We are not big soda drinkers around here. However, when we stay at the Disneyworld Resorts, we always purchase the Refillable Mugs. The longer your stay, the better the value you will get out of your mugs. We purchased length of stay on our last trip, which is 14 days (2 weeks). We were actually there 15 days. Our last day, the nice cast member at the Boardwalk Bakery just added an extra day onto our mugs for us!
The mugs are insulated and keep you beverages cold or hot. They come in different colors – red, blue, yellow, and purple. You can purchase them at any Disney World Resort or you can get them included with some of the Dining Plans.
The mugs can be refilled at any Disney World Resort. They are not resort specific – which is good since we often resort hop/have split stays. On our last trip, we were at the Caribbean Beach Resort for our kids Pirate Adventure, before we checked into Kidani Village. So we bought and filled our mugs while waiting for the kids and then used them at Port Orleans, Kidani Village/Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Boardwalk Resort.
The Rapid Fill system is a newer system at Disneyworld. Rapid fill mugs have an RFID chip in the bottom that tell the drink machines whether you are allowed a refill or not (which is why they needed to add-on an extra day for us – we couldn’t get any drinks without it). When you purchase the mug, they are activated for the length of days that you purchase and deactivates when your time is up. You can refill your mugs with Coca-cola products, coffee, hot and iced teas, hot chocolate, and powerade. (my kids LOVED all the hot chocolate!) However, each resort has different options available! When we were at Kidani Village (Animal Kingdom Villas), there was not really a big variety when compared to the Boardwalk resort. Each resort has a different place to refill your mug – usually at the quick service restaurant, except Kidani – which is in the Gift Shop, and Boardwalk resort – which is in the Boardwalk Bakery (with a separate entrance for mug refills!). You can also get them refilled at the pool bars (the boardwalk bar had options not available elsewhere – like ginger ale!) No Alcoholic beverages, milk, or juices are available.
We would fill our mugs before leaving our resorts in the mornings. We would rinse them out at the parks and fill them with ice water from quick service restaurants. Then refill again during our pool breaks and before heading to our villa for the evening.
To fill your mug, you place the mug on the tray below the dispenser. Sometimes it can be a little picky, but we didn’t have too much trouble with it. There are screens on the dispensers to direct you along the way, and tell you when your next refill is – usually in 2 minutes (to prevent you from using the mug to fill larger or multiple containers with one mug)
There is a mug washing station at each refill station. We would throw ours in the dishwasher in our villa as well. You can always cut some sponges – before leaving home – and preload them with dish soap. You can then easily use them to wash the mugs in any sink.
We are BIG water drinkers around here. However, we still find these a good value at the resorts because it is nice to have a break from the Orlando water, and the variety (Hot chocolate!) is really nice!
