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

[The Visionary Soul]

It seems that the Rapid Fill Secure Refillable Mug Program is failing at an astronomical rate for Disney (and for guests).

As you may know, the program was designed to combat the rampant soda-theft occurring at the resorts and increase the perceived value of "un-locking the soda fountains."

It was somewhat successful at first... but here's what is happening now.

First, Disney is paying an extra 5 cents per cup for an RFID sticker to be pre-attached to most cups going to the resorts. So, the cup cost went up, not just for the mugs, but for all cups. You'd think that they'd be able to re-coup the cost through the additional mug sales. Unfortunately, that's wrong too. You see, a lot of the mugs "sold" are already paid for via the Disney Dining Plan, (If you get any Dining Plan, it includes mugs for your family) so they really aren't loosing anything if the guests staying have a meal plan and want to reuse old mugs, but they have to get new ones now, which only costs the company money. (The average person wouldn't factor in the value of the mugs into the dining plan, I know I wouldn't.)

Second, at the deluxe resorts, many managers have gotten so fed-up with the system that they just turn it off. This means that Disney paid for the system to be installed, but it works so badly that the managers don't want to deal with it. The system is actually costing them money... why? Well, that brings us to...

Third, guests have discovered that only the soda is on lock down. That's too bad, no more cheap soda refills for free for old mugs. But what's this? The hot chocolate machines aren't locked down? Ooooo. That's right, the hot chocolate consumption has gone up tremendously after Rapid Fill was installed. And hot chocolate costs a lot more per cup than soda. The smarter managers have disabled their rapid fill sensors on the soda machines (mostly just at deluxe resorts) and started saving money on hot chocolate costs alone because guests would rather have cheap soda, but when the soda isn't available, hot chocolate works just fine. It's not just chocolate too. It's the coffee, tea, and juice that also isn't locked down with the sensors. (I'll admit none of those cost as much as hot chocolate, though the juice might come close)

Forth and Finally, guests just don't enjoy using the program, many have a hard time using it, and the bases that check for the RFID in the cup just splash the soda all over. It's something that you have to get used to after a couple of times, it's not as intuitive as it should be. Plus, some people are wondering why on earth this wasn't just tied into your magic band?

Anyway, the bottom line is that the Rapid Fill program is rapidly robbing Disney of profit in a way they couldn't have predicted, most likely because the team who tested the program had no idea what they were doing to themselves. They should probably all be demoted. No doubt you'll see changes soon.

 

[Sam Eagle 1776]

That's really interesting, any timetable for changes? Would they rework the system or just go back to the good ole days? (aka just months ago)

 

[The Visionary Soul]

That's really interesting, any timetable for changes? Would they rework the system or just go back to the good ole days? (aka just months ago)

Oh, I'm not saying they will change things back... they spent a pretty penny on this project and I'm sure there are still some boneheaded champions for the concept that will try and lock down the hot chocolate machines and coffee and tea and the juices and who knows what else. Maybe if Tom Staggs found out what happened he'd be the one to shut down the whole thing, but until then, who knows?

 

[englanddg]

It seems that the Rapid Fill Secure Refillable Mug Program is failing at an astronomical rate for Disney (and for guests).

As you may know, the program was designed to combat the rampant soda-theft occurring at the resorts and increase the perceived value of "un-locking the soda fountains."

It was somewhat successful at first... but here's what is happening now.

First, Disney is paying an extra 5 cents per cup for an RFID sticker to be pre-attached to most cups going to the resorts. So, the cup cost went up, not just for the mugs, but for all cups. You'd think that they'd be able to re-coup the cost through the additional mug sales. Unfortunately, that's wrong too. You see, a lot of the mugs "sold" are already paid for via the Disney Dining Plan, (If you get any Dining Plan, it includes mugs for your family) so they really aren't loosing anything if the guests staying have a meal plan and want to reuse old mugs, but they have to get new ones now, which only costs the company money. (The average person wouldn't factor in the value of the mugs into the dining plan, I know I wouldn't.)

Second, at the deluxe resorts, many managers have gotten so fed-up with the system that they just turn it off. This means that Disney paid for the system to be installed, but it works so badly that the managers don't want to deal with it. The system is actually costing them money... why? Well, that brings us to...

Third, guests have discovered that only the soda is on lock down. That's too bad, no more cheap soda refills for free for old mugs. But what's this? The Hot Chocolate machines aren't locked down? Ooooo. That's right, the hot chocolate consumption has gone up tremendously after Rapid Fill was installed. And Hot Chocolate costs a lot more per cup than soda. The smarter managers have disabled their rapid fill sensors on the soda machines (mostly just at deluxe resorts) and started saving money on hot chocolate costs alone because guests would rather have cheap soda, but when the soda isn't available, hot chocolate works much better. It's not just chocolate too. It's the coffee, tea, and juice that also isn't locked down with the sensors. (I'll admit none of those cost as much as hot chocolate, though the juice might come close)

Forth and Finally, guests just don't enjoy using the program, many have a hard time using it, and the bases that check for the RFID in the cup just splash the soda all over. It's something that you have to get used to after a couple of times, it's not as intuitive as it should be. Plus, some people are wondering why on earth this wasn't just tied into your magic band?

Anyway, the bottom line is that the Rapid Fill program is rapidly robbing Disney of profit in a way they couldn't have predicted, most likely because the team who tested the program had no idea what they were doing to themselves. They should probably all be demoted. No doubt you'll see changes soon.

None of this surprises me in the least. After years of restaurant management, I laughed when I heard their "idea"...and when I saw it implemented as "shelves" instead of say...in the diffuser assembly or someplace else, I knew it was going to be a nightmare to keep clean.

The 5% increase in paper cost for perceived "savings" that sound really good in a meeting room with "ideal mockups" being presented by people who probably have never worked in a restaurant, much less run one, a day in their lives should have been a huge red flag.

This whole idea was stupid. And, I agree, the team who thought this up should, at the very least, be demoted. I would go so far as to say some of them should be let go. They can always take their "bright" ideas to Universal.

 

[englanddg]

Oh, I'm not saying they will change things back... they spent a pretty penny on this project and I'm sure there are still some boneheaded champions for the concept that will try and lock down the hot chocolate machines and coffee and tea and the juices and who knows what else. Maybe if Tom Staggs found out what happened he'd be the one to shut down the whole thing, but until then, who knows?

I'll bet Staggs is dumb / arrogant enough to have supported the idea in the first place. Along with Meg and the rest of those operational know-nothing suits.

And, why do I say they are know-nothings? Well...lets just look at RapidFill. Anyone who has any sort of hands on operational experience would have laughed this right out of the room.

The operational decisions they are making (massive investments in shaky technology that does nothing or very little to improve the guest experience instead of investing in labor and quality operations)...PROVE they know nothing.

Or, at the very least, they just don't care.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

I'll bet Staggs is dumb / arrogant enough to have supported the idea in the first place. Along with Meg and the rest of those operational know-nothing suits.

And, why do I say they are know-nothings? Well...lets just look at RapidFill. Anyone who has any sort of hands on operational experience would have laughed this right out of the room.

The operational decisions they are making (massive investments in shaky technology that does nothing or very little to improve the guest experience instead of investing in labor and quality operations)...PROVE they know nothing.

Or, at the very least, they just don't care.

I guess I just have more faith in Tom because he actually shows that he cares about the parks a lot more than Jay ever did, or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part that he didn't know about this program and that if he did know about it, he'd have killed it.

 

[englanddg]

I guess I just have more faith in Tom because he actually shows that he cares about the parks a lot more than Jay ever did, or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part that he didn't know about this program and that if he did know about it, he'd have killed it.

Perhaps.

Perhaps this was all pitched to him without a full explanation and middle management swept any potential issues under the rug.

I, certainly, will probably never know (as I probably will never get a chance to ask Staggs something like that). But, someone certainly dropped the "common sense" ball somewhere along the way.

 

[CDavid]

Isn't is just remarkable how the management (I use the term loosely) team which gave us the MM+ debacle is part of the same institution which thought Rapid Refill was a good idea.

If only someone could have seen this coming...

 

[biggy H]

Maybe the managers should do their job and make it work. Sounds like some CMs can't be bothered to make it work. The idea is a sound one but it sounds like a few people don't want to do their job...

Strange that it is working at the other resorts....

It seems as soon as something comes along that someone doesn't like then they do all they can to make it fail.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

Maybe the managers should do their job and make it work. Sounds like some CMs can't be bothered to make it work. The idea is a sound one but it sounds like a few people don't want to do their job...

Strange that it is working at the other resorts....

It seems as soon as something comes along that someone doesn't like then they do all they can to make it fail.

It's not working all that well anywhere except for the value resorts where large groups of teens come in and try to steal ice buckets full of soda. (And they're not quite smart enough to try the hot chocolate.) Deluxe Resorts with only a couple of machines each really don't need the system, and it doesn't help them either.

Anyway, besides that, the idea that someone should be forced to "make" a flawed system work is what is wrong with the world. Steve Jobs said it best. "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking." He didn't believe in that crap, and you shouldn't either.

 

[Andyjshort]

Nor intuitive, forces you to sit your mug on a wet tray and annoying when one soda runs out because the machine stills thinks you've had your drink and won't let you choose another one instead.

 

[R W B]

These RFID cups is the 2nd worst choice Disney made (1st is my magic+).

On my recent trip last month to the All Stars Movies, we ate breakfest at the resort for 3 days and each time only one drink machine would give me ice and I'd have to walk to the other side for my coke. It did the same for refills too. Sad thing is I was using a paper cup, not the refillable mug so I had the exact same issue with 3 different cups/RFID chips. Yea that was a great way to spend money TDO!

 

[The Visionary Soul]

I know I may get slammed for this, but please don't compare MyMagic+ with the Rapid Fill system. To my knowledge, two completely different non-associated teams worked on the projects, hence why they are completely independent of each other. (For better or worse.) I honestly believe that MyMagic+ is a good concept with heavily flawed execution. RapidFill is a bad concept to begin with, with half-done execution.

 

[englanddg]

Maybe the managers should do their job and make it work. Sounds like some CMs can't be bothered to make it work. The idea is a sound one but it sounds like a few people don't want to do their job...

Strange that it is working at the other resorts....

It seems as soon as something comes along that someone doesn't like then they do all they can to make it fail.

It's not the operations managements responsibility to "make it work" when the system, conceptually and in practice, is flawed.

• It increases costs
• At best, it confuses guests and at worst upset them (which the managers get to hear about)
• Speaks poorly of Disney and how they view the Guest experience (we care so much about every penny of your multi-thousand dollar vacation that we are going to limit your soda refills...people are going to compare that to...I dunno, pretty much every fast food restaurant where you get free refills) Valid thinking or not, you know someone who just shelled out 4 to 5 grand for a trip is going to think it, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.

Their responsibility is to their guests, and had they been consulted in advance (before it became corporate mandate in a meeting room), and their concerns listened to (instead of a group who obviously has never run a restaurant before), then this system could have been very different, or even decided that it wasn't required (more likely).

If they are spending a good percentage of their time (or their labor cost) explaining, soothing guests, training, fixing, cleaning, etc. the system, it's actually a smart idea for the manager to disable the system.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

It's not the operations managements responsibility to "make it work" when the system, conceptually and in practice, is flawed.

• It increases costs
• At best, it confuses guests and at worst upset them (which the managers get to hear about)
• Speaks poorly of Disney and how they view the Guest experience (we care so much about every penny of your multi-thousand dollar vacation that we are going to limit your soda refills...people are going to compare that to...I dunno, pretty much every fast food restaurant where you get free refills) Valid thinking or not, you know someone who just shelled out 4 to 5 grand for a trip is going to think it, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.

Their responsibility is to their guests, and had they been consulted in advance (before it became corporate mandate in a meeting room), and their concerns listened to (instead of a group who obviously has never run a restaurant before), then this system could have been very different, or even decided that it wasn't required (more likely).

If they are spending a good percentage of their time (or their labor cost) explaining, soothing guests, training, fixing, cleaning, etc. the system, it's actually a smart idea for the manager to disable the system.

I've been thinking, and the only way this system could have made sense to install on paper is based on a somewhat flawed accounting principle called "lost potential revenue." Let me explain the principle. It is designed to show what someone "could" have made if the conditions were different. It actually works for things like un-paid taxes (What the IRS should have made off of you if your accounting was done in a different manner) or when you need to prove something in court (This revenue was lost because they stole our product design). The bottom line is that it was applied to something so micro and so real, the math doesn't hold up. (The principle isn't flawed, it's just not being used as intended.)

So, here's how it works. Instead of using actual numbers on how much it costs to fill an already existing cup or mug, they used the "cost" that Disney charges its guests to purchase soda. (Because that's how much they "could" be making, get it?) So, instead of the "cost" being maybe a penny or two per refill, Disney had to have used the price that they charge a guest to buy a cup of soda. Now, I doubt they used the 17.99 for a new mug price, they probably used their normal price, which is what, 3 dollars a cup? Anyway, it's a lot more than a couple cents, which by the way, is still a lot due to the massive scale of WDW. In fact, that number may be even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. However, although that number seems huge, it's still not a huge loss when you're making what Disney makes on its average guest.

But like I said, Disney didn't use the cost. They wanted to know the lost potential revenue. This assumes that all of those guests who were stealing soda would have bought it instead if they had no other option. (A flawed view to begin with, as some would just opt for free ice water.) The number also changes when you do this... it gets much, much higher. The resulting imaginary number obviously had to have been insanely high. Like, multi-millions of dollars high. Any anytime you tell an executive that you're loosing tens of millions of dollars worth of soda a year, they'll approve a plan to stop the theft. (Though a smart executive would really see through this flawed accounting on something as trivial as soda.) That's the only way this entire program could have gotten funded.

There is also the added psychological benefit of perceived value... If Coca-cola was free, would it still be worth something? There has to be some customer value in there somewhere for the customer to buy a product. The locking down of the product for others who don't pay in theory "adds" to the value of the drink. But that's getting awfully out-there, don't you think?

Finally, there are those out there that claim that when they bought their mug back in 1992, they could get unlimited free refills forever. (I'm one of those people actually, and yes, that was the policy back then, though they also had mugs for each resort too, so many things have changed in the program.) The new system just screws over those guests, and there is really no excuse for that, when the amount of mugs sold during that period was so tiny and so few show up these days. The company really does just look like Scrooge McDuck is running everything. Pinch those pennies Scrooge, pinch them!

 

[englanddg]

The resulting imaginary number obviously had to have been insanely high. Like, multi-millions of dollars high. Any anytime you tell an executive that you're loosing tens of millions of dollars worth of soda a year, they'll approve a plan to stop the theft. (Though a smart executive would really see through this flawed accounting on something as trivial as soda.) That's the only way this entire program could have gotten funded.

This is exactly what I was thinking as well. And also why I think the decisions were made by people who have never operated a restaurant.

I ran into similar issues, though, in my case it was salad bar theft...people would not purchase a salad plate but try to use a regular plate at the bar. Honestly, the best way to deal with it was simpler than it sounds. Monitor it.

With respect to how Disney manages it's FOH, having a peak time attendant and otherwise training the floor managers (whom I rarely see in the FOH, which is a VERY bad concept for restaurant management) they could station themselves around or near the bar (which is great, because in the food courts it gives you a wonderful view of what is going on around the restaurant).

The system is known as "Point". Basically, the manager walks the restaurant touching all the important parts (including the restrooms) every half hour or so, but outside of opening / closing and shift change, or the need to deal with something specific, they basically stand in one place for the majority of the shift.

Hard to explain on paper, but very easy to implement.

At best, this was done by someone crunching numbers and honestly trying to solve an issue they convinced themselves existed and needed a nifty "21st century" solution for. At worst, it was someone in middle management with aspirations who crafted this whole thing to garner some attention and (as I'm sure he/she thought) get a big feather in their cap.

The only thing I'd add is that this does have a correlation to same mindset that brought about MM+ (love it, like it or hate it), in that instead of dropping 1 billion (or pick your number) into new rides and attractions, Disney is focusing on control mechanisms.

So, with respect to Rapid Fill (I love the name, since it's not rapid...rapid would be like McDonalds behind the counter machines where you just press a button and it fills the cup perfectly)...but, where I'm going with this is...instead of this money and development focus going to something like this (the Coke Freestyle system):

Instead we get this:

 

[The Visionary Soul]

But the bottom one is a giant football! So much better, right? I'd never have guessed it's a drink machine.

FYI, Universal has been using a version of the freestyle machines in their parks that use a similar RFID system to RapidFill and it works much more effectively. Then again, apples to oranges. Universal doesn't have an unlimited hot chocolate machine next to the Freestyle machine.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

This is exactly what I was thinking as well. And also why I think the decisions were made by people who have never operated a restaurant.

I ran into similar issues, though, in my case it was salad bar theft...people would not purchase a salad plate but try to use a regular plate at the bar. Honestly, the best way to deal with it was simpler than it sounds. Monitor it.

With respect to how Disney manages it's FOH, having a peak time attendant and otherwise training the floor managers (whom I rarely see in the FOH, which is a VERY bad concept for restaurant management) they could station themselves around or near the bar (which is great, because in the food courts it gives you a wonderful view of what is going on around the restaurant).

The system is known as "Point". Basically, the manager walks the restaurant touching all the important parts (including the restrooms) every half hour or so, but outside of opening / closing and shift change, or the need to deal with something specific, they basically stand in one place for the majority of the shift.

Hard to explain on paper, but very easy to implement.

Monitor it? But what about labor costs?! Oh, the horror. /sarcasm

 

[unkadug]

This is exactly what I was thinking as well. And also why I think the decisions were made by people who have never operated a restaurant.

I ran into similar issues, though, in my case it was salad bar theft...people would not purchase a salad plate but try to use a regular plate at the bar. Honestly, the best way to deal with it was simpler than it sounds. Monitor it.

With respect to how Disney manages it's FOH, having a peak time attendant and otherwise training the floor managers (whom I rarely see in the FOH, which is a VERY bad concept for restaurant management) they could station themselves around or near the bar (which is great, because in the food courts it gives you a wonderful view of what is going on around the restaurant).

The system is known as "Point". Basically, the manager walks the restaurant touching all the important parts (including the restrooms) every half hour or so, but outside of opening / closing and shift change, or the need to deal with something specific, they basically stand in one place for the majority of the shift.

Hard to explain on paper, but very easy to implement.

At best, this was done by someone crunching numbers and honestly trying to solve an issue they convinced themselves existed and needed a nifty "21st century" solution for. At worst, it was someone in middle management with aspirations who crafted this whole thing to garner some attention and (as I'm sure he/she thought) get a big feather in their cap.

The only thing I'd add is that this does have a correlation to same mindset that brought about MM+ (love it, like it or hate it), in that instead of dropping 1 billion (or pick your number) into new rides and attractions, Disney is focusing on control mechanisms.

So, with respect to Rapid Fill (I love the name, since it's not rapid...rapid would be like McDonalds behind the counter machines where you just press a button and it fills the cup perfectly)...but, where I'm going with this is...instead of this money and development focus going to something like this (the Coke Freestyle system):

Instead we get this:

Maybe it's just me, but I find the whole Freestyle system overrated.

I've tried them in Atlanta when they first came out and now they seem to everywhere they probably should not be.

It would be neat if there was more choices in your BASE drink....but who really cares if you can get a raspberry Diet Barq's Rootbeer or an Strawberry flavored Orange Fanta.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

This is a wonderful economics lesson!

Forgive me, but I see a big similarity between RapidFill and MM+; they're both giant technological hammers being used to kill metaphorical flies, and Disney is putting metaphorical holes in the metaphorical drywall with their swings and misses.