Rapid Fill Refillable Mugs Now Rolling Out at Walt Disney World Resorts
Hi everyone!
We stopped by Disney’s All Star Music Resort and Disney’s All Star Movies Resort to check out the new Rapid Fill program. One of the most controversial topics over the last 12+ years or so online has been refillable mugs. Back in the 1990’s, guests (including me) were told to bring back their refillable mugs on subsequent trips to that resort.
It was great for me, since trips tended to be 1-2 days a time, not lengthy vacations. In more current years, those mugs have been referred to as “forever” mugs, though I don’t think any Cast Member used the word forever with me – just that they could be brought back anytime to that resort. So I’ll call them “anytime” mugs. Sometime after the year 2000, signs appeared near the fountains saying that the new mugs were only good for the length of stay. In the 1990’s, “anytime” mugs were resort-specific and durable (I know Aladdin made at least some of the mugs). Eventually, they were still resort-specific but a lighter plastic. Eventually, all the mugs looked the same across all the resorts – which I am still disappointed in.
The old mugs from the 90’s will no longer be good in the fountains, and neither will anything purchased before the Rapid Fill mugs. The new mugs have an RFID chip in them, just like the test from a couple of years ago with ValidFill.
When we checked out the test a couple of years ago, a manager at Disney’s All Star Sports Resort said that one of the biggest issues was with guests using mugs that weren’t Disney refillable mugs. He also mentioned that guests used ice buckets and other containers at the fountains. We noticed that happen quite a bit when we were watching that particular test. There have been rumors that Disney gets Coke syrup for free – I can’t imagine that is true, and I understand why Disney feels the need to crack down. I mostly wish that the mugs were resort specific, and hope that they will be able to be re-used. We have so many mugs sitting around in the cabinet that look exactly the same.
We bought a mug today at Disney’s All Star Music Resort (we were not staying there or anywhere else when we purchased it), and used it at both Disney’s All Star Music and Disney’s All Star Movies. We did not need to be a resort guest to buy one, we just said we’d like it for a day. That cost us $8.99. Refills are unlimited for the day, and I believe dispensed 16 ounces. If we filled the cup with a lot of ice, we could drink quickly and refill the rest of the soda allotted. But once we reached the fill limit, it was around 2 minutes until we could fill it again – there was no exact time on this, it was between a little under 2 minutes to 2 1/2 minutes each time. The water lever did work no matter what, and coffee and tea are not on the Rapid Fill program – at least not yet.
Unlike past mugs, Disney says you can use these across resorts. Our mug worked just fine at both.
We met a wonderful family from Germany today that enjoys Mousesteps, and they have been here 2 weeks. The refillable mug “Length of Stay” option only lasts for 2 weeks, and they need to have someone change the mugs for their remaining days. I don’t quite understand why tickets and mugs only get a 2 week length of stay option! I’ve read online that guests may have to pay for the extra days, but I don’t know if that is true – there isn’t a time limit noted on the sign for a Length of Stay.
We did not find any confusion at the fountains with guests not knowing how to use the machines. They work pretty much as they did before, except that the cup is supposed to sit on the lever. Only a couple of guests can fill their mugs at the same time.
I don’t drink much soda, so the test doesn’t effect me personally.
Not all Walt Disney World resorts have begun the test, but every resort has been set up for it. This time it’s not a test. I am surprised it isn’t part of the MyMagic+ with MagicBand use. And when we covered the test previously, we were told that it might eventually encompass the whole property, including the parks. At this time, parks aren’t included.
The prices for the refillable mugs are:
$8.99 1 Day
$11.99 2 Days
$14.99 3 Days
$17.99 Length of Stay
Day consists of one calendar day.
Additional days are consecutive (i.e., it can’t be Monday, Wednesday, Friday).
Here is our short video on Rapid Fill, and we will be talking about it on this week’s Mousesteps Weekly #67!
We tested a cup on another day. The cups allow for 4 fills in one hour.
There are other options for soda purchases, which include Hess on property (if you have a car) or Garden Grocer (if you don’t).
Feel free to leave comments below!
We met a terrific family from Germany today who read Mousesteps (and watch our videos and show) – thanks to Susannah, Manfred and Nicholas for stopping us! I hope I spelled the names correctly.:) They were behind us at the fountain as we were photographing it, and we thought they needed to get drinks – but then they followed us to the next fountain, where they introduced themselves. We’ve met some really great viewers/readers from around the world!
Check out our first article on MyMagic+, using MagicBands for Fastpass+! We will have more to share on that as well.