We Don’t Recommend FuelRods
FuelRod kiosks can be found at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, airports, and other locations. The service offers reusable, portable charging to fuel or charge your phone on the go, and then swap for a fresh battery. In this FuelRod review, we’ll cover whether the “unlimited” service is worth the money and effort. (Updated July 28, 2024.)
While the headline is pretty blunt, there is more nuance to the question of whether you should buy a FuelRod while visiting Walt Disney World or Disneyland. As such, we’ll address their cost v. convenience, and weigh the pros and cons. Note that this FuelRoad review is entirely our subjective assessment of how FuelRods work (or don’t) for us. You may disagree entirely, finding a lot of value in FuelRods–and that’s fine.
For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, FuelRods are portable chargers that can be purchased in Walt Disney World parks and used to (partially) recharge your iPhone or other device on the go. You can then swap for a new battery pack at FuelRod kiosks once you’ve exhausted one. In a nutshell, our view is that FuelRods are pretty great…for people who have never heard of the internet..
The general concept of these portable chargers is great for Walt Disney World. Using just the My Disney Experience app alone is a big drain that people underestimate as is browsing brilliant Disney blogs to figure out where you should eat. Suffice to say, it’s easy for your battery to die early in the day. Rechargeable battery packs have existed for some time (so to that end FuelRod is hardly revolutionary), and are one of the recommended staples on our What to Pack for Disney List.
The ‘twist’ with FuelRods is that when you’re done using them, you can trade out your depleted FuelRod for a fully-charged one at the many kiosks throughout Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The appeal is thus the ‘unlimited’ charge the FuelRods offer by virtue of swapping them out. When put that way, it’s easy to see the appeal of FuelRods.
July 28, 2024 Update: FuelRod kiosks have been updated all around Walt Disney World, Disneyland, airports, convention centers, and everywhere else. With this, the price of FuelRods at Disney Parks locations have also increased–the cost of a single FuelRod is up from $30 to $38, two rods are now $76, and three rods are $114 (you can do the math for yourself, but there are no bulk purchase discounts–and weren’t before, either).
The good news is that FuelRods are only $35 for a 2-pack on Amazon. You read that correctly. Two for less than the price of one at Walt Disney World, which is about par for the course with Disney vs. real world pricing of regular products.
Although in the case of FuelRods, the devices are typically more expensive at non-Disney locations like airports or convention centers. (Last I checked, the airport price of a FuelRod at the airport was $40 and the swap was $3.) They’re just much cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else, so if you do opt to buy FuelRods…get them there!
With the higher prices comes improved performance. Here are the highlights of the new FuelRods:
- More Power: The NEW FuelRod boasts an increased capacity of 3,200 mAh (over 23% more power than the original FuelRod), providing longer-lasting power to keep your devices charged throughout the day.
- More Control: With USB-C compatibility, the NEW FuelRod offers versatile charging options for a wide range of modern devices. It also features a power button and four LED battery light indicators, giving users greater control over their charging experience.
- Same Swap: Maintaining the simplicity and convenience that FuelRod is known for, the swap process remains effortless. Just visit any FuelRod kiosk, insert your old FuelRod, and receive a fully charged new one instantly.
As before, swapping remains free at Walt Disney World and Disneyland for now. There was a class action lawsuit a few years back that resulted in FuelRod giving “Founder’s Status” to anyone who bought their devices before late 2019. For a while, this was verified at kiosks at Disney locations, which then provided free swapping.
The verification no longer occurs for whatever reason, meaning swaps are free for everyone. Since I don’t know the why of this, I’m weary that it could change at any time–and that would make the usefulness and convenience of FuelRods much worse.
Here’s how the upgrade process works according to FuelRod:
- Visit Any FuelRod Kiosk Nationwide: Locate a FuelRod kiosk at most major airports, theme parks, convention centers, and other high-traffic areas. All FuelRod locations are being upgraded to support the new program through a phased rollout. Rest assured; we are working as quickly as possible to have all kiosks updated.
- Select “Swap” Button: On the kiosk screen, choose the “swap” option.
- Insert Your Original FuelRod: Place your original FuelRod into the kiosk. (Note: You will have to re-insert your original rod to continue the upgrade process.) Please follow the on-screen instructions for more details.
- Receive the NEW FuelRod Kit: For the cost of a normal swap, you’ll receive the NEW FuelRod Kit, which includes the upgraded fully charged USB-C FuelRod along with new cables and adapters.
We have to give props to FuelRod here for making this update, as slow charging and low capacity were two of our biggest complaints about the devices. As best we can tell, the device had never been updated prior to this, and portable batteries have come a long way in the last decade. FuelRod is still well behind the competition, but still–credit where credit is due, and nice to see the update made. In a pinch, this should be a better option than its predecessor.
As always, we still recommend purchasing one of the Anker devices on our list of the Best Backup Batteries for Disney. There’s a wide range of quick and high-capacity portable chargers on that list, most of which are faster and cheaper than FuelRods. Of course, that doesn’t do you much good if you’ve already arrived at Walt Disney World or Disneyland and are finding that you need more juice–but for those planning ahead, consult that list instead.
For what it’s worth, you probably will need a portable charger in the parks. The new Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Walt Disney World and Disneyland just launched and these updated line-skipping systems are (still) serious battery drains.
While it’s theoretically possible to go an entire day using Lightning Lanes without recharging, it’s very difficult–especially since you’ll need a strong “refresh game” if you want to score good subsequent selections. Many guests will be unprepared for this, and find themselves needing a spare battery during their days in the park.
On top of that, there are certain features, like the itinerary builder and PhotoPass AR lenses, that really kill a phone’s battery. Just ~30 minutes of playing around with the augmented reality filters took my battery down significantly. Plus, you’ll really want to use other app features like Mobile Order and Walk-Up Waitlist, which can save you a ton of time.
The apps are practically essential to doing Walt Disney World or Disneyland at this point. They aren’t technically required, but they’re hugely convenient. Just something to keep in mind if you don’t have a backup battery packed!
For many guests, the argument in favor of the FuelRod is the same as the Disney Dining Plan: convenience. However, like the argument in favor of the Disney Dining Plan, I’d counter that it’s the illusion of convenience, rather than actual convenience. And, like the Dining Plan, you’re paying extra for that illusion.
The problems with FuelRods are two-fold. First, the price is very high for a battery pack of this capacity and quality. Second, the aforementioned capacity is poor by modern battery pack standards. (Although this has improved in the last couple of years, it’s still nowhere what you’d get from something from Amazon for under $40. Nor is the charging as fast.)
Let’s talk a bit more about FuelRod’s capacity relative to its competitors. Up until the 2024 update, FuelRod did not indicate its charge capacity. (Which alone should set off red flags.) It can charge a current iPhone about halfway with its 3,000 mAh capacity.
Again, the alternatives on our list of the Best Backup Batteries for Disney offer larger capacity, lower cost, and faster charging than FuelRod. Some of these chargers will not only get you through an entire day in the parks–they’ll charge your entire family’s devices for the day. The closest equivalent to the FuelRod is the Anker Nano Portable Charger (here’s the USB-C version that was just released). By modern battery pack standards, FuelRod is antiquated.
To be fair to FuelRod, the case could be made that there’s a certain convenience in never having to charge a battery pack–just being able to swap out the existing pack ad infinitum. Or that it can be a lifesaver if you forget your charger, cables, etc. True, it does offer appeal in both scenarios. There’s absolutely no arguing about FuelRod being useful if you’ve forgotten your charger/cables.
However, the case for general convenience in everyday scenarios is tougher to make. When I get back to the hotel at the end of a long day, I hate having to plug everything in before getting ready for bed. The thing is, I have to do that regardless with my camera, phone, etc. Plugging in one additional item is (literally) a <30 second commitment that hardly poses an insurmountable obstacle between me and a good night’s sleep.
Moreover, this argument is only even plausible in a world where FuelRod kiosks are ubiquitous. Such a world does not exist, nor will it ever exist. FuelRod’s business model relies upon spontaneous purchases from consumers who either don’t do the research or don’t have a viable alternative. Outside of airports, theme parks, and similar ‘vacuums’, they will lose to competitors. (For the same reason that no one in their right mind would pay $14 for a cheeseburger at Cosmic Ray’s if it were located in their hometown.)
If you’re primarily concerned about using FuelRods at the airport, Walt Disney World, or Disneyland–that’s great. FuelRod probably has you covered. For Disney regulars or Annual Passholders, there is value in FuelRod. Again, we’re not saying this is a totally useless service or product.
Ultimately, the only people for whom I can see FuelRod holding appeal once they get past the initial idea of convenience is those who have never heard of rechargeable batteries before stumbling upon the FuelRod kiosk while in the parks. Yes, these people do exist. We see countless guests sitting in corners charging their phones in random outlets during the course of their vacations.
For those people (or people who simply forget to pack their portable chargers), the FuelRod presents a good spontaneous purchase, as the cost (in time) of sitting in a random corner everyday during a pricey Walt Disney World vacation far outweighs even the $30 cost of a FuelRod. However, if you’re reading this FuelRod review in advance of a trip to the park and have the opportunity to order a higher capacity battery pack from Amazon, that’s your better option.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of FuelRods? Excited about the 2024 upgrade that offers higher capacity devices and faster charging? Will you continue to use FuelRods at Walt Disney World or Disneyland? Do you agree or disagree with our FuelRod review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I actually don’t trust fuelrod. The concept is great. Being able to swap out a depleted battery for a new one on the go is a convenience that most smartphone users will need. However, the product they offer to deliver that service is inferior quality compared to what’s on the market. I currently consistently carry multiple battery packs at various mah levels for this very reason. I have one large battery pack of 30,000 mah that stays in a dedicated pocket in my backpack (which has a usb cable built in), except when I need to charge it. This battery pack has two usb ports. I use that large battery to charge multiple smaller battery packs on the go two at a time (I carry four small battery packs of around 3,000-4,000 mah each). Each of the smaller battery packs are about the physical size of a fuelrod, if not smaller. When the first two are charged, I unplug them from the large battery and plug the other two in. When those are charged, I unplug them and can store all four until I need them (It usually takes about two hours to fully charge each pair). Then, when I actually need the battery packs to charge my phone, I deplete one at a time and then start another charge cycle once I have depleted two so I am using the 30,000 mah battery to its full capacity. It usually takes a couple hours to deplete one of the smaller battery packs, so I have plenty of juice to get me through a day or two before needing to charge the large battery pack. Since I always carry my backpack, this is extremely viable and a heck of a lot more convenient than fuelrod, since all of my battery packs are there with me and fully charged when needed, so I don’t have to go searching for a kiosk.
We purchased a Fuel Rod last week in Disney and were very pleased. After a few days the cable that came with the rod stopped working and my daughter emailed the company and they replied in a timely manner. We were told to go to our resorts Fuel Rod station and call when we were ready to exchange the rod. We called and was told to drop in the fuel rod and they released a whole new canister with cables remotely. I am actually charging it as I type and would definately recommend buying one.
If you are flying check what the maximum size battery pack you can take on board https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/passenger-lithium-battery.pdf . All good if you can drive to say DisneyWorld but if you have to fly then you will be restricted on the size you can take.
While maybe they could do with being a larger capacity they fill a need and not everyone remembers to charge their battery packs. And they save time waiting when in a park to recharge you phone or flat battery pack if you can even find an outlet to charge it from.
We wound up with a Fuel-Rod after my portable charger died during a trip. Our on-site options were a Fuel-Rod for $30 or a Disney-branded charger for more that did not come already charged up. We opted for the Fuel-Rod and were pleasantly surprised. The charger will charge my iPhone and my husband’s Android fully at least twice, and we usually get an almost full third charge before it goes out, which is about what I was getting out of my previous charger anyway. They have also added kiosks over time to make swapping them out a bit easier, and I have seen the kiosks pop-up in airports and a few other popular locations as well.
Hello,
I’m the person who always comes prepared: fully charged cell phone and personal size battery in my pack. Also, let me tell you how many times I’ve had to hand over my personal size battery to someone else in our group of seven people in the park because their phone was dying, four. Not that we all don’t swap our battlers around, we do, but sometimes a few of us end up with no charge on our phone by the end of the day; the 3 or 4 light weight batteries we brought empty. I’m hoping swapping out for fresh batteries will fix this for us. We headed to the park in September. I’ll follow up with everyone.
Regards,
Rose
Too much anger in this world from anonymous commenters and blogging blowhards.
Fuel Rod = good idea. Small price premium for convenience.
Removable batteries were the ultimate solution. Too bad the entire industry has banned them in order to build planned obsolescence into their products.
As someone who owns multiple battery packs with my largest being a 20,000 mAh I still recommend fuel rods.
Why? Because a 20,000 mAh battery is a pain to lug around in a theme park! It’s heavy, cumbersome, and doesn’t fit into my bag free park plans. The fuel rod fits right in my pocket and does what I need it to do when I need to do it.
It’s absurd to look at this as a solution to all of your charging needs for anyplace you go. Of course there aren’t stations in Yosemite! This isn’t the solution for backwoods travel, nor should it be. This is a solution for keeping your weight down and you mobile and able to continue enjoying your very expensive vacation without anchoring yourself to a wall outlet for an hour or two.
You also misrepresent capacity, which is 2600 mAh not the 1000 mAh that you claim here. It’s printed on the end cap of the thing for god’s sake…
Yes, there are very specific circumstances that you’d want to have this outside of the Disney bubble…you are absolutely correct that it’s worthless in a national park. However, at the parks it blends the ability to stay mobile with easy exchanges to keep your weight down and you moving through the attractions.
Can you get something similar for cheaper? Of course you can! If you are a heavy battery user (live streams, MDE, Reddit, Facebook, Pokémon Go, etc) you will still kill that lower capacity battery before fireworks time…at least with fuel rod you have an unlimited supply of spare power available only a few steps away.
It has a very specific use in a couple of very specific areas of the country. That doesn’t make it a bad product, just a special use one. I swear by mine when I’m in the parks and my 20,000 mAh when I’m not.
Good perspective. I too have many higher capacity batteries. I also have 3 kids, their friends, and plenty of situations where the last person to use said higher capacity battery did not charge it. Of course comparing it on a strict mah basis makes it a bad deal. You know what else is a bad deal? Health insurance – that is, if you never get sick. The one time you DO get sick, you will wish you had insurance!
Having a swappable fully charged battery service like this is a life saver. I plan on getting one before our next WDW trip. And I am not Amazon-ignorant nor tech luddite; however, I can not always control the actions of others either.
We actually found a machine in our departure airport and could purchase one for $20. We also found a coupon code online which lowered the price by another dollar or two. (I found the code as we walked up to the machine.) We used our fuel rods everyday in the park. (Sometimes more than once.) We usually got a full charge off of one fuel rod. (Samsung Galaxy 7) They fit easily in backpacks or short pockets. You can also recharge them at home post trip for use in between being away for charging station. We have also found them in a few outlet centers in our area. We found them VERY useful. True we could have purchased something online to do the same, but it was easier to drop one battery and grab another.
http://amzn.to/2ul1atE
The ANKR USB charger with USB-C will charge the Apple 12 MacBook.
There are many good charging systems available. We wish you had called us to hear about our philosophy before “un”recommending a product from a small but growing U.S. company that is doing its best to provide a useful OPTION for travelers. The service FuelRod offers is the unique ability to get a charged battery on the go – complete with connectors for most smartphones & tablets – when you aren’t in a place to wait for one to arrive in the mail – along with the opportunity to swap that battery for a freshly charged one instantly anywhere you see a FuelRod kiosk. The Laws of Physics make our batteries comparable to any others of the same size and weight. If you’ve planned ahead and don’t mind carrying a small brick, that’s one option. We like to think that we can be there for you when you’re at 10% battery and you realize that you left your backup at home or didn’t get it fully charged. In any case, we appreciate your coverage of FuelRod and know from the great feedback we get from our customers that we’ve saved the day many times!
If this is actually the company, then I gotta say my opinion of y’all turned from apathy to a negative one lol.
Just going by the locations given by your website, I’d be screwed if I ever needed to rely on y’all for a back up power source even in a big city that’s a popular tourist destination. You can’t “be there for us” if you don’t have any kiosks there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There is no advantage to your service unless you were ubiquitous even outside airports/theme parks, as Tom pointed out in his article. He also did point out the (very) few instances where it was a good option. Like yeah, if I ever somehow ended up in the scenario where I was at the parks and my phone was dying and that was the only option (and, y’know, my phone weren’t USB-C cable charging), then it’d be helpful.
But afterward I’d be left with a subpar portable battery I’d know very little about the specs of. (What does 8 hours talk time for a phone even mean? You realise most phones are different, right, especially comparing Android and iOS devices? Is that 8 hours on an iOS device? Android? Why /don’t/ you give capacity? How likely are the people who require a battery pack using their phone only for calls?) I’d still be carrying around a “small brick” at the end of the day? (Why even say “small brick,” like yours isn’t going to end up being something your customers have to carry too?) It’s not like it’s a rental service, you’re selling these things, they just happen to be swappable for a fully charged replacement on the go. If I had to end up with a portable charger, I’d rather one that’s new, well reviewed, and that I knew the capacity of. That I knew I could rely on for a specific decent length of time even outside places without your kiosks. That’s how you plan!
Also, laws of physics does not mean that all portable batteries of the same size have the same charge??? tf. What’s used inside the casing and how everything is put together is what matters. Yeah, size limits things, but it’s not like there aren’t going to be manufacturers shoving in less to do things on the cheap. Also, given that these kiosks are only located at, say, Disney/airports/high-footfall places, how many times have the batteries that people get been recharged over and over? That wears on battery life too. Unless every battery pack that gets swapped is replaced with a new one, then nah.
A better reply would have been “thanks for the critique, and we’re looking to expand the areas our services cover” or something like that. Instead of spouting things Tom already pointed out the flaws in, and info that just doesn’t make sense. Tom’s review was fair, reasonable, and logical, providing knowledge and helping his readers get better value for their money. Your reply sounds like you barely even read what he wrote before you went off with passive aggression.
Tom, sorry about the longwinded-ness, but something like this drives me nuts.
It’s kind of like cameras: the best one to have is the one that’s there when you need it. It’s great if you plan ahead and have every single thing you need, but the real world doesn’t always work out that way and you can’t exactly order from Amazon once you’ve hit the parks. FuelRods are priced no differently than a lot of compact batteries available in resort and cruise ship gift shops… with the added convenience of being able to swap for a fresh one and not having to drag around an extra pound of batteries all day long. In particular, I like to keep things light so I’ve been keeping a FuelRod in my small purse or pocket almost all the time and have a large battery with multiple USB outlets in my backpack when I go on longer travels where I don’t have to actually carry that backpack all day long. These FuelRods are a nice option to have and have been a real lifesaver for me on more than a few occasions. P.S. I got mine at the airport in Philly where they’re $20.
This thing saved me when I remembered my external battery but forgot all my charging cords while traveling coast to coast. The cord itself sold it as I needed a lightening, 30 pin (older iPad) and universal (to charge the external battery). Airport, Disney and hotel were charging each *individual* cord for $30+. The whole kit will live in my travel case from now on.
Bought a Trond phone charger from Amazon 3 years ago – 22.99 It charges 3 phones at once. Took it on our January WDW trip and in 5 days the Trond only needed charging once and there were several days when we had 3 phones being charged on the Trond at the same time. It’s the length of a samsung S5 and about 4 times as thick – a little heavy, but I carried it around in a child’s backpack and easy-peasy. Best charger I ever bought!
My daughter is doing the college program at MK and loves the convenience of using these. She bought it her first week and as much as she uses her phone waiting to start work or on break she likes being able to swap it out frequently.
Has there been any discussion of putting a small solar panel on one’s backpack (or stroller) to charge a pack during the day?
I love this Lumsing Portable Battery Pack https://www.amazon.com/Lumsing-13400mAh-Portable-Charger-SmartPhones/dp/B0147YIXLM/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1485865908&sr=8-12&keywords=lumsing. It charges two devices at a time. On our most recent visit with the heavy use of the MyDisneyExperience App, photos, 45 minutes of video recording, and playing Pokemon Go on two devices for hours it still had 1/4 charge left when we got back to our room after a 14 hour day. It’s a bit thick, and you need to click the button to begin actively charging (it won’t just start when you plug in your device). For the price of a Fuel Rod, you could purchase 2!!!
They are overpriced, and absolutely not a good value as a way to purchase a rechargeable battery. BUT… as the owner of many Anker portable chargers that I even brought with us to Disney, it was inevitably the one afternoon that my wife decided to go back to Poly to relax and I took the kids on to Animal Kingdom that my iPhone was just about to run out of power (But the portable charger was in my wife’s daypack). So, I found the FuelRod dispenser and sucked it up, bought a $5 crap charger for $30, but I had power. I have not used it since. It is a piece of junk. That said, as an emergency power source when you have no other options, it works and comes with the USB power adapter to connect to your phone. So it solves a problem guests repeatedly have and at least offers them a way to get some added benefit by permitting swapping them out instead of Disney charging $30 as a one time use. I just appreciate that the option was there when I needed it and that they are putting these in more and more locations. If not for me, for other guests who find themselves in the same pinch I was in that day – now they have an option.
When I visited in late October/early November, I (stupidly) forgot my external charger at home in Canada. One night at Epcot we were several craft beers deep and I realized my phone was close to dying. I panicked, certain some amazing event was going to transpire before the end of the night and I wouldn’t be able to take pictures. I asked several shops and kiosks if they carried chargers, and finally the FuelRod kiosk was pointed out for me. $30 later and I felt a lot better, although really nothing overly exciting happened that I absolutely needed pictures of.
I agree with pretty much all of what Tom said. I will say it did charge my phone quickly, and it charged my iPhone 5S about 1 1/2 times before it died. But otherwise, it is the same as any charger you can buy pretty much anywhere. The main reason I bought it was because I was rather drunk at the time and not making great financial decisions.
I have the Anker one that can charge two at once (per Tom’s recommendation on here a few years back) and LOVE it. It has saved many park days from the dread of being without a phone. It’s a little larger than the lipstick chargers, but is about the same size as an iphone 5 or 6 and not much heavier. totally worth it. Especially to be able to keep two phones charged all day. Simply recharge it while you sleep and you’re good to go for the next day!
We love our Anker lipstick sized chargers! $12.99 on Amazon and if I’m not mistaken, I bought it on your recommendation a couple of years ago. We liked it so much, we got another one for our last trip.
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCore-Lipstick-Sized-Generation-Batteries/dp/B005X1Y7I2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484709085&sr=8-2&keywords=anker+pocket+size+charger