Rapid Fill Mug Program Fails (at more ways than you might think)

[HauntedPirate]

I can attest it's 100 percent true. I worked on a case involving Coke/Pepsi and fast food restaurants.

Coca Cola technicians have stated they stopped shipping the Coke syrup in stainless steel containers at least 10 years ago, although it is stored in the stores in stainless steel containers due to the sheer volume of syrup they go thru.

How could they chill the syrup when it has to travel upwards of 100 feet from container to fountain? Seems rather ridiculous to have to insulate those plastic tubes just to keep the syrup at a particular temperature when soda is 80% water, and thus the water's temperature would be what needs to be preserved between 32.2F and 40F rather than the syrup's temp.

 

[csmat99]

Coca Cola technicians have stated they stopped shipping the Coke syrup in stainless steel containers at least 10 years ago, although it is stored in the stores in stainless steel containers due to the sheer volume of syrup they go thru.

How could they chill the syrup when it has to travel upwards of 100 feet from container to fountain? Seems rather ridiculous to have to insulate those plastic tubes just to keep the syrup at a particular temperature when soda is 80% water, and thus the water's temperature would be what needs to be preserved between 32.2F and 40F rather than the syrup's temp.

They also chill the water (and make sure water is of best quality) and the syrup. They use the same lines that you would use for beer lines. storing in the stainless steel containers still keeps the flavor versus the bag and boxes. And it's not ridiculous when everyone pretty much will agree the coke taste better from Mcd's then almost anywhere else. The only thing to beat it is Mexican coke which is the only bottler in north america to still use old glass bottles and real sugar.

 

[GoofGoof]

My thought was to have the bottle fill stations be chargeable, Cold filtered water is worth something and I'd be happy to pay for 4-6$ per day for it perhaps give resort guests a 50% discount. In my model bubblers would still be free as would the ice water at QS locations. This would not interfere I think with the bottled water sales.

We would always bring our own bottled water into the park especially when we went in the summer. I'd love to be able to just bring an empty bottle or thermos and fill on site and it would cut down on the security risk.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Most of this has been debunked in the comments of a link that someone posted earlier in this thread.

Somebody should probably tell McDonald's, then... Pretty much everything he listed is right on the McDonald's website. The only thing it doesn't list is the stainless steel containers, which they do use in the stores to store the product, regardless of how it is shipped from Coca-Cola. The point was that the steel containers maintain flavor better than bag-in-box, which is true.
https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/our-food-your-questions.html

 

[ford91exploder]

We would always bring our own bottled water into the park especially when we went in the summer. I'd love to be able to just bring an empty bottle or thermos and fill on site and it would cut down on the security risk.

Yes we always did the same, Generally we figured for a day at the park 6-8 bottles per person, Yes we did have a close call with dehydration at the parks a while back so going overboard on water is a 'Good Thing (tm)'. I was always the designated pack mule though .

 

[RustySpork]

Yes we always did the same, Generally we figured for a day at the park 6-8 bottles per person, Yes we did have a close call with dehydration at the parks a while back so going overboard on water is a 'Good Thing (tm)'. I was always the designated pack mule though .

We take a single water bottle each, and just stop wherever you can get a free cup of water and reload the bottle from the cup.

 

[21stamps]

To the water people-
I always used to bring bottled water everywhere that we went. Then I purchased a Brita and Life Straw filtered water bottle.
I prefer the Life Straw.. but anyway, it's MUCH easier than carrying around multiple bottles of water. Get one before your next trip, or any all day outing

 

[ford91exploder]

To the water people-
I always used to bring bottled water everywhere that we went. Then I purchased a Brita and Life Straw filtered water bottle.
I prefer the Life Straw.. but anyway, it's MUCH easier than carrying around multiple bottles of water. Get one before your next trip, or any all day outing

Have Life straws (along with Halazone tablets) in emergency kits, never thought of bringing one to wdw...

 

[RustySpork]

Have Life straws (along with Halazone tablets) in emergency kits, never thought of bringing one to wdw...

Thirsty? No problem! Just drink from the nearest puddle!

 

[ford91exploder]

Thirsty? No problem! Just drink from the nearest puddle!

ROTFLMAO!!!!

 

[21stamps]

Have Life straws (along with Halazone tablets) in emergency kits, never thought of bringing one to wdw...

Oh, I bring it everywhere that allows it! Amusement parks, zoo, WDW, park...etc etc... our museum doesn't allow them, unfortunately.
I hate paying for bottled water unless I have to.

 

[larryz]

How could they chill the syrup when it has to travel upwards of 100 feet from container to fountain? Seems rather ridiculous to have to insulate those plastic tubes just to keep the syrup at a particular temperature when soda is 80% water, and thus the water's temperature would be what needs to be preserved between 32.2F and 40F rather than the syrup's temp.

I've seen installations where the syrup and water lines run thru the ice bin.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yes we always did the same, Generally we figured for a day at the park 6-8 bottles per person, Yes we did have a close call with dehydration at the parks a while back so going overboard on water is a 'Good Thing (tm)'. I was always the designated pack mule though .

That's a whole lot of water. We just brought one bottle each and maybe refilled where possible a few times a day. You must spend a whole lot of time at the Tangled Toilets these days

To the water people-
I always used to bring bottled water everywhere that we went. Then I purchased a Brita and Life Straw filtered water bottle.
I prefer the Life Straw.. but anyway, it's MUCH easier than carrying around multiple bottles of water. Get one before your next trip, or any all day outing

That's probably a lot more environmentally friendly. We stay in DVC villas at WDW so we always have a grocery order anyway and we just add a case of water to it and use that for the week.

 

[ford91exploder]

That's a whole lot of water. We just brought one bottle each and maybe refilled where possible a few times a day. You must spend a whole lot of time at the Tangled Toilets these days

That's probably a lot more environmentally friendly. We stay in DVC villas at WDW so we always have a grocery order anyway and we just add a case of water to it and use that for the week.

We'd rather visit the washroom frequently than visit the ER once...

The reality is we usually drink only 3-4 bottles each unless it's a triple digit day

 

[21stamps]

That's a whole lot of water. We just brought one bottle each and maybe refilled where possible a few times a day. You must spend a whole lot of time at the Tangled Toilets these days

That's probably a lot more environmentally friendly. We stay in DVC villas at WDW so we always have a grocery order anyway and we just add a case of water to it and use that for the week.

We do get a case of water while there as well, or any hotel we go to. I just don't want to carry it around in my bag..the tumblers are much easier. I think my refillable mugs have only ever had coffee in them.lol. We drink a lot of water.
..and I drink a lot of coffee.

 

[Unplugged]

The Freestyle syrups are also much more concentrated so should last longer than the same volume of old style syrup.

"Old Style"? Are they now putting beer in those machines? At least it's a horrible beer to match the weird taste of the Coke. Here in the Chicago area, I can see this being tried at Wrigley Field!

Full sugar soda is just as bad for you no matter which machine or bottle dispenses it. I try to stick to zero Sprite or Diet Coke when I am drinking soda.

As a side note, research is being done on the artificial sweeteners in most diet soft drinks as aspartame is demonstrating itself to be a carcinogen and an incredible number of horrible side effects including impacts to the neurological system. I have heard of diet Coke being shipped now with Splenda (sucralose), but haven't been keeping up with the labels as I don't drink it. Your diet solution is far worse in many ways than the corn syrup & sugar. Keep your wits about you when it comes to the chemical crap. Better to live to post another day!

A better complaint is the bakery cabinet in the resort qs/food court area. I was at Polynesian Saturday and was about to get delicious cheese Danish but a hoard of flies were underneath it. Lol

You're lucky they Disney wasn't up charging for the extra protein.

Once again the huge cuts Disney has made are affecting basic sanitation in food service areas. If my local mom-n-pop (literally) bakery can have a fly free display case why for the love of Pete cannot Disney do at least as well

That's because at Disney, the anti theft RFID chips glued to the flys weighs them down and they can't escape the cases!
Also, try to slow down on the posts on this one. I had to quit clicking Like on yours about 12 pages back as it was slowing me down!

 

[shernernum]

Don't convolute the issue with comparing to shoplifting. That has it's own complexities and generally as you say, people are instructed to report to the proper people, not act out alone. But that doesn't mean 'ignore it' - that means engage the people trained to handle it. But shoplifting is an entirely different subject. And even in those cases... they don't ignore the problem, they come up with deterrants.. like creating staff locations near the entrance... putting up monitors to re-enforce that you are on camera.. etc.

Focus on policies, not crimes.. and the acceptance of engaging with the customer is more accepted. For instance, walk into best buy and try to put something inappropriate on the stereo blaring loudly.. someone will engage you. Go into a store where the displays say "do not touch" and you start pulling them down and handling them.. someone will engage you. Walk into a McDolands with a KFC bucket, a big gulp cup, and fill up and start having your meal at a table.. someone will engage you.

Let's draw a simpler comparison for everyone. Someone sits down and lights up a cigar in the food court.. do you expect a CM will address the person, or do you suggest the right answer is 'do nothing' because they can't risk confronting an guest?

Even if Disney doesn't train all staff to handle the situation.. they could train them to engage the proper person instead of just IGNORING IT. If Old Navy, Target, and countless other retailers can afford to put a radio on all the staffers on the floor... Disney, who charges 2-3x normal rates, can't somehow figure out how to work out how to stop people breaking policies?

Maybe we should all just walk right past the cashiers in the food courts with our trays and see just how soon before Disney will somehow figure out how to 'allow' CMs to communicate with the guest breaking policy.

I didn't say there wouldn't be som

Don't convolute the issue with comparing to shoplifting. That has it's own complexities and generally as you say, people are instructed to report to the proper people, not act out alone. But that doesn't mean 'ignore it' - that means engage the people trained to handle it. But shoplifting is an entirely different subject. And even in those cases... they don't ignore the problem, they come up with deterrants.. like creating staff locations near the entrance... putting up monitors to re-enforce that you are on camera.. etc.

Focus on policies, not crimes.. and the acceptance of engaging with the customer is more accepted. For instance, walk into best buy and try to put something inappropriate on the stereo blaring loudly.. someone will engage you. Go into a store where the displays say "do not touch" and you start pulling them down and handling them.. someone will engage you. Walk into a McDolands with a KFC bucket, a big gulp cup, and fill up and start having your meal at a table.. someone will engage you.

Let's draw a simpler comparison for everyone. Someone sits down and lights up a cigar in the food court.. do you expect a CM will address the person, or do you suggest the right answer is 'do nothing' because they can't risk confronting an guest?

Even if Disney doesn't train all staff to handle the situation.. they could train them to engage the proper person instead of just IGNORING IT. If Old Navy, Target, and countless other retailers can afford to put a radio on all the staffers on the floor... Disney, who charges 2-3x normal rates, can't somehow figure out how to work out how to stop people breaking policies?

Maybe we should all just walk right past the cashiers in the food courts with our trays and see just how soon before Disney will somehow figure out how to 'allow' CMs to communicate with the guest breaking policy.

True, however you would even find such policies in place for small things like taking candy at a convenience store. There should be a mechanism in place for CMs to respond or call someone who can respond. However, I also think you are comparing apples to oranges as well. Someone putting on offensive music in a Best Buy or lighting a cigar in a QS dining room is obviously and directly affecting the experience of all other guests. The consequences of not engaging that behavior could lead to something much worse happening. Unfortunately, in a situation like minor theft, which is how I would classify the soda stealing, there is probably a threshold as to how much breakage is acceptable before engagement is necessary. That means you have to put the emphasis on deterrents instead. So I agree with you on that.

 

[ford91exploder]

True, but my husband would still be peeved that he couldn't get soda for another 3 minutes lol!

Further not replacing the bib and locking out the cup after a defective pour were both actions under Disneys control which negatively affected the guest

With the staff cuts it's likely the remaining employees have too many tasks for the available manpower and as such some will not be done

 

[Angel Ariel]

We take a single water bottle each, and just stop wherever you can get a free cup of water and reload the bottle from the cup.

We started doing that at Disneyland when DH and I were going on our own (before DD). We still do. It's even easier now, as DD uses a stroller. We have 2 giant "Mommy Hooks" (brand name - they're carabiners) and we hang the water bottles from there for easy access throughout the day. Stop and refill at QS when we need to (which is generally when we need to eat or want a snack anyway.

 

[Unplugged]

I'll say first, as disclosure, that we only bring old mugs if we intend to use them with our own supplies, which was rare. Never tried to scam the system as it isn't right and Disney certainly doesn't owe us jack (as they've made more than obvious). However, as we are not free dining plan folks (we're DVC), we have to gauge the convenience of the mug based on our plans and may pick up 1 or 2 on a trip. Now however, that has gotten way to pricey. We were stopping out of convenience as we had mugs; we weren't getting a mug as we had to get a drink all the time. The frustrating part being the increased price and they don't work in the parks! This coming trip, back to our existing mugs with supplies in the room.

When the system is activated by a valid RFID, does it auto-stop at a "mug volume"? Since you can top off your drink with minor pauses to allow de-foaming, that tells me it's not like the McD's dispensers at the drive thru. Those have a button for the cup size to auto fill while the staffer is doing another task. That said, I have a curiosity for the serious scammers/hackers, though I figured folks in-the-know would have heard stories of guests being busted using these. Assuming the Disney dispenser reads a valid RFID and does not auto-stop at volume, has anyone high jacked their paid RFID chip and attached it to a larger mug to save time (reducing frequency of refills), or simply put a hole in the mug with a tube to fill other mugs? On the more technical and less comical note, has anyone used an RFID reader on a pocket sized RaspberryPi or smart phone to scan codes as they walk around, then emulate it through an altered mug?

I've seen guest that I know would pay a premium for such stupid devices only to "stick it to the man".