Some little things at the MK

[RayTheFirefly]

Oh, you have no idea how insane the conversation was. I was offered to be given as many small (6oz clear cups) as I wanted, but he just kept refusing to give a large ice water. It was almost 90 degrees outside and people were basically dying outside in the sun before the parade, and he knew that I didn't have many hands. He then started lecturing me that it's a Starbucks policy (I checked, it's not, Starbucks even writes "H2O" on cups for Venti or Trenta waters) and a Disney policy (If it is a Disney policy anywhere, it needs to change quick, because it's a bad policy. Not to mention, inconsistent, because we went to Cosmic Ray's an hour later and got large sized waters there). So, I just got my multiple mini waters and left.

It's just sad.

Yeah, I get venti and trenta waters at SB with my coffee all the time for free. He lied.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

They should raze the arcade altogether and put something useful there. Of all the times I've come off SM, I've never ONCE stopped in either the arcade or the gift shop. Well, maybe once on the latter. It's always out - left - gone.

 

[NearTheEars]

They should raze the arcade altogether and put something useful there. Of all the times I've come off SM, I've never ONCE stopped in either the arcade or the gift shop. Well, maybe once on the latter. It's always out - left - gone.

I discovered the arcade one day during a rainstorm. Haven't been back since.

 

[Figment82]

Regarding cups of water: It's one of the things I really like about Dollywood. They'll happily hand you a cup of water from any stand without question and do it with a smile (and ice).

Another thing Dollywood gets right is always asking if you have an annual pass so they can apply the discount. This does two things:
- let's those without an annual pass be reminded that they can get a discount if they buy and annual pass
- reminds those that have an annual pass that their pass gets them a discount and it works everywhere

At Disney, they just started having the annual pass get you discounts in more places but it's not as universal as it is at Dollywood.

They seem to ask frequently like that at Disneyland. At least, that's been my experience, especially at the quick service locations. Of course, they also give a discount practically everywhere, which is refreshing.

I only drink water, so I'm used to the random sizes at the parks. I always get a little excited when they hand over the larger cups, which is sad, I know... Honestly, they could start charging for it and I wouldn't care. I drink water because it's healthy, not because I'm cheap. Disney just doesn't seem to realize that not everyone is out to shortchange them a couple bucks.

 

[Jon81uk]

Penny pinching at it's best. It just takes one Disney financial person to present a spreadsheet to the execs projecting the average amount of free cups of water that are given away based on cup inventory. Multiplying that by the price per cup and the price per ounce of water and it's clear why they would go with a smaller cup. If all locations were on board with it, it saves the company money and that's a fact that can't be argued with. The argument is what kinda of value the management perceives for the ticket price vs. what kind of value the guests will continue to pay said ticket prices.

Except the cup costs more than the water so one large cup is cheaper for them than two small ones. But they assume you are too lazy to get the second cup I guess.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Penny pinching at it's best. It just takes one Disney financial person to present a spreadsheet to the execs projecting the average amount of free cups of water that are given away based on cup inventory. Multiplying that by the price per cup and the price per ounce of water and it's clear why they would go with a smaller cup. If all locations were on board with it, it saves the company money and that's a fact that can't be argued with. The argument is what kinda of value the management perceives for the ticket price vs. what kind of value the guests will continue to pay said ticket prices.

Except the cup costs more than the water so one large cup is cheaper for them than two small ones. But they assume you are too lazy to get the second cup I guess.

Just a couple of things here. Before anyone says "Disney Apologist", whatever that means, they are referring to Starbucks not Disney. Yes, it is Disney's property that it is sitting on but they pay a hefty sum to be located there and it is not so they can give away cups, produced ice (doesn't grow on trees in Florida) and the cost in time taken away from paying customers just so someone that is too cheap to pay for a bottle of water can get their thirst quenched. It never ceases to amaze me just how much people think is owed to them. (Whine... well it's hot and we need water)... that's what the water vendors (for a fee) are there for and for those that cannot afford that they have water fountains. Those are there to sustain your hydration.

I'm sure that they limit the size of the cups to discourage people from wandering in and demanding freebee's every second. If you ran that business you would do the same thing. Water is not Starbucks income, coffee is, giving away water does not help pay the rent to Disney nor does Disney get involved with Starbucks Spreadsheet with any degree of real control. In fact, the more that Starbucks gives away the smaller the amount of Disney's cut. People that go in and ask for free water are not going to buy Coffee from them so they don't even lose business doing it.

 

[Kman101]

I get what you're saying Goofynermost, but it's simple courtesy and while I agree that it's a Starbucks and they have every right to determine the size of a cup they give out for free, they should also adhere to the policy Disney and all parks have. Water is free to drink. Period. Water creates ice. Period. A cup is nothing in the grand scheme of the business. It just isn't. And to argue about it in front of a customer is just really bad customer service.

 

[Incomudro]

Just a couple of things here. Before anyone says "Disney Apologist", whatever that means, they are referring to Starbucks not Disney. Yes, it is Disney's property that it is sitting on but they pay a hefty sum to be located there and it is not so they can give away cups, produced ice (doesn't grow on trees in Florida) and the cost in time taken away from paying customers just so someone that is too cheap to pay for a bottle of water can get their thirst quenched. It never ceases to amaze me just how much people think is owed to them. (Whine... well it's hot and we need water)... that's what the water vendors (for a fee) are there for and for those that cannot afford that they have water fountains. Those are there to sustain your hydration.

I'm sure that they limit the size of the cups to discourage people from wandering in and demanding freebee's every second. If you ran that business you would do the same thing. Water is not Starbucks income, coffee is, giving away water does not help pay the rent to Disney nor does Disney get involved with Starbucks Spreadsheet with any degree of real control. In fact, the more that Starbucks gives away the smaller the amount of Disney's cut. People that go in and ask for free water are not going to buy Coffee from them so they don't even lose business doing it.

If I had a lighter, I would flick it on in salute of this post.

 

[Sage of Time]

I'll say this: Never had a problem with getting 'free water' with my meal at Disney.

Universal? Almost every time. Pain in the .

 

[Incomudro]

I get what you're saying Goofynermost, but it's simple courtesy and while I agree that it's a Starbucks and they have every right to determine the size of a cup they give out for free, they should also adhere to the policy Disney and all parks have. Water is free to drink. Period. Water creates ice. Period. A cup is nothing in the grand scheme of the business. It just isn't. And to argue about it in front of a customer is just really bad customer service.

It is when word gets out, and people being people - Starbucks becomes the go to place for people to bombards looking for Venti sized cups full of ice water.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I get what you're saying Goofynermost, but it's simple courtesy and while I agree that it's a Starbucks and they have every right to determine the size of a cup they give out for free, they should also adhere to the policy Disney and all parks have. Water is free to drink. Period. Water creates ice. Period. A cup is nothing in the grand scheme of the business. It just isn't. And to argue about it in front of a customer is just really bad customer service.

I agree it is a simple courtesy where there are a manageable number of people involved. However, when the clientele adds up to possibly around 30K a day (just a guess, I don't know the actual numbers) then you are no longer talking about a simple courtesy. You go into a restaurant and buy a meal and it is never a problem to get all the ice water you want. Just walk into a random store and ask for nothing but ice water and then be upset because the cup isn't big enough? Am I the only one that sees the problem that could cause?

Starbucks customers are limited not only to the people that like coffee (mostly) but just the general population that doesn't want to pay big bucks for water run through ground up beans. Disney can afford to give some out in their QS locations because the quantity of sales that they have, but, even then it takes a lot of nerve to demand something for free and then never buy anything else to offset that expense to the business. One may have spent a lot of money to get in, but a place like Starbucks doesn't get one penny of that revenue, so everyone needs to find a new reason for entitlement.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

We should be thankful that ANYTHING is free @ WDW.

 

[dreamfinder]

Just a couple of things here. Before anyone says "Disney Apologist", whatever that means, they are referring to Starbucks not Disney. Yes, it is Disney's property that it is sitting on but they pay a hefty sum to be located there and it is not so they can give away cups, produced ice (doesn't grow on trees in Florida) and the cost in time taken away from paying customers just so someone that is too cheap to pay for a bottle of water can get their thirst quenched. It never ceases to amaze me just how much people think is owed to them. (Whine... well it's hot and we need water)... that's what the water vendors (for a fee) are there for and for those that cannot afford that they have water fountains. Those are there to sustain your hydration.

I'm sure that they limit the size of the cups to discourage people from wandering in and demanding freebee's every second. If you ran that business you would do the same thing. Water is not Starbucks income, coffee is, giving away water does not help pay the rent to Disney nor does Disney get involved with Starbucks Spreadsheet with any degree of real control. In fact, the more that Starbucks gives away the smaller the amount of Disney's cut. People that go in and ask for free water are not going to buy Coffee from them so they don't even lose business doing it.

Except that the in park Starbucks I do believe are actually franchises/licensed O/O by WDW, and not Starbucks corporate. The ones in DTD are Starbucks corporate owned. So everything that transpires at the in park locations does have the TDO accountants grubby little paws all over it. They just need to adhere (or at least are supposed to) certain standards set by Starbucks, most likely related to things like how to brew/pour coffee.

 

[Texas84]

When I was working concessions in college our sales were based on counting cups. If our cup count didn't match income we were docked. Not kidding.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

Except that the in park Starbucks I do believe are actually franchises/licensed O/O by WDW, and not Starbucks corporate. The ones in DTD are Starbucks corporate owned. So everything that transpires at the in park locations does have the TDO accountants grubby little paws all over it. They just need to adhere (or at least are supposed to) certain standards set by Starbucks, most likely related to things like how to brew/pour coffee.

I believe Starbucks does not do "franchises." They are all owned by Starbucks. The exceptions are things like you see in Barnes and Noble and college campuses that are cafes not owned by Starbucks but have licensed signs that say "We proudly brew Starbucks coffee." And I believe the MK location is not one of those cafes.

 

[Adam N]

Every time I got to MK I get an iced chai and then a large iced water. I've never been told no. :/

 

[dreamfinder]

I believe Starbucks does not do "franchises." They are all owned by Starbucks. The exceptions are things like you see in Barnes and Noble and college campuses that are cafes not owned by Starbucks but have licensed signs that say "We proudly brew Starbucks coffee." And I believe the MK location is not one of those cafes.

Correct that they don't do the traditional franchise model. However when the DTD locations opened on both coasts, many reports were clear to point out that this was a company owned location, which allows you to use your rewards card, earn stars, redeem stars, etc. While I believe that you can use a Starbucks gift card at the in park locations, you don't however get rewards nor can you redeem rewards. For instance, quoting Mouse Planet about the DTD Anaheim location

The very first Starbucks owned-and-operated location on Disney property (the four theme park locations in Anaheim and Orlando are franchise operations), is located on the east side of Downtown Disney, perfectly positioned to capture the attention of hotel guests walking to and from the theme park, as well as those using the tram from the Mickey and Friends parking structure.

and the DFB says the following about the WDW DTD location

The Downtown Disney locations are corporate Starbucks locations, which means that they can take Starbucks cards and redeem Starbucks rewards (including birthday drinks, if you are part of the rewards program!).

I think the in park Starbucks falls more in line with the locations in Target stores as up until very recently those were not eligible to earn or redeem rewards either.

 

[Jon81uk]

In the UK we have many Sturbucks at motorway services (rest stops) that don't take the Starbucks card as they are operated by the services company, not directly by Starbucks. So while they don't franchise in the traditional sense they do allow others to run Starbucks stores (and I'm not talking about we proudly brew, I mean a full store).

Every time I got to MK I get an iced chai and then a large iced water. I've never been told no. :/

Was the OP making a purchase at the same time? Maybe that is the issue, that you wanted 1 water with your 1 drink, whereas just walking in and asking for nothing but tap water was a different thing?

 

[WDF]

Regarding cups of water: It's one of the things I really like about Dollywood. They'll happily hand you a cup of water from any stand without question and do it with a smile (and ice).

Another thing Dollywood gets right is always asking if you have an annual pass so they can apply the discount. This does two things:
- let's those without an annual pass be reminded that they can get a discount if they buy and annual pass
- reminds those that have an annual pass that their pass gets them a discount and it works everywhere

At Disney, they just started having the annual pass get you discounts in more places but it's not as universal as it is at Dollywood.

They do this at Disneyland and IT ANNOYS THE CARP OUT OF ME. Stop reminding a once in a while visitor from out of state that passholders get all these benefits. Passholders should know to ask. Hearing it EVERY TIME you pay for something gets really old.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Just a couple of things here. Before anyone says "Disney Apologist", whatever that means, they are referring to Starbucks not Disney. Yes, it is Disney's property that it is sitting on but they pay a hefty sum to be located there and it is not so they can give away cups, produced ice (doesn't grow on trees in Florida) and the cost in time taken away from paying customers just so someone that is too cheap to pay for a bottle of water can get their thirst quenched. It never ceases to amaze me just how much people think is owed to them. (Whine... well it's hot and we need water)... that's what the water vendors (for a fee) are there for and for those that cannot afford that they have water fountains. Those are there to sustain your hydration.

I'm sure that they limit the size of the cups to discourage people from wandering in and demanding freebee's every second. If you ran that business you would do the same thing. Water is not Starbucks income, coffee is, giving away water does not help pay the rent to Disney nor does Disney get involved with Starbucks Spreadsheet with any degree of real control. In fact, the more that Starbucks gives away the smaller the amount of Disney's cut. People that go in and ask for free water are not going to buy Coffee from them so they don't even lose business doing it.

I'm disappointed that you are missing the big picture here… It's a cup of water. It's not costing anybody anything. The mere principle of the matter is the issue.