Have the mugs at CBR changed in the last 2 years?

[BeanoC]

Sorry, it's another refillable mug question! ;)

Just wondering if the mugs at CBR have changed since 2000.
I know they were the same last year - but what about this year?
I'd like to take our 4 mugs with us again and avoid buying new ones, so can someone tell me if they're the same?

THANKS!!


'Beano':cool:

[addicted_to_WDW]

We were at CBR in January. The mugs had Sebastian and Flounder with some other colorful instrument-playing fish. I don't know if they've changed since then.

[skiwee1]

I have the mugs from 2000 also and they are dated. The ones from 2001 are not dated. Maybe for the millenium celebration they were dated.

[Ted and Holly]

THey are EXACTLY the same with the excpetion of the little round Millennium Celebration circle near the handles. Those are gpne. TJhey are easily covered up by your thumb if you feel weird about it though!

Holly

[Ted and Holly]

I agree with Holly. I felt a little bad about reusing my refillable mug, but the 2000 logo is so small.

Holly, were you drinking something from one of those mugs when you typed that?

Ted

[skiwee1]

I only said they are different by the date. I didn't say they were different in any other way. Yes, it is a small part that can be covered up but they are supposed to be for your current length of stay. If that were not the case then why would someone want to cover up the date to begin with?

[Ted and Holly]

This is a highly debated topic on the board. Some say it is current length of stay at the current resort, others say they are good forever. The truth is that CMs don't really check and some have been quoted as stating that they are good forever.

The official Disney stance is probably length of stay for economic reasons, but it is becoming accepted, through lack of enforcement, that they are good forever.

So, the answer given was accurate. They are slightly different in that they have a quarter sized logo that differs. The mugs still display the same Little Mermaid theme.

Ted

[skiwee1]

I was just baiting you Ted and Holly. :D I know it is a very debatable issue. I do not reuse my mugs but have been told at the WL last month when I bought their mug that they are good for life. I don't think the CMs know the rules or chose to ignore them. I do know that the official stance of WDW is that they are good for your current stay. Now if only the CMs would get it right too!:)

[Disneylvr]

The style is the same because I used my 1998 mug (I usually just have ice water at the food court) on our May 2002 trip and DH bought a new one. The mug's handle style differs slightly but that is the only difference.

As for the "official" WDW policy....I was under the impression that the individual resort's manangement makes many of the decisions regarding the day to day operations at the resort including rules about mug usage. If a manangment CM told me that the mug could be used for future trips that is the policy I would follow. For example there are a couple of Disney resorts where managment decided against unlimited refills but sell the mugs and they can be used for discounted beverages only.

[manning]

Thank you for contacting WALT DISNEY WORLD!

Please know that the "Souvenir Mug" program at Disney Resorts allow you to refill beverages (including hot coffee & tea) at your Resort for the length of your current stay. However, this program is for your Resort only. It is not extended to refills at other Disney Resorts or Theme Parks. At this time there
has not been a "scanning policy announced".

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.

Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if
applicable on all correspondence.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Zuleika Soto

On Line Guest Service
WALT DISNEY WORLD Reservations
P O Box 10,100
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0100

[skiwee1]

The "official" reply given by WDW states that the current length of stay rule applies to ALL resorts, not just some of them. I cannot imagine giving the management of individual resorts the leeway to make their own rules.

[skiwee1]

Thank you Manning for the "official" reply from WDW stating it is for all Disney resorts. How many times does this have to be shown before people decide to believe it? LOL!

[manning]

Thank you for contacting WALT DISNEY WORLD!

Please know that the "Souvenir Mug" program at Disney Resorts allow you to refill beverages (including hot coffee & tea) at your Resort for the length of your current stay. However, this program is for your Resort only. It is not extended to refills at other Disney Resorts or Theme Parks. At this time there
has not been a "scanning policy announced".

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.

Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if
applicable on all correspondence.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Zuleika Soto

On Line Guest Service
WALT DISNEY WORLD Reservations
P O Box 10,100
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0100

[manning]

Sorry for the double post. My computer got hung up.

[manning]

Skiwee1 - I guess too many times. The moderator at the vacation club forum locked it out.

[skiwee1]

What is their problem? Did you post it like a 100 times or something? LOL! BTW, you don't live in MD, do you?

[manning]

No, just 99 times LOL. I guess the moderator thought it was getting personal. I read it several times and didn't think so. A let's slow it down probably would have been OK. Lot of good opinions there.

[aalan]

i'd take your old mugs and not feel guilty in the least. hey, you're spending plenty of extra $$$$ to stay on diz property. one of the few "perks" is the soda mugs. i dont know about using them forever, but i sure will use mine for a couple of years.

[Disneylvr]

I have received these so-called "official" email responses from WDW in the past and found the information to be completely false upon arrival. Two examples, one insisted that Surprise Mornings were not cancelled (fall of 2001) and the most recent one gave me the "official" E-ride nights for May even though word (on the DIS Boards) had been out for a week that they had been cancelled. The only CM who could give me the correct information was a manager at All Star Movies whom I contacted on the phone prior to my arrival. Personally I am going to believe a resort management CM who is speaking to me face to face or on the phone over a faceless/voiceless person from "On Line Guest Service." Are they even replying from computers in Lake Buena Vista Florida? I have been told that CRO CM's are speaking to you from Tampa, FL but I don't know this to be fact. I do know that CRO is known to give out false information partly because they aren't located on WDW property and are sometimes the last to find out current information.

I am not stupid/dense/slow. I am just the sort of person (and I am sure there are others) that tends to believe what a live person is telling me over an email response. And this "official" email response fails to use the phrase "....refill beverages (including hot coffee & tea) at your Resort for the length of your current stay only" OR "cannot be used for future stays." Some guests may interpret the "official" response to mean your current stay only and others may take it to mean they can bring it with them to WDW again and use it their next current stay.

I rarely have soda pop, sugar or caffiene drinks anyway and I am NOT purchasing a new mug 3 times a year just to drink ice water unless the mug design changes. I like to collect the different mugs and have a whole cabinent full of them at home. Why oh why did I decide to get involved in the mug debate. :) It must be because it is Friday and I am so ready for the weekend.

[Geoff_M]

Disneylvr,

At the risk of beating a horse that's on life support, let me add this...

I think we all can agree that the official policy is "one mug, one resort, one visit". The sticking point is what to make of the good number (but not all) of CMs that openly contradict this policy. There seem to be two schools of thought on this:

1) WDW "HQ" doesn't know what they're talking about and doesn't really set the policies for each resort.

2) This really is the written policy for each resort, but the CM's and the food court management have stopped enforcing it due to the rather anarchistic nature of the drink bars in the food courts. They realized that, over time, as more and more people started to reuse the mugs that unless they wanted to dedicate a couple CM's to guard the pop machines it was a "lost cause". A lot of the CM's and their front-line management decided it was better to "join them rather than fight them."

Let's look at #1. If it is a locally set issue, like the refills being free vs. a small charge, then how do we explain observations like DMRick's recent one where she (got it right!) saw a CM tell a guest the mugs were "good for life" when there was a sign on display in the food court that said they were only good for the length of stay? If this was a policy diviation approved by the local resort management, then why do they display the sign???

Also, another piece of evidence cited for the "local policy deviation" point of view is the practice of some resorts charging for re-fills vs. others giving them out for free. But charging for refills is not a change from the stated official policy. The e-mail responses from WDW do not say the refills are to be totally free of charge.

In the case of #2... If I'm not mistaken the philosphy of the mugs being "good for life" is a relatively recent concept to come forth. From what I recall the understanding from the intitiation of the program was that they were good for "length of stay" only. But as more and more people bought them, people discovered that they could in fact resuse them without being challenged. And a concept was born. The idea took hold with the regular visitors. Disney did make some attempt to control things by changing the mug designs or handle colors.

But the horse was out of the barn. When there was genuine doubt about what the actual policy was, people began to think things like "Hey, I'm already dropping a ton of money on Disney", "I hear that WDW gets their syrup free, or almost free, from Coke", and "Lots of people report that the CMs didn't stop them when they reused theirs"... and the reusage grew. So we have reached the point were CMs openly tell people that the mugs are "good for life" even though signs within their sight often state otherwise.

But it sounds like the end of the confusion may be in sight when the barcode programs are put in place. One of two things will happen: 1) WDW will then have a mechanism in place to enforce its long time policy and the CMs won't feel like they have to wave the white flag, 2) WDW will alter it's policy and give free length of stay stickers to people presenting them with the proper resort mugs from previous visits. We'll have to wait and see which it is.

And this "official" email response fails to use the phrase "....refill beverages (including hot coffee & tea) at your Resort for the length of your current stay only" OR "cannot be used for future stays." Some guests may interpret the "official" response to mean your current stay only and others may take it to mean they can bring it with them to WDW again and use it their next current stay.
In the above line of reasoning you would also have to conclude that staying at a resort once entitles you to use that resort's pool during any future WDW visits. "The next current" is an oxymoron. It's like saying "the tomorrow today".


No one is claiming that anyone is slow, dense, or stupid. But I also think that when presented with two options from people in authority, it's human nature to want to accept the option that's more personally advantageous.

[Disneylvr]

This could be debated forever and I believe it already has been. I started it all over again in this thread, I apologize. Maybe the "official" policy of WDW Resort is current stay and one resort only. But if the managers at the individual resorts say it is okay to use them again when asked people can and will use them again. The official policy at WDW is that people must smoke in designated areas only but personal observation tells me that it isn't inforced. The same is true for "no flash photography." I wonder how many posters who follow the "official" mug policy also follow the smoking policy, no flash photography, the height requirements for rides (without cheating) and every other "official" WDW policy. I guess the mug issue is more important to some because Disney is going to lose out on another $9.99.

Yes, for the most part, I do follow the official WDW policies. My exception is the mugs because 1) resort managers have told me and my many Disney friends it was okay 2) I don't drink soft drinks or coffee, I drink water.

I promise not to debate this, even to defend my views, anymore. :)

[skiwee1]

I am one that follows the policies listed. I don't know if I follow all WDW rules as I might not know them all. I don't smoke, am a lazy photographer that rarely takes her camera, and always follow height requirements as it is a safety issue. My 3 year old has her own annual pass even though I could have gotten away with getting her in for free. After all, I drop megabucks to go to WDW 3 times a year for an average of 30 days total. I could actually save a whopping $10 a trip if I keep taking my old mug back! I really should try to get WDW for all it's worth since I pay so much but I don't. WDW is a choice that I made and I will pay what they ask. If I don't want to pay for something then I live without it. That is how I live my life and how I teach my kids.:D

[Geoff_M]

Disneylvr,

Part of the problem is that we're coming at this from two different directions. My approach is "What's the rule?" The second approach is "What will I be allowed to do?" "What's the rule?" is a subset of "What will I be allowed to do?"

In my state the posted speed limit on Interstates is 70 MPH, but everyone will tell you that you can go 75 MPH without getting a ticket. Even state troopers I've asked have told me that. So does that mean the speed limit is 75 in Michigan? No, if some "Barney Fife" of a rookie trooper stops me and writes me up for doing 73 he can do that.

It's not that skiwee1 or I wish to maximize WDW's cash intake. The rub is when we pay the extra $$$ because we feel it's the right thing to do, and then see others advocating positions that are contrary to the policies they know exist. However, I'm not talking about naive guests that have been mis-informed by food court cashiers.

I too have "sinned" in the eyes of Disney. I admit it! We have packed small snacks in our kids fanny packs. But I acknowledge it is a violation of park policy. But I'm not going to construe the security guard's silence about the fruit rollups during the bag check as something that alters the policy.

[Ted and Holly]

So Skiwee, you got your wish. You attempted to bait me into this petty debate that has no resolution. Sorry to disappoint you that I did not bother with it. But luckily, others went for it.

This topic, along with tipping and EE, is something I will not bother debating on here.

The original topic was a question of whether the new mugs are different from the old mugs. They are, slightly. Question answered. Debates can be found on the Debate Board.

Ted

[skiwee1]

When I said bait I meant kidding or teasing. Not trying to start a debate. I responded when someone made a comment about reusing the mug which I felt was not legal. Not debating, just stating an opinion based on numerous responses from WDW. This board is also read by newbies who might not know the rules about mugs and therefore can learn something before purchasing them. Now that Geoff has commented about snacks I realize that I too break a rule. I always bring in goldfish crackers and juicy juice for my toddler!

[Disneylvr]

I fell for it hook, line and sinker! It has been a rough week and I guess I was just in a debating mood. You are right Ted and Holly, it is too petty to quibble about. Look above BeanoC, I did answer you original question too. :) :) :) :)

[manning]

It looks like this problem will have to be resolved at Disney level.

Don't know how many possible solutions there could be, but a couple would be scanners or discontinue the program. Also where the machines are placed.

Also CM should be brought to task by management for the statements they say. You may not be able to stop all of them from saying it, but they should be instructed not to and anything they say contrary to policy is at their own risk. (dismissal)

[Geoff_M]

Disneylvr, Ted and Holly, et al.,

I don't relish these discussions either. The only reason I jumped in was due to some novel points that Disneylvr made. While I agree the it may seem petty at times, I think the there's nothing wrong with raising these issues when mug reuse questions arise. It was a good discussion... and a civil one at that.

Manning is right. My guess is next year "Mugswars" will be a thing of the past. We can all can move on to other issues.

Peace everyone!