Refillable Mug Crackdown Begins

I warned you it was coming. And now it seems that the All-Star Sports End Zone food court is the first to implement new drink stations that restrict the use of the refillable mugs that are so popular among return-visit Disney guests.

The "rules" for the refillable mugs have traditionally gone something like this: purchase a mug in the food court or gift shop (most recently costing around $14), then you have the right to unlimited soft drink refills at the resort's food court--not in the Parks--for the length of your stay. Years ago, the mugs were themed specifically to the resort where they could be purchased, and guests were supposed to use them at only that resort. More recently, there has been a yearly design that was the same for all resorts, allowing guests to use it at any resort food court. The mugs are intended for the length of your stay, but many have gotten around this by bringing mugs on return visits (or even sharing them with friends traveling to WDW).

Abuse of the system has been rampant. I myself have witnessed guests refilling mugs that were clearly several years old--even some that were from the individual resort mug days. And with the open drink dispensers, guests could actually get refills in a non-refillable cup or even in a (gasp!) water cup.You can't really blame Disney for coming up with a solution. Sadly, this solution is going to be quite restricting.

The new drink machines installed at All-Star Sports no longer have a typical push lever that releases the beverage, and they have software to restrict use to each mug's allotted length of stay. (I'm not sure of the exact technology, but I'm guessing the mugs have some sort of bar code that hold the info on the guest's resort stay.) Instead of pushing the cup against the lever to dispense a beverage, guests simply place the mug in the appropriate spot, and the machine "reads" the mug and dispenses the liquid automatically. (Not sure how that works if you just want a partial refill.) Old mugs or other cups will be denied anything other than ice and water.

While I know this will be a serious downer for some families, especially those that make multiple trips each year, I'm not all that bummed about it. Disney has every right to enforce the rules of their system, and we can choose not to buy into it. (Our family stopped using the mugs once milk was no longer a "free" refillable beverage. We're not big soda drinkers.) 

Let's remember, it's one thing to work within a system to get your money's worth--and another thing entirely to cheat a system to get something you didn't pay for. Some might counter-argue that it's highway robbery what Disney charges for a soft drink, and I don't disagree. All the more reason to bring your own on your next visit!