Change in Refillable Mug Program?

[doubletrouble_vb]

Hearing about the Bar Codes makes me think this is possible. However I would think they'd test it out over time before propagating all over WDW.

When I bought my refillable mug for VWL I got enough beverages over the course of my stay that I figure its paid for. My impression at the time was that the mug was good for as long as they are selling that type of mug. I didn't see any length of stay restrictions.

$10 isn't a reasonable fee for lifetime refills however many people will forget or lose their mugs so it probably works out.

 

[KNWVIKING]

We bought our mugs based on CM info that it was good forever,not just that stay. But as we all know, you can ask the same question to a dozen CM's and get 4 yes,4 no and 4 i don't know's. We would not get our monies worth buying new mugs every trip-our kids are grown- so unless they do give a discount for just the bar code sticker we won't be useing our mugs. My biggest concern is wasted time trying to get a refill. Free & easy to get refills was great. Inexpensive & easy to get refills is ok. Inexpensive & hard to get refills just won't work.

 

[mikek]

Originally posted by Muushka
Oh yeah! It is a great idea! We used the refillable mugs at VWL. My husband would usually get a meal or snack while there.
Now we will skip the food court all together. We will save money, and again, Disney will loose out. Why do they keep shooting themselves in the foot as far as we are concerned????

They (Disney) keep making me wonder why we sunk all that $$ into DVC .

Well since the poster right before you said they haven't paid for a drink in 7 years, i dont really think Disney is missing out on much except loosing money. So I think rather than shooting themselves in the foot they are applying the tourniquet.

While I don’t like to see my benefits diminished, i can hardly blame Disney for correcting a mistake that they made in the past. I'd prefer they 'cut corners' on these smaller things rather than bigger items like early entry or skimping on transportation, etc. Especially when it looks like legitimately it could be costing them a lot of money.

They should figure out a way to transition folks who were told it would be forever, but I don’t think stopping it is a major negative as long as they handle the change gracefully (which arguably they haven’t done a good job at lately...)




P.S. if you're upset about how much you plunked into DVC- use it a few times and sell it in a few years- if the near future is anything like the past, you will get close to what you paid for it- so effectively you would have vacationed for the cost of dues and by letting them hold onto your money for a few years.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I don't think the poster said they had not paid for a drink in 7 years, I think they said they first bought their mugs seven years ago--quite a big difference.

 

[BIERMUGG]

Originally posted by mikek



While I don’t like to see my benefits diminished, i can hardly blame Disney for correcting a mistake that they made in the past. I'd prefer they 'cut corners' on these smaller things rather than bigger items like early entry or skimping on transportation, etc. Especially when it looks like legitimately it could be costing them a lot of money.

What does it cost them? I read a long time ago Disney gets the Coca-Cola products free or next to nothing in turn Coke is the official beverage of WDW and has the advertising rights..

What does it cost us to stay on property? Just another perk regular guests lost.

George

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I too had learned that they got the coke products free from Coke. It seems that the exposure that Coke gets would justify that arrangement. I was not sure if it was still true or not and was hesitant to speak up. Glad you chimed in to confirm this.

 

[disneyma]

Since Disney is hurting so much and needs to make this change....maybe the Station Cool at Epcot will star charging five cents for a sample of soda. Maybe even better we could scan our new mugs and get it at a reduced rate.

There is an arrangement between them and Coke....it is very similiar to the arrangement they have with Kodak.....

 

[ohiominnie]

We bought our mugs in Sept of 2000. Thinking they were just for our length of stay we didn't plan on bringing them back with us. Until we heard on this board that they were "lifetime" mugs. So we have taken them back a couple of times, and encouraged family members to buy them.

I plan on taking cans of pop with me to the foodcourt (NOT 20 oz plastic bottles or they will think I bought them on property) I plan on taking cans, which, as far as I can tell, are NOT sold on property.

And, although I am a die hard COKE fan and cringe at the thought of drinking Pepsi, I am thinking about bring cans of PEPSI to the food court.

It's my way of saying to Disney's decision to change the meaning of "lifetime."

 

[mrtoadslastride]

We have mugs from several resorts that we use each time we stay. When we purchased them we were assured that they were for life. We just purchased new ones at CS (May 29th) and were assured they were good for life. If Disney makes this change I won't purchase new length of stay mugs!

 

[MikeScott8]

Here's an idea that could really make it even harder, how about them making all new mugs for the new LOS mugs and the older lifetime mugs are still good for lifetime. Good old grandfather clause!

HA HA!

Mike

 

[Peter_noPan]

Can you say "Class Action Lawsuit"?

I know several laywers that would love this one.

 

[manning]

Class action lawsuit??

Wouldn't be worth the cost or time. Life's too short.

 

[DoeWDW]

If they actually grandfathered the old mugs for a lifetime of use, while issuing new mugs good only for LOS, I can see a booming market on Ebay of older Disney mugs for sale!! It would be funny to watch them sell for exorbitant prices....LOL!

Seriously though, I also remember reading that Disney gets their Coke products free or extremely cheap. Don't you think they've been making enough on the mugs to cover themselves? Let's see, if I paid $10 for a mug and Disney paid $3 to produce the mug, that leaves $7 to pay for drinks. If each refill costs Disney 10 cents then that's 70 refills. I find it hard to believe that most mugs get used that much over a lifetime...... I don't think Disney is losing money - especially when you factor in the people that DON'T buy mugs but pay $2 for a soda at the food court.

Just my 2 cents....

 

[KNWVIKING]

DoeWDW...

The mistake in your math is the cost of the mug.$3.00 probably buys Disney a whole case of mugs- plastic mugs are dirt cheap. Also, we bought mugs at VB.Big and Bold on the lid was the Coca-Cola emblem so I'm thinking Disney paid zippo for those mugs.

 

[PamOKW]

When we were at BB on May 20th, you could buy a refillable mug. They put a sticker with a UPC bar code on it. You could refill it at an unmanned soda station by first scanning the bar code. Ice and soda didn't work unless you scanned your mug first.

DonMil gives us a perfectly logical way this new policy will work. I suspected that's what they had in mind. The machines won't work unless you have a bar code. The same bar code can be put on single serve glasses, too.

It is ridiculous to expect the refillable mug program gave any guarantee of refills beyond the first trip where they were purchased. There is no grounds for a suit.....and certainly not against Disney lawyers. It was a nice perk for some of you while it lasted. Especially for DVC'ers, to expect a $10 purchase would provide 40 years of free drinks is just silly.

 

[CarolynK]

It seems like it is very easy to cheat with this program, and obviously Disney is aware of it. This quote is taken from a trip report on another web site:

"Every time I go to a WDW site I always see the same old question, “Should I buy mugs?” This is how I handled it. I purchased ONE mug for the gang, but when I went down to fill it, I took my Universal cup, and my Disney Quest cup, and filled them all. I figured, “What the heck! I purchased a mug and they said free refills.” What’s the big deal?

The reason Disney is changing the policy is to stop this kind of scamming. Good for them

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by CarolynK

The reason Disney is changing the policy is to stop this kind of scamming. Good for them

Disney told people "refills for life."
The real problem is Disney doesn't have the balls to ever tell anyone not to do something they shouldn't be doing. Whoever this person was that was filling multiple non-Disney cups should have been confronted. But that would never happen. It's bad PR. Instead, they will slowly change the rules and tell the people who were following the rules that now the rules have changed.

And as for:
" It was a nice perk for some of you while it lasted. Especially for DVC'ers, to expect a $10 purchase would provide 40 years of free drinks is just silly."

It's NOT silly if this is what you were told to expect.

The only time Disney stands up and says "don't do that" is if it's a blatent safety issue and they are basically preventing a lawsuit. For example, you can't stand on the brick wall over the Rivers of America to watch a parade....they will tell you to get down. Also, you can't open the monorail gate and wait near the high voltage track...they will tell you to get back on the other side of the gate.
But when it comes to "non-lawsuit" issues....they don't enforce. I've seen CM walk by people smoking in non-smoking areas. And the thing with the non-disney mug refills.....of course they don't say a thing because they don't want to offend anyone.

I'm done grumbling for now.
And I will be drinking Pepsi....even though I don't like it.

 

[ReneeQ]

Long before I bought into DVC, I bought an All Star Music Mug in 1997. In 1998 I stayed at All Star Sports and took the same mug back, as I had been told it was good FOR LIFE at all three All Stars. In 1999 I used the same mug again at All Star Movies, and used it again in 2000 at All Star Music. On the 2000 trip the CM checking me in even asked "have you stayed here before?" I said yes. He said, "so you know about our refillable mug program?" I said yes. He said, "did you bring your mug back this time?" I said yes. He said, "good, because you know that's good for life." I said yes. That's the last I used that mug, because we bought DVC on that trip in 2000, and never bought the mug at BWV.

BUT I want to add, shortly after I bought the mug in Oct. 1997, we stayed at Dixie Landings in Dec. 1997 and took the All Star Mug with us. I was new to mugs and didn't know I couldn't use it there. I WAS told by the CM that I could not use it there, at Dixie Landings.

My question is, when getting your drink, how does the drink dispenser know if you're using a refillable mug or a single use paper cup? If you just buy a regular drink and get the paper cup, is it going to have a barcode sticker, too? All these bar codes and the machines to run them and the maintenance on the machines seems much more expensive than what Disney is spending on cokes and refillable mugs. To pay for this "great technology" I'm sure we'll be paying more for cokes!

We will continue to bring our 12 packs of cans and stock our DVC refrigerator.

 

[auntsue]

I have to say that I also think it stinks that they are changing the policy midstream. We were definitely under the impression that the mugs were good 'for a lifetime,' so on our most recent trip we purchased one BW mug for $10. My husband got one cup of coffee each morning for four days. Now we are not going to be able to use it? My husband thinks they should buy them back from everyone who bought them thinking they were good indefinitely. I agree with the poster who said they should make the newer mugs in a different pattern and continue to honor the older ones. We would have never bought one if it was understood that it was only for your length of stay. We only used it for a pre-breakfast cup of coffee for my DH. Are they really losing that much money that they have to take away one of the very few perks that are left? It annoys me to no end, and not because I want to beat the system. We eat every meal out so I'm not saving thousands using the mug, it is just that we were told it was good for a lifetime, and that's what it should be!

 

[DVCDAVE]

To quote Steve Martin; " WELL EXCUSE ME !!!!" I am getting a little peed here as some people are calling others silly, for believing what they were told by Disney CM's, and others are getting their hair to stand on end, AND we don't even know what the policy is yet !!

Some are inferring that we (I included) who were told refills for life, are silly, or inferring worst.

I personally bought my FIRST mug this past March, on the advice of a CM, who said "that it was good for refills forever". Both my wife and I have a post graduate education, and we are neither stupid nor silly. If some CM tells me something, why should I not believe them ?

Right now, I am more peed off at some posters, moreso than Disney. They are only inferring what Disney has done so far... no one has contacted them to confirm this change, or asked, "what they will do with all of US mug owners ?"

Let's stop the name calling.....please !