Recharging cellphone in parks

[TrixyA]

Hi there--

I searched and didn't find anything about recharging cellphones in the park. Is there an existing thread? If so, would someone post the link?

Otherwise, my cellphone will not stand up to a full day in parks with 1-2 recharges. I can get a battery pack beforehand, but want to know if there are charging stations available in parks? Has anyone used the portable charging system where you buy a charger at an in-park kiosks for $30 and can swap out the battery as you need? Do people like the system?

Thanks very much!!

 

[No.1000]

We love the Fuel Rod. We just dump it for a new one anytime we are near a swap point at the park or resort. Best $30 we have spent.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Charge packs are cheap on Amazon. We get one for each phone.

 

[_19disnA]

I have seen some other threads on this topic. What is it you are doing with your phone in the park that makes it run down so fast? We were at Disney earlier this year and never had an issue with any of our phones running out of battery power.

 

[TrixyA]

What is it you are doing with your phone in the park that makes it run down so fast?

We planned our Dec 8-14 trip without knowing that the Rise of the Resistance ride would open the week prior-- this time period used to be a reasonably quiet time of year. We are expecting to use the MDE app to help manage FP, and my cell's battery is not too great at the moment.

 

[pwmitch237]

Another vote here for the Fuel Rods. Check and see if your local airport has them too...I purchased mine at IAH for $20, knowing I could still swap in WDW and saved $10. I also like that I can recharge the Fuel Rod on my own if I'm not near a station. https://fuel-rod.com/ <- Check here for a list of all locations.

 

[TrixyA]

https://fuel-rod.com/ <- Check here for a list of all locations.

Thank you!!

 

[Best Aunt]

I bought a Fuel Rod on my last trip. I had a lot of trouble buying it from the machine. If I recall correctly, I was swiping my credit card in the wrong direction. I think you have to swipe up instead of down.

Once you buy one, you can swap it for a fully charged one whenever you see a machine. However, the machines aren't everywhere. At Animal Kingdom park there is only one. Some hotels have them, but not YC or BC. PP gave you a link to locations.

You also can charge your Fuel Rod when you are in your room so you can start the day with it fully charged.

You should look up the mAh of your phone. I believe the mAh of the Fuel Rod is 2600. An iPhone 7, for example, has an mAh of 1960. That means a fully charged Fuel Rod could completely charge a run-down iPhone 7 once but not twice. An iPhone XR has an mAh of 2942, so a fully charged Fuel Rod could not completely charge a run-down iPhone XR. [Edit: someone posted below that I'm wrong about the mAh of the Fuel Rod.]

Currently it is free to swap your run down Fuel Rod for a new one in a machine, but I have read that the signs on the machines have changed, indicating they might start charging to swap it out.

If you want to try something other than a Fuel Rod, people like Mophie brand and Anker brand. I have seen them at Target, Best Buy and on Amazon. You can get more mAh for your buck if you buy one of those brands.

 

[EACarlson]

A fully charged brand new FuelRod is 1,000 mAh, many of the ones that you are swapping for are closer to 800. For the price of a FuelRod I bought an Anker battery pack on Amazon that is 10,000 mAh and has QuickCharge to fully charge my 3,000 mAh Samsung Galaxy S8 in about an hour. If the Fuel Rod service were available anywhere else I regularly travel to it might make it worthwhile, but right now it doesn't for that cost.

 

[DLgal]

A fully charged brand new FuelRod is 1,000 mAh, many of the ones that you are swapping for are closer to 800. For the price of a FuelRod I bought an Anker battery pack on Amazon that is 10,000 mAh and has QuickCharge to fully charge my 3,000 mAh Samsung Galaxy S8 in about an hour. If the Fuel Rod service were available anywhere else I regularly travel to it might make it worthwhile, but right now it doesn't for that cost.

Fuel Rods are a complete scam. So much money for a battery pack that holds like 1/10 of the charging power of an equivalently priced Anker.

I agree with the Anker 10,000 portable battery pack. Its smaller than my phone and has quick charge so it fully charges my Samsung from empty in well under an hour (about 40 min). It can do that 4 times. Its more than enough juice for a day in the parks. In fact, 3 of us share it and we never run it all the way down.

It's like $35 on Amazon.

 

[pwmitch237]

Fuel Rods are a complete scam. So much money for a battery pack that holds like 1/10 of the charging power of an equivalently priced Anker.

I agree with the Anker 10,000 portable battery pack. Its smaller than my phone and has quick charge so it fully charges my Samsung from empty in well under an hour (about 40 min). It can do that 4 times. Its more than enough juice for a day in the parks. In fact, 3 of us share it and we never run it all the way down.

It's like $35 on Amazon.

I've swapped my Fuel Rod over 10 times, each rather quickly, and had the convenience of being able to not have to carry around a large pack every day. $20 (again, bought mine offsite and was still able to swap in the parks) for the convenience of not having to carry around a large thing all day...I'll take that.

 

[robinb]

Fuel Rods are a complete scam. So much money for a battery pack that holds like 1/10 of the charging power of an equivalently priced Anker.

I agree with the Anker 10,000 portable battery pack. Its smaller than my phone and has quick charge so it fully charges my Samsung from empty in well under an hour (about 40 min). It can do that 4 times. Its more than enough juice for a day in the parks. In fact, 3 of us share it and we never run it all the way down.

It's like $35 on Amazon.

I really like my Fuel Rod. Yes, it's not as powerful as our Anker battery pack but the convenience can't be beat.

• I don't have to remember to plug it in at night. I don't have to arrange for another place to plug it in or remembering the cable and the wall plug.
• It just stays in my bag, I don't forget it back in the room.
• I can swap endlessly. I swap during the day and I swap either on my way out of the park or on the way in.
• If it gets low on "juice", I just swap it at the next spot.
• It's not as heavy as my Anker "brick".
• It's smaller. I can fit it in my pocket while plugged into my phone on a short 6" cable.
  
  

 

[tnolan]

I have had my Fuel Rod for a few years and was often grateful I did. Works just fine to recharge my phone - maybe not all the way at times, but enough so I don't have to worry about being stuck with a dead phone.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Disney use to do free swaps on the fuel rods but i hear they now charge i just dont know how much.
We got battery packs that you can recharge at five below

 

[YawningDodo]

Bad news if they start charging for swapping. :/ Seems to me the free swaps are the entire benefit of the purchase.

As you can see, both solutions have their fans. I personally don't mind carrying what I refer to as my "power brick" (it's a KMASHI with 10,000 mAh, cost me all of $14 on Amazon). To get a battery pack that will be sure to last you all day you'll have to buy (and carry!) something significantly bigger and heavier than the Fuel Rods. Mine got me through a 17 hour park day with heavy use of the MDE app, camera, social media, etc. on an iPhone 6. Since I already carry a small bag into the parks it's not a big deal for me to add the KMASHI to what I'm carrying, but if you're trying to go bagless the smaller Fuel Rods might fit better in a pocket. And getting free swaps for fresh batteries is the only way I'd carry a battery pack as small as a Fuel Rod--if I'm using my phone enough to need an external charger, I'm almost certainly going to need to recharge it more than once that day.

 

[robinb]

Disney use to do free swaps on the fuel rods but i hear they now charge i just dont know how much.
We got battery packs that you can recharge at five below

Another Disney website reported most Fuel Rod kiosks say "free unlimited swapping" while the one at Casey's just says "swappable". The conjecture is that Disney *might* start charging for swaps but there is no confirmation.

 

[DLgal]

It would likely be Fuel Rod charging, not Disney, as they are the ones who maintain the kiosks. I suppose at a high traffic area like WDW, they have to work a lot harder to service the machines.

 

[robinb]

It would likely be Fuel Rod charging, not Disney, as they are the ones who maintain the kiosks. I suppose at a high traffic area like WDW, they have to work a lot harder to service the machines.

The article I read said that there is always a small charge and that it’s up to the locations decide if they want to pass it onto customers.

 

[shocker]

If a device won't hold a charge long & is older, it may be time to swap out for a new battery.

Use battery saving techniques like force sleep, shut off apps instead of running in the background, turn down screen brightness, put in airplane mode for chunks of time you don't need service.

Take multiple external batteries, leave one charging while other is out with you.

Yes, there are plugs throughout the parks. In most TS locations (ask as some have specific charging stations) & some QS locations. Some lines & wait areas have plugs. All bathrooms have plugs (emergency only, who wants to sit in there for a charge).

 

[tguz]

I bought one off of Amazon for like $15 and it has 3 ports so all of us could (if we needed to) charge our phones at once. It is a 10,000 so it charged phones multiple times. No need to buy one twice as expensive and look for machines to swap it out and that has less charging power. It has a carabiner clip that we attached to our light park bag so it was easy to carry around.