Refillable mug question

[kipperdog]

Can someone tell me why refillable mugs come with the quick service and deluxe dining plans, but not the regular dining plan? I don't know if this question has been answered before or not. I just don't understand why it doesn't come with the regular dinin plan.

[Faldred]

Because they don't need to do it. The basic DDP is popular enough that they economize wherever possible.

The real question is why they bother including it with the other plans (including premium and platinum).

[TDC Nala]

The basic dining plan is by far the most popular dining plan.

Including a mug with the QSDP gives a bit of an extra incentive to buy it. This might sway a few people, so there are fewer fighting for ADRS at table service restaurants.

Including a mug with the Deluxe dining plan may be a way of justifying the price, which is per night nearly twice that of the basic dining plan.

Either way it's extra incentive to choose a plan other than the basic plan.

[Belle & Ariel]

Didn't regular dining include it up to the last year or so?
It is odd to me that they chose to drop it on one but not the others.

[TDC Nala]

The basic dining plan never included a refillable mug.

And it doesn't include one because almost everyone takes the basic plan anyway - they don't need to include one.

[Sienna]

Is it just fountain drinks that you can refill the mugs with? Can you use it for juice or coffee?

[lemondog]

Is it just fountain drinks that you can refill the mugs with? Can you use it for juice or coffee?

Depends on the resort. Always good for sodas, coffee and tea, and juices at some resorts as well. Our last stay at the Poly there was an apple juice dispenser in the soda fountain machine, so it was good for that too. Seems like a while back it was even good for a frozen drink at one of the value or mod resorts -- maybe frozen lemonade?? That is not the norm, though.

[TDC Nala]

There's no more apple juice in the dispensers at Pop Century - they used to have it. They also used to have slurpee machines, but those were removed this year and replaced with iced tea dispensers. Lemonade (not frozen) and power drinks are usually available.

[Sienna]

We'll probably be at Animal Kingdom Lodge, if anybody knows the specific refillable beverages there. Thanks!

[2Tiggies]

We'll probably be at Animal Kingdom Lodge, if anybody knows the specific refillable beverages there. Thanks!

Even when you have the answers, be aware that these can change at any time. The basic Coke, diet coke, sprite, hot cocoa and coffee seem to be pretty stable, but other flavored sodas and iced teas seem to change about a bit every few days. I don't know if that has anything to do with available stock or whether they just rotate for variety, but just so that you are aware of it. We tend to stay for at least 2 weeks so maybe that is why we notice, but there has always been some switching about from my experience.

[Sienna]

I totally understand. While I don't mind my kids having an occasional soda, I'm hoping there are some options for juice or things other than soda.

[Lglchick]

If the mugs are not included in the basic dining plan, is that because you get drinks with the BDP? We're first-timers, so I'm trying to find out if we should purchase the mugs or not.

[catne]

If the mugs are not included in the basic dining plan, is that because you get drinks with the BDP? We're first-timers, so I'm trying to find out if we should purchase the mugs or not.

you get drinks with your meals on all the dining plans. We have not tried the quick service dining plan yet (we love the table service restaurants) but we have used the basic dining plan many times and the deluxe dining plan once. ON the deluxe plan we never used the refillable mugs that came with it - not once - because we were always full (three table service meals a day doesn't leave much room for extra beverages.)

For the first time we actually bought the refillable mugs while on the basic dining plan in September. We used them constantly...was very hot (90s) while we were there and we were non-stop thirsty. We took the empty mugs in the car when we went to the parks so we'd have them when we came back to the resort - would stop by & fill up at the food court on our way to the rooms - sometimes we'd sit in the food court & drink a cherry coke & then fill the mug back up before heading back to the room. We used those refillable mugs whenever we ate a counter service meal at the resort -- like we had breakfast there one morning & used the mugs for our coffee. You get two drinks with counter service breakfast so we'd take a bottled water & a bottled juice or power drink. The bottled drinks went to the parks with us. Worked out very well. When we had counter service lunch, we'd use the mugs for our cokes and take another bottled juice or water as our dining plan drink. This system gave us lots of bottled drinks to take to the parks. We easily used up the cost of the refillable mugs in the first 3 days of a 7 day trip.