No more unlimited refills on resort mugs?

[BrerRabbit1114]

Ok, I'm doing a split stay at two different resorts. Do I have to buy mugs for each resort?

That sorta used to be the case when each resort had it's own style mug. Altho many people went ahead and used em at both resorts anyway.

Today, the mugs are pretty much all the same. So there's hardly any point. And honestly, if you ask at any Disney resort and explain the split trip, they'll tell you .. they put more weight on the "for the duration of your trip" portion than they do "at the resort where you bought it."

................
that was copied from the sticky at the beg. of the refillable mug thread. note: "duration of your trip" trip, single, not plural, one trip. viola!

There is no way you should buy mugs at each of your resorts. Buy a mug at the first resort and use it at the second one also. It's the same design cup at all the resorts, the only thing that might be different is the lid color.

 

[BrerRabbit1114]

I think it is sad that people will bring their cup back on future trips
If you are that tint on cash then you prov shouldn't be spending the money on vacatioto begin with

So you have to be rich to go on vacation now? Who are you? That's the whole point, Disney World is expensive, so why buy a new mug every year if you can get away with using an older version.

 

[BrerRabbit1114]

You know everytime I have stayed at the Pop I have seen people with mugs from previous years. If this is such a huge issue why are they not told by CM's that they need to purchase a new mug. I mean there are CM's everywhere at the food court they have to see that people are using older mugs.

Because it's not that big of a deal, do you honestly think the cast members care what guests are doing. It's a job, they're their for there shift, they get a paycheck and that's it. That's why everyone on this board are so annoying. God for bid you bring an old mug and your called a "cheap" or "you shouldn't be on vacation in the first place if you can't afford a mug". So annoying.

 

[pilferk]

So If I did the math correctly, you think that you should get 4 free drinks when you only purchased two. Yes, I know they were supposedly for you and you had unlimited drinks available, but how often do you figure that people are filling one paid for mug and three old ones for 4 different people. Someone mentioned on some board (maybe this one) the they think that they should be able to go into a buffet breakfast at Disney and not be required to pay for it. After all, they just purchased one last year. Although they were kidding, it is really the same thing, just more extreme.

I have only stayed on site once in all my years of traveling to WDW. I bought one mug while I was there and used it once in the morning and once in the evening. Frankly the two hundred mile walk to the food court was simply not worth the effort. When Disney naively came up with this program, I think they thought that this is what was going to happen. Talk about grossly underestimating the greed of the American public.

Before too long, if this new innovation doesn't work, you will see the refillable mug in museum under the heading of...this used to be until it was milked dry.

Nope, you're doing the math wrong.

We buy 2 Disney Refillable mugs. They don't keep things warm.

I have 2 travel mugs that do.

Usually I take one mug down to the filling station, fill the mug, pour the contents into a travel mug. Then I fill the mug again, and pour the contents into the other travel mug.

When I leave the food court, there are 2 full mugs (our travel mugs) and one empty mug (the Disney Resort mug..which I rinse out somewhere).

No extra anything. We have exactly what we paid Disney for...just in containers that will keep it warm.

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

Threads like this just make me glad we decided last trip to stop dealing with the mugs-they made great sense while we had strollers to stash them in, but without the strollers we aren't toting mugs all day so we will be stashing the room with canned drinks to take as we head out for the day-we only used our mugs like 3 times last trip-totally not worth it-and half the time the food court was closed by the time we got back to the hotel at night-Ya'll have fun!

 

[Cafeen]

i probably misworded what i posted.

didn't mean to give anyone the impression i was going to fill two mugs during that 70 second time period.
i buy two mugs each trip.


my concern is that when you run the coffee in your mug, you get a lot of foam on the top. i have no idea why it get so foamy for me when i use the lever. i stop for a few seconds to try to prevent all that foam.

you have to carefully pour that top foam out.

doing that, you do lose some coffee out of your mug.



once that is done, i can finish filling my disney mug.

i have never timed how long it takes to get coffee and the foam out.
but, i know it takes longer than when people just do a fill up on soda.


i get up in the morning, throw any type of clothing on, and get my two mugs of coffee. (i do not function well without coffee in the morning.)
return to the room, drink coffee and watch a bit of tv until i get dressed and ready for the day.


i hope someone starts a thread on how smooth the new set up will be.

then i won't have to second guess about the new system.

Ahh yes, I did read it wrong . If the system makes its way off of the soda fountains, I'd expect the max pour to be a little bit higher than the cup size it's for, specifically for foam and small spill reasons. It's not uncommon at all whether for coffee or other soft drinks to have to dump some out to get rid of excessive foam.

Same deal with the timing, I'd bet that the 70 seconds for a single pour could be easily adjusted if they see need to do it, especially on the machines you're more concerned about.

Of course, I may be very wrong and way off the mark.

 

[pilferk]

You are correct...I read the post incorrectly. My apologies to all involved.

It does seem to point out, however, just how complicated we all can voluntarily make our lives. Extra cups because the free one doesn't keep coffee hot long enough seems like a huge waste of life and time. If it is all that important, buy a cup of coffee, to me, at least, all that hassle just doesn't seem worth the comparatively minor amount of money involved. I guess it depends on how much you feel your time is worth. When you get to my age, you really don't want to waste it.

If one is so poor that they cannot afford the exorbitant cost of coffee, it seems like maybe staying at home would have been a better option. And yes, the same goes for parking fee's where they apply.

It's actually not a waste of time. We have to walk right near (or right past) the filling stations to leave the resort to head to the parks in the morning.

And, during a 10 to 14 day trip, it's a LOT cheaper to buy those mugs over buying paying the price for a Disney cup of coffee, individually. It's a good value (and it can be used for hot chocolate at night...and iced tea if we're hanging around the resort during the day).

Usually, I leave the room while my wife starts wrangling the kids together. By the time the mugs are full and ready...she's usually in the lobby with the kids and we're heading out the door (with the Disney mug rinsed and stowed in our stroller for the day).

It's not complicated..it's not time consuming..and it saves us a decent amount of money. FOR us.

 

[DisneyFive]

I meant buying food at a local super market and storing it at your resort room, not in the parks. I definately wouldn't allow guests to bring food into the park, that would be annoying.

I don't understand the problem with letting guests bring food into the park. Are you referring to a certiain kind of food? Disney has been allowing guest to bring food into the parks since the beginning right? Is it causing problems? I didn't see any in our 8 day trip last year.

I think this is a great way for guest to save money if they want to bring food in, like sandwiches, drinks, etc...

Dan

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't understand the problem with letting guests bring food into the park.

There isn't any. Once upon a time, Disney "officially" forbade outside food and drink, more or less, but unofficially allowed it. Several years ago, the policy was changed; you can now bring in outside food and drink, subject to a few limitations (no glass, alcohol, coolers bigger than X, that sort of thing.)

 

[Reddog1134]

When I am at WDW, I honestly have no problem with people using old mugs. If someone has a mug from 10 years ago and walks up to the soda fountain to get a refill then it has no effect on my vacation.

However, in a discussion forum such as this one I WILL say "Yes, reusing mugs is cheating the system no matter how you slice it." So if you ARE going to do it, at least admit it is cheating.

 

[pilferk]

You know what else would solve the problem and not cause any confusion at all? Stop the entire program. Charge for any drink that you get and that would be that. Easy for them, no additional expense to implement, and probable increased profits. If someone would actually not visit Disney anymore because they couldn't get free drinks, well, I suspect they have other issues as well.

So if everyone that loads up year after year on free drinks, when it is obvious that this was not the intent, doesn't mind that the whole thing will just go away if it gets to be a big enough pain in the butt, then they should continue on.

I'm not sure it would make much difference to Disney's bottom line. With the advent of places like garden grocer and the like....there are other options. Right now, the mug program strikes a nice balance between value and convenience. Disney tips it too far away from either and I'd guess people will just find other options that meet one need or the other. SOME might take the convenience (but buy less), SOME might take value (and not buy any, SOME might take the convenience and buy the same......without a ton of data, I'm not sure you could assume an increase in revenue/profit. MAYBE is about the best you can say.

 

[pilferk]

I got a question for anyone that has several mugs from over the years. Are the new mugs smaller? Go through the cabinets and get the mugs out, get a 2 cup measuring cup and see how many ozs they hold. When DD17 and I were there in March she commented on how small the new mugs look. I know in 2005 when you added ice the mug wouldn't hold 12oz. In 2005 we bought 1 mug because DBF needed his coffee. I stopped buying mugs in '00, I'd always bring a cooler with water, juice boxes, and coke for the drive. My then teenage daughters would go to food court bring back their food, forget to take their mugs and grab a can of coke from cooler. At Hess on site they sell 2 12 packs for $7.00, if I bought 2 mugs we'd have to refill 48 times each just to equal the price of cans. I bought one of those insulated water cups from DTD. Paid $16.95 for it, at work tonight I put ice in it, 6 hours later there is still ice. Prefer it to the mug sold at the resorts. At Bed, Bath, & Beyond the sell replacement straws and coffee style lid.

Yes, the newer ones are smaller.

Or, at least, our 1997 and 1999 All Star Music mugs are bigger than our 2004 AKL mug....by a decent margin (about 2 oz).
Since 2004, they're all pretty similar in size (depending on style, they can vary by small amounts).

 

[pilferk]

One more thing and then I am going to try to stop thinking about this. But, how many of you have filled your mugs and discovered the Coke was flat or tasted funny? I have. On several occasions. If I am understanding correctly, I am blocked out for 5 minutes from refilling.

You go to the register...or someone at one of the counters...and tell them there is a problem. They grab a paper cup, scan it, and have the manager comp it...and then wait for them to fix the machine so the coke dispenses properly (or get something else).

Problem solved.

It's no more (or less) difficult than walking over to tell them that the Coke isn't working right and having someone adjust the machine. It might take an extra minute or so to do.

In addition, there is probably a manager override on the dispenser, itself. Insert key, twist, and it turns off the RFID function (which they'd need to do for testing and changes, anyway).

There's solutions to customer problems like that...and they're not that resource intensive.

 

[pilferk]

I'm confused by this because if you chose not to purchase the refillable mug and just buy your drinks with each meal how will the paper cup make the machines work? They can't possibly put chips in all the disposable cups....

Yes they can.

They're RFID labels (they look like small stickers) and they're actually not all that expensive.

If you read through the thread, you'll find a post talking about the actual provider (Validfill?, I think they're called). They provide exactly what we're talking about.

 

[BrerRabbit1114]

I don't understand the problem with letting guests bring food into the park. Are you referring to a certiain kind of food? Disney has been allowing guest to bring food into the parks since the beginning right? Is it causing problems? I didn't see any in our 8 day trip last year.

I think this is a great way for guest to save money if they want to bring food in, like sandwiches, drinks, etc...

Dan

It's a good way to save money but I usually just eat a good breakfast and try to wait til I get back to the hotel to eat my lunch.

 

[BrerRabbit1114]

When I am at WDW, I honestly have no problem with people using old mugs. If someone has a mug from 10 years ago and walks up to the soda fountain to get a refill then it has no effect on my vacation.

However, in a discussion forum such as this one I WILL say "Yes, reusing mugs is cheating the system no matter how you slice it." So if you ARE going to do it, at least admit it is cheating.

I'm the same way, I could care less what kind of mug someone is using, as long as it's from a disney resort. And there's no were on the old mugs that says when they are good til. I don't see how it is cheating. I honestly think it saves a family money. And by the way, I actually bought a new mug this year because I didn't feel like using the 2007 version.

 

[udsweetpea]

I wonder if Disney ever asks the opinions of the guests regarding the refillable mugs. Instead of putting all of these rules together to help increase their profits, why not ask the guests what they'd be willing to pay MORE for? I, personally, would pay more for a mug if it went back to being resort-specific. I love my resort mugs from Beach Club and POR, but the ones that are generic are just blah. And I'd pay more for a mug if there were refilling stations in the parks or if you could refill them at table-service restaurants. I know some people would try to refill other cups, but there could be a cast member to monitor that. We hardly ever take our mugs to the parks because we don't carry much with us, so we always have to walk back to the room with the mugs before leaving. It's be cool if there was a reason to take the mugs with us to the parks.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

The first day, of every visit, I tell myself that the coffee surely can't be as bad as I remember it. So I give it a shot, dump it out, and switch to ice tea for the rest of the trip.

Now, I'll either have to give up this tradition of trying the coffee,....or wait five minutes to replenish with tea.

If water is going to be free, will that be hot water too? Maybe I'll pack some instant coffee....it truly couldn't be any worse than what's currently being served.

 

[pilferk]

The first day, of every visit, I tell myself that the coffee surely can't be as bad as I remember it. So I give it a shot, dump it out, and switch to ice tea for the rest of the trip.

Now, I'll either have to give up this tradition of trying the coffee,....or wait five minutes to replenish with tea.

If water is going to be free, will that be hot water too? Maybe I'll pack some instant coffee....it truly couldn't be any worse than what's currently being served.

The coffee is pretty bad.

I'm thinking, this trip, we'll just make an extra pot in the AM rather than buy mugs....

 

[kaytieeldr]

The first day, of every visit, I tell myself that the coffee surely can't be as bad as I remember it. So I give it a shot, dump it out, and switch to ice tea for the rest of the trip.

Now, I'll either have to give up this tradition of trying the coffee,....or wait five minutes to replenish with tea.

If water is going to be free, will that be hot water too? Maybe I'll pack some instant coffee....it truly couldn't be any worse than what's currently being served.

As I said on the previous page, this is false. The RFID chips, at least for now, affect ONLY the soda machines.