Between checking your MyDisneyExperience app for wait times and your dining reservation, texting, posting to social media, and playing the DisneyPlay app, your phone battery doesn’t stand a chance in the Disney parks. Before you know it, that battery icon will turn red, and you’ll be looking for a place to charge your phone. There’s a very simple solution Disney has that makes charging your phone convenient and easy. The fuel rod stations in the Disney parks and at the Disney resorts allow you to use your phone as much as you need to without worrying about your phone dying halfway through the day.
Table of contents
Where Are The Charging Stations Located?
Disney has fuel rod stations located at a few different locations throughout each Disney park, except Animal Kingdom which only has one location, as well as at almost all the resorts and Disney Springs. You can find the park locations on the map on the MyDisneyExperience app.
How Much Does It Cost?
The initial cost is $30 and swapping fuel rods free. There are places you can find the fuel rods for $20-$25 (airports specifically), and you can purchase your initial charger there if you’d prefer.
We also recommend buying a phone charger from Amazon (click on the link to see the brand we recommend) instead of one of these fuel rods if you’re looking for a more reliable charger that doesn’t need to be changed as much. As long as Fuel Rod allows free swaps for the chargers, we’ll keep using them, but if they decide to start charging again, having a reliable phone charger like this one is much better.
For those grandfathered in (already owned a fuel rod before the end of 2019), swapping fuel rods is still free once you register your email address with the Fuel Rod company. For everyone else new to Fuel Rod, it now costs $3 per swap.
What Do You Get?
The initial packet you get when you first pay comes with a couple different chargers for different phone types and a fuel rod. If you find your phone doesn’t work with the chargers provided, you can always use your own with the fuel rod.
How Does It Work?
When you walk up to the charging station, there is an iPad that will ask if you want to Buy or Swap. Tap the Swap button and the machine will ask for your email address and then decide if you need to pay the $3 swap charge or not. Place the charger, without the cord, in the slot at the top right. Another charged fuel rod will then come out at the bottom left of the machine, and you’re good to go!
One fun thing to note is that the fuel rods come with a USB cord that allows them to be charged via computer or a wall outlet. So you could keep using the same fuel rod over and over without needing to find a charging station if you wanted to. This also allows you to use them at home or traveling other places besides Disney.
What If Something Goes Wrong?
If you ever have an issue with the machine, there’s a number listed that you can call. We’ve done this a couple times, and they always answer quickly and solve the problem right there. Their customer service is awesome, and the fuel rods have been a park must-have every day for us.
How Much Does It Charge Your Phone?
We usually get about 50% of a charge for our phones for one fuel rod. Obviously each phone type is different, but with being able to switch fuel rods and having several, we’ve never had an issue. We just swap them as we need to.
There are other, better phone chargers out there that are cheaper in price, but we love the convenience of not having to worry about charging the fuel rods the night before. We also like that it’s lightweight because carrying a heavy phone charger through the parks all day can be a lot if you’re trying to pack light.
Is It Worth It?
If you’re grandfathered in and still get free swaps, we think Fuel Rod is absolutely worth it! If you’re expecting to pay $30 plus $3 for every swap, there are so many better phone chargers out there that will last longer and charge your phone more before it runs out of juice (and not cost to keep refueling it). We recommend one like this one from Amazon or somewhere similar because it will charge your phone longer before it runs out. If you have fuel rods already and don’t want them going to waste, you can always charge your current fuel rods instead of paying to swap each time you need a new one if you want to save money.
We used them today at Disney with no charge to to a swap out
Good to know! Thank you!
Are they still doing free swaps at magic kingdom?
If you’re grandfathered in, yes. But if not, it’s $3 per swap.
Just noticed Disney is now not allowing free swaps on the fuel rod. So disappointed.
Yes, unfortunately they’ve made the decision to start charging $3 for swaps beginning November 1. We’ve updated this post to reflect that change, and because of it, we can no longer recommend buying one of these for your Disney vacation. 🙁