FuelRod

[CAS239]

FYI, I looked into the FuelRod after I read about it here a while back and it seems it's only about a 2,400 mah. That won't even fully charge once my iphone. I bought an Anker a year ago that is 13,000 mah. It only weighs 8 ounces and it charges my phone completely 4 times before I need to get the Anker recharged so it's super convenient. I don;'t have to get it recharged every day and I can certainly wait until I'm back in my room to recharge. It's also around the same price as the Fuel Rod.

If you have an 8+ it'll probably get you to about 90% battery from 0

I also agree bigger portable chargers are cheaper and the way to go. But for some the convenience to just drain and swap is good enough

 

[subtchr]

People just won't give it up...

We KNOW there are CHEAPER, more POWERFUL options out there. Most of us probably own some; I know I do. I also know that even "good" ones have limited lifespan.

But especially once you know where the kiosks are, having a FuelRod is a convenient, quick, easy, and inexpensive (in the long run) way to keep a phone charged at Disney World. And the "lifespan" is unlimited, since you are continually replacing it. It never gets "old".

If I have used my FuelRod at all, and I am passing by the vicinity of a kiosk, I swap it. Takes literally 2-3 seconds, no exaggeration.

 

[joyjoy]

I KNOW there are cheaper, more robust chargers available, but I bought a Fuel Rod for our trip last year and I love it. Swap it whenever I see a kiosk in the parks regardless of the charge left on it and it's part of my nightly ritual at the resort: Put everyone to bed, walk to the lobby alone, swap the fuel rod, stop by the bar for a glass of Pinot Grigio. When Momma's happy... etc. Bringing it with us again this September.
P.S. I am not leaving children in the room alone.

 

[Tomh]

Yup, as I said, I had one of the cheaper, better battery banks. It is a paper weight now, after just one summer of use. My daughter currently owns 3 different battery banks. One of the 3 is really working properly. One has just one of the two USB ports working, and the 3rd is pretty close to useless. Out of 4 battery banks that were purchased between us, only 1 is fully functional now. She had 2 of her 3 with her last summer, and ended up using the Fuel Rod just as often as she used her own battery bank.

Searching out a kiosk was never really a concern, when we spotted one, we swapped out the battery. We didn't really spend any deal of time looking for one to swap the battery out.

A quick search on Amazon turns up a number of Anker PowerCore chargers, which are exactly the same thing as the Fuel Rod. They sell for about $15, so roughly half the price, without the ability to swap them out at will, and without the Lightning adapter for Iphone.

 

[KristinU]

I KNOW there are cheaper, more robust chargers available, but I bought a Fuel Rod for our trip last year and I love it. Swap it whenever I see a kiosk in the parks regardless of the charge left on it and it's part of my nightly ritual at the resort: Put everyone to bed, walk to the lobby alone, swap the fuel rod, stop by the bar for a glass of Pinot Grigio. When Momma's happy... etc. Bringing it with us again this September.
P.S. I am not leaving children in the room alone.

Now that's my kind of evening ritual!

 

[goofygal531]

1 just the rod
2 no power indicator, I just notice my phone stops charging and go grab a new one
3 an oversight i guess, the station is there

Just as an aside, I bring my own cable because the one that comes in the kit is short and I use the fuelrod while live streaming, so I put it in my front pocket and connect my longer cable

Thank you! I’m going to order one online before our trip. I have an Anker brick charger but like the idea of swapping out and always having a fully charged back up.

So many people are commenting on the cost vs buying a better battery. When you spend thousands on a WDW vacation, what’s $20 for a little peace of mind?

@yulilin3 I really appreciated your detailed comments on the opening of Pandora last year. I’m looking forward to your coverage of Toy Story Land!

 

[Princess_Lisa]

How common are the kiosks? It seems hard to beat the convenience of carrying one in my bag and just recharging it each night. I’m honestly curious why these have taken off (other than the obvious situation where someone didn’t come prepared with a portable charger, ran out of juice and bought one in the parks).

Depends on the park. Animal Kingdom only has ONE in one of the stores on Discovery Island. Magic Kingdom has several (Space Mountain Gift Shop and a few other place). Epcot has a few and MGM, I'm not sure. They can be hard to find as they tend to be tucked away. I even saw one at one of the resorts. Think it was WL, but it may have been GF.

 

[hiroMYhero]

The OP’s question and subsequent questions were answered over a week ago. Closing.