Refillable mugs going away again?

Fountain soda is practically free to Disney, so they're almost certainly not running negative from refillable mugs. However, they might have decided that they can increase profits by not selling refillable mugs. With Chapek in charge, well, you know.
I didnt even think of this, thank you for your suggestion.

signed,
Chapek
 
I fully grasp the magnitude of those losses. In the 5 years prior to 2020, Disney averaged $10B in net profit per year. In 2020, they swung to a $2B loss. Yes, that’s a huge loss, but it’s really a blip for a well capitalized (and lightly leveraged) company like Disney. In addition, profitability has quickly returned, with 2021 showing a $2B net profit, even while costs have risen and capacity has still been constrained at the parks and in the theaters. Disney does not need the (relatively) small additional revenue provided by these increases, and definitely not when they’re causing as much negative perception as they are.

Most companies have been much more careful about the perception of price increases or service cutbacks. Disney does not need to increase prices to ensure sustainability of the business, yet they’re raising prices without much concern for the perceived impacts. Pretty short sighted IMHO.

It is interesting to note that they held off on increases in ticket prices to WDW - I can’t imagine they’re not feeling the effects of inflation there as well, but with Universal making major improvements, I’m guessing the competition is more pressing than the need to increase revenue.

I could be way off base - but too much of the recent changes point to charging more / giving less because you can, and not because it’s the best way to provide value to your shareholders and your customers. I guess time will tell.
Wow, I was just going to say “they don’t have to try to make it all back in one year” but…. ^^^what he said! 👍👍👍
 
Let's go Bob
We were just there last week and they were available everyday. I'd guess a high percentage of people bought them. I asked one cash register worker and said there had been a short time due to operational reasons they weren't available, but she hasn't heard of any rumors of discontinuing them.

Think this is one rumor the Illuminati/Q'anon conspiracy theorists here can put to bed
 
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We were just there last week and they were available everyday. I'd guess a high percentage of people bought them. I asked one cash register worker and said there had been a short time due to operational reasons they weren't available, but she hasn't heard of any rumors of discontinuing them.

Think this is one rumor the Illuminati/Q'anon conspiracy theorists here can put to bed
Thanks for the update! Buy, you know, from reading these boards, apparently all evil in the world can be traced directly back to Bob Chapek!
 
Eh. I bought some refillable mugs when I was there earlier this month and I'd be surprised if I got even one who soda out of the deal. The machines were often down the maintenance. When they worked, they were almost always out of carbon, so sodas were just gross. And that's if you could even find a machine with the syrup that you wanted!

I'd like to see the regular soda fountains come back. Those seem to work out better than these fancy ones.
 
That’s awful. They all worked properly on our last trip, and we refilled 3-4x per day. They were out of different syrups routinely, so we had to choose alternates or go to a different machine, but the sodas were fine.

The ice machines on the other hand… 😟
 


Here at Aulani right now. Shelves full of refillable cups for sale at Ulu Cafe. The 3 machines at Ulu were working with most flavors and the one freestyle is working by the shave ice stand.
 
Do they change out the cups, or can you bring them back for future trips? I know some places use the chips and you can reuse your cup and just pay for the trip to reactivate it - I didn't notice it using the chips when I was there last, but we took our cups home with us for next time.
 
They aren't using chips, so you can reuse your cups. I don't think that you're supposed to, though.
 
They aren't using chips, so you can reuse your cups. I don't think that you're supposed to, though.
I get the "Disney wants to be making money if you're consuming something at their resort" thing but I don't really want to buy 4-6 plastic mugs every time I go and throw them away. :(
 
I get the "Disney wants to be making money if you're consuming something at their resort" thing but I don't really want to buy 4-6 plastic mugs every time I go and throw them away. :(
The vast majority of DVC members have never been to Aulani. The vast majority of DVC members who have been to Aulani have only been once. The same is true of cash guests. Most people never see Hawaii and for most that do, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Your use case is a miniscule fraction of overall guests.
 
Do they change out the cups, or can you bring them back for future trips? I know some places use the chips and you can reuse your cup and just pay for the trip to reactivate it - I didn't notice it using the chips when I was there last, but we took our cups home with us for next time.
They’re still using the same cups. I bought orange, brown and green. I think they’ve added red and blue recently, but still sell orange, brown and green.
 
The vast majority of DVC members have never been to Aulani. The vast majority of DVC members who have been to Aulani have only been once. The same is true of cash guests. Most people never see Hawaii and for most that do, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Your use case is a miniscule fraction of overall guests.
It's already the honor system anyway, might as well add an option for guests to resuse their old cups.
 

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