(CLOSED)>> The One And Only Refillable Mug FAQ and Questions Thread (No Debate) <<

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Question: I mostly use the mug for iced tea. I fill it 2/3 with unsweetened tea and then add a splash of sweet tea. With the new program, I wonder if I'll be able to do this! Anyone know?

Thanks!

I never thought about this. My kid likes to mix coke and orange soda so his drink taste like Mezzo mix at Club Cool. I think a lot of kids like to mix the drinks.
 


Oh so the machine keeps track of how many ounces you dispense? Glad to hear that my kid would have been grumpy! :)

This might be a good time to revisit Jeff and Denise's video of the mug test at All Star Sports in July 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDzZ4h7nh44

Yeah you can also then mix the drinks and it will only count up to the appropriate ounces for the level of fill. I honestly don't see this to be that big of a deal except you now have to buy a new mug every time you visit. No more bringing last years or before. $18 per person in our usual family attendance, aka three of us isn't bad. But if you say have five or so, I believe there will be a way to fill two persons cups off of one chip by fill and pour, but again 4 fills to an hour.
 
My question is... why couldn't Disney just offer RFID bands that get clipped on to the handle of your mug with each visit so you could have the choice of buying a new mug, or simply bringing your old ones (I'm not asking for a discount... you would still pay the new mug price regardless, but the chip would be clipped on like a store security tag).
Not only would it allow people to use their older mugs, but it's environmental.
Seems like there are going to be a lot of kinks to be worked out with this new system and a lot of refill mugs ending up in the landfills.

I really wish they would do this. I have no problem paying for the use of a mug. I just don't want to get more of the ones I already have. We use them until they're done for (we've broken a few, believe it or not), and recycle what we can (the bottom of the mug can be recycled in our borough). But we only have so much space for mugs in our house.

That said, if they have mugs with green handles like the ones I saw in the video, I'll picking one up on our next trip.
 


I'm sure this has already been addressed, but what about split stays?

From what I have read, if you do a split stay with no dining plan during either stay, you may purchase a mug at the first resort, and take it to the CM at the second resort who will verify the previous stay and can reprogram it to cover your second stay. This only works if you check out and in on the same day, so no going to Universal, for example, in between Disney stays. If you have the dining plan for your first stay, but not your second, your mug will only be for use during the first stay. If you have the dining plan on your second stay, you will have to buy a mug for the first stay. If you have the dining plan for both stays, you will get two separate mugs.
 
From what I have read, if you do a split stay with no dining plan during either stay, you may purchase a mug at the first resort, and take it to the CM at the second resort who will verify the previous stay and can reprogram it to cover your second stay. This only works if you check out and in on the same day, so no going to Universal, for example, in between Disney stays. If you have the dining plan for your first stay, but not your second, your mug will only be for use during the first stay. If you have the dining plan on your second stay, you will have to buy a mug for the first stay. If you have the dining plan for both stays, you will get two separate mugs.

Is this just someone's guess, rumor, theory or wishful thinking? Or is it based on fact? I don't know where that much detail would come from without an official announcement unless it's just a guess.
 
Is this just someone's guess, rumor, theory or wishful thinking? Or is it based on fact? I don't know where that much detail would come from without an official announcement unless it's just a guess.

In the comments of the Orlando Theme Parks News article, a guy named Jeff stated that he worked on the project and he answered a lot of questions about the new system. While there is always a chance that he was lying, from the way he spoke, he appeared to know a lot about the system and how it would be implemented, so I think he was telling the truth. The site thanked him for assisting them with answering questions. I would hope that they would check him out to make sure he was being honest, but who knows. Disney knows that many of their guests do split stays, and they have always allowed guests to use the same mug for their entire length of stay to this point. I don't expect that to change with the new system.

Here are his comments along with the site's word of thanks...


Jeff said...


I'll try to answer as many questions as possible. I was on this project just over a year ago, so some of the details were still in the works.

Green/Re-Using RFID mugs: There was talk of this, currently they waterparks do this, but the resorts will not, initially. However, the savings would only be about 2.00-3.00. I know that for a family of four this adds up, but most people might rather have a new mug.

Size/Design: They are not changing, no idea why, but that was a F&B decision. So it's still a 16 Oz pour, with a same design (minus new logo) but with new colors.

Split Stays: If you are on DDP on both stays, you will receive two mugs. If you are only on DDP for part of your stay, you'll need to buy a mug for the rest of your stay if you'd like to have the free refills. However, if you are on a split stay, and do not have DDP, you may buy the mug, (and with a designed workaround) you'll be able to have the 4+ days refill. Since the mugs will now work from resort to resort, the second resort will just need to verify your Length Of Stay.

As to the question of the increased price, it's tricky. This was ultimately decided by WDW Pricing and Strategy, but, some costs came down, some went up. After 3 days, it becomes a uniform price and you're looking at guests who may be in house for 14-21 days. These costs need to be considered. Most guests staying more than 7 days are not on DDP, meaning that these guests would have a higher usage impact. Remember, guests on DDP will still receive their mug for the length of their stay.

Contrary to popular belief, Disney buys all of their product and machines. The new technology comes at a cost, and to wire all of the fountains so that the cup will work from machine to machine created a greater cost.

Paper cups will have a chip and the plan was 4, 20 oz pours in 60 minutes (use it or lose it) The cups will work at the fountain stations, just like today.
Beverage Stations: More are on the way, mostly at pool bars, but some areas like All Star Resorts will get an additional unit with 10 heads.

Tea/Coffee: I don't have an answer for that, but at some point, even if not initially, they too will be RFID controlled.



Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 10:36:00 PM EDT



Jeff said...


Continued....

Mugs in general and DDP- This is further down the road, and this will likely rile up some more folks, but the DDP will no longer include a drink at QSRs. Now hear me out. Your mug in conjunction with your MagicBand WILL allow you to access soda in the parks. But there is a ot 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.

And to speak on behalf of WDW Pricing and Strategy, sodas are what we refer to as "lightning rods". you as a guest know about how much you'd expect to pay in a retail environment (7-11, Walgreens etc) and WDW knows that you also know, you're going to pay a premium inside park, an NFL game, Airport etc. There is an "acceptable" range for selling these items. Locally, WDW has kept it's F&B a la carte pricing below the other parks. SeaWorld and Universal both charge in excess of 3.00 for a bottle. If we widen our scope and look at other national chains, Cedar Fair is selling 20 oz bottles for 5.00!!! The cost of soda has always been expensive, but I think we've reached a pretty good compromise. For those guests willing to save some money in exchange for inconvenience, the WDW parks allow coolers of food to be brought in (SeaWorld and Universal do not, but provide picnic areas outside their gates)

I'd also like to talk about labor costs at WDW. While everyone seems to think that our operators make minimum wage, they do not. They are covered under collective bargaining units, receive free healthcare (both full and part time) overtime for any hours over 8 hours in a day, and more. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts have a significant amount of overhead in labor. These 18 cents Cokes are far from it. There is a cost from product/straws/lids/napkins/ice/electric/water etc. So again, while I agree that soda makes a lot of money, it's not the freebie some claim it to be.

Ok, thanks for listening and letting me shed some light on this.

Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 10:37:00 PM EDT




OTPN Administrator said...


We just wanted to thank Jeff for answering some of the questions of our Readers. We will continue read all the comments tomorrow, and see if we can answer some of the other general questions (we don't have any insider info, but we will try to help).

Just one warning to our Readers: please, keep the conversation always respectful, thank you!

Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 11:19:00 PM EDT


Here is a link to the entire article and comments...

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2013/07/rapid-fill-mugs-coming-to-walt-disney.html

As I said before, no way to really know if this is fact, but the same could be said for most other posts on this site. Until the machines are flipped on and actually used, it is anyone's guess as to what is and isn't going to happen.
 
Thanks for the link Smitch. I wouldn't have asked about it if I knew where the information came from originally.

Disney has always allowed reuse of mugs on split stays because they never stopped anyone from reusing mugs at all, and for the past few years the mugs haven't changed so they have no idea if you're reusing an old mug or not. I hope they do allow reuse on split stays or they're going to have a bunch of angry guests.
 
Thanks smitch. I had read the article but not Jeff's comments.

Interesting to see his line about tea and coffee eventually going RFID as well, if not out of the gate.

I also hadn't read anything about in-park usage potentially coming as well. That would make any higher pricing more attractive.
 
I posted this same question on another thread - are they going to have CMs posted at each machine to keep it working? I'm always getting at least one "empty canister" refill on our trips. If I have to wait 5 minutes or so to refill my mug after I dump the discolored water in the mug-rinse sink, I may get cranky.

Also, not thinking cheap RFID stickers on the bottom of disposable cups are going to work all that well. What happens if I go up to the machine and it doesn't work?
 
I posted this same question on another thread - are they going to have CMs posted at each machine to keep it working? I'm always getting at least one "empty canister" refill on our trips. If I have to wait 5 minutes or so to refill my mug after I dump the discolored water in the mug-rinse sink, I may get cranky.

Also, not thinking cheap RFID stickers on the bottom of disposable cups are going to work all that well. What happens if I go up to the machine and it doesn't work?

With the machines being digital and counting ounces with precision, my guess is that the machine will know when the syrup is too low to fill the cup.

As for the RFID stickers, it is my understanding that the chips are also affixed to the mugs in the same way, and they seemed to work pretty well in testing.
 
Sorry about this question but there are just to many pages to go through. Any update on the design being changed before November or if it is staying the same as last years design? TIA.
 
Sorry about this question but there are just to many pages to go through. Any update on the design being changed before November or if it is staying the same as last years design? TIA.

From article comments and the photo in the article, the design will be the same with the Rapidfill logo added, but there will be new colors.
 
From article comments and the photo in the article, the design will be the same with the Rapidfill logo added, but there will be new colors.

I guess as long as there are new colors it will be ok. Just don't want doubles of the same cup in my cupboard. lol
 
Just curious about split stays w/o dp....couldnt you buy enough days to cover both stays and not have to have a cm "process" the mug at the 2nd resort? Aren't they supposed to be good at all resorts anyway? I do not have time to "process" mugs a second time - like would you have to bring 5 or however many sticky mugs when you check in to resort #2?!!! Seems like an unnecessary step -- what's one more tho?!!!
 
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