Recommend portable battery/phone charger

billlaurie

Disneyfan
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Seems like staying connected is now part of the most efficient Disney experience (additional FP, mobile ordering, wait times etc.). I am looking for recommendations for a reliable and light portable phone charger to carry around the parks to keep the phone juiced. I plan on using a Frog Bagz waist pack to store my necessities, no backpack, so something small but powerful would be great.
 
I have a RAVPower brand one that is 12000mAh I got off of Amazon. It's about the size of a deck of cards and weighs about .5lbs I've had it for 3 years now and use it allll the time. Works great - I can charge my iphone 8+ 3-4 times off one battery charge. It also charges the phone super fast.

The only drawback (and this is true of most battery packs) is that it takes forever for the battery itself to charge. It needs a complete overnight charge to be full.

The higher the mAh the heavier the battery will be. You might be able to get away with something like this that will be both small and lighter weight... but you will only be able to charge your phone 1-1.5x
https://www.amazon.com/External-Bat...-Technology/dp/B07JZYQH6B/ref=dp_ob_title_wld
 
Yep, how small you can go depends on how many charges you want to get out of it. I bought a small/lightweight charger from Staples for my recent trip to Disneyland Paris because I wanted something compact, and it works fine (it's Staples' own brand). It only charges 1 to 1.5 times, though, so it worked fine as long as I was faithful about charging it every time I was back at my room, but I got frustrated by still having to mind my screen time to avoid draining the battery more often than I could recharge it, and when I let a friend use it to charge her phone I had to be very frugal with my phone's battery that day. I usually prefer to travel with my KMASHI, which I refer to as my "power brick"--it's as long as my iPhone, nearly as wide, and much thicker. It weighs as much as a brick of that size would. It also holds enough charge, though, that I was able to keep my phone charged for the entire duration of a 17 hour park day without making any effort whatsoever to conserve battery.

You also have the option of buying a FuelRod onsite. It's a lightweight charger, not huge capacity, and once you buy it you can swap it out for a fresh one whenever it runs dry (there are kiosks around property). Hopefully someone who's tried it can chime in and let us know whether they thought it was a good value (it sounds like you pay $30 once and swap it out as many times as you want indefinitely...but maybe there's a hidden charge I don't know about?).

Edit: The KMASHI link I put in was supposed to direct to Amazon, but it goes to Walmart...? It's out of stock on Walmart's site but not on Amazon. At least that lets you get the full name and see what it looks like, I guess.
 


I have an anker charger that works great but like previous posts have said they take very long to charge so I recommend getting a bigger size so that it can last the day and you can charge overnight!
 
I actually use the Fuel Rods they have at Disney. I ordered it ahead of time from their website (https://www.fuel-rod.com/) and saved some money that way, rather than getting one from the Fuel-Rod machines around Disney. Some airports have them for $20, but mine does not.

They are pretty small and do the job. The thing I like most about them, is that I don't have to worry about recharging it. If the FuelRod gets low, I simply turn it in at one of the machines for a charged one (at no cost).

The DIS has an article about them as well. https://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-world/portable-phone-chargers.htm
 


What kind of phone do you have and are you in the parks all day? We have Xs and take mid day breaks and have 0 problems with charging and use our phones a ton it seems. Maybe it's actually less than others, but you may not have the charging problems you're concerned with at all:)
 
Thank you for all the replies! I don't do iphones and plan on upgrading my android before we go in June since it is almost 2 years old. Hopefully, I will get better battery life after that. The fuel rod option is one I didn't know about. Looking into that for sure. How large is it?
 
The fuel rod option is one I didn't know about. Looking into that for sure. How large is it?

It's about the same size as other "lipstick" chargers. About the size of a person finger. They also come with adapters for both Android and Apple phones (so you can share).
 
That is perfect! Twelve
It's about the same size as other "lipstick" chargers. About the size of a person finger. They also come with adapters for both Android and Apple phones (so you can share).
of us are going and some have iphones, some have android. I am going to buy a few to share. I love the idea of being able to swap them out!
 
I bought my charger at 5below they are the size of the phone not heavy and work really well. The time before last time I had my charger with me we plugged it when we ate. But it was crazy trying to find a plug. So I want doing that again.
*Turn off the phone when it charges it charges faster.
 
Honestly, I've been tempted by the Fuel Rods for the same reason, but I can't justify the cost to myself since I already own two external chargers. :p
 
One clarification about the Fuel Rod. Can you use used a regular USB adaptor/AC charger to charge it. The website makes it seem like you can and if so sounds like a really versatile option.
I actually use the Fuel Rods they have at Disney. I ordered it ahead of time from their website (https://www.fuel-rod.com/) and saved some money that way, rather than getting one from the Fuel-Rod machines around Disney. Some airports have them for $20, but mine does not.

They are pretty small and do the job. The thing I like most about them, is that I don't have to worry about recharging it. If the FuelRod gets low, I simply turn it in at one of the machines for a charged one (at no cost).

The DIS has an article about them as well. https://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-world/portable-phone-chargers.htm

It's about the same size as other "lipstick" chargers. About the size of a person finger. They also come with adapters for both Android and Apple phones (so you can share).
 
It appears you can. Be warned, it doesn't appear to come with a USB Type C cable, which is being used on more and more android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy phones 8 and up.
 
One clarification about the Fuel Rod. Can you use used a regular USB adaptor/AC charger to charge it. The website makes it seem like you can and if so sounds like a really versatile option.

To be perfectly honest, I've never tried to recharge a Fuel Rod. I've just traded them in at the kiosks. However, they do state on their website that they can be recharged.
 
Can you purchase the fuel rod at the beginning of your trip and swap them out each day or do you repurchase each day? This sounds like a great option. I have a huge rechargeable battery (20000 MaH) that charges 4 devices at the same time but it’s pretty heavy and I’m trying not to take a bag into the parks.
 
Can you purchase the fuel rod at the beginning of your trip and swap them out each day or do you repurchase each day? This sounds like a great option. I have a huge rechargeable battery (20000 MaH) that charges 4 devices at the same time but it’s pretty heavy and I’m trying not to take a bag into the parks.

Purchase once and then switch out at stations. If a new one doesnt come out, call the number on the station and the operator will kick one out.
 
It appears you can. Be warned, it doesn't appear to come with a USB Type C cable, which is being used on more and more android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy phones 8 and up.
I ordered some fuel rods for my upcoming trip and they DO come with a type C cable, as well as the usb android and iphone types.
 

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