The end for refillable mugs?

zweltar

Well-Known Member
I imagine Disney executives reading the WDW Magic forums and saying amongst themselves, "You know, these people have lots of really good ideas."

But then they get to this thread and say, "Nevermind. I think they're really just a bunch of lunatics."

:p
 

PurpleDragon

Well-Known Member


I'm sorry sir, but that is totally inappropriate language for this site. :lol::p

erm........I mean..........5 skin?


EDIT: Getting back on topic, the discussion of whether or not Disney was or was not allowing guests to bring their cups back from previous years is pretty much a moot point, seeing as the OP was all about the patent application on a technology that would kill the use of any cups outside of the ones purchased at the time of your visit and activated by RFID. So I think its time to call a truce on this 20 year old argument. :p
 

PHSCoach

Member
I have been reading this thread for days now and finally feel that I have to chime in. I personally have never been told by a CM that the mugs I purchase are good for life. I have been getting them since they came out, first at Dixie Landings and for the past 9 years at the Beach Club and now at Bay Lake. The signs have always said length of stay. I guess there is always the possibility that some CM may have made a mistake, but the written word is what you should take for the facts.
 

Tigger#1

Active Member
Haven't read entire thread but DW just called and said someone she works with purchased a cup in March and it was a diffrent design then last years. Red and not stepped down for the cup holder.
 

fosse76

Well-Known Member
The position I have though is exactly like you stated. Written information overrides what a CM says. Humans can make mistakes. The written rules will always take precedence. Of course nothing is ever black and white at Disney. The official rules are frequently bent but in this matter what I care about are the official rules. Was a life time mug ever on the books? That is all most of us really want to know.

This where the argument stems. That is not always true. For example, a ticket to a Broadway show clearly states that the ticket is non-transferrable, non-refundable, and no exchanges. Well, I guarantee you that if you miss your performance, they will let you see it another time. If you buy a ticket, you can most assuredly give it to anyone you please, and under certain circumstances you can get your money back. So written rules are not concrete. They are an indication of the company's OFFICIAL policy, but may not represent the ACTUAL policy. And that's the case here. Disney's ACTUAL policy with regards to refilling old mugs is to let guests do it. How do I know? Because refilling old, outdated mugs is widespread throughout the resort, and there is no evidence that a CM has ever approached a guest and stopped them. Over a period of years and 26 resorts, there can't be THAT many CMs who don't know or understand the policy on refillable mugs.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
This where the argument stems. That is not always true. For example, a ticket to a Broadway show clearly states that the ticket is non-transferrable, non-refundable, and no exchanges. Well, I guarantee you that if you miss your performance, they will let you see it another time. If you buy a ticket, you can most assuredly give it to anyone you please, and under certain circumstances you can get your money back. So written rules are not concrete. They are an indication of the company's OFFICIAL policy, but may not represent the ACTUAL policy. And that's the case here. Disney's ACTUAL policy with regards to refilling old mugs is to let guests do it. How do I know? Because refilling old, outdated mugs is widespread throughout the resort, and there is no evidence that a CM has ever approached a guest and stopped them. Over a period of years and 26 resorts, there can't be THAT many CMs who don't know or understand the policy on refillable mugs.
I do not know how many times I have to say this but I do not care even one little bit about people refilling mugs. I know what the official policy is and I know the CM's look the other way either because they are told to or because they don't care. The only thing that I have been trying to ascertain is proof that a lifetime mug was ever OFFICIALLY offered.

I'll let the rest of you debate ethics until you are blue in the face as I simply do not give a rats back side about anyones ethics outside of mine or my kids.
 

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
This sounds like a job for Disney historian Dave Smith.

If anyone can find out if the mugs were ever sold and promoted as good fer life, he's the guy. :lol:
 

mamamouse

Well-Known Member
okay I'm sorry but not everyone who pours a drink into another container is stealing,when my daughter was 3 we bought her her own mug,( she kept taking the lid off and spilling it)so we decided to fill her mug n pour half into her sippy cup at a time,is that wrong of us?I don't think it is we were using her mug for her refills and not anyone else,we all had our own.
 

tigger248

Well-Known Member
I am one who brings my old mugs back every year as long as the design is the same for that time frame. I go every year and I refuse to have 5 of the same mug sitting in my cabinet at home since I have so many already. But if they get a new design then I will buy a new mug. So when I go again in 2011, if they change the mug design, I'll buy a new one. If not, the old ones coming with me. Hate me if you will, I dont really care :)

I feel the exact same way, and I do the same! If the design changes, I buy a new mug. If I visit in May, and then go back again in July, I am not going to buy another one of the same mug! I'll be taking my 2009 mug in October, and if the design has changed I will gladly buy a new mug. If the design is the same, I will reuse the one I have.

I may stop buying mugs all together, if they find a way to limit your uses and/or force you to keep buying the same mug every trip. I can go to Wal Mart and buy a case of cokes for cheaper anyways.
 

TimNRA757

Member
Well I'll admit it since I now know I'm not the only one...

First I live locally and am in the parks very very frequently, so staying anywhere on or off property in a hotel just doesn't make sense. I have the mug and use it when I eat at the resorts or it's just too hot and/or crowded to do anything in the park so I'll catch a bus to a resort just to relax for a bit and enjoy some beverages.
Now in fairness I do buy a new mug every time a new design is out, it just seems like the right thing to do considering how much use I get out of them. Oh and plus you can buy the mug at one of the all star resort's, pop century and POFQ to use your TIW card for a discount.
 

tigger248

Well-Known Member
I just have a couple more things I want to say, and then I'll go back to quietly reading in the background.

We have an amusement park nearby that offers unlimited soft drinks every day, all day, to everyone that enters their gates. If a small, local, independantly owned park can afford to give everyone who enters their gates free drinks then I would be willing to bet that people who reuse a mug once or twice are not really hurting Disney's profit margin. Like I said earlier, I don't reuse them forever, I just don't want a cabinet full of the same mug because I visited three times in one calendar year. Of course, they could change the design more often, in which case I would buy new mugs everytime I visit.

Also, in 2006, we went on a family visit to the Los Angeles area. In addition to Disneyland, we also visited Universal Studios Hollywood. They had about the best drink policy I have seen. For a small fee (I think it was around $5) you got a wristband that entitled you to unlimited soft drinks for the day.

Or, another option, my local amusement park in town (that unfortunately closed this year) used to sell plastic reusable cups. These things were like 36 ounce cups with a straw and cap. Then, for virtually forever, you could bring the cup back to the park and refill it for like $1.49. It saved money for repeat visitors and the park still made a profit.

Any of these options, to me, would be better than forcing repeat visitors to buy the same mug everytime they visit. But, hey, what do I know? I'm just an evil coke thief......:shrug:
 

sbkline

Well-Known Member
This sounds like a job for Disney historian Dave Smith.

If anyone can find out if the mugs were ever sold and promoted as good fer life, he's the guy. :lol:

Until reading this thread, I thought it was universally agreed upon that the original deal was that the mugs were good for life. When I argued this same topic a year or two ago, I made the example of one of the CMs at POR who told me that there is a repeat visitor who comes every year with his old Dixie Landings mug and that he gets free refills on every visit and that it's no problem. This is one of the CMs who told me that you can bring the mugs back year after year. When I mentioned that example in the other thread a year or two ago, more than one person mentioned how the purchase agreement when that guy purchased the mug (back when it was still Dixie Landings) was that you could indeed use the mug on all future visits and that the original purchase agreement still held for mugs purchased under that agreement. So I had been under the impression that it was an undisputed fact that at one time, the mugs were promoted as being good perpetually. I guess those people must have told me wrong, then. :shrug:

Like I said, either way, I don't care. I tend to agree with your argument that widespread CM apathy toward so called "mug abusers" indicates a de facto policy contrary to the official printed policy.
 

zweltar

Well-Known Member
Well I'll admit it since I now know I'm not the only one...

First I live locally and am in the parks very very frequently, so staying anywhere on or off property in a hotel just doesn't make sense. I have the mug and use it when I eat at the resorts or it's just too hot and/or crowded to do anything in the park so I'll catch a bus to a resort just to relax for a bit and enjoy some beverages.
Now in fairness I do buy a new mug every time a new design is out, it just seems like the right thing to do considering how much use I get out of them. Oh and plus you can buy the mug at one of the all star resort's, pop century and POFQ to use your TIW card for a discount.
Wow. :brick:Are you in politics, by any chance? The ability to rationalize improper behavior is strangely similar.:hurl:
 

Fractal514

Well-Known Member
I feel the exact same way, and I do the same! If the design changes, I buy a new mug. If I visit in May, and then go back again in July, I am not going to buy another one of the same mug! I'll be taking my 2009 mug in October, and if the design has changed I will gladly buy a new mug. If the design is the same, I will reuse the one I have.

I may stop buying mugs all together, if they find a way to limit your uses and/or force you to keep buying the same mug every trip. I can go to Wal Mart and buy a case of cokes for cheaper anyways.


You could do that, but you won't. That's why Disney charges a premium for their soda.
 

Fractal514

Well-Known Member
Any of these options, to me, would be better than forcing repeat visitors to buy the same mug everytime they visit. But, hey, what do I know? I'm just an evil coke thief......:shrug:


The first step is admitting you have a problem. Now that you've been identified I have notified Disney and they should be arriving at your house any moment.
 

dizzney

Member
As I've stated multiple times in this thread (and have been subsiquently ignored), I don't think this patent that Disney is applying for is a direct response for people using old resort mugs. I think its more of a response to people using ice buckets, McDs cups, QT cups, Coolers, etc... basically items that they did not purchase at WDW. If you bought a mug in past years then at least you dished out the money for a mug and thus CMs are willing to look the other way, however if you are using your QT mug or old water bottle you brought from home, then thats more of a problem since you have spent no money at all to justify taking beverages.

Refilling an old Disney Resort Mug = Questionable but okay in most situations(given the reusable mug debate)
Refilling an old water bottle or McD's cup = A serious problem and a blatant disregard for rules/policies.

We usually are at the BWV as we are DVC, and at the Bakery there, you have to show them the mug and then they give you your drink in a paper cup for refill. Maybe other locations would do this and it would certainly reduce the "theft"
 

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