There’s one thing that could seriously change the refillable mug game at Disney World, and honestly, it’s kind of wild that it hasn’t happened yet.
We’re talking about bringing refillable mugs INTO the parks, and if you’ve been to pretty much any other major theme park in the country, you’re probably wondering why Disney hasn’t jumped on this bandwagon.
Other Parks Have Been Doing This for YEARS
Here’s the thing that makes this whole situation even more confusing: Universal Orlando, Six Flags, and what feels like basically every other theme park out there already has refillable cup programs that work inside their parks. What we’re trying to get at is that this isn’t some revolutionary new concept.
For example, at Universal, you can grab a Coca-Cola Freestyle cup for around $18.99 and get unlimited refills all day long at Freestyle machines throughout Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe, and even CityWalk. The cups have RFID chips that let you refill every 10 minutes, and if you want to use them on another day, you can pay to reactivate them later. (Pretty sweet deal, right?)
Six Flags has a similar setup with their all-season drink bottles and their paper cup program. You pay once, scan your cup at the fountain, and boom, free refills throughout your visit.
Some of their plans even include ICEEs, which honestly sounds amazing after a long day on roller coasters.
How It Could Work at Disney World
If Disney decided to roll out an in-park refillable mug program, there are a few different ways they could approach it. Since they are already RFID-enabled mugs at Disney World, they could do a similar system to Universal.
Since they’re already available in the Disney World resorts through Mobile Order, it shouldn’t be a stretch to add that functionality to the parks. You’d add it to your cart when you’re ordering your food, pick it up at the counter, and then you’re good to go for the rest of the day.
Price-wise, we’re guessing Disney would charge somewhere between $20-25 for a single-day option, which would be slightly more expensive than Universal (but take that with a grain of salt). They could also offer a multi-day option for people staying on the property, kind of like how the current resort mugs work for 14 days.
The refill stations could be set up at major quick-service locations throughout each park. They’ve already got the fountain drink setups there, but it might be nice to have some Freestyle machines outside of the DVC-exclusive lounges and in the main areas of the parks.
Why This Would Be Incredible
Let’s talk about why this would actually be a game-changer. First off, the cost savings could be massive for families. A fountain soda at Disney World is now over $5. If you’re buying drinks for a family of four throughout the day, you’re easily spending $40-50 on beverages alone. With refillable mugs, you’d pay once and be done.
Second, it would make the parks way more enjoyable. Instead of rationing your drinks or constantly calculating whether you really need that Coke right now, you could just grab a refill whenever you wanted. Florida heat is no joke, and staying hydrated shouldn’t require a financial strategy.
Third, it would actually give resort guests a reason to buy those resort mugs in the first place. Right now, the value proposition feels a bit weak unless you’re spending a ton of time at your hotel. But if your resort mug also worked in the parks? Well, that’s a whole different story. Not to give Disney any ideas, but they could even make it an exclusive perk for resort guests, which would sweeten the deal for staying on property.
The Reality Check
Now, before we get too excited, Disney hasn’t shown any signs of implementing in-park refillable mugs, and there’s probably a reason for that. Beverage sales are likely a pretty big profit center for the parks, and giving people unlimited refills would cut into that revenue.
In 2024, Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe introduced its own refillable mug. It cost $31 for the initial purchase, but it was refillable ALL DAY for free! If you brought the receipt back (or took a picture of your receipt to show) on future park days, you would only have to pay $2.12 for all-day refills. However, this was only available at Yak & Yeti, so you couldn’t get refills around the park, and because of that confusion, the restaurant discontinued the refill system. Bummer!
But stranger things have happened, and guest feedback does matter. If enough people ask for this feature or point out that literally every other major theme park offers it, maybe Disney will reconsider. We can dream, right?
Until then, stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney World tips and tricks!
A Full List of Refillable Mug Locations in Disney World
Would you buy an in-park refillable mug at Disney World? Let us know in the comments.
They could sell more mugs if they made them more leak resistant. Too many accidents with the ones we have purchased so now we just take our own bottles in.
Good idea, but would like to see see non-soda options offered as well, healthy items and/or water
They already offer 2 Dining Plans that cover the refillable souvenir mugs for the resort, DP covers the meals that include upgraded beverages such as beer/wine or milkshakes/smoothies vs just a soda. Plus, then snack credit can cover additional sodas, Monster Energy drinks or even Starbucks. Another mug for the parks would just be cumbersome since they have DP as a solution already.
I remember when I first went to Disney World in 2000, they did refillable mugs then. My 12 year old self thought it was awesome.
Or just buy a normal bottle of water and refill it at the water fountains
Just an FYI…Universal’s refillable cups are separate from the cups at their resorts. You cannot purchase all day refills to use at both the resort and parks, they are separate purchases.
When we go to Disney, we are always on a tight budget. The only time we drink anything is when we sit down to eat. We always get the dining plan so its all included. If we are thirsty beyond that, we just get free water. Drinks may be a big money maker for Disney, but I’m sure I am not the only one that doesn’t buy extra drinks. If Disney offered a drink plan for lets say 20 bucks, I would absolutely buy that. I really don’t think they would loose that much money because for all the people that don’t buy extra drinks that would buy a drink pass, they would make up for it that way, in my opinion.