Refillable mugs drink refill machines new monitoring system?

[Jeanieblue114]

I recently read a newsletter from one of the Disney boards that I subscribe to that talked about new monitoring devices on the drink refill machines.

The article said that they were being tested at the value resorts and that they will soon be in all resorts.


Has anyone encountered these yet?


The general info (if i remember the info correctly and please correct me if i'm wrong because i don't have the article handy at the moment) was that with paper cups there is a code on the cup bottom. The code will scan on the machine and allow for 3 refills within an hour.

The refillable mugs will also have a code to scan and their use will be limited as well (i don't remember the exact details on their limits other than that it is restricted to the dates of your stay and expires after 2 weeks. If you stay longer than 2 weeks, you will be issued new mugs).

I guess this explains why Disney has no problem adding in the mugs next year to the basic plan. All the use across the board for all drinks will be restricted and balance out.


so be careful if you're thirsty and you fill your cup and then drink some down and then top it off, you might have just used up 2 of your fills for the hour.

 

[Cafeen]

There was lots of talk about this last month or so.

Essentially, it's an RFID system, where RFID labels are stuck to the paper cups (though, the mugs may have them embedded). These RFID labels activate the drink machines. The word on the street when this was a hot topic was the following:

• Paper cups would get either x number of refills or be activated for a specific time-frame (~1hour). Likely it was just the time-frame portion (I don't remember the details here )
• Refillable mugs would be activated for your length of stay plus some undetermined (or announced) number of days. These would allow unlimited refills during this period, with a lockout of 5 minutes in between refills.
• There would be NO total cap on mug refills!
• The system would measure out the amount of drink allotted to each type of cup/mug. Chances are, they'd allow a bit more than it can hold to anticipate spillage and the like.
• The RFID chip can hold various data points, including date to start, date to end, number of refills, location of refills, location of purchase, and other data.

Not really sure what else was discussed, but it certainly was not 3 refills per hour (theoretically 12 max, with very quick refills every 5 minutes).

That 5 minute rule did cause some consternation, as well as the lack of clear info with what happens when the system runs out of syrup and/or CO2. As did any additional costs associated with the RFID tags as well as system implementation.

I don't remember how it all ended, other than people going at each other for no apparent reason. I just found the system rather fascinating and was (and still am) enamored with the potentials that it could have.

As far as the mug being on DDP next year, trust me, they compensated with the price increase, more than enough .

 

[Jeanieblue114]

I found the item that i read. This is a report from the Allears weekly newsletter:

.. from Danette Beitra: I just got back from a weekend trip to All Star Sports for Labor Day, and wanted to inform you all about a new drink dispensing system that was recently installed. All drinks (except for hot drinks like coffee, etc.) that are purchased at the cashier contain a special ID chip at the botton of the cup. In order to dispense the drink at the self-service drink stations, you need to place the cup on a plastic lever and then push a button. When you place the cup on the plastic lever, a computer scans the bottom of the cup and informs you of how many refills you have remaining, along with a timeframe. Each paper cup allows you to have three refills within one hour of first scanning it on the machine. After the refills have been used up, or the hour is up, whichever comes first, the machine will no longer dispense drinks for that cup. This system also works with the refillable mugs that are purchased or come as part of the Quick Service Dining Plan. All mugs can be used for up to two weeks, and will then expire. (I spoke to a cast member and inquired about guests who will be staying longer than two weeks, and she said they would issue a new refillable mug in those instances.) The All Star Sports resort was the first to have these machines installed, for testing, and ultimately all of the resorts with self-dispensing drink stations will have this new technology.

HAS ANYONE ELSE SEEN THIS YET?
I don't have an issue with it, but wanted to see if it's being implemented other places yet.
I'm also wondering if this will keep people from using their mugs at different resorts and limit the use to just the resort of your stay since that is the intent of them?

 

[Cafeen]

I found the item that i read. This is a report from the Allears weekly newsletter:

.. from Danette Beitra: I just got back from a weekend trip to All Star Sports for Labor Day, and wanted to inform you all about a new drink dispensing system that was recently installed. All drinks (except for hot drinks like coffee, etc.) that are purchased at the cashier contain a special ID chip at the botton of the cup. In order to dispense the drink at the self-service drink stations, you need to place the cup on a plastic lever and then push a button. When you place the cup on the plastic lever, a computer scans the bottom of the cup and informs you of how many refills you have remaining, along with a timeframe. Each paper cup allows you to have three refills within one hour of first scanning it on the machine. After the refills have been used up, or the hour is up, whichever comes first, the machine will no longer dispense drinks for that cup. This system also works with the refillable mugs that are purchased or come as part of the Quick Service Dining Plan. All mugs can be used for up to two weeks, and will then expire. (I spoke to a cast member and inquired about guests who will be staying longer than two weeks, and she said they would issue a new refillable mug in those instances.) The All Star Sports resort was the first to have these machines installed, for testing, and ultimately all of the resorts with self-dispensing drink stations will have this new technology.

HAS ANYONE ELSE SEEN THIS YET?
I don't have an issue with it, but wanted to see if it's being implemented other places yet.
I'm also wondering if this will keep people from using their mugs at different resorts and limit the use to just the resort of your stay since that is the intent of them?

So, it's the paper cups that limit refills, not the mugs. Which makes sense. I read the title and the stuff as the mugs would have a 3 refill limit, which was certainly not the case.

Of course, most of the old thread's info was based on an initial article and some research into the manufacturer, since they were just then being launched at the resort.

We'll see how things go in the future, they do a LOT of tests on stuff that end up going nowhere (Centralized FPs anyone?)

 

[Jeanieblue114]

I thought i recalled the refillable mugs that were at typhoon lagoon yearsssss ago using this type of system.
I had always wondered why the resort mugs didn't work the same way other than possibly the machines having problems working.
Hardly seems work the effort of maintaining such machines for saving a few pennies on such a cheap product. Paying 2.59 for a paper cup drink or 15 for a refillable mug should certainly make disney a lot of profit regardless of how many refills someone tries to do...you can only drink so much really.
It will be interesting to see where it goes though.
I just don't think the system is that cost effective.
It's the same to me as monitoring ketchup packets. (ketchup probably actually costs them more).