Video of new refillable mug station that is being tested

[vicki_c]

I don't think we have had any or many discussions of refillable mugs - LOL - , but here is a video showing the new machine they are testing out.

Paper cups and refillable mugs will have an RFID chip which will control when you can get drinks. Looks good to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDzZ4h7nh44

[Janine]

Seriously? RFID chips on paper cups? Soda from a machine costs pennies(?), you would think the chip would cost more then they're saving on the refills. Very high tech looking though.

[jilly7896]

its a pretty genious idea.

[mdsd8700]

It is pretty ingenious I agree!

I had one refillable mug more than ten years ago from the Wilderness Lodge and have never gotten one since. We have them from the water parks, but stopped using those years ago as well.

Thanks for the video!

[josh]

Going to give my contact in China a call and see if they can clone these suckers.

[Brandie]

Is refilling soda cups a huge problem? Is this because people were bringing their resort mugs for a second trip? Seems like a lot of hassle just to save soda. (Which doesn't cost Disney much, I understand.)

[bnoble]

It's not the saving of soda. It's the lost revenue from people who re-use mugs (or just bring random beverage containers) rather than buying a soda, or two, or a mug.

[vicki_c]

You have to think about it - Disney does not install some kind of state of the art RFID beverage dispenser on a whim - they must believe that it will be financially beneficial to them - that is just about the ONLY reason WDW does something. So while soda doesn't cost much, that family of 4 that visits every year - getting them to spend $60 on reuseable mugs EVERY year is much better than getting them to spend it once every 5 years. Multiplied by all the guests involved - soon you're talking about real money. But it is still a test - so time will tell if they roll it out everywhere.

[bnoble]

Exactly. You have to figure that not all mug scofflaws will buy a new mug each year. But, some of them will. Likewise, some might not buy new mugs, but they might buy a new soda or two. This test is really to see how much of that lost revenue will be recaptured. If it is more than the cost of the system (plus some fudge factor to account for lost good will) you will see them everywhere in short order.

[loribell]

Personally I think it is ridiculous. All that technology expense to stop people from getting too many refills??? That soda costs them basically nothing. I swear if I didn't love the park experience so much I would seriously be thinking about calling it quits and we never even buy refillable mugs. I really doubt that we would ever even refill our drink cup four times in one meal. It is just the principal of it all. Add to that that the food quality and prices have gotten ridiculous after the DDP started. A stroller (which I don't need any more) is crazy expensive! Resort prices have climbed ridiculously. Ticket prices are out the roof!

I truly love my Disney but man this is just plain nuts!!!

[revral]

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that Coke is responsible for these new dispensers being put in not Disney.

[loribell]

Well now that makes a little more sense! I can see Coke not wanting the free unlimited pop. Couldn't figure out why Disney was putting money in to something that cost them basically nothing. In the big scheme of things there really can't be that many people that bring mugs back and forth. It just isn't worth the effort to lug them around with you, especially with the bag fees on airlines now.

[3Caballeros]

Why would Coke mind if people refilled their mugs ? One would think that Coke would encourage more drink consumption. I would say that Disney has to pay them for their product no matter how much is used. So, if Disney needs 4 more cases at POR then they pay for those 4 more cases. eh?

[vicki_c]

No - there's a long-standing rumor that Disney gets their Coke products in the machines for free. I've never heard it proven, but I asked my friend who is a Pepsi senior executive if it were possible and he said it was (it always seemed unbelievable to me, but I guess it's not).

[loribell]

Very possible. They get Disney to do their bottle business with exclusively Coke and for doing that give them the cheap boxed soda for free.

[RuthAnn]

Another possibility is that people were using the paper cups as refillable mugs, that is, taking them back to their rooms and bringing them back during their stay. I've never seen this, but then again, I haven't been looking. The delay in being able to refill a paper cup (as shown in the video) is interesting as well. That suggests they're trying to prevent people from filling up a paper cup and dumping it into another container.

[josh]

Coupled with that ticket 'upgrade change' it does seem like they're trying to plug some holes. As others have stated, it doesn't have anything to do with what the actual cost of the soda is - it has to do with what they can charge for it. That's the loss of revenue. You don't look at it as a 5 cent cup of soda, you look at it as a $2.19 cup of soda.

It's hard to imagine that the theme parks aren't a bigger money maker considering the cost of everything. I'm not sure how much of it has to do with "clever" accounting, but you would think they would be doing pretty well for themselves.

[Brandie]

Another possibility is that people were using the paper cups as refillable mugs, that is, taking them back to their rooms and bringing them back during their stay. I've never seen this, but then again, I haven't been looking. The delay in being able to refill a paper cup (as shown in the video) is interesting as well. That suggests they're trying to prevent people from filling up a paper cup and dumping it into another container.

We stayed at POR a couple of years ago. One of the CMs at the food court told us to do this with our paper cup. "Keep this cup and whenever you come back to eat here, you'll get free refills."

[bnoble]

It is not at Coca-Cola's behest. They don't care how much revenue Disney does or does not make on fountain sales. But, there is a Coke connection. The company that makes the dispenser/chip technology, ValidFill, has an exclusivity deal with Coke brands. I presume that in return, Coca-Cola does some amount of marketing for them to their larger partners.

http://www.validfill.com/
http://www.validfill.com/documents/2...ll%20FINAL.pdf

I truly love my Disney but man this is just plain nuts!!!

It is easy to forget that TWDC is, ultimately, a for-profit business. After all, their business is, effectively, selling happiness. But, that's not the same as "Disney wants you to be happy." They don't really care if you are happy unless your happiness also delivers profit. Disney wants more of your money per unit of happiness, and you want more happiness per dollar spent. This is necessarily an adversarial relationship.

It's hard to imagine that the theme parks aren't a bigger money maker considering the cost of everything. I'm not sure how much of it has to do with "clever" accounting, but you would think they would be doing pretty well for themselves.

In the context of a conversation elsewhere about some fairly persistent rumors that Disney is shopping around the Parks & Resorts segment, I went back to look at the most recent annual report. Surprisingly, P&R isn't a high-margin business. Also surprisingly, neither is Studio Entertainment. Broadcast Networks and Consumer Products were the top two segments by profit margin. Thinking about it, though, it does make some sense. P&R is a very capital- and labor-intensive business.

But, I doubt that the accounting is too "clever". Public companies can get into very very hot water playing such games. Plus, if they really are shopping the segment around, they would rather inflate the margins than deflate them.

[josh]

Yeah, I've listened to their last few earnings conference calls and looked through the reports myself. The labor/union costs must just be astronomical, but it's hard not to think they are making a killing despite all of that. With $100 tickets, $400 hotel rooms, $10 fast food hamburgers, etc. Just have to assume it's an accounting thing. The sale of the Parks seems ridiculous not only because "Disney would never do that," but who on earth would be the buyer?

[loribell]

It is easy to forget that TWDC is, ultimately, a for-profit business. After all, their business is, effectively, selling happiness. But, that's not the same as "Disney wants you to be happy." They don't really care if you are happy unless your happiness also delivers profit. Disney wants more of your money per unit of happiness, and you want more happiness per dollar spent. This is necessarily an adversarial relationship.

That doesn't work with me though. The higher prices go the less I am willing to give them. We used to never leave property for anything. They got all my vacation money. Over the past few years as prices have climbed I have started giving them less of it. I will go off property to eat now, bring water/Gatorade into the parks with me, go back to the resort for sandwiches in the room for lunch and have actually started looking at offsite hotels for our summer trip next year. That used to be something I would NEVER have considered doing before. It isn't because we can't afford it but that I feel that they are becoming over priced. So with my family, the higher prices go the less they are getting from me. I would even venture to say there are a lot of families that do just that because they think it is too overpriced. Maybe those bean counters should think about selling more for less and ending up with higher profits that way.

[Janine]

Honestly, I think the park admission ticket prices are quite reasonable for what you get.

[loribell]

As long as you are staying long enough the park prices are reasonable. Of course we usually have to get AP's because we stay long enough that we go in to a park for more than 10 days so that makes them more expensive for us. Then we go back for the next trip a couple of weeks earlier in the year so that we get two trips out of one AP. Another way they get less of my money.

I remember when they were a lot less though!

[loribell]

Universal did the same thing and has pretty much lost my money. We are going next summer because the kids want to see the HP area (ok, I do too) but we have not been for the past 4 years. We used to go every summer while in Orlando for Disney. The hotel prices there just got ridiculous. We went from $115/night to $300/night in just a couple of years. Then they took out the free FP machines and the only way you can get it is to stay onsite or pay extra for one ride. I know I am only one person but they lost the majority of my business and I love those parks just as much as my Disney parks.

[George]

Honestly, I think the park admission ticket prices are quite reasonable for what you get.

Agreed. A good ticket to a Broadway show or a headliner concert can cost way over $100. A movie is about $10 where I live, and it's not even live. At a Disney park, one is essentially given a pass to wander around a gigantic stage set and interact for up to 15 hours with the entertainment elements of that park. I can sit on a bench all day or interact and participate in high-cost live entertainment. Or a combination of both.