The end for refillable mugs?

[Fractal514]

A few points...

Anyone who argues about how "little" this theft of soft drinks is costing is either short sighted, or attempting to justify someone stealing from Disney (which is what it is, petty theft maybe, but still theft).

The cost in question is the cost of the mugs and not the soda. This is a bigger problem that people might think. If anyone can walk up and just take free soda using an old cup, the "value" in purchasing a new cup every trip is severely reduced and eventually the problem will continue to grow.

Disney does not like to confront guests with issues like this, unlike Universal (one of the few things I DO like about Universal). Disney's patient and calm response to things often gets misinterpreted by jerky people as lack of caring. I believe they do care, they just go out of their way not to point out how pathetic and cheap the guest may or may not be. By installing these chips, Disney is actually be rather passive about enforcing the rule, but simply making it impossible to reuse the mugs, rather than telling people they can't.

For those who claim to have a mug that was issued as a lifetime mug, my suggestion would be to contact Disney directly and see what they will do. If they offer to do nothing, then either get over it or stop going. But in any event, let's stop these hypothetical arguments.

 

[Timmay]

Something missed is this entire "debate" is loss of profit from drinks < family of 4 no longer coming after feeling nickled and dimed.

While I doubt many people would opt out of a WDW trip because of not being able to use their mugs they got on a previous trip, I think WDW should just let people use the official mugs any time they darn well please. I mean really, so what?

Look, I am a firm believer in capitalism, and profit is not a dirty word, but seriously...it's really time to just open up the mug use to any old time and any old place and crack down on the folks filling up gallon milk jugs or used Super Duper Big Gulp cups.

I think WDW would see they sell just as many mugs...because being "able" to do something doesn't mean any more people will. I think it is just the thought you can't.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

A few points...

Anyone who argues about how "little" this theft of soft drinks is costing is either short sighted, or attempting to justify someone stealing from Disney (which is what it is, petty theft maybe, but still theft).

The cost in question is the cost of the mugs and not the soda. This is a bigger problem that people might think. If anyone can walk up and just take free soda using an old cup, the "value" in purchasing a new cup every trip is severely reduced and eventually the problem will continue to grow.

Disney does not like to confront guests with issues like this, unlike Universal (one of the few things I DO like about Universal). Disney's patient and calm response to things often gets misinterpreted by jerky people as lack of caring. I believe they do care, they just go out of their way not to point out how pathetic and cheap the guest may or may not be. By installing these chips, Disney is actually be rather passive about enforcing the rule, but simply making it impossible to reuse the mugs, rather than telling people they can't.

For those who claim to have a mug that was issued as a lifetime mug, my suggestion would be to contact Disney directly and see what they will do. If they offer to do nothing, then either get over it or stop going. But in any event, let's stop these hypothetical arguments.

This I can agree with wholeheartedly. Thank you.

 

[m&mmom]

Although I never saw a sign in the past for unlimited refills, when I went to see the presentation for DVC I had my Wilderness Lodge mug with me(this was in 06). One of the CM there told me that although the current policy was refills for length of stay, it used to be unlimited and the mug I had at the time had been the picture when it was unlimited. He said no one would know. The following year they changed the mugs to the Dreams come true mug(I think, none the less it was differnt). While I was in roaring forks someone came in with an older mug and refilled it while a gentleman had just been told he couldn't use the mug from previous years. He of course pointed out that a guest just did the same and he was told by that CM that the older verisons were unlimited and could be recognized by the handle, he said they had to honor it becuase at one oint that's how they were sold. Somewhere there's a disconnect.

 

[bjlc57]

do you know how many "gallons" of drink you would need to buy $14 worth of mug and for Disney to "lose money on it"? you couldn't drink enough unless you came back about 10 times for about 10 days each..

fountain drinks like those at Disney cost them penny's per serving.. and these refillable mugs hold next to nothing..

this is probably one of the biggest money makers throughout the park.. you drink 30, 50 cents worth of drink for your entire stay and pay $14 for it.. may be a dollars worth.. MAYBE.. but I highly doubt it. Sorry..
but its a free $13 bucks for Mickey with each cup sold.. not counting the cost of the cup its self..

 

[unkadug]

Perhaps they are following in McDonald's footsteps. They got tired of people saving their cups from last week and using them again.

Do you cringe every time you buy a soft drink at a fast food establishment?

No?

Then what's the difference?

 

[Bluewaves]

Like another poster said I highly doubt its about the cost of the soda, more along the lines of people using any old container and not just the mugs hence Disney losing money on people not buying or using mugs.

 

[Fractal514]

do you know how many "gallons" of drink you would need to buy $14 worth of mug and for Disney to "lose money on it"? you couldn't drink enough unless you came back about 10 times for about 10 days each..

fountain drinks like those at Disney cost them penny's per serving.. and these refillable mugs hold next to nothing..

this is probably one of the biggest money makers throughout the park.. you drink 30, 50 cents worth of drink for your entire stay and pay $14 for it.. may be a dollars worth.. MAYBE.. but I highly doubt it. Sorry..
but its a free $13 bucks for Mickey with each cup sold.. not counting the cost of the cup its self..

I think you are missing a few points, either intentionally to make your argument valid, or unintentionally because you haven't looked at the perspective.

You talk about "worth." I think what many people don't understand about this is that "worth" varies from location to location. In my house right now, that mug isn't "worth" it. I have easy access to grocery stores and can purchase the soda for much much cheaper than they have it available for at Disney. That being said, if I am at Disney, and want to have the ability to grab a cold or hot beverage whenever I'd like to do so, a large amount of the "worth" lies in the availability of the beverages. I can't easily go to the grocery store, nor do I have any desire to do so on vacation.

I have never purchased the mug because for me, personally, I do NOT see the value in it, as I like to drink a larger quantity of beverage and those mugs are just too darned small for me.

Talking about how much this costs Disney in terms of raw product cost, is essentially either ignoring the real problem or intentionally changing the subject. The issue here is massive customer abuse of a system. Disney wants to fix it, and this is how they will do it. I honestly doubt that this is the extent of how the new technology will be used, but rather a permutation of it's intended use, to make a guest and his/her information readily available to CM's and rides for a whole host of uses.

PS- I would like to add this... If the mugs having an attachment to my Key Card or whatever will allow me to use them in the parks for free refills, I would seriously consider buying one, as THAT would be of great worth, even if they are small.

 

[Timmay]

the issue here is massive customer abuse of a system.

Massive?? Really?

 

[hrcollectibles]

I wondered why the resort mugs aren't like the ones we have at he Water Parks.... I think the ones at the water parks have a barcode that is scanned to activate the drink fountain

 

[unkadug]

Massive?? Really?

Look at the number of people just here defending their decisions to steal soda. Now multiply that times several thousand. Then multiply that times the number of drinks they take per day. Now multiply that by 365 days a year.

Huh...adds up quickly.

Not to mention the power to chill the drink. Water and power to make the ice. Maintenance to clean up after the mess they make. Lighting so you can see the machine.....

 

[Timmay]

Look at the number of people just here defending their decisions to steal soda. Now multiply that times several thousand. Then multiply that times the number of drinks they take per day. Now multiply that by 365 days a year.

Huh...adds up quickly.

Not to mention the power to chill the drink. Water and power to make the ice. Maintenance to clean up after the mess they make. Lighting so you can see the machine.....

I dispute your numbers, but I don't want to get in a long drawn out math debate. I just think it would be a huge PR coup for WDW to let people officially buy a mug and use it for each trip. I don't think you would see much of a change in the amount of folks that now do it against the rules and those that would do it if it was allowed.

 

[unkadug]

I dispute your numbers, but I don't want to get in a long drawn out math debate. I just think it would be a huge PR coup for WDW to let people officially buy a mug and use it for each trip. I don't think you would see much of a change in the amount of folks that now do it against the rules and those that would do it if it was allowed.

I gave no numbers unless you want to dispute 365 days in a year.

 

[cdunbar]

I gave no numbers unless you want to dispute 365 days in a year.

I hope for their own sake they don't dispute the number of days in a year...:lol:

 

[zweltar]

It amazes me to see so many people rationalizing stealing soda from Disney. So what if it is super cheap for Disney to sell a cup of soda? It's still stealing. It doesn't cost them $37,500 to make that crazy fancy crystal castle, either, but does that mean I can just take one because it has a ridiculously high mark-up?:shrug:

 

[SnowWhiteMomma]

I hope for their own sake they don't dispute the number of days in a year...:lol:

Uhhh, hello Leap Year.. Ha ha.

Basically, if you are playing by the rules, who cares what sort of system they have in place?

 

[threebeesatdisn]

I for one wish they would bring back the "unique for each resort" mugs. Then once again I would be happy to buy my "souvenir mug" each and everytime I went because they would now be added to my collection. There is nothing fun about buying the SAME MUG 3X a year! A souvenir for $15 isn't bad at Disney especially if you get free drinks for length of stay. But buying the SAME souvenir each time is not very magical!

 

[LordHelmut]

Because I'm too lazy to read 11 pages of posts

As for the cost, sodas are a HUGE profit center....

You don't think a 1.59 or 1.79 or higher Coke costs anywhere near that per serving ????

Still, the headaches associated with chipping everything....

Now if they were already (cough, cough) RFIDing everything or planned to.....

Now it's not so far fetched.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong, and usually am, really I am quite comfortable with the feeling....

 

[goofyoverdisney]

Yes, stealing soda is bad. But, what is even worse than that is people sticking their gross germ filled cup up to the dispenser over and over again that they have hauled around all week. Some wash them at the end of each day, but I am most certain that most probably do not. Think of the places those cups get set down at when not in use, like.... the bath room, seats of rides, and the bottom of strollers among other places. Yes, stealing sodas is bad, and spreading germs is too. I don't know too many people that travel with dish washing liquid. Hummmm.... Dirty cups make happy germs!! : )

 

[cdunbar]

Uhhh, hello Leap Year.. Ha ha.

Well yes but I meant as a general rule of thumb.