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

[disneydaveb]

i had to exchange my mug 5 times.
the supervisor told me the reason my mug didn't work correctly is because i damaged the chip by doing the coffee/hot drinks, then the soda/cold drinks.

the dispenser gave me an "invalid" message and wouldn't allow me to use the soda dispenser.

each time i had to wait for a supervisor to help me.
(a waste of time especially if i bought food first and then went to the beverage island.)

hopefully that testing period i was there and using the new mugs, have the kinks worked out.

This is my fear. That is why, in an earlier post, I mentioned long lines/waits and turning something as simple as getting a drink into a hassle.

 

[going/again]

If they don't do a time lock then people will simply poor from the reusable cup into another container over and over. You can always get water to gulp down the first time and then refill with soda.

why buy the cup waters free, I often drink one then refill to drink on way back to our room the point of having free unlimited soda refills is what it says, this is limited refills = false advertising

 

[Crystal824]

I'm ok with this too except for the price increase, which I knew was going to happen because the cost of the mugs with the chip is more. $17.99 for a reusable mug we use once or twice a day is probably outside of what I am willing to pay. We always got them on each trip previously. We also got the dining plan each trip until 2011 when it got so expensive that it wasn't worth it anymore. I'm not sure at what point, Disney will just become too expensive and we will find a new destination. This is coming from someone who has loved Disney her entire life. I did the CP twice. I have been every year with the exception of one year since 2004.

 

[disneydaveb]

I'm not sure at what point, Disney will just become too expensive and we will find a new destination. This is coming from someone who has loved Disney her entire life.

Sadly...I have been thinking the same thing.

 

[Nancyg56]

Absolutely no reason why Disney couldn't have just made the soda free. Guests are spending $$$ on accommodations and food. It probably wouldn't have any impact on the bottom line. Disney is going that way, to a limited extent, by giving free mugs to DDP guests.



I can't remember a trip where I didn't see significant number of guests grabbing free soda.


Time between fills. A way to ensure the deal isn't one mug per family. Why not consider overriding that if everyone person on your reservation bought a mug or is was given a mug via the DDP?

I don't agree with some of the PP. I think this is a good policy. Maybe have a CM available to override if they can see a guest finished the drink before leaving the area.

My opinion of the DDP on the other hand... JMO but the plan is now a "food plan" and not a dining plan.

I have been giving this a great deal of thought. I have no issues with any company making money, but for some reason, this policy is rubbing me the wrong way. Like you, noticed many of the frequent flyer soda nabbers. A few, yes, but not many. It also agree that resort guests could be offered soft beverages and coffee, and instead of WDW losing money, they would generate more profit in the long run. I live in CT, so I have a pretty good idea of how penny wise and dollar foolish works. It is my opinion that if people feel that they are getting a good value, they do not complain about the price. If those people feel like they are getting nickled and dimed at every turn, that good will goes up in smoke.


I have no idea how much that chip is going to cost, but I do not that if getting a beverage is going to be irritating, I'll pass. My family buys that silly cup every trip, we like it. We also have purchased the DDP, so for teh most part, all of our beverages were paid for before that mug. It was just a convenience for water and coffee. Just as it will take our fearless leaders in CT to figure out that those increased taxes have a reverse effect on revenue, I bet that the numbers crunchers at Disney will determine that the mug lost more than it made.

I also believe that the conveniences that Disney has rolled out in order to allow guests to feel as though they are in the middle of an all inclusive vacation are beginning to lose so much value that even that lovely all inclusive, never open your wallet for food, soft beverage, or snack convenience is losing it's shine.

I always purchased the DDP, and for years it was not only a convenience, it was a good value for my family. Then it was a convenience with some value. This last time, it was a wash in that it was free, and that sale was a better value than a room discount for my family. If I had purchased it, I would have had buyers remorse. AS you suggested, the DDP was no longer a dining plan, it was a prepurchased gift card with restrictions.

Now buyers remorse on one purchase, Disney can handle. But once you factor in all you can refill mugs that really are not all you can drink, DDP that guests do not break even on, and resort and park prices that are quite high, Disney may find that their money saving steps are really leaving a sour taste for many guests whose primary vacation destination is WDW.

I also realize that for the most part, Disney does not seem to place a high value of return customers, and I think that the decisions they are making are with that in mind. They are shooting for those once in a lifetime, break the bank and never look back guests. Which is why they may not care that they are charging a lot of money to keep a few soda snitchers from snagging an extra coke.

 

[maxiesmom]

I also realize that for the most part, Disney does not seem to place a high value of return customers, and I think that the decisions they are making are with that in mind. They are shooting for those once in a lifetime, break the bank and never look back guests. Which is why they may not care that they are charging a lot of money to keep a few soda snitchers from snagging an extra coke.

I think that greatly understates the problem Disney had with pop thieves. It is rare that I would go to the pop station and not see someone filling up an old mug, or a 7-11 cup, or even a big bucket with pop.

I don't think many business owners would turn a blind eye to someone stealing from them. Even if it was just pop. And if someone owned a business and did ignore theft, I would think them an idiot.

If you should be mad at anyone, it should be your fellow vacationers who couldn't follow the rules, who couldn't be trusted to do what they should. Disney is only taking this step because guests showed time and time again that they would stoop to stealing pop if not forced to pay for it.

I'm disgusted by the actions of many, but not by the actions of Disney.

 

[robinb]

I think that greatly understates the problem Disney had with pop thieves. It is rare that I would go to the pop station and not see someone filling up an old mug, or a 7-11 cup, or even a big bucket with pop.

I'm not discounting your own experiences but I have rarely seen pop thieves. I stay at all levels of resorts and I can count on one hand the number of times I saw someone refill an incorrect mug/cup.

 

[Jonathan Swift]

I've never seen soda thieves either, but here's why this new enforcement is dumb... Soda is cheap. I mean, really cheap. Most places on Disney aren't prone to "abuse." I can think of Electric Umbrella at Epcot and another place at Hollywood that have fountain machines out in the open. They're behind the counter everywhere else. (If there's another place, please mention it.) The resorts are generally not visited by people not staying there. If there's some "leakage" going on, quite frankly, Disney ought to consider it an unspoken perk to staying on property. It's not like people are filling gallon drums and transporting it home. They're grabbing extra drinks before they head out for the parks. All this RFID stuff is going to do is prevent "honest" thirsty people from getting something they paid for.

I personally don't care since I ship or pick up cans of soda and leave them in my room's refrigerator and don't do the DDP. They only way a RFID chip would be welcome would be if they were for the parks and the fountain units were out in the open and easily accessible all over the place. That would be a worthwhile addition for me.

 

[DizCaptain]

Everyone is angry at those bringing back old mugs, but Disney used to change the mug design so that couldn't be done. For the record, I go down several times a year and have NEVER seen someone filling up with a bucket or a 7-11 mug, only Disney mugs and cups. People aren't abusing anything but the "honor system". Don't say they're inconveniencing you because of old mugs, that doesn't even make sense.

Ethics aside, soda really is cheap, very cheap. There is a negligible loss in terms of Disney's profit from "unlawful soda abusing vacation ruiners." They're using the chip system, stupid as it may be, because they paid for it and spent a crap ton of money on it to not implement it everywhere. It's a nice side effect that it may prevent soda stealers, but every system can be worked, so don't think this is the end for all these dishonorable bandits, and look forward to glitches and errors.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that greatly understates the problem Disney had with pop thieves. It is rare that I would go to the pop station and not see someone filling up an old mug, or a 7-11 cup, or even a big bucket with pop.

I don't think many business owners would turn a blind eye to someone stealing from them. Even if it was just pop. And if someone owned a business and did ignore theft, I would think them an idiot.

If you should be mad at anyone, it should be your fellow vacationers who couldn't follow the rules, who couldn't be trusted to do what they should. Disney is only taking this step because guests showed time and time again that they would stoop to stealing pop if not forced to pay for it.

I'm disgusted by the actions of many, but not by the actions of Disney.

I am not mad at anyone, if you want the truth. I have seen cups that were not the "right" cup, but I did not think too much of it I buy my mug every year, (except last year, it was included in my plan) but I would often take a cup from my room so i could have a disposable cup on the bus to the park. I also do not like coffee in the same cup i use for water, so for all I know other folks had a spare for that as well too.

The point I was trying to make was that the frequent flyers know the prices, know what changes have been made, and how those changes took place. We make a conscientious decision to spend out vacation dollars within the WDW resort complex. Disney does not really have incentives to drive frequent visitors back, they got us and they know it.

The charges that are increasing and that have some of us revisiting how we spend our Disney Dollars are lost on many first time buyers. The increases in the DDP, coupled the decreased value, and this ingenious way to sell what is in fact a souvenir mug may not bother those consumers. It is my opinion that these folks are Disney's target market, and these folks are the ones Disney s relying on to make these changes make revenue for them. It remains to be seen if this mug will work out.

I believe that Disney is missing out on what could me a valuable marketing decision. As Lewis pointed out, complimentary beverages for resort guests is a very inexpensive way of providing value added to resort expenses. I may be mistaken but I was under the impression that the soft beverages in the machines are given to Disney, so the cost would be negligible. WDW has been striving to provide an all inclusive feel to their market, and while man people never really get their money's worth in that all inclusive resort, they continue to go back. I bet that the same would apply to WDW guests. The same would not be the case if one make a purchase and then feels hoodwinked. If the kinks are not worked out on this mug, and it provides little value to consumers, it is going to be a flop.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm not discounting your own experiences but I have rarely seen pop thieves. I stay at all levels of resorts and I can count on one hand the number of times I saw someone refill an incorrect mug/cup.

Really? I have stayed at all levels of resorts too, and I see people filling old mugs all of the time! My sister and I even joked one trip that we were going to start jumping people. Pretty much to horrify my niece, which the joke did. I'm not that crazy!

But I wonder how many people would shrug of the theft if it was their own business that was being ripped off.

I'd like to know too who said the old mugs were inconveniencing anyone??? I must have missed that post.

 

[smitch425]

Really? I have stayed at all levels of resorts too, and I see people filling old mugs all of the time! My sister and I even joked one trip that we were going to start jumping people. Pretty much to horrify my niece, which the joke did. I'm not that crazy!

But I wonder how many people would shrug of the theft if it was their own business that was being ripped off.

I'd like to know too who said the old mugs were inconveniencing anyone??? I must have missed that post.

We have witnessed SEVERAL people using non Disney cups at POP and ASSpo over the last several years, and people using old mugs (not the lifetime mugs). My guess is that the value resorts see it more than the others.

 

[Dacky619]

Really? I have stayed at all levels of resorts too, and I see people filling old mugs all of the time! My sister and I even joked one trip that we were going to start jumping people. Pretty much to horrify my niece, which the joke did. I'm not that crazy!

But I wonder how many people would shrug of the theft if it was their own business that was being ripped off.

I'd like to know too who said the old mugs were inconveniencing anyone??? I must have missed that post.

We've seen it too. We saw a woman get called out at POP (I think accidentally) on our last trip when someone asked here where she got the red refillable mug because they didn't like the blue, pink, and black ones. We haven't seen too many gas station mugs though.

 

[disneynutz]

People using mugs from previous stays does happen, some will post the question asking if the mugs have changed so they don't have to pack them.

The new dispensers are for more than just keeping people from cheating the system. IMO it will allow more machines to be placed at the resorts and in restaurants and later in the parks. Fewer CM's required and unlimited flexibility for future drink programs.

Guests are used to the Fast Pass system, they are now using RFID room and AP's and soon Magic Bands and Drink machines. Things change.

Bill

 

[Nancyg56]

But I wonder how many people would shrug of the theft if it was their own business that was being ripped off.

I'd like to know too who said the old mugs were inconveniencing anyone??? I must have missed that post.

I agree that there are soda snitchers, but as I pointed out, you may have thought I was one of those thieves. I paid fr my mug, and one for every member of my family so there would be no one left out. I did not carry that thing around with me, so with the exception of my morning coffee, I used a disposable cup from our room or refilled the cup I got with my meal.

I don't have an opinion of the convenience or inconvenience of old mugs, but I do know that for a while at least, Disney stopped making resort specific mugs, so if folks were dragging them from resort to resort, that was on Disney.

Disney could have also chosen to enforce their mug only refill policy if they had chosen to do so. They have plenty of CM's to monitor the actions taking place, but chose to ignore the coffee culprits, giving them carte blanche to waltz away with their bogus mug filled with iced tea.

I really don't have an opinion on this product yet, as it is a work in progress as we speak. I do know that I rarely pay for any product that I perceive to have little to no value, or that is a PITA to use. If this mug seems to be problematic once it goes live, I'll pass on the purchase, and buy yet another Tink mug to for me take home along with a Grumpy for DH. No matter wat Disney gets my money LOL!

 

[DizCaptain]

But I wonder how many people would shrug of the theft if it was their own business that was being ripped off.

See it's a whole different playing field. If I were a small family owned business operating in a hole in the wall, sure I wouldn't want people to bring old cups to refill with every time. Of course, I wouldn't offer a mug deal like Disney. Unlimited refills while they're eating at the restaurant? Sure. But next visit they'd have to buy a new cup.

That's exactly what you wanted to hear I bet, but Disney is different. There, you have resort guests, paying a lot of money for a vacation, and you offer free refills for length of stay. If I don't change my mug design or enforce the rule, then how can I even be mad that people are "cheating the system"? In fact, why would I care? I'm just a small cog that puts in a little profit to a huge money making machine. Millions of dollars of revenue at a resort destination, promising an experience of a lifetime. If I have return customers, I'd definitely allow their using the same mugs, which again have the same design that I clearly didn't care enough to change. The point is, you can't compare Disney to "someone's business", unless the other business is Universal or the like.

 

[Dacky619]

See it's a whole different playing field. If I were a small family owned business operating in a hole in the wall, sure I wouldn't want people to bring old cups to refill with every time. Of course, I wouldn't offer a mug deal like Disney. Unlimited refills while they're eating at the restaurant? Sure. But next visit they'd have to buy a new cup.

That's exactly what you wanted to hear I bet, but Disney is different. There, you have resort guests, paying a lot of money for a vacation, and you offer free refills for length of stay. If I don't change my mug design or enforce the rule, then how can I even be mad that people are "cheating the system"? In fact, why would I care? I'm just a small cog that puts in a little profit to a huge money making machine. Millions of dollars of revenue at a resort destination, promising an experience of a lifetime. If I have return customers, I'd definitely allow their using the same mugs, which again have the same design that I clearly didn't care enough to change. The point is, you can't compare Disney to "someone's business", unless the other business is Universal or the like.

I don't think anyone is saying Disney is mad at all, but it isn't an unfair comparison. Disney found a non-confrontational way to deter soda theft and they are implementing it. Just because they charge XX for a room and tickets doesn't mean guests are entitled to free soda because it costs Disney next to nothing.


edited to add: I personally wouldn't like the free soda to be included with the stay because I'd imagine they'll charge you an extra few bucks per night for that. I'd rather spend that money on grocery delivery.

 

[Nancyg56]

That's exactly what you wanted to hear I bet, but Disney is different. There, you have resort guests, paying a lot of money for a vacation, and you offer free refills for length of stay. If I don't change my mug design or enforce the rule, then how can I even be mad that people are "cheating the system"? In fact, why would I care? I'm just a small cog that puts in a little profit to a huge money making machine. Millions of dollars of revenue at a resort destination, promising an experience of a lifetime. If I have return customers, I'd definitely allow their using the same mugs, which again have the same design that I clearly didn't care enough to change. The point is, you can't compare Disney to "someone's business", unless the other business is Universal or the like.

I have to agree with you. I never understood the hoopla over the "cheating", because as far as I was concerned, Disney turned a blind eye to it. Their business is like any other, if policies are enforced, they are generally followed to avoid problems. When Disney decided to enforce the DDP policies, the CM's were trained how to do so, and hey were held accountable if they made exceptions. The same enforcement could have been used to keep manage the refill cups.

Now, I get why some folks are angry, it is hard to think others are getting for free something that you paid for. But some folks are angry when people glide by using Fast passes, and they are trudging through the stand by line. And we all have heard how the enforcement of this long lax policy enrages some folks.

I think it will be interesting to see how the RFID mug ends up after all of the testing and the feedback that comes from it. Does anyone know how much a chip like the ones here cost to use in each cup?

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

Why not consider overriding that if everyone person on your reservation bought a mug or is was given a mug via the DDP?

Yep a great idea and easily programmed into your groups mugs.

It also stops any unnecessary rules/limitations/inconveniences for honest paying guests.

Drink water when you want soda or coffee, drink warm to avoid ice-this is peoples vacations. One week a year off work, $5,000 to $10,000 you should be able to at least drink what and when you want IMO.

 

[robinb]

Yep a great idea and easily programmed into your groups mugs.

It also stops any unnecessary rules/limitations/inconveniences for honest paying guests.

No, not really. When our family buys mugs it's usually only one because I'm the one that wants it. So not everyone on our reservation has a mug but I am still an honest paying guest.