Resort Mugs...Kinda Pointless?

[pixarmom]

For us, it's more than the math. We don't buy mugs when staying CL - drinks are already included and convenient. But when staying non-CL, I love the convenience and the fact that they eliminate the constant cost analysis for me. Without mugs, one of our three kids asks for a drink and I have to assess whether they will finish that drink and whether I want to pay for it. Then I'm annoyed if they don't finish the drink. With mugs, I don't have to think about that - it's done! Then at home, we use our gazillion mugs all the time. At that point, I don't even care if they take them to school and lose them (important with teenagers!) As for portability, we all carry our own string bag in the parks with folded up ponchos and light sweatshirts for air-conditioned restaurants. So we just bring along a plastic ziplock an throw the empty mugs in the string bags - really easy and lightweight.

 

[dkrauss]

Its most definitely a personal thing...............we love'em! On a 5 day trip with coffee in the morning and a ginger ale at night........we always take 2 or 3 meals at a resort.....makes sense for us...........maybe not someone else. My wife likes to bring it into the parks and fill with water.............may not be legal but no one's stopped us yet

Doug

 

[Allison]

Maybe pointless for you but a good deal for many. It's a great deal for me based on my drink choices.

 

[DizDaD7]

The refillable mugs at resorts have always seemed a bit useless as the can only be used in the resorts. Anyone care to defend them as a good perk?

Is this a serious question?

It's no different from years past...Maybe by 2 bucks or so , pricewise.
Even if you don't hang around the resort all day n night, 1 coffee b4 the parks, and 1 soft drink upon return ( which is lowballing ) should more or less be cheaper if you did this on a daily basis. buying a coffee and/or soft drink alone would add up 2 more IMO.

The only big difference was that people abused the old system and kept bringing back old mugs, and re,re, re-using them w/no guilt....Of course WDW had to do something to curb that. In the grand scheme of things when an avg. family spends roughly $4-5,000, it amazes me that this is the spot you want to try and worry about a measly $5 or $60 bucks.....?

It could be me, but I know that I'll be happily buying them AGAIN ( 1st time w/chip ) and reaping the $$$ saved from each use...

 

[ZoZo]

I think this is a "your mileage may vary" type of question.

Some folks don't drink coffee or soda, so it doesn't make sense for them. Some don't like to haul around the empty mugs all day at the parks (and don't want to hike back to their rooms to drop off the mugs before heading to the parks). Some spend most of their time at the parks (and little time at the resorts), while others take a mid-day pool break every day.

I myself don't drink coffee, but do drink soda and things like lemonade. If I were to drink more than one per day, I think the mug would pay for itself. Sure with you could get things like milk and juice with a refillable mug! That would definitely be worth it for me.

 

[maryj11]

We also think it depends on which resort you are at, and how close to the food court you are. We use them a lot at POFQ, POP, and CR, not so much at FW cabins, All Stars, and PO. AKL was better than I thought, but still a little out of the way. Still find them very convenient if I get them on the dining plan. The Hot Chocolate is great!

I think they should have drink station in more then one place at each resort so people don't have to walk a mile to refill it lol.

 

[maryj11]

I think this is a "your mileage may vary" type of question.

Some folks don't drink coffee or soda, so it doesn't make sense for them. Some don't like to haul around the empty mugs all day at the parks (and don't want to hike back to their rooms to drop off the mugs before heading to the parks). Some spend most of their time at the parks (and little time at the resorts), while others take a mid-day pool break every day.

I myself don't drink coffee, but do drink soda and things like lemonade. If I were to drink more than one per day, I think the mug would pay for itself. Sure with you could get things like milk and juice with a refillable mug! That would definitely be worth it for me.

I agree we did not want to carry our mugs around at the park and we didn't want to go all the way back to the room to get the mug and then back to the food court. We really didn't have room in our bags for the mugs so it didn't work out for us.

 

[EvieBug]

Also if you have a dining reservation at a location that's inside another resort you can fill it up there. So, we will fill with coffee at our home resort and drink on the bus or waiting for bus and then after our Ohana, Chef Mickey, or 1900 breakfast we will refill with another drink and take it into the parks with us

That hadn't occurred to me - thanks for the tip!!

 

[Barbanellie]

I think this is very personal. Like DDP vs OOP, and which resort is the best. Based on my experience last year, I wouldn't buy the mugs again. Or maybe one to share between my husband and I. We spend little time at our resort, so no value there. I only drink coffee at work around 10AM, not with my breakfast, and Mr. Barbanellie doesn't drink coffee at all, so not much value there for me either. Now if they start offering something that is an actual breakfast juice in those machines (orange or apple) instead of the sugary bright red unknown chemical fruit juice they have, that would help. I settled for the lemonade last year, and tried my darndest to fill up that mug morning and evening so I didn't feel like I'd wasted so much money, but when you consider I filled it up with drinks I would NOT have spent a dime on otherwise, it doesn't qualify as savings.

But that is ME. I can see the value for thos spending the day at the resort drinking soda a lot, or if you're eating many lunches or dinners at the resort, or if you do drink that coffee with your breakfast, etc.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We always do one of the dining plans where they are included.. but before that we always purchased them. I still find them to be worth it. Thats part of the fun when arriving! Checking in and going to the food court to pick out our mugs. We use them a lot through out the trip- every morning for coffee and get a bottled drink since it comes with a QS dining plan meal, when we take our midday breaks each day we fill them up before the pool or just hanging around.. and when we return from an evening at the parks we always grab our mugs from the room and fill them for the night.

 

[mountdew1]

I usually do 2-3 fills when I grab breakfast, another fill or two before I get on the bus. Most times when I park hop I go by a resort, and grab one or two fills there. And then another 2-3 at night after the parks (since we usually go in slow seasons why the parks close by 9 and the food court is open til 11). Just strap it to my messenger bag during the day, whats another few oz on a bag that weighs 10+ lbs? I break even very fast.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We are paying OOP for food next trip and I'm most likely buying he mugs.

It's myself, boyfriend, DD9 and DS15.

We have a midday pool break everyday, plus two resort rest days and a few evening starts. So lots of resort time on our 10 night trip.

I don't buy soda at home so my kids barely drink it. I know when we have pool time they are going to be "dying" of thirst every 5 minutes. We will eat at our resort QS at least 5 times.

So for us it'll be worth it. It'll be a splurge for them to drink soda. It is vacation for them too!

Boyfriend will probably drink lots of lemonade and powerade. I drink mostly water so will use my mug for the filtered water at the QS restaurant at our resort or at the pool. I don't mind paying for my mug. I know I can get free water at resort QS but the cups are small and I can use the mug for my adult beverages too.

 

[ondori]

I definitely get my money's worth out of the mug. I usually make a evening trip to grab a snack or something to eat, and a drink, and bring it back to my room if I'm not too far away.

 

[PennyInPink]

They were a waste for us, although they were part of the free dining plan. We are not coffee drinkers, I am a hand free type tourist, so I wasn't about to cart it around. At the end of loooong days, gong back to the room to retrieve mugs, twenty miles back down to fill them, twenty miles back to the room (and drinking part of it on the way) just wasn't worth it. For us.

 

[100acreHiker]

We don't drink soda, used the coffee maker in the room for coffee and tea, and could not be bothered to bring the mugs down to the QS restaurant for breakfast on our way to the park, as we'd either have to go back to the room to drop the mugs off or carry them around all day. My guess is that we maybe filled them two or three times during our week at the GF.

 

[scoobygrl79]

I'm definitely on board with all who said they are just a glorified souvenir. They hold like 1.5 swallows of a drink and despite my knowledge beforehand, I STILL do the "should I take it or leave in room" dance every single morning without fail. I'd probably pay double if every park had JUST ONE refill station, as they are so useless once they are dragged to the parks. Obviously, 4/6/8 yr olds don't comprehend leaving behind a nearly full mug of an ice cold delicious beverage so off to the parks they go. Who gets the honor of keeping responsibility of them while walking several miles in a hot park....? THIS girl!

 

[maryj11]

I think it would be great if they had refill stations at each park ! That is just wishful thinking .

 

[bumbershoot]

They hold like 1.5 swallows of a drink

They hold (I just measured it) 16 oz of liquid.

 

[scoobygrl79]

They hold (I just measured it) 16 oz of liquid.

pssshh...maybe for hot drinks it is fine, but with ice never seems like enough. But has it stopped my 23 (and counting) mug graveyard.....err.....COLLECTION I have at home? No.

 

[bumbershoot]

My DH is a coffee snob (starbucks),

If he's an actual coffee snob, he should try the Joffrey's. It's actully quite good. Better than the drip coffee from Starbuck's overroasted beans, that's for sure! (my iced lattes are 50/50 in taste between Starbucks and the Joffrey's kiosks that are in the parks from the Nescafe time and are still there)

If he's a *Starbucks* snob, however, thinking that sbux is better than anything, then I can't help him.

My wife doesn't drink coffee out of plastic cups.

What does she drink it from then, at WDW?

I now have my coffee at home in Tervis 16 oz "mugs". It's never tasted better, weirdly!