Fuel Rod swaps now $3 at WDW

[Tom P.]

Why would you? It’s like everything else that you buy you get the legalize when you buy it. Use the item thanks the terms.

The customer has to agree to the legalese in some way. Having it on a Web site that customers may or may not see is not legally sufficient. There would either need to be a notice on the kiosk or on the product packaging that you could see before you used the product and had the opportunity to reject and return the product.

 

[Indy_UK]

Used the service a few times but swaps were often dud and didn’t have much charge on them and it barely charged my devices.

Nice service while it lasted but like others have said, you can cheaply get battery packs that lasts for ages for next to nothing

 

[MickeyMouse10]

I don't blame Fuel Rod, I'd try to make as much as I could. Florida Residents were getting too good of an offer.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I don't blame Fuel Rod, I'd try to make as much as I could. Florida Residents were getting too good of an offer.

Another instance of those damn Florida residents getting a sweetheart deal off the backs of everyone else! I think Florida residents should have had to have paid $300 per Fuel Rod so as not to be subsidized by overseas people coming into the parks and paying $30 for Fuel Rods.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Supposedly FuelRod has started charging a $1 fee to swap them out and the extra $2 is Disney's extra charge.

 

[Monorail_Orange]

Supposedly FuelRod has started charging a $1 fee to swap them out and the extra $2 is Disney's extra charge.

At the risk of sounding like a jerk...source? (Again, not doubting you, just wondering where you got this from.)

 

[Rteetz]

Supposedly FuelRod has started charging a $1 fee to swap them out and the extra $2 is Disney's extra charge.

Universal and SeaWorld also charge $3.

 

[flynnibus]

Universal and SeaWorld also charge $3.

So we're saying the location gets a cut of sales... who would have guessed??

 

[tribbleorlfl]

I knew it was only a matter of time once they started charging for the swaps at Universal. Even though you can find similar capacity batteries in the Dollar Spot at Target, we thought the value proposition was there because the service of having fully-charged replacements in the parks when you needed them was baked into the price.

Now that they're charging for swaps, I bet sales of new FuelRods will plummet. I certainly wouldn't buy one now, and I'm definitely not going to pay to swap. Nice business idea while it lasted.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

At the risk of sounding like a jerk...source? (Again, not doubting you, just wondering where you got this from.)

I can't find the original post that I got that info from but this is from fuelrod stating that a "modest fee has been implemented and varies on location"
.

 

[flynnibus]

You'd think a better model would have been to support your single purchase includes X number of swaps. After that, charge a modest fee. That way they can still sell the value prop for your critical need on the spot... justify the price a bit.. and fend off the people that keep using a single purchase for weeks on end.

Hell, do the Disney model. $15/1day use , $25/3day use, $30/7 day use. I would think this would be more fitting to the business model for a vacation destination.

 

[larryz]

Hell, do the Disney model. $15/1day use , $25/3day use, $30/7 day use. I would think this would be more fitting to the business model for a vacation destination.

But wait! There's more...
$45/7 day use and a Fuel Rod-shaped cupcake.
$65/7 day use, a Fuel Rod-shaped cupcake, and a beverage.
$99/7 day use, a Fuel Rod-shaped cupcake, a beverage, and a reserved spot to stand and watch the fireworks.

 

[tissandtully]

Only time my battery gets low at WDW is when I'm refreshing for FP or in the play Disney app. Y'all need better phones or an Anker pack from Amazon.

 

[Raineman]

For anyone that has their battery running low while they are in the parks and has to carry a charger with them-how often are you using your phone in the parks? Do you not charge your phone overnight? Unless you have a phone with a crappy, need-to-be-replaced battery, or you constantly have your face buried in your phone screen all day, a phone that is fully charged when you wake up should last until you go to sleep that night. Using your phone outside on a sunny day at WDW is going to drain the battery quicker by requiring you to turn the brightness up all the way, but if you can hardly see the screen from the sun shining on it, why not try to save phone time for when you are inside or shaded?

 

[Master Yoda]

For anyone that has their battery running low while they are in the parks and has to carry a charger with them-how often are you using your phone in the parks? Do you not charge your phone overnight? Unless you have a phone with a crappy, need-to-be-replaced battery, or you constantly have your face buried in your phone screen all day, a phone that is fully charged when you wake up should last until you go to sleep that night. Using your phone outside on a sunny day at WDW is going to drain the battery quicker by requiring you to turn the brightness up all the way, but if you can hardly see the screen from the sun shining on it, why not try to save phone time for when you are inside or shaded?

The problem I always ran into was so many of the buildings are unintentional Faraday cages causing the phone to constantly search for signal thereby zapping the battery much quicker than sitting idle with 4 bars. In addition to that, the majority of the time I am on my phone in the parks is when I am in line making for a bit of a double whammy on the battery. Lastly, phones have become the defacto camera for us while in the parks.

In most cases, I could make it through the whole day on a single charge if I watched myself. Having a battery back up made it so I could use it without any thought as to the battery life.

 

[flynnibus]

For anyone that has their battery running low while they are in the parks and has to carry a charger with them-how often are you using your phone in the parks? Do you not charge your phone overnight? Unless you have a phone with a crappy, need-to-be-replaced battery, or you constantly have your face buried in your phone screen all day, a phone that is fully charged when you wake up should last until you go to sleep that night. Using your phone outside on a sunny day at WDW is going to drain the battery quicker by requiring you to turn the brightness up all the way, but if you can hardly see the screen from the sun shining on it, why not try to save phone time for when you are inside or shaded?

now we have people lecturing others because their battery doesn't last the nearly 18hrs of a WDW day? Get bent...

This is the poster child of people trying to project their personal experience as the universal law of the land.. get over yourselves.

 

[trainplane3]

For anyone that has their battery running low while they are in the parks and has to carry a charger with them-how often are you using your phone in the parks? Do you not charge your phone overnight? Unless you have a phone with a crappy, need-to-be-replaced battery, or you constantly have your face buried in your phone screen all day, a phone that is fully charged when you wake up should last until you go to sleep that night. Using your phone outside on a sunny day at WDW is going to drain the battery quicker by requiring you to turn the brightness up all the way, but if you can hardly see the screen from the sun shining on it, why not try to save phone time for when you are inside or shaded?

Well between questionable signal quality in ride queues, overloaded cell towers, or being forced to use an app of meh quality to make plans on the go, you should be able to see why a phone may not last in the parks.

Being a Pixel 3 XL user, I already deal with hilariously bad battery life but tack on the crap app and using the camera occasionally...goodluck with going from 9am till 8pm. Out of my friends on the recent trip I stayed off my phone the most and barely made it. Luckily USB-C PD exists and can charge the phone fast.

 

[Touchdown]

The MyDisneyExperience app is an energy hog too, and the WDW website takes forever to load, which also contributes to my battery loosing charge as a refresh for additional FPs.

 

[CJR]

I read on Blog Mickey that a lawsuit was filed in California. It will be fun to follow this, I have no stake in it since I didn't buy these, but it's definitely an interesting case.

 

[Raineman]

now we have people lecturing others because their battery doesn't last the nearly 18hrs of a WDW day? Get bent...

This is the poster child of people trying to project their personal experience as the universal law of the land.. get over yourselves.

I wasn’t lecturing anyone, I was just asking questions. I was trying to get an understanding of why people need chargers with them, because I’ve never run into that problem, but, if there’s a chance that it could happen to me for any reason, then it might be in my best interests to bring a charger with me. No judgement intended.