Disney’s refillable hotel mug program has long been a favorite of many, however, there are definitely a few ways Disney could improve the offering going forward!
Disney’s Refillable mugs are 16 oz. insulated coffee mugs are sold for $22 at Disney hotels in the resort’s primary counter service location. Those on the Disney Dining Plan also receive a mug as part of their package. Guests are entitled to unlimited free refills on fountain drinks, coffee, and tea from participating beverage locations at Disney resort hotels for their length of stay up to 14 days. Each mug features an RFID barcode, which enables the mug to deactivate when the designated time is complete.
While we’re generally fans of the refillable mugs, there are some things we’d change.
Extend the Deadline
As we explained above, the mugs are eligible for free refills for the length of the purchaser’s stay up to 14 days. In our opinion, this period should be expanded to a year. Let’s be honest, the majority of Disney World guests are staying at on-property hotels multiple times a year, and the small group that does aren’t rebuying the SAME annual mug design every trip. Therefore, extending the length of time the mugs are eligible for free refills likely wouldn’t cost Disney many mug sales and would make the initial purchase feel like a much better value.
Make them Parks Eligible!
Currently, the refillable mugs can only be used at Walt Disney World hotels (though they’re not limited to only the hotel a guest is staying at) which can make them feel like bait of a waste for guests who are only at their hotel for breakfast before heading out to the park all day, not to mention cumbersome for guests to carry through the parks needlessly if they go straight form breakfast to transportation before heading back to their room.
Granted, we understand why Disney wouldn’t want to offer refillable mug refills at every location in each park, BUT they could make 1-2 locations in each park a location that allows refills.
Close the Water Park Loop
This was a time when Disney World offered refillable mugs that could exclusively be used at the resort’s two water parks, however, those mugs were dropped earlier this year.
Given that the infrastructure for refillable mug use is already in place, and that more Disney hotel guests will be hitting the water parks this summer as part of Disney’s new hotel perk which offers guests a free water park ticket on their check-in day, we’d like to see Disney extend the hotel mugs refill eligibility to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach.
We’d love to see these small changes come to Disney’s refillable mug rules, as they’d make a BIG difference. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Disney World’s offerings!
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Do you usually purchase a refillable mug on your Disney vacation? Let us know in the comments below.
I think these are really good ideas. ☺️ Being the refills are fountain style, it really wouldn’t cost Disney anything. The cost is about a quarter a cup. To extend for a yr, or a discount to reuse, is really a smart. I bring my old mug with me. Being Disney is trying to be waste / recycle friendly, this only makes good sense.
Instead of extending the refill window, I would just be happy if they offered some sort of discounted reactivation. We have quite the collection of refillable mugs now. I think it would be better for the environment if we could just bring back the mugs and pay a lower price to reactivate the mug for our next stay. The way it is right now, you can reactivate a mug you already own, but it will cost the same as buying a new mug.
This is a great idea ☺️
It’s our 1st time buying the refill mug. We have been back twice after and no I’m not buying another mug each trip. Love the idea of it being good for a year. What petition we need to sign for that to happen?
What is this deactivation chip mean? Please explain more thanks