Fuel Rods

mamabunny

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
We've had a bit of chatter here recently about FuelRods, the small battery backups that now have kiosks scattered all over Disney World.

Screen Shot 2018-08-04 at 2.20.20 PM.png

When you are at Disney, and purchase a FuelRod for the first time, the cost is $30. Disney's page about FuelRods

When you purchase a FuelRod directly from the company's website, it is $20 - and you can exchange it at Disney World, and airports, (and any other location that has a FuelRod kiosk) just the same as the ones you buy at Disney for $10 more. FuelRod's website

We purchased 2 of them (for $40) and have been very pleased. They came with a complete connection kit to charge either Apple iOS devices, or most Android devices (no USB-C connector FYI) and you can also just recharge them yourself if you want to.

If you need to swap out your FuelRods while you are out and about at Disney World, locate your nearest kiosk, and follow the instructions, and you should have a fully-charged FuelRod in your hand in mere moments.

I personally love this idea - I don't have to carry a bunch of extra battery packs, I don't have to worry about finding spots to plug in and charge, and it's super convenient.

Hope this helps save a bit of money for those who have time to plan ahead! :)
 
Do you know if they have a kiosk at the Orlando airport?
 
I used Fuel Rods at WDW when the first came out, but really they are unnecessary now. My Pixel phone and a single fuel rod sized battery can get me though even the busiest phone days.
 
WHen we were at WDW in April, lot of the fuel rod kiosks were not working.

I had one at EPCOT "eat" my spent fuel rod in June. I just had to call the number on the kiosk and the made it spit out a new one. Took maybe an extra 5 minutes out of my day.
 
We've had a bit of chatter here recently about FuelRods, the small battery backups that now have kiosks scattered all over Disney World.

View attachment 341355

When you are at Disney, and purchase a FuelRod for the first time, the cost is $30. Disney's page about FuelRods

When you purchase a FuelRod directly from the company's website, it is $20 - and you can exchange it at Disney World, and airports, (and any other location that has a FuelRod kiosk) just the same as the ones you buy at Disney for $10 more. FuelRod's website

We purchased 2 of them (for $40) and have been very pleased. They came with a complete connection kit to charge either Apple iOS devices, or most Android devices (no USB-C connector FYI) and you can also just recharge them yourself if you want to.

If you need to swap out your FuelRods while you are out and about at Disney World, locate your nearest kiosk, and follow the instructions, and you should have a fully-charged FuelRod in your hand in mere moments.

I personally love this idea - I don't have to carry a bunch of extra battery packs, I don't have to worry about finding spots to plug in and charge, and it's super convenient.

Hope this helps save a bit of money for those who have time to plan ahead! :)

Thank you, mamabunny. I just bought one.
 


For any West Coast travelers they also have kiosks all around The Disneyland Resort as well. We bought our Fuel Rod a couple years ago and we love it. I have had no issues with Kiosks working or availability and we have been to WDW and DLR combined over 10 times since we got our Fuel Rod. Our only issue has been that the cord that came with the Fuel Rod died, I bought a cheap one off of Amazon, but others have reported calling the number on the Kiosk and getting a replacement kit.
 
I use both the Fuel Rods, and larger power banks. The Fuel Rods are pretty similar to any of the smaller lipstick sized power banks that you can get online or in a drugstore. The real difference is the ability swap a used Fuel Rod for a charged one at the kiosks. That's a really nice feature to have. Yes, more kiosks around the parks would be nice. The cords that they come with are a bit cheap. However, I don't think that the price is that bad. Yes you can get cheaper versions of a similar product, but from what I've seen the batteries themselves are a good quality, and the ability to get more juice on the go when you are out in the parks is a nice piece of mind if you are someone who uses their phone or a camera a lot.
 
WHen we were at WDW in April, lot of the fuel rod kiosks were not working.

Good to know - although that was probably about 4 months ago, so I'm going to hope they are all back in operation! :) If they aren't, it's a simple enough matter to give both Disney and the company feedback so that they know they need to improve this service.

Do you know if they have a kiosk at the Orlando airport?

I just checked the website, and it currently says there is no kiosk at MCO, however, I might call FuelRod, and ask them if (1) they have one, and it just isn't listed, and if they say no, then you can suggest that they install one there so that everyone who used their FuelRods at WDW can swap them right before they get on the plane! :)

I had one at EPCOT "eat" my spent fuel rod in June. I just had to call the number on the kiosk and the made it spit out a new one. Took maybe an extra 5 minutes out of my day.

It's good to know that they have responsive customer service - thank you for sharing that! :)

I'm happy with my purchase. I wish they had more kiosks though.

Me too! I actually think that they may not realize where the greatest demand is, and so many people always assume that "someone else will... (in this case, call/tweet at/email the company and tell them "Hey, this is a great spot for a kiosk!") So often it seems that folks just don't want to be the one to do the work... at our house, we call that "Little Red Hen Syndrome", and no one is allowed to "suffer" from it! :)

For any West Coast travelers they also have kiosks all around The Disneyland Resort as well. We bought our Fuel Rod a couple years ago and we love it. I have had no issues with Kiosks working or availability and we have been to WDW and DLR combined over 10 times since we got our Fuel Rod. Our only issue has been that the cord that came with the Fuel Rod died, I bought a cheap one off of Amazon, but others have reported calling the number on the Kiosk and getting a replacement kit.

That's really great to know! Thank you - I'm so glad to know they have them at DLR too! :)
 
We have a few and love the convenience at Disney. All the hotels have kiosks and we exchanged either coming or going from the hotel every time. Sea world and bush gardens have kiosks too. We have never had an issue other than a much used cord dying. We bought all of ours at our airport for $20. At home we use regularly and recharge them and they lasted a couple years in between Disney trips. I wish cedar point had kiosks for them.
 
One trip I forgot to bring a charger for my stuff and I couldn't find a USB port in the BLT studio. I did have charged larger battery I kept in room, but between that and swapping fuel rods, we lasted the whole week.

Yes, I was too cheap to buy a charger since I have a bunch at home. I'll spent thousands on the trip but another $15 for a charger is too much. LOL
 
I’m also going to throw out a tip I learned from one of the representatives who was restocking a kiosk-if you have any issues at the kiosk, call the number and they can manually override the system. A lot of people on Twitter always says it doesn’t charge fully. Often that will be an issue with the cord not the charger. You can call in and they will spit out a whole new kit, rather than just the charger, so you can replace the cord!

I visit DLR all the time (am a local) and it is so helpful to just keep the fuel rod in my park bag, without having to think about recharging overnight!
 
I bought two for our upcoming trip. Anyone ever have a problem getting them through TSA in carry on, or should I put them in my check in luggage just to be safe?
 
I bought two for our upcoming trip. Anyone ever have a problem getting them through TSA in carry on, or should I put them in my check in luggage just to be safe?
I don’t have the Fuel Rod brand, but I keep one similar battery in my purse all the time.
When we travel, I also have 2 larger batteries in my carry on for recharging 2 iPads (one is my daughter’s communication device).
I’ve never had any problems or even any questions going thru TSA. I’ve been doing this on at least 2-3 found trips per year for at least 5 years.
 
I bought two for our upcoming trip. Anyone ever have a problem getting them through TSA in carry on, or should I put them in my check in luggage just to be safe?

Like @SueM in MN we have never had a problem with them in our carry-on; our (adult) daughter travels for her job, and she typically has at least 2 battery packs of some kind in her carry-ons every trip, and has had no problems to date.
 
We've had a bit of chatter here recently about FuelRods, the small battery backups that now have kiosks scattered all over Disney World.

View attachment 341355

When you are at Disney, and purchase a FuelRod for the first time, the cost is $30. Disney's page about FuelRods

When you purchase a FuelRod directly from the company's website, it is $20 - and you can exchange it at Disney World, and airports, (and any other location that has a FuelRod kiosk) just the same as the ones you buy at Disney for $10 more. FuelRod's website

We purchased 2 of them (for $40) and have been very pleased. They came with a complete connection kit to charge either Apple iOS devices, or most Android devices (no USB-C connector FYI) and you can also just recharge them yourself if you want to.

If you need to swap out your FuelRods while you are out and about at Disney World, locate your nearest kiosk, and follow the instructions, and you should have a fully-charged FuelRod in your hand in mere moments.

I personally love this idea - I don't have to carry a bunch of extra battery packs, I don't have to worry about finding spots to plug in and charge, and it's super convenient.

Hope this helps save a bit of money for those who have time to plan ahead! :)
any chance you would know if these work in the small personal fans ?
 

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