By You may have heard some criticisms about internet usage at Walt Disney World.
We’re just going to level with you. A lot of those complaints are accurate.
However, we’re happy to report that those problems have gotten a lot better in recent years.
Disney has cleverly integrated 5G towers across the Disney World campus, which has vastly improved bandwidth.
You shouldn’t have a problem using My Disney Experience most of the time you’re at the parks.
We’re not saying it will be 100 percent, as that’s not how technology works, but it should be plenty good enough to maintain your signal when you need it most.
Of course, there’s a sticking point. You must keep your devices charged while you’re at the parks. That’s the game within the game, and it’s not easy.
While the situation could change with any decent update, we’d describe the current state of My Disney Experience as… juice hog.
We’ve never had a device last the full day at the parks, at least not without making a few preparations.
So, let’s quickly discuss a few tricks. Some you can use during your visit, and others you should handle via pre-trip planning.
While you’re at the parks, you should always bring multiple charging cables for your devices.
We say multiple because these cords are small, and we’ve lived through the frustration of a cord failing at the park. Faulty wiring demoralized us after we thought we’d planned so well.
Since then, we have frankly overcompensated by bringing way more cables than we have devices. Sure, it encumbers us, but we feel like we have “battery insurance.”
Speaking of which, you can hedge your bets by purchasing a FuelRod at the parks. This system actually works beyond Disney, as you switch your dead FuelRod for a charged one as needed. The catch is that FuelRod charges last about as long as a bad first date. It’s like the FuelRod is pretending to get an emergency text from its aunt after a few minutes.
According to the official site, a FuelRod charge should last five to seven hours, which tells us they’ve never used one with My Disney Experience.
We’d argue that you’re doing great if you’re getting more than four hours out of a FuelRod charge, and we say that as people who are technically members.
The last time we used the FuelRod in the park was early in the pandemic. On that date, we experienced a come to Jesus moment and decided never again, oh Lord. Never again.
If you’ve had success with FuelRods or work for FuelRod, we’re happy for your luck, personally and professionally.
Still, we encourage you to buy a battery charger from Amazon, Walmart, or whatever your preferred retailer is. We absolutely swear by Anker Power Banks, though we feel compelled to mention that they recently had a recall.
One particular unit was susceptible to, well, fires.
So, you may prefer a different, less combustible brand. Either way, a power bank of at least 20,000mAh should suffice for a full park visit.
We leave our devices connected to the charger, which gradually drains the battery, but leaves our devices in the 90 percent range most of the day. That’s quite reassuring.
There are other, more innovative solutions, including a rather genius solar backpack some people use. It’s exactly what you think. They charge their devices by harnessing the power of the sun with their backpacks.
This is why “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” People are just standing in the sun, juicing their batteries. How great is that?
Going back to the cable conversation, you will find mobile charging stations at a few locations, such as “it’s a small world,” Pete’s Silly Side Show, and World Celebration Gardens.
Also, Disney recently retrofitted many of its buses to include charging ports under the seats. Note that these seats are understandably in high demand, but you’ll learn to target them on bus trips.
The other suggestion we’d offer is to shut down My Disney Experience when you’re not using it. Again, there’s always a chance Disney will fix this, but for the time being, this app is the most draining one we’ve ever used.