"Disney Testing New Resort Mug Technology" and DVC

[bastraker]

I am 100% positive that wouldn't know if someone was refilling a Disney, 7-11, or some other mug. Do people really pay that much attention to refill drink stations and the mug a total stranger is using?

I generally don't pay attention to other people at the drink station either. However, last weekend while at the Contemporary, there was a woman next to me using an old Christmas mug with 2007 written on it. I couldn't help notice how cute the mug was.

 

[gkrykewy]

I'll be in line to buy that mug when it comes out.
Nooo! I hate to admit my mug collection is an odd sort of pride - as well as conversation starter We use them in the microwave all the time. If they can't go in the microwave without starting a fire then they won't be in our cabinets. Nor will the idea of giving them to kids at the abuse shelter work. (Saw this idea written on DIS not so long ado while contemplating what to do with the extra mugs from a segmented DP trip. Seemed to be a good idea at the time.)

A bit of unsolicited advice: DON'T use plastic mugs in the microwave unless you'd enjoy a healthy dose of carcinogens in your coffee!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

disney should charge $49.99 for a lifetime mug and just be done with it!

 

[kamik86]

Perhaps its geography. Our home resort does not have a food court per se. At our home resort a guest has to give their mug to the CM for a refill at Turtle Pond. At Good's to Go the refill station is right in line where orders are placed. When Good's to Go is closed one has to go to The Gurgling Suitcase, again giving the mug to the bartender to be refilled. Unfortunately, no matter how new the mug is, I can't seem to get a refill on my margarita.

Really you can do this? My husband kept getting annoyed because we would get back just after goods to go closed and he would end up buying a drink from the gift shop because he couldn't refill his mug!

Now I'm really glad I opened this thread. Are there places at other resorts you can do things like this?

 

[majortom1981]

Now if Disney would put K-cup coffee makers in our beautiful villas I wouldn't have to worry about a mug!!!

Thats why you buy one of the small cheap k cup ones for dorm rooms and bring it with you .

 

[Donut23]

I truly could care less about that kind of stuff. I don't want to play Jiminy Cricket to some stranger at a drink station.

THANK YOU!!!!

Very healthy perspective.:

 

[ssawka]

No more mugs for us! We always get a 1 BR for the kitchen, so we bring crystal Lite and coffee with us and then buy the gallon bottled water from Disney. Crystal lite is better for us then diet soda (we don't drink regular) and I can't stand Disney coffee.

 

[dmoore22]

A bit of unsolicited advice: DON'T use plastic mugs in the microwave unless you'd enjoy a healthy dose of carcinogens in your coffee!

This is one of those urban legends: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cookplastic.asp However that may change with the RFID chip installed.

Being neurotic I'm more concerned with the potential abuse by Disney, the manufacturer, and hackers regarding our privacy. Is this another "Big Brother?" What data will be embedded in the chip? What data will it gather? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081118141854.htm "RFID tags are powerful devices for use in a wide array of applications: stock inventory, logistics, security finance, buildings, and across international borders. However, they provide a seemingly innocuous medium for the collection and transmission of personal data, as well as the ability to track the movements of people." These can be hacked so any personal data about a guest is at-risk. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.05/rfid.html

disney should charge $49.99 for a lifetime mug and just be done with it!

That's best suggestion. Since we make multiple trips each year that would solve our dilemma of getting new cups each trip or reusing the same cup during subsequent visits during the same year. My DW likes to buy the cups as a souvenir as we really don't use them that often, perhaps two or three times during a 12 night stay. I've often wondered why they don't do what the movie theaters do in our region, -- purchase a mug which is good for free refills during the year it was purchased.

 

[eliza61]

I never understood the big uproar over the refillable mugs simply because why can't they activate the system that is installed over at the water parks?

You buy a mug at the water park and you have to have a bar scanner attached to it to activate the pop machines. You can bring back your old mugs the next year and then you purchase a new bar code. without the bar code the soda machine will not activate.

 

[jade1]

We use G Grocer so mugs are rare with us-certainly have no idea what other folks fill up-better things to do than stare at a soda fountain.

Wonder how the RFID mug will be monitored if they cant even stop someone now from filling an ice chest?

NEW DVC PERK-free RFID mugs with membership.

 

[jade1]

I
You buy a mug at the water park and you have to have a bar scanner attached to it to activate the pop machines. You can bring back your old mugs the next year and then you purchase a new bar code. without the bar code the soda machine will not activate.

Good idea, I think the resorts you can buy a paper cup with your meal maybe?

 

[kamik86]

I never understood the big uproar over the refillable mugs simply because why can't they activate the system that is installed over at the water parks?

You buy a mug at the water park and you have to have a bar scanner attached to it to activate the pop machines. You can bring back your old mugs the next year and then you purchase a new bar code. without the bar code the soda machine will not activate.

This is a bit more complicated. Unless when you buy they give you a bar code for each day of your stay - this may actually be a good solution as this could also work for split stays. The water park only needs to work for that day. The other option would be to set all mugs to work for a certain time (say 14 days) figuring that most peoples length of stay will fall in that and they wouldn't be back before the end of the 14 days to cheat.

 

[ssawka]

With the RFID mug, what's to stop someone from buying one mug for the entire family and using it to fill up everyone else's mug?

 

[Chuck S]

With the RFID mug, what's to stop someone from buying one mug for the entire family and using it to fill up everyone else's mug?

They could automatically limit it to one refill every 30 minutes to an hour.

 

[dmoore22]

With the RFID mug, what's to stop someone from buying one mug for the entire family and using it to fill up everyone else's mug?

According to the article there's a limited time period in which to fill the mug and 5 minutes between fills. However, I just remembered a scene from the movie "Horsefeathers" in which Harpo Marx had a bottomless bottle he filled with bootlegged whiskey. A strategically located funnel and tubing. (I can't believe I'm actually thinking about this.) I'm also thinking that those that purchase these mugs will have to keep a sharp eye out or label their mugs with indelible markers to discourage folks from attempting to swap out an expired mug with another guest's active mug. In other words steal another guest's mug.

There are apps available that allow the chips to be reprogrammed. It's not an infallible or secure technology. Since I'm not a soda drinker I'm hoping for refillable steins at the Biergarten in Epcot.

 

[rhonimouse]

Now if Disney would put K-cup coffee makers in our beautiful villas I wouldn't have to worry about a mug!!!

that would be so wonderful! I love K cups... so fresh and so much variety!

 

[rhonimouse]

I never understood the big uproar over the refillable mugs simply because why can't they activate the system that is installed over at the water parks?

You buy a mug at the water park and you have to have a bar scanner attached to it to activate the pop machines. You can bring back your old mugs the next year and then you purchase a new bar code. without the bar code the soda machine will not activate.

This seems like a much better idea than to require someone to purchase a new mug each visit, or each resort on a split stay.... what a novel idea that a re-usable mug is actually RE-USABLE...and it will also cut down on plastic usage and waste!

 

[twinklebug]

They could automatically limit it to one refill every 30 minutes to an hour.

To prevent this, the bit I read states that it will fill the properly coded mug once every five minutes with drink:

(from mousesteps)

Back to the dispensing itself - there will be a five minute delay between soda refills. However, guests will get at least a minute to fill their cup. So if you want to mix soda flavors, or add some extra soda after filling with ice, there will be time to do that. What there won't be time for is going back to a table and refilling drinks for a family. And there will be a monitor on the machine that lets you know how long you have until refilling (as well as letting you know if the mug has expired, etc.) I saw the RFID chip - and promptly forgot to photograph it - on a regular cup. Expect about an hour of use for soda out of those pay-as-you-go cups - that could change, but eventually the cup will cease to work.

I'm not sure what the writer meant by "expect about an hour of use out of these"

 

[BBG-BLT]

I would LOVE K cups!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

this also applies to non dvc members. a split stay does not mean a split vacation. you are still on disney property, spending your vacation dollars on disney (ie, NOT at universal, sea world etc.) NO WAY whether I am staying DVC, or cash, will I buy new mugs for the SAME vacation!

...oh deb,( my dear All my kids pal), not true. we have numerous times booked a package with enough tickets for our WHOLE length of stay. with only X amount at the first resort. then we go over to a 2nd resort, with a room only reservation. and use the tickets from the original package.

...so, if you want a split stay, it is true, that ... IF you want the dining plan for the whole stay, you need to pay for it for each reservation. NOT SO!!! for the tickets. you can purchase tickets for up to 10 days, that don't expire until 14 days after the first use. (and even then , you can purchase the non expiration, but that gets into big bucks.. )....

Tickets don't indicate your length of stay. If they did, anyone with an AP would get a full year (plus one day) to refill that mug.

Nope, your trips ends when you move out of the room or you start a different stay (with or without the dining plan). Your reservation (and multiple reservations may be linked but they are still multiple reservations) indicates your length of stay.