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

And Gosh forbid that you want to play Candy Crush in line. Battery sucker upper!

Totally why I got an external charger. I knew I would be crushing lots of candy while in line. Not to mention taking pics and loading to FB. It's come in quite handy at home too. There have been times that I was heading out to go shopping with only 20% battery or so and I just throw the Anker 15000 into my purse along with my phone and go.

 

[amg35]

I have the (windows) Nokia Lumia 1520 - I LOVE this phone.

I am going to buy a portable charger and I guess I should get a case? I know everyone probably has an iphone or android, but any suggestions for my phone?

I was thinking for the charger to just buy straight from the Nokia website - NOKIA UNIVERSAL PORTABLE USB CHARGER DC-19 - $37.00.

and for the case - Amzer Pudding Soft Gel TPU Skin Fit Case Cover for Nokia Lumia 1520 - $10.00. Is this a good protective case you think? I can also put the phone in my purse on rides.

My boyfriend has an iphone, so he'll get his own stuff - we'll use the MDE app with his phone.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks!