What's this about the water?

[PrincessEilonwy]

I read in some post (I forget where) that Orlando water (even the bottled Disney stuff) tastes like sulfer? Also, if I try to bring my own bottled water from home into the park will employees take it from me during bag search at the gates? Any info. would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Kermit]

Most people find that the water does have an odd taste if you're not used to it. I personally don't care for it, but I travel a lot, and I don't usually care for the water anywhere I travel. You get used to what you have at home.

Many people on here do think that the bottled water tastes fine, but I'm not one of them. The water they sell is Zephyrhills, and I don't like it at all, so we bring our own water. Disney policy allows guests to bring in water, so you won't have a problem there. We don't usually carry any extra bottles in. We always take at least one break, so I bring a new bottle each time we leave the hotel room. I carry large bottles with at least 3 servings (24 oz) of water, and we buy juice if we need anything extra to drink.

 

[abaldacci]

The water is nasty in some parts of the parks but you can bring your own water into the parks and they don't say anything.

 

[GoofysPrincess]

I may be in the minority, but Disney water doesn't bother me at all. Granted, I've rarely found water that does bother me -- Mexico excluded.

 

[patsal]

We don't care for the Disney water either. We bring the Brita Filtered water bottles and found they take the "opff" taste away orm the Disney water. We can refill them at the water fountains which keeps the water very cold. They cost about $8.00 each, so compared to bottled water prices in the park they are a real bargain.

 

[CBRorBust]

It didn't bother me. But I listened to everyone on these boards and took bottled water. The only difference I think is I had a heavier suitcase to lug around the airport!

 

[travelitis]

One of the CM's told me to make sure to take bottled water because living in Orlando she won't drink the water. She said that the city is recycling and purifying sewage which results in a very chlorinated taste. Now I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about water purification or if what she said was even correct. I do know that it sounded pretty foul to me, and we're sticking to bottled water.

 

[Tara8595]

You know, before the wildfires (May of 2001), I thought the water was fine. But during that May weekend, and ever since, I've thought the water tasted like the ash and fires smelled that weekend - if that makes any sense.

It's bound to get into the water - I mean, the smoke that weekend was so thick that at 8:30am the morning we were headed to MK, we couldn't see to drive past the parking gates, so we turned around and headed to AK where it wasn't quite so bad. It's bound to have an effect on the water. Anyhow - that smell is what I taste in the water. Weird.

 

[eeyore0062]

We drank the water from the tap, the bottle water, and the water from the water fountains, and didn't detect anything wrong with the taste at all. Maybe where we are from ours tastes the same or something so we don't notice it, but I doubt it. We are from VA, not Florida. I paid special attention to the taste of the water when we were there last week, and it tasted perfectly fine to us, and we drank alot of it... from all sources!

 

[hmp2z]

Disney has switched from Zephyr Hills to Vittel, which is really good, even though it causes huge pronunciation problems for some of the waiters, hehehe
I don't drink any of the regular tap water there (or anywhere), but we drink bottled & filtered water at home, and Vittel tastes fine - entirely tasteless, like water should be.
Cheers!
Heather W

 

[n2mm]

We always zip over to Publix and buy bottle water. We keep it in a collapsable cooler in the room. I tried filling up my bottle at the beverage bar/WATER and it upset my stomach for a couple of days. After I switched back and bought water I was fine. I'm a big water drinking, so having water with me at all times is very important. Publix carries the same brands as most home stores, plus their own brand. I usually buy the Publix brand and that seems fine for me.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I think it is actually a timing in the purification "cycle" whether or not it is smelling or not. Some trips it does smell, some times it does not!

 

[hmp2z]

I think, though, that a lot of the comments here, especially about the forest fires, wouldn't apply to the new water that Disney is selling, since it's now Vittel, from a French spring.
I'm a big fan of Vittel - we first had it in Paris, and have liked it ever since.
Cheers!
Heather W

 

[amw5g]

Originally posted by PrincessEilonwy
I read in some post (I forget where) that Orlando water (even the bottled Disney stuff) tastes like sulfer? Also, if I try to bring my own bottled water from home into the park will employees take it from me during bag search at the gates? Any info. would be helpful. Thanks!

Bottled water is plentiful in all parks and hotels, as well as DTD. As Disney is now switching over to Vittel (from the Eurproean country of France, not from Florida or any other US-owned entity) as their main supplier, you'll find Zephyrhills less and less frequently. Even if you do come across Zephyrhills, note that it is carbon filtered, passed under ultraviolet light, and ozonized. The water comes from a geological formation well below the earth, isolated from human or industrial contact. If it tastes "funny" to you, more than likely it's coming from some outside-the-bottle contaminant. As for the theory of wildfire contamination, I cannot find any evidence which shows that the 500 acres of environmentally preserved land around the source was touched by fires. May have been, but even so, because the water is isolated from the standard atmosphere during the entire purification/bottling process, the most likely chance for a smokey taste would be on the outside of the bottle itself. And that would affect all bottled water.

Go, drink the bottled water you buy in Orlando. Buying at home will probably save you money, but if you are only concerned about bottled water taste, it's a moot point. Security should also not hassle you about it. I brought it in (a Tynant's bottle) with no problems.

Now the water foutains and tap water are a different story.....

-Andrew

 

[DebbieB]

I've always thought the water was horrible, been going since 1994. We always carry our own. With a DVC room we have a freezer, so I fill a smaller bottle about 3/4 (or empty some out if it's a new bottle) from one of the large bottles from the store. Then freeze it overnight. In the morning I take it out when we get up and it stays cold all day. We went to MK on a Saturday night in May and didn't bother bringing the water since we didn't think it would be hot but got really thisty. I just wanted a small drink so I used the fountain near Sleepy Hollow. It was warm and tasted so horrible. I broke down and paid $2.50 for theirs. Killed me because I paid $2.50 for a six pack of Dasani back in the room that I picked up at the Winn-Dixie after we arrived.

 

[yup I'm Goofy's sis]

We just got back a couple weeks ago. We drank the drinking fountain water in all the parks, and it was fine everywhere except MK. The water inside the MK had a very icky taste, from the drinking fountains and even when I got a cup of ice water from a concession stand--even the ice seemed a little odd. I might be tempted to try a filter bottle another time, I just can't bear the thought of paying for, or carrying, all bottled water!

 

[Juliepoohgirl]

WE were in Orlando this past July. I did find the water rather odd tasting. A couple of time my sister filled our water bottles from the fountains and without me knowing, I could certainly tell by the smell alone. I would have been fairly desprate to drink it. Anyway, we brought water into the parks each day without a problem. We had a diaper bag and a stroller so we brought in 8 or so bottles a day (there were 8 of us). WE put them in the freezer overnight and were amazed that even with temps in the 90's we still had frozen water at 5:00pm! Julie