new blog: The Future of the Disney Refillable Mug – $25? $30? More?

[WebmasterLeah]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2011/09/06/the-future-of-the-disney-refillable-mug-25-30-more/

 

[WaltD4Me]

$33. That is just mind boggling to me. I know things are more expensive in Hawaii, but who would pay that? I wonder how much a regular pop in a paper cup costs at Aulani? And from the picture, the mug doesn't even look all that big from a refillable standpoint.

 

[PeterPan09]

For $33 I want to refill that baby at any Disney location I go to for at least a couple of years-=theme parks included! That's crazy.

 

[pdarrah]

I think the current pricing for the refillable mugs at the WDW resorts is borderline and if it goes up much more, there will be a big drop in people purchasing these mugs. At my last visit in June, a large drink was around $2.50 (I think - I remember using that amount to decide on the mug or not). If you are there for a 7 day vacation, you have to refill it 6 times to break even. If you do not eat at the food court just about every day, this isn't too likely. If you are there for a shorter trip it is REALLY unlikely.

If you are a soda addict and are willing to head over to the food court over and over to fill your mug - then its a better deal. We tend to stop and pick up a case of diet coke on our way to our resort, so we are only using the mug when we have a meal at the food court. About the last thing I want to do after walking all over the parks is hike to the food court just to fill my mug! My last trip was for 10 days, so I figured we had a decent chance of going to the food court 6 times. I tried to keep track, but I think we did - it might have been only 5 times.

If the mug cost $25, you would need to use it at least 10 times and $33 would be 14 times. At a certain price point, it starts to make more sense to just buy individual drinks when you go to the food court.

 

[freediverdude]

Yes I am sure that they are thinking that most people who go to Aulani will be there for a week's stay or so, but still. Even if the single drink cost is $5 at the Hawaii resort, you'd still have to fill it more than 6 times to get your money out of the refillable. But prices are very high in Hawaii, I'm sure Disney knows what they are doing.

 

[amoggio816]

Our local theme park charges $13 for one souvenir cup. You get free refills for a day and .99 there after and can only be used for the season (End of April to Oct). I feel this is a good day, especially for those who go to disney more than once a year. How much are the refills when returning? If you're only ever going to go once then you have to take into consideration how many people are in your party. Does each of the 5 people in your group want something to drink at lunch? 2.50 times 5 = 12.50. 3 times to the food court over your stay would more than cover this.

 

[emilymad]

Apparently a non refillable soda at Aulani is $3. We are going to be there next week and actually do plan on buying a refillable mug. We are staying 6 nights so that works out to less than 2 sodas a day to breakeven. When you go on a cruise a soda mug is closer to $45 for the week. We are looking it at that we spent all this money to go to Hawaii and aren't going to worry about these relative small charges to make our stay more enjoyable. Now for WDW $33 is crazy!

 

[daraddg]

Our mugs come with our DxDDP that's the only reason I am getting them I wouldn't pay for them seperately because we just dont drink that much soda,I might take them into the park with us to use at water fountains and it will be a souvineer if nothing else but doesn't seem like much of a deal even at the current price for our family.

 

[Halbleib1]

One thing I took notice to in that blog is that the mug appears to be of a higher quality than those sold at Disney World. It also looks like it might be insulated much better as well. But that might just be the look of it in the picture. The mugs at Disney World I did not find to be insulated as well as most travel mugs sold in stores. Heck my mil just purchased a mug from the disney store for 15.00 which does not include any soda at all. Which I also think is a crazy price for a mug but at least it is a better quality mug. The mug is heavily insulated and has a better spill proof lid than those sold at the resorts. That being said I still would not pay 33.00 for a refillable mug. Heck at 15.00 a mug we debate buying it or not.

 

[pdarrah]

Our local theme park charges $13 for one souvenir cup. You get free refills for a day and .99 there after and can only be used for the season (End of April to Oct). I feel this is a good day, especially for those who go to disney more than once a year. How much are the refills when returning? If you're only ever going to go once then you have to take into consideration how many people are in your party. Does each of the 5 people in your group want something to drink at lunch? 2.50 times 5 = 12.50. 3 times to the food court over your stay would more than cover this.

Unlike the local park mug that can be used for the whole season, the WDW mugs are for only your current stay. You are not supposed to bring them back and re-use them. They also aren't very large so it would not work well to have 5 people using the mug (assuming they would even all agree to sharing germs like that!) A parent and small child might be able to share, but you would be constantly refilling for any larger group. I'm not sure how many ounces, but I'm sure it is less than 12 - maybe around 10 oz size...

 

[*NikkiBell*]

A good friend of mine told me that things in Hawaii are very expensive for tourists. Sodas can be $3-4 each. So, like a previous poster said above, it could potentially work out to benefit a family of soda drinkers. Personally, I do not drink soda very often and would not pay that price. However, if someone purchases several per day, I could see this being worth it.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I haven't really looked at the refillable mugs at WDW lately, but the picture of the mug at Aulani looks awfully small, more for coffee, but for soda, by the time you put in a couple ice cubes, it doesnt seem like it would hold much very much.

 

[pdarrah]

I could maybe seeing the price working out at the resort in Hawaii - it looks like sodas cost more there and it might be more convenient refilling it. I have no idea how sprawling the resort is, but I assume it is more compact that a typical WDW resort since land values there must be very high. If you don't have to hike long, long distances to refill (and you aren't spending your days hiking around theme parks!) refilling may be more practical.

I just don't think they could make this pricing work at WDW.