No more free drinks at All Star Sports Resort

[flynnibus]

As for this new equipment, I agree that it isn't about Disney losing money. It's about enhancing revenue. In a similar thread I compared it to the RIAA's ridiculous lawsuits against illegal downloads. Disney (like the RIAA) is making a broad assumption that were it not for people re-using old mugs, they would simply buy a new one. (The RIAA assumed the same thing: if people weren't illegally downloading, they would purchase the CD instead). That reasoning is absolutely false

Poor analogy... one is a luxury.. the other is more of a need. People aren't drinking soda because they can.. they drink it because they are thirsty. They are going to be thirsty regardless if the soda is free or not.. they may not drink as much/often as when it's free.. but they won't put off drinking all together.. like they might with the CD.

It seems that Disney signed a 5 year contract, so I would guess we will see this resort wide.

the 5 yr agreement in the news is about the company signing an exclusive with coca-cola - not Disney.

 

[flynnibus]

If the RFID tag stores the number of refills or end date (as it says it does as described on ValidFill's site, you can theoretically add new refills or extend the end date with a RFID writer.

Yes, I see on validfill's side they use a re-writable tag - so in theory you could modify what they have in the cup.

 

[puntagordabob]

because the buffer timer is intended to keep someone from using the mug to refill OTHER cups which WOULD be abuse of the system.

it was already stated in other coverage on the system, that their is a timer to fill the mug... it's not 'one shot' and then done. There is a timer window to fill the mug.. during which you could chug and refill again... after which there is a refill timer (the mentioned 5 min timer) which must expire before the cycle can be repeated.

The system has a window to start and finish your 'refill' and its not tied to a single fill.

According to previous poster it is supposed to dispense aprox the amount the mug contains minus a bit for ice.....so if it is a 10 ounce cup it would dispense maybe 8 ounces......then if there is a timer you would have to wait ....keep hearing 5 minutes.... these are the numbers people keep saying so I went with them. Assuming the setup and the rules are similar then my concern remains valid.

 

[flynnibus]

According to previous poster it is supposed to dispense aprox the amount the mug contains minus a bit for ice.....so if it is a 10 ounce cup it would dispense maybe 8 ounces......then if there is a timer you would have to wait ....keep hearing 5 minutes.... these are the numbers people keep saying so I went with them. Assuming the setup and the rules are similar then my concern remains valid.

The choice is up to the location (aka Disney). The system has the ability to know the size of the cup and decide how much to allow to dispense per fill window.

So it's purely up to the implementation.

From Validfill's site

Can a guest do a suicide pour, mixed drink pour? The system allows the guest to mix multiple flavours for each fill. The system monitors the number of ounces dispensed from each flavour and allows the guest to continue to pour until the total ounces allowed is dispensed.

Can the guest pour part of their fill now and finish filling their cup later? Once the guest starts to fill their cup, the guest has approximately 70 seconds to use the allowable ounces for that fill. After 70 seconds, the cup is charged a fill regardless of how many ounces of soda was dispensed.

How many ounces of soda can a guest receive with each fill? The RFID enabled cup stores the capacity of the cup and will dispense up to that amount. Some clients elect to have the total number of ounces dispensed to be more or less than the size of the cup.

 

[Patrick_Ears]

If i buy a refillable mug, i will drink as much as i want to... That's why i purchase them. Come on Disney..... I love ya but still.... :shrug:

 

[Kamikaze]

If i buy a refillable mug, i will drink as much as i want to... That's why i purchase them. Come on Disney..... I love ya but still.... :shrug:

This will not change that.

 

[puntagordabob]

This will not change that.

If it restricts you to one fillup for several minutes at a time it actually is changing this....especially when the cups are so darn small.....

 

[Kamikaze]

If it restricts you to one fillup for several minutes at a time it actually is changing this....especially when the cups are so darn small.....

I don't think this will actually happen. Its an option on the system, but I'm willing to bet that it won't be enabled (after the initial trial).

 

[flavious27]

Agreed.

You may be able to help me with my earlier question (I'm glad you showed up to the party finally, because you're a genius) - I figure this is one of those Snopes rumors, but someone once told me that Coca Cola provided all of their products to Disney for free, simply because the (omni)presence in the parks is worth so much in branding dollars.

From a business point of view you could argue it a number of ways - putting your product out there for nothing is a losing proposition. Having yourself as the only soft drink option in a huge vacation destination is a big win.

Still, it has to be a rumor. Right? Help me Flavious, you're my only hope.

I know I have heard this rumor before, I can't find anything to back it up. It maybe that the amount that coke spends to be the official sponsor for wdw is the same or more than the cost of the syrup that disney spends.

Yeah, and I think it's fine they may be doing it. To me, it's funny that they are so concerned about losing a few bucks on soda, they may implement such a system on a wide scale basis. I mean, RFID chips on disposable paper cups seems crazy expensive. It just doesn't seem worth it. There are so many other things at WDW that need much more attention than this.

Well look at it this way, say a cup of soda costs $3. There are 1920 rooms at sports, say there are an average of 3 guests per room, that is 5760 guests per day. If 10% of guests do not pay for soda, that is 576 guests not paying $3 for beverages which is $1728 a day, which is 630k a year. Now I doubt that 10% of guests steal, but just 1% is $63k a year which is the salary of 2 or 3 workers.

The nitpicking sucks but when you multiply and add up all of the numbers, they become more real.

The 5 minutes thing is listed on ValidFill's site, but it doesn't necessarily mean it will be enabled on the machines at WDW. Or it could be limited to 2 drinks every 5 minutes, etc.

I agree with you about the mug size, though. They used to be much larger. I have Dixie Landings mugs (the supposedly 'lifetime' ones) that can hold probably near double what the current ones do.

We had the choose one year between the travel mugs and the big ones, we lke the travel mugs more.

 

[AEfx]

According to previous poster it is supposed to dispense aprox the amount the mug contains minus a bit for ice.....so if it is a 10 ounce cup it would dispense maybe 8 ounces......then if there is a timer you would have to wait ....keep hearing 5 minutes.... these are the numbers people keep saying so I went with them. Assuming the setup and the rules are similar then my concern remains valid.

It's just going to fizzle, no pun intended.

If they put all these restrictions up, it will be a mess (have you ever seen an autofill dispenser? they can be dangerous LOL), and if they don't, what's the point of fancy RFID in your drink?

It amazes me that anyone at WDW really thought this was a problem - I bet it is more R&D for NextGen than a solution to an actual problem.

 

[IWantACoolHat]

This seems reasonable but I wonder if they'll get new fountains for the Gold Peak iced teas too since they aren't in the same fountains as the soda.

 

[Kamikaze]

This seems reasonable but I wonder if they'll get new fountains for the Gold Peak iced teas too since they aren't in the same fountains as the soda.

Of course they would.

 

[Patrick_Ears]

this will not change that.

:lol: I know it won't. Once Disney makes there mind up then that's it.

 

[Patrick_Ears]

This seems reasonable but I wonder if they'll get new fountains for the Gold Peak iced teas too since they aren't in the same fountains as the soda.

I love that tea!! :sohappy:

 

[biggy H]

I agree with you about the mug size, though. They used to be much larger. I have Dixie Landings mugs (the supposedly 'lifetime' ones) that can hold probably near double what the current ones do.

We had the choose one year between the travel mugs and the big ones, we lke the travel mugs more.

The mug sizes haven't changed, they where and still are 16oz. I've just checked all the different ones I've got.

 

[Kamikaze]

The mug sizes haven't changed, they where and still are 16oz. I've just checked all the different ones I've got.

I don't know how far back your mugs go, but the old ones (like pre 2000) were much larger.

 

[Master Yoda]

I don't know how far back your mugs go, but the old ones (like pre 2000) were much larger.

Are you sure about that? I have a Disney mug dated Spring Break 1998 and it is exactly the same size as my PORS mugs from around 2004-2005.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Are people really drinking 60-100 ounces of soda a day?

Wow, no wonder they had to replace those boats.

 

[juniorthomas]

I know I have heard this rumor before, I can't find anything to back it up. It maybe that the amount that coke spends to be the official sponsor for wdw is the same or more than the cost of the syrup that disney spends.



Well look at it this way, say a cup of soda costs $3. There are 1920 rooms at sports, say there are an average of 3 guests per room, that is 5760 guests per day. If 10% of guests do not pay for soda, that is 576 guests not paying $3 for beverages which is $1728 a day, which is 630k a year. Now I doubt that 10% of guests steal, but just 1% is $63k a year which is the salary of 2 or 3 workers.

The nitpicking sucks but when you multiply and add up all of the numbers, they become more real.



We had the choose one year between the travel mugs and the big ones, we lke the travel mugs more.

Well if you can't find it, I'm willing to call it a myth.

 

[juniorthomas]

I don't know how far back your mugs go, but the old ones (like pre 2000) were much larger.

Well back then, you could drink paint cans of soda. Oh the free and easy days of our youth...