This is NOT
DVC doing something right! It is wrong on so many levels, but some people just can't see the forest for the trees.
By replacing the mugs and glassware with plastic and paper, more trash is created. BAD for the environment and smacks of hypocrisy from a company that prides itself on being environmentally friendly. Providing reusable cups and mugs (and I feel there should be real dishes too, but that's a different thread altogether and we weren't led to believe that when we bought in) is much more environmentally friendly. I can just see the litter around the resorts now. People don't tend to take their ceramic coffee mug out of the room on the way to the parks, but I bet they start taking those styrofoam cups with them. Not only that, but the cost to constantly replace them will be passed onto us as owner/members. Anyone remember the old adage, "do as I say, not as I do"??? Must be DVC's new motto.
So what if there are no dishwashers in a studio unit. For hundreds, dare I say thousands, of years, people washed dishes by hand. There is nothing wrong with this. If Disney can't get their employees to do their jobs correctly between ressies, that's a problem they should address on that end, not by punishing those of us who bought into their vacation home away from homes. Maybe Disney should do like other hotels and swap out all glassware in the studios between ressies and take them to a commercial dishwashing area. That's what many other DELUXE hotels/resorts do. Heck, even some of the less expensive hotels/resorts do this. There isn't even an issue of cups being washed by housekeeping incorrectly, because their system is much more sanitary to begin with.
It also creates a class system within the DVC resorts that should not exist. DVC units are deluxe units. PERIOD. End of story. It shouldn't matter if you're in a studio or larger unit. Paper and styrofoam are for value accommodations, not deluxe. Say what you will about studios being the bottom of the barrel, but if I'm getting bottom-of-the-barrel amenities, I'd better be paying bottom-of-the-barrel prices and not what Disney charges to stay in a DVC studio.
Companies looking to save a dollar here or there always take away the little things because they think that people won't notice or won't care enough to complain. The problem is that when enough little things are taken away, it becomes a BIG thing and people do start to notice. For many of us, this is the "straw that broke the camel's back," and "we're mad as H-E-double-hockey sticks and just not going to take it any more."
I love Disney and have enjoyed my DVC membership/ownership for many years. However, I really am beginning to rethink the whole thing. My Disney vacation home is quickly becoming a high-priced, low-class neighborhood.