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

Oct 20, 2021 in "MyMagic+"

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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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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+.

GringrinngghostOct 21, 2021

Makes me wonder if they are slowly implementing a in app ticket use that doesn't require you to open Wallet or Android Pay...

JohnDOct 21, 2021

I noticed that when you click on "Tickets and Passes" the screen gets brighter. The rest of the app is slightly dimmer which would seem to imply Disney is aware of battery drain hence the dimmer screen on most other windows in the app. Probably not a significant battery saver but something they built in anyway.

lunchbox1175Oct 21, 2021

Personally don't plan on using the Genie+ feature much, I've always just picked a direction and gone from land to land unless I already have a pre-existing FP or (LP in this case), then I know to head to that ride in that window. Plan on trying to keep as much freedom and wandering around the parks as possible. Never had any issues getting on each ride at least once. I believe I read somewhere that you can buy one of these Fuel Rods cheaper off property and then swap it out free when you need to onsite.

wdwmagicOct 21, 2021

I think anyone using My Disney Experience now, with either Genie or Genie+, is going to be significantly heavier on the phone use. Your entire day is based around watching what is going on with the Genie+ availability, and looking at actual and forecasted wait times. If you are not monitoring that tip board with that info you are going to be at a disadvantage. And I think because of that someone I each party is going to be glued to the phone all day.