Disney Genie means more time on your phone and Disney is adding more Fuel Rod charging locations at Walt Disney World

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Fuel Rod

Posted: Wednesday October 20, 2021 12:53pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The introduction of Disney Genie at Walt Disney World means more time on your phone, and as we noted during yesterday's debut of Genie, battery drain may be a problem during your visit to the parks.

Fuel Rod

Disney partnered with Fuel Rod back in 2016 to offer the phone battery chargers, and is now expanding the number of locations.

At EPCOT, there are now kiosks at the Imagination! pavilion, The Land pavilion, Test Track gift shop, and coming soon at The Seas and Mission: SPACE gift shop. Other locations at EPCOT include Disney Traders, International Gateway and Gateway Gifts.

The $30 service allows you to purchase a pre-charged Fuel Rod battery from one of the kiosks around Walt Disney World to recharge for your phone. When the battery is exhausted, you can switch the Fuel Rod for another fully charged unit at any of the kiosks.

Discuss on the Forums

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BrianAug 27, 2024

Since late July of this year. I suspect it's more of a logistics issue where they currently have to accept both old and new FuelRods and sort them, since the old ones are no longer being distributed at the kiosks.

HauntedPirateAug 27, 2024

Any idea how long they have been swapping the old Fuel Rods for the new ones? Depending on how long that has been going on, ending the upgrades "soon" seems pretty short-sighted. Outside of it will force more people to have to purchase new. :( (Full disclosure - Our old FR has already been swapped for the new USB-C one, so I have no skin in this game)

BrianAug 27, 2024

The upgrade program is ending "soon" meaning that original Fuel Rods will no longer be swappable at WDW or any other kiosks.

Royal Purple PigmentAug 06, 2024

I am not sure if there is any other Fuel Rod thread.... Upon swapping out two of my Fuel Rods yesterday the machine prompted us that our versions of the Fuel Rod were out of date and it asked if we wanted to upgrade to the new version for free. When we put in our old Fuel Rods we were dispensed new Fuel Rods in the packaging with the cords, etc. The new version is USB-C, has charge indicator lights, and I think a slightly larger amount of stored energy. Swaps remain free at WDW.

G00fyDadOct 26, 2021

I just bought three of the INIU 20000 power banks. Much better than most power banks and fully charges phone in 45-60 minutes.

SteveAZeeOct 21, 2021

You'll get some funny looks, though. 😁

CaptainAmericaOct 21, 2021

If you have real skills, you can manage all your reservations one-handed in the time it takes you to use the urinal.

Club CooloholicOct 21, 2021

Ah, nothing says "Vacation!" like being forced to stare at your phone all day.

SteveAZeeOct 21, 2021

Personally, I'd rather people do whatever they need/want to do on their phones while seated and out of the way rather than slowing to a crawl in front of me on a narrow pathway.

correcaminosOct 21, 2021

It has good and bad. I cannot do my allergy orders on it. So for specific places I had to go in. Some places were nicer than others about it.

AshaNeOmahOct 21, 2021

I might not have been clear. I'm an adult with two kids of my own. We absolutely love Mobile Order and think it's years past due on the wide rollout that's finally happened. My parents are actual Boomers, though, who started going to WDW in the late-70s, even before having kids. The rapid changes since MDE/FP+ was introduced has basically turned them off the parks entirely. Not being able to just order a burger without installing an app was even more damaging.

larryzOct 21, 2021

...and books of paper attraction tickets labelled "A" through "E"...

G00fyDadOct 21, 2021

From what I have seen. People have said that it is set to constantly tell you about "exciting things to do" or the next available attraction. I think you might be able to turn that off though. Either way this app is looking to be far more battery intense than FP+.