Resort Mugs...Kinda Pointless?

[jcarwash]

Sorry just wanted to jump on here. Trying to figure out if these will be worth it for us. How much do coffee and fountain beverages cost in the value resorts?

Disney doesn't even list the individual prices for coffee and soda on the value resort menus, since most of those items are going to be included with meals or via your refillable mug.

But let's say a cup of coffee is $2.29 like it is a Kusafari Coffee Shop in Animal Kingdom. One coffee per day on a week long trip is 7 X $2.29 = $16.03, and I'm skipping sales tax in this estimate. You can get coffee refills, but you can't use your coffee cup to get soda.

If you're paying OOP, a refillable mug is $16.49 plus tax or $17.48. If you have your daily coffee (or two), it's worth it, plus add on some extra soda fillups at night.

So it does depend on making sure you use it, plus how long your stay is.

 

[Julylady]

We bought them this summer for the first time in about 6 trips. We were staying for 14 nights so I thought we would get our value out of them and mostly we did. However, my girls drank a lot more soda than they would have without the mugs. I, myself can only drink non-carbonated sugar free beverages so the Minute Maid lemonade was the only option for me. I tired of it after about day 3. We made coffee in the room each morning so no savings there.

The outdoor refill station was always swarming with bees which freaked my girls out. I have to admit, watching those bees land on the valve where the soda is dispersed kind of grossed me out as well. But I then reminded myself that I eat honey without issue. And now I have four plastic mugs that I need to store or donate. Overall.....I think we got our money back but I wouldn't purchase them again.

 

[Pmlocke]

I usually spend 4-5 hours poolside every afternoon. That means my wife and I fill up our mug at least 4 times. Don't forget the 2-3 coffees in the morning and the 2 fill ups for the movie at night. When I get home I use the new mug for coffee at work. Oh yeah, I get my money's worth.

 

[minnie mum]

Coffee= $2.29. Sodas = $2.99 Mug costs $17.99? Just one or 2 drinks per day of a 1 week stay more than pays for the mug. Between morning coffee (2), afternoon break soda, iced tea, or lemonades (2-3), and evening tea or soda (2), it makes sense for us. But it depends on the resort we're at, and how far we are from the nearest refil station.

 

[rwdavis2]

The refillable mugs at resorts have always seemed a bit useless as the can only be used in the resorts. Anyone care to defend them as a good perk?

Not me. Had them at All Star Sport a couple years ago for (almost) free dining and used them 2-3 times. I rarely drink soda and we made coffee in the room(brought a small coffee maker). The food court was too far of a walk to bother.

 

[nat8199]

I would never get them if they weren't included with the dining plan. My DH is a coffee snob (starbucks), I bring bags of tea from home, we don't drink soda, the kids are only allowed water to drink most of the time. BUT, my kids do love them for their water during the day, and they are relatively easy to keep in the stroller. If we didn't have a stroller they would never leave the room.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I guess that is why they call them 'resort' mugs and not 'resort and everything else' mugs.

 

[AmandaTM]

I think we'd buy a few even if they didn't come with the dining plan. Fill up with coffee or tea in the morning, soda during our mid day break back at resort, and fill them with Hot Cocoa at least once before we head out to the parks in the evening (so nice when it's cold outside).

We keep a plastic walmart bag inside our backpack so we can throw the mugs in there when we are done drinking from them. We've also rinsed them out at the water fountain inside the park and then filled with water to drink. Also if you have a dining reservation at a location that's inside another resort you can fill it up there. So, we will fill with coffee at our home resort and drink on the bus or waiting for bus and then after our Ohana, Chef Mickey, or 1900 breakfast we will refill with another drink and take it into the parks with us

 

[han22735]

I'm with the "I don't care for them" My biggest gripe is after leaving the room to go eat and then head to the parks one either has to run back to the room or take them with you.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

I'm with the "I don't care for them" My biggest gripe is after leaving the room to go eat and then head to the parks one either has to run back to the room or take them with you.

This is a legit complaint. I wish that they were good in the parks too.

 

[supersnoop]

I'm in the "pointless" camp. I don't want to carry them around. My wife doesn't drink coffee out of plastic cups. And I can buy 72 cans of Coke for what they charge. Seriously, I'll buy some bottles or cans and stick them in the fridge, and then I can recycle the waste on the way to the parks. If you have to opportunity to stop at a grocery store, it makes a lot more sense to just buy your soda there.

 

[DisneyWisher]

We aren't typically coffee drinkers (I dont drink it at all) I stopped buying the mugs years ago when they went to $7.99. My girl were teenagers, we lived 3 hours from Disney so I always packed a cooler with soda, juice pouches, and water for the road. Kept cooler in the room. We had refillable mugs kids went to food court to grab some food, they forgot their mugs and dug into the cooler when they cameback with their food. I stopped buying mugs that trip. Taking my grandkids next month. Watching ads for sale on sodas (for me), gatorade, powerade and juice boxes.

FYI you can buy 2 liter in gift shop less than $4.

 

[scrapquitler]

On our last trip, we each refilled ours about 20 or 25 times. It ends up cheaper, and we didn't throw away 60 or more paper cups, lids and straws during the week because we used a reusable mug.

 

[aretha30]

We don't get the DP any more, we pay OOP and we find the mugs to be a way better deal. I drink coffee in the AM and I don't drink soda at all but I will refill my mug with decaf, poweraid, hot chocolate (anything but soda), during the day on our breaks and the PM after the parks. My DH will get soda, tea, or poweraid all day. I would say we refill our cups at a minimum of 3 times per day; if we take a really long pool break it is more. We don't purchase for our boys because it would be a waste, they don't like soda and really prefer water.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I haven't had one in years. I pretty much only drink water or iced tea, but don't really care for WDW iced tea. Plus, if I take it with me to the food court for morning coffee, I either have to carry it with me for the rest of the day, or hike all the way back to my room to drop the mug off before going to a park. I'm getting one on my next trip due to "free" dining, but I really don't see getting much use out of it.

 

[Disneydreamsdancer]

We love the mugs, we use them for a coffee first thing in the morning, then refill with a coke before heading in to the parks, carry it empty all day then refill it with a coke when we get back to the resort before returning to our rooms, definitely saves us $$

 

[Disneybuckeye]

We do not purchase them. I order a twelve pack of Coke, a case of bottled water, and lots of alcohol from Garden Grocer. Less than the price of one mug for water and Coke. Yes, I need my coke every morning but I do not want to walk all the way to the food court to get it. We are DVC and always have a full size refrigerator. I would rather walk in the kitchen area and just grab what I want immediately. We also bring a small cooler to take beverages to the pool. Works much better for us.

 

[jerseygal]

If you eat at the resort's QS restaurant using the DDP, you can fill up your mug, free of charge, and still get a bottled water to later take to the parks.

Thanks for the GREAT REMINDER about using it at a resort QS restaurant, then taking the bottled water to a park. Once or twice I wasn't "thinking", used the refillable mug, and forgot to take a bottled water for my "drink"...Pop it in the refrig for the next day if you don't need it!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Apparently your math class was skipped. Two drinks per day and that mug becomes a money saver after only a three days. Or maybe I skipped math.

 

[Magpie]

We bought them this summer for the first time in about 6 trips. We were staying for 14 nights so I thought we would get our value out of them and mostly we did. However, my girls drank a lot more soda than they would have without the mugs. I, myself can only drink non-carbonated sugar free beverages so the Minute Maid lemonade was the only option for me. I tired of it after about day 3. We made coffee in the room each morning so no savings there.

The outdoor refill station was always swarming with bees which freaked my girls out. I have to admit, watching those bees land on the valve where the soda is dispersed kind of grossed me out as well. But I then reminded myself that I eat honey without issue. And now I have four plastic mugs that I need to store or donate. Overall.....I think we got our money back but I wouldn't purchase them again.

Just a note - unsweet tea is also available, generally located next to the hot chocolate. It took me a bit to find it.