Overrated: Refillable Mugs Underrated: Character Caravan

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Just returned from 6 nights at CSR and have the following thoughts.

IMO, these mugs that everyone gets excited about are way overrated. At CSR the pool bar closes at 7:00, leaving a walk to the PM for a soda. Not worth it, I'll bring my own.

Character Caravan, although a vile substitute for EE, was a delightful experience for DD2 and DS4. They really took a shine to the chacters and jumped right into this autograph thing, much to my chagrin. In fact one of the highlights was my DS2 who had been very upset about not seeing Jessie, got to spend a good 5 minutes with Minnie during the CC stop. There was no one else there. Loads of fun, and we were still at the MK before 8:30.

[helenk]

I agree about the re-fillable mug if you are staying at a resort that does not have a snack bar or food court that stays open all night or at least until 12:00. I have gotten them at the AS sports and the GF and we got our monies worth. Our last stay we were at the YC and we did not bother because Beaches and Cream closed at 10:00 and it was not worth it, plus it was not convenient to our room, we were on the other side of the YC. We will be staying at the AS Music in December and I will use them there because you go past the food court to get to and from the bus stop.

[Rock'n Robin]

It all depends on your room in relation to the food court. At the Poly I can go get my iced tea fix any time of night (and my 2000 mug still works). At BWV it's a longer walk to the bakery and I can't fill it up in the middle of the night, but I can just buy tea and make it in the room!
As for character caravan, haven't done that yet--hopefully the little ones will get some face time this trip. I'd still rather have EE though.
Robin M.

[ContempoSMT]

i would have to say the opposite of your udnerrated overrated thing. Refillable mugs really save alot of money during a trip. You can get your drink at your hotel whenever you want. I dont see how this can possibly be overrated??? any help here
Character Caravan is a terrible substitute for Early Entry. Id rather be at the parks then to be meeting and greeting characters in my resort!!!!

[susy]

I don't think a refillable mug would be worth it for me, because I wouldn't drink that much coffee or soda. If I could use it for milk and juice, it would be worth it.

[rab]

Does anyone know if CBR food court is open late? Seaspray may know this. Thanks.

[cruisnfamily]

This character caravan thing must not exist at the all stars. We were there in Feb and rode the buses to be at the parks before opening. We never saw any characters other than the ones at the gates of the parks. Where does this caravan go? Will they be at CSR when we visit at the end of the month? What time do the characters show up?

[Dopeygirl]

The Character Caravan goes to all resorts since it was started last fall. You can find the schedule and times here. (http://www.wdwig.com/charcrvn.htm)

[Demosthenes]

I think the refillable mugs would be a good value if they held any real amount of beverage. After you fill those things with ice, you only get about 6 oz. of drink in there.

[Pea Picker]

The CC will not be such a good thing when your kids are a little older. It is in no way a fair trade off for EE (imho). We have never had any problems seeing the characters at the parks or at a character meal.The mugs when used over and over again for coffee, soda, lemonade, ice tea, etc is well worth the money if that is what you like to drink. We have used our mugs for 2 trips and will bring them back this year as well.

[dtuleya]

Does anybody know where you can refill mugs at the WL? How convenient is it and what hours are they open?

[cavepig]

The mugs are great since I drink soda and coffee and tea and hot chocolate. I have only used them at Riverside and the foodcourt was convenient to stop off at after getting off at the main bus stop to refill our mugs and since we ate breakfast there every morning it was well worth it. We'll be getting them at All-Star movies in 2 wks.

As for the character caravan I haven't seen it yet but since no one in my family is little anymore the characters are no big deal and actually never have been. I would much rather have EE.

[Andy123]

You can get the mugs at the Wilderness Lodge at Roaring Forks... I believe it is open until midnight or so... Since the lodge isn't that big, it is a little more convenient, plus I just LOVE walking around that place! FYI... on our last trip I noticed that the 16oz and 20oz mugs are now the same price at the WL - $9.99 + tax!

[SeaSpray]

rab:

The food court at CBR is open at least till 11pm. I've seen it open later than that, but the official time is 11pm. :)

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Originally posted by BoyLovesBuzz
Character Caravan, although a vile substitute for EE, was a delightful experience for DD2 and DS4.

vile (vîl) adj., vil·er, vil·est.
Loathsome; disgusting: vile language.
Unpleasant or objectionable: vile weather. See synonyms at offensive.

I would never suggest CC is a fair trade for EE. Let me say that again, I would never suggest CC is a fair trade for EE. I'm just saying its kinda neat for little kids.

As for the mugs, if I were closer to the refills, I may think differently, and they do need to be bigger. However for $11.00, I can buy approximately 52 cans of diet coke. Over time I guess its a good deal, but we like to stay at different resorts, so we wouldn't take advantage of the the return-visit re-use.

[Dizpro]

I DID think using the word "vile" a little "over the top"...:D

[jiminyfan]

I agree that the refillable mugs do have their limits, BW's are small and hard to refill, but AKL is great at MARA - good size, plus we just keep dumping the contents into a larger bottle to takee along to the parks.

The CC is a very good replacement to EE for us, we have a 2 year old and it is hard to get going early to the parks, but he gets great interaction with the Characters at the hotels. My only complaint is the length of time the characters are actually available. 1 hour total is a little short especially if it crowded.

I know I got some great photos on the empty days. this past February at BW, my son was one of a hand full of kids inteh lobby and spent a good ten minutes straight playing with Pluto -- that to me is PRICELESS.


:D

[Sammy]

I have to admit I almost choked when I paid $50 for 5 mugs on our trip to Riverside a while back. However, over the course of the 9-day trip, we filled those mugs at <i>least</I> 2 times each day, between coffee/hot chocolate/lemonaide, etc. The 2 "down" days we spent at the resort, I swear the kids filled those mugs 10 times each!! If you figure out:

5 mugs x 2 refills per day = 10 beverages per day
10 beverages x 9 days = 90 beverages for the vacation
90 beverages x $2.25 each = $202.50

So even if we only used the mugs twice each day, we saved $152.xx on drinks.

We did stay in AB Bldg 27 which was very convenient to the food court, so we were able to take great advantage of the free refills.

[mat2672]

The value of refillable mugs really does depend on the ease of getting to the food courts. I can see it not being a great value at carribean beach where you may have to walk pretty far to the food court, but I just stayed at the wilderness lodge with the food court right downstairs so it was a very convenient thing to get some coffee or soda. I know I got plenty of value out of our mugs.

[jennymouse]

I would agree that the mugs wasn't a good deal for us on our last trip....too far from the foodcourt at ASMu. I've heard people say they fill thiers up on the way back to thier rooms afters going to the parks all day.....well, the only way to do that, for me, is to pack them around the parks all day...not something I'd want to do.

Now, having said that, I would definately buy them again for souvies because at home, I drink my coffee from them every morning! My ASMu have gotten so coffee stained, my DD wanted to pitch them!:eek: Don't worry, I saved them.:D

[married2grumpy]

We get new refillable mugs every year we visit. We think it is well worth the money. If you eat at the resort you need to have something to drink and if you are really thirsty you may want a second. You can very easily consume $10 worth of beverages during your stayeven if your not that close to the food court.

The last thing you'd catch me packing for vacation is my own cans of soda. Don't even mention going to the supermarket to pick some up. This is supposed to be a vacation, isn't it? I'll save my grocery shopping for at home!

As far as the character caravan, we never even got to see it this trip. I did see a crowd of people waiting for it but we didn't think it would be worth fighting a crowd for. We had some character meals planned during our stay and the kids saw the characters then. We enjoyed EE and really missed it this trip.

[rab]

Thanks Seaspray. With the later hours of the food court at CBR, the mug may be a good thing for my husband and me since we'll drink coffee, tea, and whatever soft drink is available. On another post, there was discussion about no DP at WDW so the mugs may not work for my kids since they are DP drinkers. Thanks.

[cdrn1]

They have Mr. Pibb at the CBR food court, which tastes ALMOST like DP. I used my mug numerous times each day for cafe au lait (half coffee, half liquid creamer) as well as tea, lemonade, hot choc. SOOOOO worth the $$$ for us. We were right by the food court.

[lvs_eeyore]

rab the last time we were there....about three weeks ago....the foodcourt was open 24hrs for refreshment bar...or at least I was told it was. The rest of it closes at about 11:00. I went VERY early one morning....had to be between 5:30 and 6:00 AM and got coffee no problem.

[Disneyolic]

I think I want to start a poll on what people prefer.. CC or EE...stay tuned.

[kimmar067]

I agree that the CC is really advantageous for families with smaller children. Besides, when we last visited WDW in Nov, there were PLENTY of characters to meet at the various parks. In fact, I can't recall another time at Disney when they were so plentiful!! Give me EE ANY DAY over CC!!!!

Now, on the subject of mugs: I guess it depends which resort you are staying at, along with the location of your room. When we stayed at CSR, we were all the way on the other side of the lake, and it was too much of hassle to keep walking back and forth around that darn lake! However, we were much closer to the food court at DxL (ok, POR!!) so we did invest in a few mugs, and it was definitely the way to go. Now that we will be visiting CBR and WL this summer, I'm not sure what we will do....hmmm, I'll have to think about this one...!!

[crazelion]

If like me 10.00 mugs is no problem. I drink cola all day along so. The refillable mug is a bargin for me an mom. Plus me and it in the food court every morning mom has coffee and soda. I have my coke or else I will be completely useless.

[jdads2]

BoyLovesBuzz,

Where can you get 52 cans of Coke for $11.00? Six packs of the stuff here are $2 on sale!

I guess that the mugs are not worth it if you compare their price to real world prices...heck I can get 6 gallons of milk for $11. But when you are talking about prices of beverages in WDW they are a bargain.

I know at the resorts that we have visited the food courts have been on the way to the transportation system. So if you use the mugs just twice, on the way out and on the way back into the resort, it seems to be worth the price of the mug.

I know that my DW and I probably made up for the cost of the mugs in a day or a day and a half. 1 cup of coffee with breakfast, 1 to take with us to the park. 1 cold beverage on the way back to the resort at midday and 1 when we left. Maybe another cold beverage at night and maybe a hot chocolate at the pool.

[BoyLovesBuzz]

jdads2, coke products are regularly on sale here for 2.50 a 12 pack. Sometimes as low as 1.99 a 12 pack, or 99 cents a six pack.

Disneyolic, I'm willing to bet 100% of the people would rather have EE, myself included.

kimmar067, I was on the other side of that darn lake as well, although we were close to the bridge. Typically I would walk over, fill the mug, drink down, fill it up, drink it down, fill it up, go to the gift shop , spend 30 bucks, drink it down, fill it up, go back to the room, and before I was across the bridge, it would be empty.

I may just be over-sensitive today, but I still get the feeling that the replies are taking what I said about CC as an opinion that CC is a good replacement for EE.

IT IS NOT A FAIR REPLACEMENT FOR EE

I appolgize for yelling.

[tennismom]

We used ours at breakfast and then once again in the evening. Over the course of 8 days it was definitely worth it.

I'm also wondering if you can use it at the water parks. I purchased an additional one at typhoon lagoon just so there was a cold drink waiting for whoever needed it at our "base camp". They told me that I could re-use it on another day and also at Blizzard Beach by buying an updated sticker for $5. We did do this at BB and it worked out great. I'm just wondering if you can just buy the sticker for a resort mug and use it at BB and TL!:D

[kimmar067]

...like you are yelling. I, too, feel that CC IS DEFINITELY NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR EE MORNINGS!!!!!! What bugs me is that the Disney people feel like they are DOING US A FAVOR by bringing characters to our hotels. Hmmmmm, where would I rather be at 8:45 AM - waiting to meet Tigger and Eeyore in a hotel lobby or standing in line for my 2nd "go" on Splash Mountain....?!?!?!?! (a no-brainer)

[stephaniebatesjones]

You guys are so right about the cc -vs-ee trade off. CC is in NO WAY A GOOD SUBSTITUTE for EE days. What the heck were they thinking ????? I agree that finding characters in the park is never any trouble. The only good thing that I can see from it is that you don't have to wait in line in the hot sun to see the characters...but the way I see it, the hot sun is part of the experience. I've gone 3 times..once in July, once in Aug., and once in end of Nov.-beginning of Dec. I loved the summer months much better than the winter ones. MAYBE WE SHOULD START A LETTER WRITTING CAMPAIGN...it just might work.

As for the mugs. I think that it can be a good thing to buy one if you will be returning to that resort or want to collect them. My DH, DD, and I bought mugs from AS movies. We like to stay at other resorts, but my DD is 4 and we know that we will stay at the AS at least a couple of nights every trip. So over time the mug ends up to be a great deal for us. However, we did not get any at the BW when we stayed there. Who knows when we'll be staying there again.
Steph:earsgirl: :Pinkbounc

[pooh6890]

My daughters drink water and lemonade so although I buy the mugs, they are really no deal. One of my daughters collects them and that is why I buy them and then it's usually only one maybe two......as for me, they don't have refills of wine so it is definately not a good deal for me.:cool:

[raidermatt]

Whether or not CC is a fair replacement for EE is up to the individual, and there is no right or wrong answer.

However, the two programs could both exist if Disney decided that was the best decision. Its not an either/or question. They only package them in the same announcement as a spin.

The thing to remember is that EE costs much more $$$ than CC.

For us, I'd agree that the refillable mugs are over-rated, but that's just because they don't fit our habits very well. Again, an individual thing...

[BoyLovesBuzz]

I wonder if they had rolled out CC and then cancelled EE without tauting one as the substituite for the other, how would things have played out. Completely separate the two events. Hmmm.

I know people were/are upset that EE was cancelled, but they don't get really mad until they hear that CC is suppose to replace EE.

Oh well, perhaps a debate board topic. Anyway, I enjoyed CC with my two small kids. It was not meant for this to turn into a CC vs EE thread. Unfortunately that will always happen when something poitive is said about CC. I would have much rather been in the parks, but you take what you can get. It is to bad that CC gets trashed, becuase it is associated with the cancelling of EE.

I kind of reminds me of that type of fish that has the mis-fortune of tasting like crab-meat. Talk about bad luck.

[flagal]

Confession: I'm a mug dork. I just started collecting them. I have three so far. I don't buy anything else at Disney. Call it Mom's little trinket. Plus, I'm a coffee fiend, and I like that early a.m. walk. Especially at AKL.

A value? Maybe, but only if you're there for more than a few days, or if you stay at the same resort a few times.

We never did ee, so I can't say I'll miss it. But we're going this summer, and it would be nice to get to a park early and be done before the oppressive heat sets in.

[vacationplanner]

I understand that the early entry is a must during the busy times at DIS. We are going to BWV Jan 2003, so would EE be as necessary then compared to CC??? This is a "whole family" trip, so there will be children aged 9yr, 4yr, 3yr, 2yr, 18mos!!! I think the CC seems like a great thing for our group.

Thanks!

[LAinSEA]

It fits quite well in the cup holder in my Subaru and is great inexpensive souvenir of our trip. Based on the prices charged for soda at Mara, we got our money's worth... since we like to have our Diet Coke over ice (we stopped to pick up a 12 pack along with the case of bottled water on our way to the resort) it was also very handy to fix up a drink with ice from the machine across the hall from the room.

Character Caravan vs EE? No EE was a great excuse to sleep in or spend time relaxing on the balcony watching the animals - but with the heat of last week, and in the months to come, Early Entry would be a blessed relief from heat exhaustion! Add to that WDW's lack of scheduling more than one Spectro/Fireworks a week in the non-peak season...and the way Splash, Haunted Mansion and Buzz seems to break down...OK - I'll stop the whining!

Please bring back EE - at least at MK!

-LA

and I like to take pics with the characters with the backdrop of the views in the parks

[T3trish]

The mugs save us about a million dollars. My DH and I drink a thousand cups of coffee and our DS drinks pop (soda) and hot chocolate. So it's a BIG savings for us.

Now CC is nice but I would have to say during peak EE would be better. We've gone and had no problem jumping on almost all rides with 10 minutes. So at those times I would have used EE but if it's busy I'd want EE.