Recharging cell phones in the parks

[WiltonJohn]

Since the average smartphone has a pretty poor battery life........ where do you folks pick up a "recharge" while in the various parks for the LONG days?

With the new Fastpass+ and My Disney Experience apps and such....... such phones are likely to be far more in use these days.

best,

.................john

[tundramom]

The new Rapunzel area at MK has a charging station I believe.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

There is one in the Rapunzel area, and every time we walked by it was BUSY!

There is also one at the exit to Space Mountain, and it was much quieter (we didn't recharge, just used the stools).

For me, as long as I charged overnight, my phone made it through most days quite well, but I think that as use increases, it will become more and more of a need.

[VWL Mom]

I had picked up some pocket chargers for our iphones on Amazon. They are about the size of a lipstick tube and I can get 2 charges from them.

[Scrappy2]

Anywhere I could find a plug!

[WiltonJohn]

Thanks everyone. Picked up a small "recharger" for this trip.

best,

................john

[mgmnut]

DW bought a second phone battery on Overstock for like 3.00, she would just swap a fully charged batter in 1/2 way through the day.

[JerseyDad]

....instead of the extra battery ...it may be more convenient to get an external battery charger ....sort of like the one I got this past summer before we went to WDW. I'm not (exactly) sure of the model...but I know it's called a "Motorola Portable Power" external battery pack. You charge this like the phone ...and then when your phone gets low on Battery life ...you plug it into the battery pack and your phone re-charges. It's good for at least 2 charges of the phone ...and the power cord 9about 6" inches long ...is permanently attached so it don't get lost. You can just plug to the phone...put in in a purse, bag, back pack ...and there's no need to stop to charge anything. It was about $30 buck on Amazon...

[WiltonJohn]

JerseyDad,

That is the type of thng I got.

best,

..............john

[jclightchasr]

I saw a backpack with solar panels on it designed to charge handheld devices so if you are bringing in a backpack anyway....
http://www.amazon.com/SolarGoPack-powered-backpack-charges-devices/dp/B007UTSI3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382538849&sr=8-1&keywords=solar+backpack
A little pricey though but so is a Disney vacation.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I bought the lipstick-like tube that is a portable battery back and charger, but my phone made it through the day above 40% so I never used it. However, I saw PLENTY of people already in yellow by noon, and several in the red before 2pm.

The first day we entered the park with it in the backpack, and security interrogated us at length about it and made us show that it did what I said it did. After than I just placed it in my cargo pocket and it was never seen again, by me or Disney security.

[DonaldDuckUSA]

When DBF and I go, we usually have one phone (his or mine) turned off and we operate with one phone. When that one died, we'd turn on the other one.

Everyone knew to call his if mine is off/dead and vice versa.

However, these tips are awesome and I'll have to purchase some of these gadgets for our next trip!

[GoBlueLacheta]

I'd say just leave it in the room because it's vacation, but I forgot they've become essential to even properly experience FP+ haha.

[PETE FROM NYC]

I don't have a smart phone, as a matter of fact, I have a 4-5 year old dumb phone. At home, I recharge maybe twice a week.

[gottaluvtink]

Anywhere I could find a plug!

EXACTLY! I charged my phone while watching the parade in the Magic Kingdom. Just found me an outlet on the porch by the wooden rockers in Frontier Land.

[Fangorn]

I do a lot of traveling and have one of everything that's been mentioned here, including an oversized laptop/messenger bag with built in batteries and multiple charging connectors (very useful at job locations in the middle of nowhere).

For me (and I know this doesn't work for you poor schlubs with iPhones ;) ), by far the simplest thing at the parks is just to carry a couple of extra batteries. For my Samsung Galaxy, an extra battery is about $5 on Amazon, and weighs just over an ounce. I stick 2 in my cargo pockets and forget about it.

The portable battery/charger thingie I have works great in some settings, but weighs a lot more than two extra batteries and isn't nearly as fast as just swapping out the battery.

The nice thing is that there are lots of options. you just need to find the one that you like and that works best for you.

Steve

[texas211]

You can buy cheap burner phones at bestbuy. THen just have to phones on the trip. I actually prefer not to bring my personal phone to the park, so I bring the burner. In case it does in the drink or something, its not a big deal.

[goofygirl67]

My Samsung galaxy has an outside case battery charger called Mophie. When the phone charge gets low I just flip a switch on the back, has come in handy at times.