Meal Deal Abuse

[Marquibiri]

I try to always follow the rules... I even frown when my wife starts drinking from MY refill cup, even if its is just a sip.

The Meal Deal isn't my thing over at the darkside..
Free Dining at the motherland, that's another story...

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[macraven]

i know the mugs are good for life.
still bring mine back that i bought in 1999.

i believe it was a valid program prior to when i bought mine, but it was not openly advertised.

i discovered the cheap refills for future trips by a TM at Louie's in '99.
kind of like word of mouth from boards that give you the heads up on tips for the darkside.....


the red cup program hasn't been around as long as the mug discounted refills. when the meal deal came out, the red cup followed it.
buy the beverage deal and get free refills that day.


some years back, it was promoted as the beverage deal and good for that day of sale only.

then it was promoted as good for your present vacation stay.


haven't heard it was valid for life as the souvie mugs are.


but then, i don't buy the red cup promo.
the cups don't have a handle and won't fit into my pockets.....


i have no idea what the official policy is on the red cup free refills.
i don't know if those with the red cups get the soda refill free or pay a discounted price...?

the mugs have a deep refill discount, and i use that on occassion.
my mug has a handle and easy to loop on a belt.

 

[Lycaon]

I bought a red sipper (not the Meal Deal version) two years ago and I've had no problem getting the discounted refills for it. Mine does have a handle on it- I think they introduced the handle-less ones shortly after I bought mine. As long as Universal permits it, I'll keep bringing it back year after year and enjoying the discounts. It fits in my backpack too, so it's easy to tote around

 

[Rip]

It does say on the cup that it is good only for the day of purchase. It doesn't say anything on the butterbeer mugs though or the older souvenir cups.

However, I don't think the rule is enforced.

I'll have to check my old ones sometime to see if it's on them, it's been a few years since I last purchased one and I never bothered looking on them since the TM that sold them to me said they were good for life.

 

[Rip]

i know the mugs are good for life.
still bring mine back that i bought in 1999.

i believe it was a valid program prior to when i bought mine, but it was not openly advertised.

i discovered the cheap refills for future trips by a TM at Louie's in '99.
kind of like word of mouth from boards that give you the heads up on tips for the darkside.....


the red cup program hasn't been around as long as the mug discounted refills. when the meal deal came out, the red cup followed it.
buy the beverage deal and get free refills that day.


some years back, it was promoted as the beverage deal and good for that day of sale only.

then it was promoted as good for your present vacation stay.


haven't heard it was valid for life as the souvie mugs are.


but then, i don't buy the red cup promo.
the cups don't have a handle and won't fit into my pockets.....


i have no idea what the official policy is on the red cup free refills.
i don't know if those with the red cups get the soda refill free or pay a discounted price...?

the mugs have a deep refill discount, and i use that on occassion.
my mug has a handle and easy to loop on a belt.

Maybe I misunderstood damo, I was referring to the souvernier cups and popcorn tubs. I've never bought a red cup.

 

[macraven]

Maybe I misunderstood damo, I was referring to the souvernier cups and popcorn tubs. I've never bought a red cup.

i do remember a friend i was with bought the red cup some years back.
on hers, it listed 'good for present day' only.


i have no idea what is on the cup deal now Rip.

like i said in an above post, i'm not interested in the cup deal as it does not have a handle.

i only take my mug to the parks when it is a no ride day for me.
i pick a day that i just people watch, shop or picture taking.
i can loop the handle around a belt or strap and not have to deal with carrying it by hand then.

i think a lot of peeps do buy cups/mugs while in the park for a couple day touring. and, they usually have others in their group that can hang onto the mugs/cups they have which would eliminate them needing a locker for the ride.

i go solo and would have to use the lockers for the mug if i wanted to do rides that day.

the red cup has been the promo of the "beverage deal" program that is sold in the parks.

any souvie cup or mug bought at universal is eligible to be brought back anytime for use in a discounted refill price.

if you have a mug/cup from SeaWorld, it will be honored at the Universal parks for discounted refills of soda. (juice not allowed in the refill deal).
and, your UO mug/cup is refillable at SW.

the SW mug/cup is smaller than the one at UO, so, buy the UO one to take to SW if that is on your agenda for a day trip.

I think BG is also in the set up mug/cup that is acceptable at UO discounted refills.


Rip, it sounds like you bought a souvie cup and that would be allowed for the discounted refill.

 

[Rip]

i do remember a friend i was with bought the red cup some years back.
on hers, it listed 'good for present day' only.


i have no idea what is on the cup deal now Rip.

like i said in an above post, i'm not interested in the cup deal as it does not have a handle.

i only take my mug to the parks when it is a no ride day for me.
i pick a day that i just people watch, shop or picture taking.
i can loop the handle around a belt or strap and not have to deal with carrying it by hand then.

i think a lot of peeps do buy cups/mugs while in the park for a couple day touring. and, they usually have others in their group that can hang onto the mugs/cups they have which would eliminate them needing a locker for the ride.

i go solo and would have to use the lockers for the mug if i wanted to do rides that day.

the red cup has been the promo of the "beverage deal" program that is sold in the parks.

any souvie cup or mug bought at universal is eligible to be brought back anytime for use in a discounted refill price.

if you have a mug/cup from SeaWorld, it will be honored at the Universal parks for discounted refills of soda. (juice not allowed in the refill deal).
and, your UO mug/cup is refillable at SW.

the SW mug/cup is smaller than the one at UO, so, buy the UO one to take to SW if that is on your agenda for a day trip.

I think BG is also in the set up mug/cup that is acceptable at UO discounted refills.


Rip, it sounds like you bought a souvie cup and that would be allowed for the discounted refill.

Yes, I had no idea about any red cups, so I must have been confused on what damo was referring to.

Thanks for the info, especially about SW. We are thinking about taking the kids there on our next trip.

 

[damo]

The red ones are still called souvenir cups.

 

[DCTooTall]

if you have a mug/cup from SeaWorld, it will be honored at the Universal parks for discounted refills of soda. (juice not allowed in the refill deal).
and, your UO mug/cup is refillable at SW.

the SW mug/cup is smaller than the one at UO, so, buy the UO one to take to SW if that is on your agenda for a day trip.

I think BG is also in the set up mug/cup that is acceptable at UO discounted refills.

I wonder if the SeaWorld/BG/UO reciprocal deal may be phased out in the not-too-distant future since Blackstone was bought out of their UO interest....

 

[Metro West]

I wonder if the SeaWorld/BG/UO reciprocal deal may be phased out in the not-too-distant future since Blackstone was bought out of their UO interest....

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you are right.

 

[wichty2]

Wow i am so lost (which doesnt take much ) We are going at the end of the month for the first time, which is better the souvenier cup and the drink deal cup??? lol

 

[SanFranciscan]

I really feel we saved some money using the meal deal. I got the 2 park pass for $26 but found I would have been fine getting the 1 park pass for $20. Now I did see people going back and forth for meals in a party of 2 or 4 and only having one person with a band. Is this done often? How do you feel about this?

I was at first shocked by your post since it seems like such a petty thing to steal that it says something about what price those people would put upon their integrity. Then I remembered what I used to go through as a Fresh Choice cashier in San Francisco. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet. I used to have people come through my line claiming that only one person was going to eat while another was "just having coffee" or whatever their lie was. Not only would I see these people eating food that they had not paid for, but some of them were so shameless about lying that they would have two sets of silverware on their tray.

I started out taking back the second set of silverware and pretending that it must have been taken by mistake, but I got battle weary because I soon learned that if the customer complained management was not going to back me up. To top it off people would want their "frequent diner" stickers before they paid and try to pretend that they had not gotten any in order to score more. Some people ended up getting many more free meals than they paid for. Yet what could I do once I knew that I would pay dearly if the customer decided to make a fuss in order to get away with stealng? That was a no-win situation for me so I stopped defending the company's profit margin after I knew that the mangers, who were getting pay and benefits that I would never see anything close to, were not willing to stop this theft; and I let the "customers" have their way and simply moved on quickly to another job. That restaurant went out of business soon after I left, but I don't think that I could have done anything to save it.

I agree with you that what you witnessed is wrong, but better to discontinue the Meal Deal than to have customers fighting each other over thieves who think that witnesses should "mind their own business."

 

[macraven]

I wonder if the SeaWorld/BG/UO reciprocal deal may be phased out in the not-too-distant future since Blackstone was bought out of their UO interest....

that quite possibly could happen but for right now, you can use your mug there.

 

[wmjivey]

Witchy, you want the RED cup, When we were there in June, they were buy 2 and get one free. They cost 7.95 with .79 or .89 cent refills depending on where you refill them. Like you have read, if you bring them everyday pay the fee and they will be refilled. You of course need to decide on how drinks you will drink and if you are bringing them back to get the cost back. The meal deal cups only can be refilled at the meal deal places, so not that easy.
The popcorn buckets are also refillable makes great snacks between meals.

The Man

 

[SanFranciscan]

If you are not deliberately trying to steal, such as by handing off the cups to people who never bought them, I wouldn't be too concerned about the soda cups that you did pay for as apparently there is real confusion here. Being that soft drinks are just carbonated water, it probaby costs Universal more when a customer flushes the toilet. What the OP described here was a deliberate attempt to steal unlimited meals for twice as many people as the wristbands included on the Meal Deal.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

Red solo cup!

 

[chrissydisp24]

Okay, so you get a red cup if you buy the drink with the meal deal, is this correct?

Also, you can refill it anywhere for under $1 or free at the meal deal places, is that correct?

Lastly, I know you can't split meals at the meal deal places but can you share drink cups? I rather just buy 2 of them to lug around and refill than 4 that we have to dump out because we can't finish them?

 

[SammySlythers]

Okay, so you get a red cup if you buy the drink with the meal deal, is this correct?

Also, you can refill it anywhere for under $1 or free at the meal deal places, is that correct?

Lastly, I know you can't split meals at the meal deal places but can you share drink cups? I rather just buy 2 of them to lug around and refill than 4 that we have to dump out because we can't finish them?

No. You buy the red cups at stands or stores around the park where the first fill is free the rest are under $1. These are NOT the cups that you can choose to buy with the meal deal. The meal deal cups are white Coca Cola Freestyle cups that ONLY work on the Coke Freestyle machines in the meal deal restaurants plus one other drink only stand at each park. They cost $10.99 for the first day and have chips in them so they will only refill for free the day of purchase and only once every 15 minutes. To use the same white freestyle cup for a second day you have to pay the re-use price on day 2 which is believe is $8.99. The red cups are a much better deal because the average person doesn't drink nearly as much as you would have to in order to break even in comparison on the meal deal cups. Buy the meal deal without the cups and buy the red cups separately.

 

[chrissydisp24]

Gotcha!! Thanks!

 

[conniehar90]

We were there a few weeks ago and were discussing the meal deal and how easy it would be to abuse it. Note - we were just discussing this not considering it! We didn't purchase the deal as we were leaving in the afternoon and only having one meal in the park. Even having two meals, it seems like it would be difficult to make it worth it with the current price. However, as we ate our lunch, we decided it wouldn't even be worth it to try to abuse this because the lines for food were soooo long and sooooo slow! But, if someone tried to abuse it, no one working there would notice at all.