"Disney Testing New Resort Mug Technology" and DVC

[dmoore22]

Dare I bring up a subject that tends to stir up controversy? I was reading the blog and several articles discussing a trial use of the RFID chip in the refillable mugs. This test is being conducted at the End Zone Food Court at All Star Sports Value Resort. As I read the various "comments" I was taken by surprise by what those commenting shared. They indicated that guests are filling up anything that holds liquid: service station mugs, ice buckets, non-Disney products purchased off-site, etc. Have I been in DVC too long? Is DVC a cloistered/sheltered environment? I've never witnessed behaviors like that in all my years as a DVC member staying at a DVC resort. Granted occasionally I'll see someone with one of the pre-2000 "Forever" mug but never any outright abuse as described in those posts. I can certainly understand the need to curtail such flagrant abuse. However, there is a part of me that is resentful that Disney has to resort to this because of, apparently, a significant number of inconsiderate guests that abuse the trust that WDW has had in its guests over the years. I guess I'm naive. I hope this is isolated to other resorts and not something that occurs chronically at DVC. I would resent DVC having to absorb additional expenses that would trickle down to it's members because of, ok, now I'm being snobbish, non-members, abusing our homes. There'll be no "Welcome Home" from me for those . . . So much for my rant.

 

[supersuperwendy]

This is my concern..

I know and understand that technically each part of our DVC split stay is it's own reservation and therefore we are supposed to buy a new refillable mug at each resort. But how many DVCers actually do this? I bought a refillable mug while at BLT then used it once I got to Kidani during the same trip. I'm sure some would frown upon this. But if now we can segment our stays and everything is under one travel number with various segments in between how does the new chipped mug work for us? If I stay 2 nights at AKV and buy a $13 mug I don't want to have to buy the same mug all over again when I arrive at OKW for 2 nights, then again buy another $13 mug when we get to BLT all within a week's stay. I'm just curious if the chipped mugs will extend to DVC resorts. If so and I have to pay $39 for 6 nights worth of crappy coffee and possibly some coke zero I'll have to start skipping the mug just like I now skip the DDP.

 

[twinklebug]

From what I've read over the years, the mug abuse tends to happen the most at the value resorts where people are on tight budgets. At the DVC resorts folk tend to be a bit more relaxed and willing to put out for a mug or a individual drink... also we have villas with kitchens and are far more likely to just have our own 2L of soda in the fridge.

I've seen soda fountain abuse by one person at POR about 7 years back, it confused me as I had never experienced refillable mugs before that and I was pretty sure what they were doing was wrong

ETA - I did stay at ASM one night 2 years back... saw it happening there. the mugs being used were plastic ones from an outside fast food chain.

 

[quirty30]

On my DVC stays last week at BLT & AKV, I saw several people using the old mugs, others using altogether different mugs, and even saw one woman refilling a plastic cup from the Cove Bar at BLT. I have never seen a CM say a word to anyone. And I'm inclined to think that when the average "law-abiding" mug purchaser witnesses such behavior, it starts a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality. I don't blame Disney at all for trying to find a way to defeat this situation. It's really gotten out of hand.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

If you haven't seen abuse you aren't looking.

I have seen DVC "guests" filling up just about everything you can imagine! (Hint, it's not good form to bring a pitcher from your room to the beverage station! LOL!)

DVC members may be amoung the worst. We all have our "Owners Locker" where we are storing that mug that we can "reuse" And of course we tend to think "As much as I paid for this Disney 'owes' me" (NOTE: My locker does not have a mug and I don't think Disney owes me anything but a room, but... based on the attitude I often witness I may be a minority on that view)

 

[dmoore22]

If you haven't seen abuse you aren't looking.

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.

DVC members may be amoung the worst.

Thank goodness you said "may." I hate dealing with absolutes.

I agree that the CMs should be more proactive in enforcing the policy. It's posted and written on the mugs so there is no excuse. The RFID chip will be interesting since its susceptible to radiation and hacking. Two seconds in a microwave and its history. Any longer and they tend to burst into flame. As SuperSuperWendy mentioned, many of us will use the mug back at the villa. When I'm hard up for some "crappy" coffee I will warm it up in the microwave after its been setting awhile (bye, bye chip, mug, and oops, a fire in the microwave). We use the mugs at home with hot coffee since they are designed to be used in the automobile cup holders. The chip will undermine its usefulness outside the park unless they have a method to remove it at check-out. If it is a read only chip to thwart hackers then one will find themselves having to purchase a new mug should they decide to extend their stay at the same resort, unless, of course, they have a way to remove/replace the read only chip.

 

[twinklebug]

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.

I'll be in line to buy that mug when it comes out.

The RFID chip will be interesting since its susceptible to radiation and hacking. Two seconds in a microwave and its history. Any longer and they tend to burst into flame.

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.)

 

[ldo]

I saw it when we stayed at Pop a few nights 5 years ago. I saw refilling of everything, including a used Nesquik bottle--it was icky!

 

[lugnut33]

I'll be the one drinking my diet Coke from the can. No mugs for me.

 

[dwelty]

We just got back yesterday from SSR and I would say about 15% of the guests with refillable mugs had old designs on them. We saw many from 2006,2007, and 2008. It was so common it became a joke with my wife and I.

I always wondered why they did not have the barcodes like they have at the water parks. The chip idea is even better.

The idea that DVC resorts cater to a higher class of people than the values is laughable. Next time you are at a DVC pool, just look around.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I would be too embarrassed to bring an old mug! Ours get well used once we bring them home. My red handle one from last year is so worn out from the dishwasher and our year of a million dreams ones scream 2008! I always enjoy buying a new one since my previous always get faded. I can't wait to get the new pink handle one..so cute! Chip or not I'll buy it.

 

[Donut23]

Do you all realize that Disney pays $0.00 for coke syrups. Yuppers! They have for a long time. The deal with Coke is that the coke cups are used and it's all written off to advertising.

So.....Disney's Coke-Nazi plan (sorry, from NY and have met the Soup Nazi) is all about regulating something which is ...... FREE.

I wonder how much $$$$$$$$ they spent on R&D to save $$$$ vs. those lousy plastic mugs......especially when the worst offenders are only at a couple of resorts.

Oh well......another RARA for the beancounters.

 

[Sandisw]

This is my concern..

I know and understand that technically each part of our DVC split stay is it's own reservation and therefore we are supposed to buy a new refillable mug at each resort. But how many DVCers actually do this? I bought a refillable mug while at BLT then used it once I got to Kidani during the same trip. I'm sure some would frown upon this. But if now we can segment our stays and everything is under one travel number with various segments in between how does the new chipped mug work for us? If I stay 2 nights at AKV and buy a $13 mug I don't want to have to buy the same mug all over again when I arrive at OKW for 2 nights, then again buy another $13 mug when we get to BLT all within a week's stay. I'm just curious if the chipped mugs will extend to DVC resorts. If so and I have to pay $39 for 6 nights worth of crappy coffee and possibly some coke zero I'll have to start skipping the mug just like I now skip the DDP.

I have done what you do as well and counted "length of stay" as my entire continuous trip.

I don't think that Disney will expect people who choose to do split stays as ones who need to buy a new mug, especially that sometimes DVC members have a night or two different because of availability.

From what I read, the way the chip would work is that it will be active for a set time so I am assuming they will code it to last long enough to cover most people's trips.

If not, then I doubt we will continue to get one for everyone. I need the crappy coffee every day so I will always buy one, regardless, but I certainly won't worry about the kids, who don't use them that much anyway.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I don't buy them for my kids anymore. Since joining DVC we always have soda and milk in the fridge. I get the mug for my crappy coffee fix!!!!

When I told my husband last night about the chipped mugs he thought maybe it would have a time limit for use, such as 10 days or something. That would be great for DVC members who stay at multiple resorts in one visit.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I have done what you do as well and counted "length of stay" as my entire continuous trip.

I don't think that Disney will expect people who choose to do split stays as ones who need to buy a new mug, especially that sometimes DVC members have a night or two different because of availability.....

When a someone books a package at a Disney resort and wants a split stay, they have to purchase a second set of tickets and a second dining plan because each stay is a separate stay. The same with DVC members booking in two different resort or two different sizes of lodging.

So, your length of stay is the stay until check out. Checking in again, means a new length of stay.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

with our refillable mugs to everywhere we go and buy a new one each year. When I used to stay at the values and moderates I saw lots of people using old mugs and jugs, but they were using them to tote quantities of beverages back to their rooms of to the pool so they would not have to make a dozen trips. We'd bring our adult beverages and our mugs and sit outside the doors to the food court because we didn't want to have to truck back and forth to the pool or room.

 

[Alexander]

Curious how the chips will work with DVC resorts when members can pool hop. We are pool hoppers and bring our mugs with us. It seems that a sticker encoded with a length of stay bar code would make more sense. Then the mug can be used anywhere during the length of stay. We also frequent POFQ for meals when we are staying at OKW, so we'd want to be able to use our mugs there as well, and Captain Cooks at the Poly has one of my most favorite sandwiches on property.

I know it isn't ethical, but WDW makes a killing on soda sales, so frankly, it doesn't bother me that some people use older mugs.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I say, Good for Disney! There was a year that I had a split stay and wondered if I could buy a mug and use it for both parts. I didn't ask here, I asked Disney, wrote a letter, and got the reply that I what I had was 2 stays, not 1 stay. In the end, I never bought the mug, I didn't want to buy 2 of them.

Bobbi

 

[RachaelA]

We've only gotten the mugs once when we had the free quick service plan at Pop last December. We thought they were a waste because we never went to the food court JUST to fill them so we always had a drink with our meal. The number of people filling up random things was insane though!

 

[DonnaL]

We've been DVC members for almost 11 years and have only bought the mugs one time and used them only that one trip....VWL trip about six or seven years ago. We are not huge soft drink and coffee drinkers (at least all day coffee drinkers) in our family so really didn't feel they were worth it for us. I've never really understood how the refillable mugs is such a huge thing with people.....do people really drink THAT much of sugar sweetened/artificially sweetened stuff every day? We drink a lot of plain water during our DVC stays......I always order at minimum two cases of water.....more if we have more than 3 of us.....and we don't usually stay a full week on our trips. Sometimes I'll take along those drink mixes made specifically for bottled water in the event we want something other than water........and the cost of the bottled water/plus delivery is no more than the cost of 3 mugs....probably less actually!!! It does bother me, however, that we contribute more to a landfill with those plastic bottles......at home we rarely use bottled water.....we have very good water from our tap so drink that.......