Disney to Limit Refillable Mug use

[skier_pete]

I am amazed that people are really arguing that Disney should give them free sodas for the rest of their lives. How you argue against this based on "Disney is not paying for the soda" is stupid. Disney is still paying to maintain and run those machines. The soda is NOT free.

I can't harp to hard on people re-using their mugs when Disney clearly allows it even though it says not to...however, I also can't see how you can say there is anything wrong with Disney charging you each visit.

 

[smitch425]

So if someone buys a paper cup they can fill it up as many times as they want??? Wouldnt people still bring old mugs without a barcode and wouldnt that act just like a paper cup? The soda machine will not be able to determine who has a paper cup vs a plastic mug from 2010 without a barcode. Maybe they will have Soda Security posted at each vending area.

The paper cups will also have a chip on them. Likely, they will activate at purchase or first use and be good for a set amount of time, maybe 1-2 hours. Long enough for someone to get a refill during their meal, but short enough that they can't keep using it for free refills for a day at the pool. If you try to use ANY cup without a chip, you cannot get anything but water, which will continue to be free to all guests.

 

[baylakebisi]

If this test works at All Star, they should expand it to Cosmic Rays. Barcode the chairs so that you can only pull them out and sit on them once you have your food. That would put an end to those horrible seat saver people. Same thing at the resorts, bar code the room towels and TP (TP applies more for us DVC people) so people dont take them from the mousekeepers cart. If we can just figure out how to barcode those darn pool lounges so that people dont leave there towel on a chair, go to the park and then come to the pool.

 

[nytimez]

I'm sorry if I offended you as well, but I don't know how prefacing a statement with "in my opinion" is so horrible. As one who has always followed the mug rules, and given the pretty large support of Disers who are in agreement with me on this, there's not a lot to complain about--UNLESS you were abusing the system that has been in place for a long time. Not sure why a statement like mine would bother you so much. But alas, I guess it did, so again, I do apologize.

I'm not offended. I just think it's absolutely insane to make a blanket accusation against someone you don't know and haven't met -- and to say that someone who disagrees with you MUST be a soda thief just makes me wonder what color the sky might be on your planet, and if you breathe the same air as the rest of us.

Throwing "just my opinion" in front of it doesn't excuse the total ignorance or the accusatory nature of your post.

 

[Donut23]

Sorry if I came across harsh in my post, but when you made a complaint about all the money Disney was spending on computer research, I was trying to point out that the research did not need to be done by Disney. They are using an established company with that company's own technology. This thread was started LONG after the original thread which includes the company name, FAQ, system diagrams, etc.

I guess I'm also not really understanding why you would seem so annoyed by something you have absolutely no intention of using. But like you said, to each his/her own. Sorry, again.




I'm sorry if I offended you as well, but I don't know how prefacing a statement with "in my opinion" is so horrible. As one who has always followed the mug rules, and given the pretty large support of Disers who are in agreement with me on this, there's not a lot to complain about--UNLESS you were abusing the system that has been in place for a long time. Not sure why a statement like mine would bother you so much. But alas, I guess it did, so again, I do apologize.

I'm not allowed an opinion? ....and if I have an opinion I have to justify WHY I hold that opinion?

We see things from the inside (DH a 33 year castmember). Decisions no longer made with any ANY consideration for the guest only the stockholder. They will take away and take away until guests stop coming. Reality of the changes "inside" ruined the rose-colored glasses we once wore. They are not the company they pretend to be, trust me. Eventually EVERYONE will run into that wall. I'm always sad when it happens because I remember how difficult it was to face the reality of the changes to the company we loved and adored. Ok, THAT's why.

As far as $$$ spent.......Disney researched this program at DL....they spent time and $$$$ chasing after what? They bought the program. Now they will install and maintain a system to check for the few people who abuse the system? Think about it.....how much $$$$ will they spend vs. the simple cost of..... COKE SYRUP!

Again, if you had asked me, I would have suggested the Yeti was a better place to invest the $$$.

 

[smitch425]

I'm not allowed an opinion? ....and if I have an opinion I have to justify WHY I hold that opinion?

We see things from the inside (DH a 33 year castmember). Decisions no longer made with any ANY consideration for the guest only the stockholder. They will take away and take away until guests stop coming. Reality of the changes "inside" ruined the rose-colored glasses we once wore. They are not the company they pretend to be, trust me. Eventually EVERYONE will run into that wall. I'm always sad when it happens because I remember how difficult it was to face the reality of the changes to the company we loved and adored. Ok, THAT's why.

As far as $$$ spent.......Disney researched this program at DL....they spent time and $$$$ chasing after what? They bought the program. Now they will install and maintain a system to check for the few people who abuse the system? Think about it.....how much $$$$ will they spend vs. the simple cost of..... COKE SYRUP!

Again, if you had asked me, I would have suggested the Yeti was a better place to invest the $$$.

It has NOTHING to do with the Coke syrup. It has to do with the MUGS. Think about it...if a family of 4 each buys a mug in 2004 and they reuse those mugs on each of their once-a-year trips through 2011, that's approx. $400 that Disney should be getting, but isn't because people choose to abuse the system. Disney is not out to get anyone with this particular system, they are out to get the money that is RIGHTFULLY owed to them. Simple as that. The abuse happens more than you think. I've seen it MULTIPLE times over the course of our vacations. I have a pretty large collection of mugs, but in October, new system or not, I will have 4 more.

Again, sorry if any of my comments offended you. I'm not out to fight with anyone. I just want people to have the proper information before deciding (for themselves) if it is a good thing or a bad thing that this system is being tested.

 

[Swamp_Fox]

I find myself guilty of being a mug re-user. I have various resort mugs that I had paid for. If I go to a particular resort I will use the mug for that resort. Is that wrong kind of but it's not as wrong as someone using a Universal Studios, or Sea World and even a Wal Mart mug to freely fill up. I wouldn't mind if the resorts had a mug rental system with a deposit. You rent the mug for your stay put a deposit on it and when you check out you can return the mug to the food court show your reciept and get your deposit back. And you dont have to worry about adding mugs to your collection because you had to buy a new one each Disney trip. Plus you are being green.

Swamp Fox

 

[smitch425]

In my opinion, the people who overly complain about the system are the ones who have been abusing it. Now they either pay for the new mug (or a paper cup using the same technology) or they drink the free water.

I'm not offended. I just think it's absolutely insane to make a blanket accusation against someone you don't know and haven't met -- and to say that someone who disagrees with you MUST be a soda thief just makes me wonder what color the sky might be on your planet, and if you breathe the same air as the rest of us.

Throwing "just my opinion" in front of it doesn't excuse the total ignorance or the accusatory nature of your post.

Now that I am understanding that my original post was misinterpretted, I am understanding a bit better why it was such a big deal and I got flamed for it...

I stated in the sentence "the people". I was NOT talking about Donut23, I was talking about people in general. I also said "who OVERLY complain", meaning the ones who will REPEATEDLY complain and more specifically (which I did not state originally and I definitely SHOULD have) the people who will do this at the resort in real time. The ONLY part of my post meant specifically to Donut23 was the part about getting the facts before coming to an automatic conclusion. That is my fault for not wording my thoughts properly as to not come off sounding totally rude. I mean, I have apologized to BOTH of you , so I'm not sure what else I can really do at this point. Just know, that if you read any of my OTHER posts, you would find that I am actually a pretty nice person, and since I've had many more "thank you"s than "total ignorance or the accusatory nature"s in responses to my posts, then I will just have to chalk this up to being an "off" day. I do feel badly (to the point of sheding a few tears--I'm such a sap), but there's really nothing else I can do, but say "I'm sorry" one last time. So... I'm sorry.

 

[nytimez]

Now that I am understanding that my original post was misinterpretted, I am understanding a bit better why it was such a big deal and I got flamed for it...

I stated in the sentence "the people". I was NOT talking about Donut23, I was talking about people in general. I also said "who OVERLY complain", meaning the ones who will REPEATEDLY complain and more specifically (which I did not state originally and I definitely SHOULD have) the people who will do this at the resort in real time. The ONLY part of my post meant specifically to Donut23 was the part about getting the facts before coming to an automatic conclusion. That is my fault for not wording my thoughts properly as to not come off sounding totally rude. I mean, I have apologized to BOTH of you , so I'm not sure what else I can really do at this point. Just know, that if you read any of my OTHER posts, you would find that I am actually a pretty nice person, and since I've had many more "thank you"s than "total ignorance or the accusatory nature"s in responses to my posts, then I will just have to chalk this up to being an "off" day. I do feel badly (to the point of sheding a few tears--I'm such a sap), but there's really nothing else I can do, but say "I'm sorry" one last time. So... I'm sorry.

No need for tears or apologies. I actually think you made some excellent points. I just find it bothersome when these threads devolve into accusations, and I am glad yours were not aimed at the poster you quoted.

FWIW, I don't care one way or another about the mugs. Never bought one, never will. But I do enjoy how quickly these minor (to me) issues ignite so much passion.

 

[DizCaptain]

As long as our lifetime mugs from the WL are still valid, I have no care in the world over this matter.

 

[arthuruscg]

Great, so now i have to get a cast member to allow me to get another cup of coffee after one of the machines dispenses colored water. I buy the mug only to get coffee in the morning. Based on my last stay and the "quality" of the coffee machines, it might not be worth the hassel of getting a mug. It sounds like I will be packing instant coffee for the trip to go with the free hot water.

It would be nice to be able to use the same mug everywhere during the WDW vacation. Then the system would also be greener since guests would not be throwing away cups all the time.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

I have no problem with that. We don't abuse the system so it won't impact us. Actually our last trip was the first time we bought the mugs and we bought one for each of us and we LOVED them! I don't think we will ever go to Disney and not get them. They get used all the time here at home too.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I understand why Disney wants to implement this program because there are many many people who use old mugs in all of the resorts. On our most recent trip at the end of June we decided to spend some time hotel hopping (just to check out the gift shops, food courts, game rooms etc.) and were amazed at the amount of people in various resorts that were using old mugs (especially the old ones that are resort specific and that were shorter and wider than the ones used now. those stick out like a sore thumb). It was actually DS10 that noticed it in the first resort we were visiting (POFQ) he noticed a woman with an old mug from Caribbean Beach, after that we made it kind of a "game" to see if we could spot other people in other resorts doing the same thing and sure enough there were many more people than I expected.

The only problem I have with Disney doing the computer chip thing that is good only for that particular stay is I think they should have some type of program that allows you to bring your computer chip mug back any time you return in the future and have the ability to pay (maybe 1/2 price) to get the mug reactivated. This way people who visit yearly or multiple times a year don't wind up with dozens of useless mugs that will eventually wind up in landfills. Our family has tons of old mugs because we buy them each time we go to Disney and I have even thrown some of the older ones away because I just don't have any where to keep them all.

 

[Virtucomp]

The only problem I have with Disney doing the computer chip thing that is good only for that particular stay is I think they should have some type of program that allows you to bring your computer chip mug back any time you return in the future and have the ability to pay (maybe 1/2 price) to get the mug reactivated. This way people who visit yearly or multiple times a year don't wind up with dozens of useless mugs that will eventually wind up in landfills. .

I second this idea. RFID should not ware out so you could bring back the old mug and pay a lower fee. I'm sure the system could handle that if the programmers are smart enough.

Will they want to give up full sales of new mugs? Probably not but it would be a nice touch for returning customers.

 

[retlt72]

I can see both sides of the coin, but any loss real or perceived by Disney is just going to come back to the guests by way of higher prices on everything from park tickets to food to rooms. So if Disney keeps some of the costs down by comming up with a way to limit the use of the refillable mugs to the length of stay I have no problem with it. If you multiply what they think is a loss per guest even if it"s only $0.25 times the amount of guests per year it really is significant!

 

[Wick]

I would be more comfortable with this if Disney went back to selling resort-specific mugs!!!

There is just too much generic "Walt Disney World" - or even worse, "Disney Parks" - merchandise these days...

 

[umichigan10]

I would be more comfortable with this if Disney went back to selling resort-specific mugs!!!

There is just too much generic "Walt Disney World" - or even worse, "Disney Parks" - merchandise these days...

 

[Maelstrom_]

I'm a little confused about how this is going to work. How are they going to base the amount of days you can use your mug for. I'm heading to AKV for 10 days in Sept, but I have a split reservation with some days including deluxe dining and the rest with no dining plan. the deluxe plan comes with refillable mugs. Are they only going to be good for the first few days I'm there?

I also like to resort hop. I'm not doing it my next trip, but I'll very often spend 1/2 of my trip at the BCV, then another 1/2 at AKV or BLT. Will I have to buy a new mug when I switch hotels?

 

[iteachlit]

I'm a little confused about how this is going to work. How are they going to base the amount of days you can use your mug for. I'm heading to AKV for 10 days in Sept, but I have a split reservation with some days including deluxe dining and the rest with no dining plan. the deluxe plan comes with refillable mugs. Are they only going to be good for the first few days I'm there?

The mug will likely be active only during the part of your trip with the dining plan. It's possible that the RFID tag could be "reactivated" after the plan expires, but you would likely have to pay for a new mug.

I also like to resort hop. I'm not doing it my next trip, but I'll very often spend 1/2 of my trip at the BCV, then another 1/2 at AKV or BLT. Will I have to buy a new mug when I switch hotels?

This has always been the case. The mugs are good ONLY at the resort they were purchased. Because all of the mugs now look the same, it would be easy to use them at the second resort. Easy, but wrong.

Here's the mug blurb from Disney's dining brochure:

The plan also includes one (1)
Resort refillable drink mug per person, per package (eligible for refills
at Quick-Service locations only in your Disney Resort hotel).

I didn't add the bold text, BTW.

 

[nytimez]

The mug will likely be active only during the part of your trip with the dining plan. It's possible that the RFID tag could be "reactivated" after the plan expires, but you would likely have to pay for a new mug.

My understanding is that they are much more basic than that -- they won't be linked to room stays or dining plans. They'll all have the same chip with the same activation life -- I don't know what it is, but it would be longer than any Disney stay... like 30 days.

Once activated, it'll be good for that pre-set period -- ie 30 days -- no matter how long or short your trip is.