Refillable Mugs At Disney World

I don't blog about Disney World ever really unless I'm recapping a recent trip but my wife shared a pretty hilarious story with me.

Refillable Mugs

Jill and I purchase the very reasonable, refillable mugs when we visit Disney World. They're a very reasonable $14 and can be used your entire trip. Some people think the price is outrageous and offset the dent in their wallet by keeping the mug and using it for years shamelessly. Some don't even bother purchasing a Disney mugs and bring their Sbarro mugs for a free drink.

Now that Disney has figured out a way to combat the sneaky individuals. They'll be putting RFID tags on the cups so after your trip is over you can't bring them back. There will also be a time limit between refills. Needless to say this upsets the cheapskates.

Disney pays absolutely nothing for the beverages (they make their profit on the mugs) thanks to an advertising agreement with the Coca Cola Company. That detail would probably make them even more irate. There are costs associated with the distribution of the beverages though. The machines have to be maintained so again they need a source of revenue to pay for that maintenance.

Let's examine the pros and cons.

Pros:
This will keep the price of the mugs affordable as the abuse has resulted in higher mug prices.

Cons.
Fatty will have to pay for a mug every trip.

Let's leave the parks for a bit and look at the rest of the world. As long as mankind has been exchanging currency for goods there have been individuals looking for ways to get said goods without paying for them. Theft has always been the most popular method.

The price of items was once based upon what the product was worth along with the cost to get it to market. Those costs have been increased by theft.

I think people tend to get most angry when they suddenly have to pay for something that used to be free. People like me get angry when prices increase due to people circumventing the system. It's like hobos and other disgusting people destroying public bathrooms. Thanks to them this basic luxury now costs $.25 to offset what it costs to clean up after those scurvy people that absolutely must poop in the sink. There's always been an honor system in place for things like that. You treat it with respect and obey simple rules.

I'm happy about the new mugs and I hope the pilot program takes off. It will be stressful for the staff until people learn to read signs but the long term effects will hopefully be less expensive beverages.