"RapidFill" RFID refillable mugs coming back resort wide...

[tjkraz]

8.99 for one day is kinda an insult...you have to suck down 4.5 cups of coke (which costs disney 0.5 cents per cup) to just break even.

Well, there is the cost of the cup. Looking at the pricing, it appears they priced the physical mug at $5.99 and then $3 per day for soda. $5.99 is obviously not the true cost to produce but not horrible when compared with other souvenir prices.

Personally I've never seen the value in the mugs. Have no desire to carry around a sticky, undersized plastic tumbler wherever I go. And like another poster said, I could drink the entire contents just on my walk from the refill station to hotel room.

It's just one more reason we rent a car and make our own grocery trip. The $18 x 4 we'd have to pay for mugs would more than cover the cost of a single day car rental. And with it we can buy our own choice of beverages plus other snacks and necessities.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I don't blame them for this...

but gee...doesn't it seem like old CMB and the beans department have really tightened the screws on the customers across the board the last 3 years or so?

the dining plan costs and reductions, the hotels (while admittedly at somepoints in their histories have seemed like a good deals) are not really a good deal at all anymore, and the huge assault on the price of annual passes last year....

just seems like they buy the hype that the economy is booming and people are raking it in...except that the second part is pure fiction because wages are still down.

8.99 for one day is kinda an insult...you have to suck down 4.5 cups of coke (which costs disney 0.5 cents per cup) to just break even.

I don't know...i don't typically whine about price...but the inflation at WDW is gonna have to take a break sooner or later here. the $4000 vacation is going to quickly become $6,000 or $8,000...and that's hard scratch to swallow for your average peep.

But i know...it's ok because they're paying me back by building Star Wars Land, Carsland, Russia, Brazil, and Spain and two new lands in AK


at least they are dropping the pretense of only being allowed to use the mug where you're staying...and this should give no excuse for them not to keep the self service ones open 24 hours....as it would basically require one custodial employee with minor training to service/clean them and engineering has somebody available 24 hours a day as is.

I don't often agree with you, but this time you've hit the nail on the head...

 

[doconeill]

Well, there is the cost of the cup. Looking at the pricing, it appears they priced the physical mug at $5.99 and then $3 per day for soda. $5.99 is obviously not the true cost to produce but not horrible when compared with other souvenir prices.

Personally I've never seen the value in the mugs. Have no desire to carry around a sticky, undersized plastic tumbler wherever I go. And like another poster said, I could drink the entire contents just on my walk from the refill station to hotel room.

It's just one more reason we rent a car and make our own grocery trip. The $18 x 4 we'd have to pay for mugs would more than cover the cost of a single day car rental. And with it we can buy our own choice of beverages plus other snacks and necessities.

Someone somewhere said the mug costs $2-3 to Disney (it may have been that "Jeff form Finance"), but even then, the mug itself can be a loss leader given the markup of the soda itself.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Well, there is the cost of the cup. Looking at the pricing, it appears they priced the physical mug at $5.99 and then $3 per day for soda. $5.99 is obviously not the true cost to produce but not horrible when compared with other souvenir prices.

Personally I've never seen the value in the mugs. Have no desire to carry around a sticky, undersized plastic tumbler wherever I go. And like another poster said, I could drink the entire contents just on my walk from the refill station to hotel room.

It's just one more reason we rent a car and make our own grocery trip. The $18 x 4 we'd have to pay for mugs would more than cover the cost of a single day car rental. And with it we can buy our own choice of beverages plus other snacks and necessities.

Never used the mugs either, for the same reasons you've stated.

Even when we have fridge in our room we tend to take a cooler with us, there's nothing like an ice cold coke or beer after a long day at the park. Sure you've got to fill the cooler up with ice every couple of days, but a couple of buckets of ice from the machine and you're all set.

I've never even considered getting a mug.

 

[maxiesmom]

An excellent way to phase the beverages out of the DDP and jack the price on that too, lol!

And you back that assumption up with what facts?

I think they just found a new way to make a few more dollars. And as someone who only uses their mug during the current trip, I'm glad they have come up with a way to frustrate those who thought they were above the rules.

 

[mejo]

But I'm not sure what needs to be set up to reactivate old chips vs. new chips. Unless they change the type of chip, they'd be the same. Scan and activate, doesn't matter old or new.

But for those saying they just don't want more mugs because they have enough at home, there is a very easy solution - don't bring it home.

Yep, we always drop ours in the trash at the airport, not very eco friendly but no need to fly them back here.

 

[retlaw_yensid]

As much as I would try to not let things get to me while at WDW (I'm on vacation for heaven's sake), seeing the abuses of the free refill mug always got to me while sitting in the resort's food court. Maybe it was because of the money I spent to get the mug myself, but no one likes to see other people getting for free what they themselves just paid for. It happened ALL the time...and I'm not just talking about people bringing old mugs from previous visits. I mean people filling milk jugs, sports bottles, a family of seven buying one refillable mug only to fill and pour it into multiple water bottles for the rest of the family, you name it. Yes, it's amazing what you see when you're just chilling in the food court enjoying your meal. I can't put the blame on the Cast Members. Nobody wants to be the person to confront someone breaking the rules. I for one am glad something like this is finally coming.

 

[capegirl]

As much as I would try to not let things get to me while at WDW (I'm on vacation for heaven's sake), seeing the abuses of the free refill mug always got to me while sitting in the resort's food court. Maybe it was because of the money I spent to get the mug myself, but no one likes to see other people getting for free what they themselves just paid for. It happened ALL the time...and I'm not just talking about people bringing old mugs from previous visits. I mean people filling milk jugs, sports bottles, a family of seven buying one refillable mug only to fill and pour it into multiple water bottles for the rest of the family, you name it. Yes, it's amazing what you see when you're just chilling in the food court enjoying your meal. I can't put the blame on the Cast Members. Nobody wants to be the person to confront someone breaking the rules. I for one am glad something like this is finally coming.

I agree, and I completely understand why Disney had to do something. We are driving this year, and I just came back from a big sale where I bought 8, 12 can packs of Coke products for under $12.00 for our resort fridge. Bye, bye mugs.

 

[cmash95]

disney pays coke for the carbination canisters and gets the syrup for free. So really they make a bundle off fountain drinks. They have to pay for any bottled drinkes sold throughout the property.

 

[doconeill]

disney pays coke for the carbination canisters and gets the syrup for free. So really they make a bundle off fountain drinks. They have to pay for any bottled drinkes sold throughout the property.

Do you actually have a source for that information? It's long been rumored (and a variety of variations), but I've never seen anything that actually confirmed it.

Regardless, the cost of a 16oz soda is miniscule to the cost actually charged...

 

[vandy]

No the article does not say you can use them in the park. It clearly states "in the resorts".

Looking back it wasn't in the article, but in the response by "Jeff" who states he works in Disney finances and was in the know on this planning. He stated:

Your mug in conjunction with your MagicBand WILL allow you to access soda in the parks. But there is a lot of work that still needs to happen, and more fountain machines added before this can happen. So you can take your mug with you, and use it all day long. Until that happens, there will be no change to the current set up

This quote is what made me wonder if some of the new self-service soda dispensers were being put in now in preparation for the future use of refillable mugs.

 

[doconeill]

Looking back it wasn't in the article, but in the response by "Jeff" who states he works in Disney finances and was in the know on this planning. He stated:

Your mug in conjunction with your MagicBand WILL allow you to access soda in the parks. But there is a lot of work that still needs to happen, and more fountain machines added before this can happen. So you can take your mug with you, and use it all day long. Until that happens, there will be no change to the current set up

This quote is what made me wonder if some of the new self-service soda dispensers were being put in now in preparation for the future use of refillable mugs.

I've seen and heard of no signs of dispensers going in yet, and per his post he says a lot of work still needs to be done. And that assumes he's legit.

And it goes back to my wondering why it isn't linked to the MagicBand/RFID cards to begin with.

 

[Spacedog1975]

Did somebody reference that the mugs might have a refill delay? I can't see that referenced in the linked article.

 

[doconeill]

Did somebody reference that the mugs might have a refill delay? I can't see that referenced in the linked article.

They tested this at one of the All Star resorts before, and they had a refill lockout time of 5 minutes. This prevented one mug being used to fill multiple containers.

This is supposed to be the same vendor's technology. They might change the lockout, but it would seem unlikely.

 

[disneyfreak89]

For more than 14 days, perhaps they'll have to issue a new mug or something like that. Probably not a seamless process but not a terrible inconvenience over such a long stay. Brief stop at the front desk.

Our next trip will be 14+ days so I can see them extending the date a few days so the RFID chip doesn't expire until our last day. Shouldn't be too difficult.

Yep, we always drop ours in the trash at the airport, not very eco friendly but no need to fly them back here.

Do you seriously throw them away???? Why not give them away as souvenirs or donate them to your local charity? I'm sure there are lots of kids out there who will never be able to afford a trip to Disney but would LOVE to have a mug.

 

[DitkaFan]

As long as we can keep getting our free cups of ice water, My family and I will be completely fine

In the grand scheme of things, this minor price increase is white noise when figuring out the cost of a Disney vacation.

 

[robinb]

They tested this at one of the All Star resorts before, and they had a refill lockout time of 5 minutes. This prevented one mug being used to fill multiple containers.

This is supposed to be the same vendor's technology. They might change the lockout, but it would seem unlikely.

A lot of times I will fill my mug/cup, take a couple nice gulps because I'm thirsty and then refill it up to the top. I wonder how long they consider to be "one fill" or if I'll be locked out from my refill. I could also easily drink 12 oz of ice tea or diet soda (with ice) in less than 5 minutes and want a refill right away.

 

[Spacedog1975]

They tested this at one of the All Star resorts before, and they had a refill lockout time of 5 minutes. This prevented one mug being used to fill multiple containers.

This is supposed to be the same vendor's technology. They might change the lockout, but it would seem unlikely.

This would also prohibit me from filling, drinking, and then filling again before returning to my room. Acknowledging that I could sit around for 5 minutes, but it seems silly. I would think it would be better to lock out for 5 minutes after some refill threshold (greater than 1) is hit.

And yes - I acknowledge I have a soda/caffeine problem. What'sittoya?

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

This would also prohibit me from filling, drinking, and then filling again before returning to my room. Acknowledging that I could sit around for 5 minutes, but it seems silly. I would think it would be better to lock out for 5 minutes after some refill threshold (greater than 1) is hit.

And yes - I acknowledge I have a soda/caffeine problem. What'sittoya?

Both DH and myself do this. Or at least a few good gulps, then top off before heading back to room. This is actually my only problem with this, the lockout time. I can live with the rest.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

A lot of times I will fill my mug/cup, take a couple nice gulps because I'm thirsty and then refill it up to the top. I wonder how long they consider to be "one fill" or if I'll be locked out from my refill. I could also easily drink 12 oz of ice tea or diet soda (with ice) in less than 5 minutes and want a refill right away.

Agree!