"Rapid Fill" Mugs Coming to Walt Disney World Hotels

[WDW1974]

nah.. napkins is a new thing. The others are ingrained in every Disney site for the last 15 years!

That's 'cause Disney only went cheap on the napkins of late.

They really should just put soap and shampoo in unmarked containers with no Mickey or Tink on them to prevent people like me from leaving with loads of the stuff. Clearly, their nightly rates just can't cover that.

 

[WDW1974]

*adds this one,

, for a birthday gift*

Thanks. ... This whole thread is more entertaining than a day at WDW (....not really!)

 

[WDW1974]

I guess Disney doesn't give a crap about this kind of thing anymore.

To be fair, George, I could use that quote on probably 50 things just off the top of my head ...

 

[WDW1974]

I see the catch. "FROM THIS BEVERAGE STATION" is "this beverage station" still there? Details details.....

That looks screwy ... the wording sounds like nothing I've seen.

 

[unkadug]

That looks screwy ... the wording sounds like nothing I've seen.

It's because it was a joke.

 

[WDW1974]

To continue with my true story: When my wife indicated she wasn't feeling well, I asked her if she had consumed anything other than Coke. She thought about it and answered that she had not. I sat her on a bench and walked to the nearest concession stand. I asked for tap water and was told they didn't have any. They offered to sell me bottled water which I declined. I walked to the next concession stand and got ice water.

Almost 10 years later, my wife is still annoyed I didn't buy the bottled water at the first stand. A lesson for any newlyweds out there.

Any wife or fanboi of mine is going to do what I do namely consume good old-fashioned O-Town H2O (hasn't killed anyone yet that we know of) from either cup or water fountain. YUM!!!

 

[WDW1974]

Sorry. But they are.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/24/man-arrested-for-stealing-soda-refill/

It doesn't matter how insignificant people make it seem. When John or Jane Doe walk into a Disney eatery and refill a year or older mug then they have just circumvented the price Disney would have otherwise gotten from selling that soft drink. It doesn't matter how well you spin this, it is still theft. Way back in the day when I worked in Loss Prevention I had a co-worker that would bust people walking out of the door for eating out of the grocery section without paying for it. Did taking that one grape from the bunch constitute an almighty crime? No. But it was still stealing and classified as a felony in the state of Indiana. Of course it would always get reduced to a misdemeanor and a fine so would I have bothered with it? He** no. But it is still stealing. You can justify it any way you want, but in the end it is still theft when someone goes into Disney and refills an old mug, milk jug, or soft drink bottle. It is not the biggest crime of the century, I agree. However, Disney must see that this RFID scheme will be paid off in no time with the amount of soft drink and mug sales that they will get now that were being stolen from them previously. (This is going to be rough so hold on....)If you factor in approximately 17 million guests per year at Disney World, then low ball it to 10% of that who bring in old mugs, bottles, and various other crap to fill up at the drink station you get 1,700,000 people. 1.7 million multiplied by $16.57 (mug after taxes) you get $28,176,310 in revenue from those who would now have to buy the mug. Of course these are ballpark and really rough numbers, and they may be very far off, but there can be no denying that Disney will now make more money off of soft drink sales than they did before. And haven't we already determined that Disney is out to make money?

No, they are not.

Read what I posted. It's not like thousands of WDW CMs in the 90s grouped together and said 'we'll get back at our evil rodent employer by telling every guest they can get free Coke for life with these mugs'' ... theft is theft, but following CM/Resort procedures that gets changed years down the road is not.

And I'll argue this point until da Mom decides to close the thread because no topic is as lame as this and it never fails to raise folks' dander.

 

[Goofyernmost]

For arguments sake....when you sell something that is "good forever," you really can't just decide to cut the perk for those people who purchased under that pretense. You can stop offering it to future guests, and I guess in this case since no one seems to be able to produce a picture of one of these old signs, Disney can just play the "well that was never an official policy" card. But I would be miffed if I purchased a mug back (and still had it and it was in usable condition) and when I noticed it wouldn't work at the fountain a Cast Member said to me "well it was a good run."

Didn't they sell "lifetime park passes" back in the 80s or 90s at WDW? What if Disney decided to just stop offering that perk because they decided that even for the few who purchased those passes, they were just losing too much money from those guests...and tell you that you had a good run?

I probably should wait until I have read the rest of the thread before responding to that, but, geez Louise, is there any difference between a Life Time Park Pass and a $10.00 cup? What if Disney were to say, OK, you can still have it free but you MUST USE the original cup that was sold to you under that agreement. Would that be OK then? If they can do that, they should, but I doubt that Disney would find it worth the effort to search back to determine what mugs were sold under that agreement and then have the man power to enforce it. What are people going to do? Take it to court and sue Disney for $10.00 and a couple million for emotional damage. It's just another thing that unreasonable people feel is reasonable. Did the agree to it at one point, I'm sure they did (I guess) but can they change an insignificant rule like that at their whim? Yea, I think they can.

I'm sure that IF the people that purchased that were the only ones that were actually taking advantage of it and that they were using the vessel that they purchased with that agreement, this wouldn't be a problem. However, it was the ones that DIDN'T BUY a mug under those conditions that feel that they can suck off from Disney's promise to someone else. That is why they are taking action. Who gets cheated in that process, the ones that actually purchased and still have that mug. Otherwise, the only people that are affected are those that didn't qualify to begin with and are, in reality, stealing soda from Disney and justifying it by saying, "Well, they don't pay much for it anyway." Sorry, but to quote a few from this board over everything they don't like...."It's unacceptable". Apparently, it's OK to steal from the rich and keep for yourselves. Does that sum it up?

 

[WDW1974]

Now this I can agree with. If Disney stated as much and sold the mugs on this premise then they should honor that deal and issue those that can show proof of the old "free for life" mugs a card to reuse for new mugs or refills on the old mugs.

No one has proof of what we were told in the 90s orally ... it's a circular argument that doesn't change the validity of what went on one bit.

 

[George]

The most ridiculous thing is the water park option for the mug. In a couple of years explaining the ins and outs of a "magical" vacation will border on complete lunacy (as opposed to the current, half crazy system).

 

[articos]

Truth. A Marriott I frequent in AMS actually just abandoned charging for wifi because it was surrounded by so many other businesses who offer it for free.

BTW, speaking of high end hotel service:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/us-money-blog/2013/jun/18/room-service-middle-class?INTCMP=SRCH

I wonder if anyone in Orlando is catching on to this trend?

From the way the trends are going, room service is definitely in danger of being a relic of the past in hotels 4 star and below. Lots more grab and go or service counters in new properties.

 

[G00fyDad]

No one has proof of what we were told in the 90s orally ... it's a circular argument that doesn't change the validity of what went on one bit.

I'm not arguing this. I seem to remember it myself.

 

[AndyS2992]

From the way the trends are going, room service is definitely in danger of being a relic of the past in hotels 4 star and below. Lots more grab and go or service counters in new properties.

I've always been too embarrassed to do room service so this works out fine for me lol

 

[articos]

Your mugs have been end-of-life'd.

"At the end of the purchased period, the mug will deactivate itself." Think about this, because this quote is spectacular. I hope the dispensers will come up with a sad face when your time is up.

I do think that since Disney made a big deal of free refills with previous mugs, they should go ahead and honor that or institute a notice that they will phase out the refill policy on the old mugs. Maybe then do a discounted refill from there for the old mugs. I think my only concern is if people really think the mug won't work after their vacation - and I hope Disney adjusts the policy and specifies they can be re-activated for future use, if they can be - is that this is going to cause a lot of waste if people toss them at the end of the vacation. I hope they institute a mug recycling program.

 

[G00fyDad]

No, they are not.

Read what I posted. It's not like thousands of WDW CMs in the 90s grouped together and said 'we'll get back at our evil rodent employer by telling every guest they can get free Coke for life with these mugs'' ... theft is theft, but following CM/Resort procedures that gets changed years down the road is not.

And I'll argue this point until da Mom decides to close the thread because no topic is as lame as this and it never fails to raise folks' dander.

Yes, they are.

It is stealing. Again, no amount of spin can make it otherwise. The ONLY ones who bring in the old mugs and use them that are not "technically" stealing are the ones that were told that they have "lifetime refills". Argue it all you want. Anyone else who comes in with an old "non-lifetime refill" mug, milk jug, Coke bottle, etc... is stealing.

 

[The Mom]

OK, the last post was, well, the last post.

 

[GrumpyFan]

I'm fearful of opening this thread due to the topic and the heated discussion it tends bring about, but I noticed on Disney Food Blog and other sites, that the Rapid Fill machines are being installed across property. The most recent one spotted, according to DFB, Just curious where else these machines have been installed, and if anybody has heard when they're going live? According to It's All in WDW, there might be a delay.

In a plea for decency and not wanting to see this thread closed, and my genuine curiosity of what's going on with this, can we try to stay away from the likes/dislikes and "unlimited refills" discussion and stick to the topic?

 

[MOXOMUMD]

They can wait until the end of August so I don't have to deal with it. We'll be at ASMusic on the 5th. I guess we'll find out then.

 

[wdwmagic]

OK we've had a good long timeout on this one. I'm going to reopen this, but please, let us keep it on topic, and be respectful to each other. Thanks.

 

[wdwmagic]

I'm fearful of opening this thread due to the topic and the heated discussion it tends bring about, but I noticed on Disney Food Blog and other sites, that the Rapid Fill machines are being installed across property. The most recent one spotted, according to DFB, Just curious where else these machines have been installed, and if anybody has heard when they're going live? According to It's All in WDW, there might be a delay.

In a plea for decency and not wanting to see this thread closed, and my genuine curiosity of what's going on with this, can we try to stay away from the likes/dislikes and "unlimited refills" discussion and stick to the topic?

Late July at the All Star is the first to be rolled out I believe - no delays that I know of.