We reported on Disney’s conservation efforts announced earlier this summer. These efforts include refillable amenities in resort rooms and the reduction of plastic shopping bags as well as the reduction of plastic straws used at the resorts and restaurants by 2019.
So far, we have seen the refillable amenities showing up across the property.
Refillable Amenities at All Star Music Resort
Refillable amenities have been spotted by the DFB team at Port Orleans French Quarter, Caribbean Beach, Boardwalk Inn, and All-Star Music resorts.
But today, the DFB team has learned that some table service dining locations are starting to put plastic straws on a “request only” status for adults.
We were told at Kona Cafe in Disney’s Polynesian Resort that plastic straws are “request only” as of now, and cast members at Cape May Cafe are preparing guests for the “request only” status starting tomorrow.
DFB friend Brett Young noted that cast members informed him that kids will continue to get plastic straws in the kids’ cups.
The “strawpocalypse” doesn’t seem to have hit counter service locations yet. We were able to pick up straws at Woody’s Lunch Box and Sunset Ranch Market today from the dispensers as usual.
So what is a straw loving person to do? I just purchased this collection of Reusable Silicone and Stainless Steel Straws with cleaning brushes in a handy pouch that I’ll be throwing into my park bag for Food and Wine next week.
Reusable Silicone and Stainless Steel Straws with cleaners in a pouch
And what’s the backstory here? In case you’re just tuning in, during the initial announcement of conservation efforts, Bob Chapek, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Consumer Products, had this to share: “Eliminating plastic straws and other plastic items are meaningful steps in our long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship. These new global efforts help reduce our environmental footprint, and advance our long-term sustainability goals.” Disney also invites guests to explore the following website: www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/environment.
How do you feel about this initiative? Let us know in the comments.
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
Ready to Plan for Your 2018 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Trip?
Order the DFB Guide to the 2018 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book today, and start planning your visit! This 250+-page guide to the Festival offers insider tips and advice as well as all of the details you need to know to plan your best Festival visit ever.
Your purchase includes several bonus items as well — including a full daily schedule of events at the Festival and a printable World Showcase Booth Menu Checklist to carry with you as you Eat around the World!
Order your 2018 edition today! Don’t miss a moment of the fun!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Thank you for all of your wonderful updates! When we were at POP! recently, they also had the refillable amenity pumps. We did, however, receive a “souvenir size” shampoo and conditioner on our last night (not mickey ear bottles ). I did ask multiple times for lotion as there was no refillable pump or small size in the hotel room and was repeatedly turned down that they don’t have lotion any longer (what?! The pool is so drying!) so for my next trip in two months I am packing my own lotion. I will also be buying these reusable straws thanks to you! 🙂
Sanaa was serving paper straws when we went on Saturday, August 18th! We thought that was really cool.
Please let us know how well the reusable straws work for you on your trip. I’m thinking it might be a good investment for my next trip.
I know it’s good for the enviroment but I DESPISE paper straws and I hate drinking out of cups at restaurants without a straw. Do you know where you can purchase the plastic disney straws I see people have? I’m thinking these might be a good investment for all our upcoming trips.
This is great news; now if only they will do something about the plastic spoons, forks, knives and plastic clamshells for items that don’t actually need them (cut up fruit, yes, a cookie, no). I am 70 years old and grew up with paper straws. I thought plastic was weird when we first encountered them. I tried some paper straws with my autistic son, who drinks everything through a straw, and he was fine with them. I will be too if that’s the way Disney goes. No problem drinking out of a disposable paper cup or my own resort refillable mug without a straw, period.
Nicole, you can buy those plastic MIckey straws at check out stations in most food courts for about 70 cents. We rewash and reuse them at home – just like the people who have silicone or stainless straws as suggested in the article.
We have that reusable straw set you linked to & have been super pleased with it. Easy to clean & have held up nicely so far to daily use.
The advantage the “disposable” shampoos, etc. have over “refillable” is I know they’ve not been used by prior guests. I think we’re sacrificing safety and peace of mind for a meaningless gesture.
Nicole, if you’re referring to the Mickey straws, you’ll find them (as Sandra G. noted!) at most counter service locations in the World — and they come standard with some drinks (like smoothies at Auntie Gravity’s and frozen lemonade at Pecos Bill!). If you’re referring to a different Disney straw, comment back with a link to a pic, and I’ll see what I can find out!
K, thanks for the info! Glad you’re loving the straws AJ recommended!
Yuck. I like plastic straws. The paper ones dissolve when you try to use them.
This is just another cost saver for Disney, while it pretends to care about the environment.
A quick question about the use of the Mickey straw in Disneyland and California Adventure. Does anyone know how it is being handled there or do they even sell them anymore?
California is planning to dish out harsh penalties (including jail time) for use of a plastic straw statewide. We purchase the Mickey plastic straws at WDW all the time. Are they still available or even legal at Disneyland or does the law only apply to once-use plastic straws? I can not seem to find any distinction mentioned in the pending law.
Thanks for posting the pic of the refillable bottles holder and more importantly the security screw holding it closed. Now I can take full size shampoos home. ?
I agree with Rob Crawford about sacrificing safety and peace of mind with the implementation of “refillable” toiletries. I will be bringing my own going forward – which is not ‘magical’ by any stretch of the imagination – but I do not feel it is sanitary to put my hands on the pump that the folks in the room before me also used!!
I think the refillable amenities is another disappointment from Disney. That was one of the perks for staying on Disney property and paying so much more for a hotel room than on Internation drive. Also, I feel it isn’t sanitary to use a product that someone else used before you. It creates health issuses and safety issues.
@Rob — There isn’t a safety issue with the refillable amenities. If you look at the picture you’ll clearly see the top of all of the bottles are encased in a metal barrier that requires a key. Only the mousekeeper can open the bottles to refill them. They cannot be tampered with any more than a small bottle sitting on a cart can be tampered with.
I’m completely grossed out by sharing toiletries. The insult for the money I pay DVC is minor. It’s an infection control issue. And now it could be an added luggage fee.
I always bring my own shampoo, conditioner, etc. Never use the ones (including the bars of soap) that are provided to the rooms. As far as the paper straws go, I do not like them at all. I understand the reasoning for removing the plastic but I may have to bring my own straws to the resorts and restaurants. The plastic bags are another issue. Was at the Disney Store last weekend and there we NO bags ( except the ones they had for sale) They were only .99 cents but still not everyone remembers to bring them with when they go to the DS ! Many customers were very irate over that . Maybe they should come up with something new like biodegradable bags….
Taryn, I hate to tell you, but on forums I visit, it has been shown that what looks like a lock on that metal bar is not a lock at all. It’s just a button. The forum member took a photo of himself holding one of the refillable bottles in his hand, able to be opened by anyone. I bring my own things since they went refillable, but just thought you’d like to know.
@Taryn — I zoomed in on the picture, saw part of the brand name “aqua”. Searched for “pump dispenser rack aqua” on Google and found the company’s site. Searched for “Aquamenities dispenser key” and the first hit was a replacement key. Checked the images and found pictures of the “keys” and, as I thought, they’re just two pins.
And I’m just some guy who’s a bit skeeved out at sharing shampoo with strangers.
Oh, and don’t buy the ecology angle. The real motivation, from the manufacturer’s site: “40-60% reduction in cost”. This is a price increase — you’re not getting soap and shampoo to take home.
some of this is getting ridiculous, they keep this up and wanting to get rid of everything might as well shut the place down. To the poster above, sandra g I believe, saying they should get rid of utensils and everything else, really? You cant keep taking away from guests, saying they cant have this or use that, and charging what they are charging. And or telling people they have to bring their own straw or shopping bag now? Doing away with plastic is fine but at least replace them all with paper, as horrible as they are. Its better than nothing and an option. Chapek just wants to save money on supply costs.
I’ll be bringing my own plastic straws with me to the parks and resorts. As long as the Disney store requires me to purchase a bag to carry out my purchases I will not be shopping there. I’ll also bring my own toiletries to the resorts. I don’t care whether the refillable pumps are locked or not. The fact that someone touched the pump bottles with God knows what on their hand, and I have to assume housekeeping thoroughly sanitized those bottles grosses me out.
Remember what happened with Tylenol…. tampering is just as bad if not worse now… what happens when someone gets hurt by what someone puts in one of these sharing bottles… bleach, acid, salt, etc…. and they look to be fairly easy to open so it will probably happen.
And several years ago, Disney changed their plastic bags to ones that are recyclable… what is wrong with that? Do they really need to do away with bags at stores or just remind people to recycle them … I see a real future for shoplifters with no way to know if items were purchased or not as you go from store to store… are we checking receipts at the door now as you enter a store and leave ?
And plastic straws… well, they are recyclable too and can even be made bio-degradable …maybe just provide a different kind ( and environmentalists will not like paper because you are killing trees)…… are they doing away with the plastic lids too? I foresee a lot of spills that will have to be cleaned up……and, all you coffee drinkers will have to be more careful with no lid not to spill on someone( especially someone’s kid) and get sued!
I want a plastic straw. I do not want to have to carry my own straws. I also do not want to return to my hotel room and clean the straws.
I will not be buying anything at Disney shops if I have to buy a bag to carry it in.
I think all of this is just a ploy for Disney to save more money so it can make a larger profit.
@Rob Crawford-true, they’re not locked. On other fan pages they were just pulling the bottles out to illustrate that they are not locked.
I am skeeved too. I work in healthcare & ick. It’s vacation a little shampoo, a little shower gel…infection control.
Also some people presented that it’s not safe if one is taking a bath. The racks are hung too high to reach of sitting in the tub. A fall hazard.
@Rob Crawford they don’t lock. Other fan pages have shown people talking them out of the rack.
Sharing skeeves me out too. Yuck. It’s an infection control thing.
Also, some people say they’re placed too high if you’re using the tub. Fall hazard.
@rob Crawford-I also agree with your financial analysis. Lower my dues or don’t raise them for 5 years with the money they’re saving. I’ve seen some people say-DVC is NOT a hotel. Not true. And DVC maintain the properties whether the hotels are at capacity or not. I think individual toiletries is not too much to continue.
We’re also paying for all of those dispensers and the labor to install them.
To all: sorry for the double post. I was transferring trains… 🙂
For those concerned about touching the refillable pumps after a prior person “with god knows what on their hands”….ummm, I’m guessing that you’ll continue to flush the toilet, touch the faucets, light switches, tv remotes, etc. , right? I’m guessing that those pumps will be wiped down just like the rest of the room. It’s one of the joys of staying in a hotel. You accept the germs that are there, or take your own precautions and wipe them down yourself.
I was excited to find paper straws at Animal Kingdom in 2017! I also have invested in some stainless straws for my purse and will make sure I bring them when we head to Disney this winter.
I think it’s outrageous that Disney wants you to actually buy a bag for your purchases in their stores!! That’s ridiculous! Disney will be saving millions of dollars by not providing straws or plastic bags anymore and also making money by charging you $.99 to buy a bag in their stores! Disney needs to reinvest that money back into their guest by providing at least one reusable bag for FREE at check-in for their guest. Believe me, they can afford it and it’s such a small thing to do to help their guest to be able to shop since they are taking away the bags and saving tons of money on bags and straws. We all need to email and call Disney and let them know exactly how we feel. I’m going to do that today. Disney raises prices every year for their tickets and their hotel rooms and on top of adding parking fees, now we should spend more money to buy our own bags and bring our own strwas too? Thats outrageous!
Suzanne, I can come up with a few scenarios as to why pump bottles in the shower may be slightly more gross than other things in a hotel room, but I won’t do that here. I didn’t pay to be a member of housekeeping when I go to a resort. If you have no problem with refillable toiletry bottles then good for you, but I, and many many others, do. What Disney is doing is nothing is for nothing more than money saving, and plain old virtue signaling. None of it will make an impact on the environment. It’s always been, and always will be, about the money, and getting more of ours.
When it suits them, WDW quotes Walt — “Conservation isn’t just the business of a few people. It’s a matter that concerns all of us.” So to save money they eliminate straws, make you purchase a reusable bag and say that’s What Walt Would Do. They could give each guest one reusable bag at check in, but that would lessen the profit by $.99.
However, when it does not suit them, they just ignore what he said — “No liquor, no beer, nothing. Because that brings in a rowdy element. That brings people that we don’t want and I feel they don’t need it. I feel when I go down to the park I don’t need a drink. I work around that place all day and I don’t have one. After I come out of a heavy day at the studio sometimes I want a drink to relax.”
Guess it comes down to what makes the most money for them.
I will bring my own plastic straws and plastic Walmart bags!
@Arlene: EXCELLENT points!!!!
@teresmnj: I agree. It’s not a commune. It’s a VACATION resort.
I will bri g my own straws, I already have them packed to go for my upcoming trip on Sunday. Also, I think that sharing the soap dispensers in the shower is gross! Thankfully I always bring my own anyway. I wasn’t aware of the shopping bag situation, I’ll have to come up with something before I leave on Sunday, because I’m certainly not paying for a bag every time I make a purchase, they get enough of my money ‘
Does anyone know if they are allowing us to bring our own straws into the parks?
Can people not take a sip of a beverage unless it’s via straw? I don’t quite understand the horror of no straws.
If Disney is going to phase out plastic bags at the parks, when you buy something and have Disney hold it at the front of the park or send it to your hotel and you don’t buy a bag, what are they going to put it in?
Carmen, you’re welcome to bring your own straws. 🙂 We’re also finding that they’re available by request everywhere we’ve asked.
Jaycee: Some disabled people need plastic straws to drink (or even eat sometimes, i.e soup), and making them harder to get can make disabled people not feel welcome in a place where others can just waltz in and eat/drink with no prior prep or special questions or chance of having forgotten something and not being able to get a replacement, especially if that was a place where they could previously also waltz in and expect to be able to easily have what they need to eat. (As an aside, many alternatives currently have major drawbacks for many of the disabled people who need straws.)
@citrusella straws are still available for everyone & anyone by request. And they specifically ID the needs of people with disabilities that may require straws.
And I’m not one to be obnoxious, but the comment about not being able to drink otherwise was ignorant, insensitive & just now lain mean. At the least someone with a braces adjustment may need a straw. At the worst, could be a someone that has quadriplegia that needs a straw.
Goodness there are a lot of “fragile” people here….. people who go to Disney and put their hands on all SORTS of things – “pull down on the bar in front of you” and a million other potentially nasty things, but they’re afraid to touch the top of a shampoo pump? What about when you go in a public restroom? They don’t all have automatic soap dispensers… do you not wash your hands then because you have to touch the soap pump? Not to mention, your hands would get clean from the shampoo (which is SOAP) while you are scrubbing your hair. Very strange that this is a hang up for so many people. Most of you sat in the airplane to get to Orlando and touched the tray table, armrests and seat belt. FULL of germs. But the shampoo pump is what skeeves you out.
I agree with the other commentator that pointed out the TV remote in the room is a MILLION times more disgusting, but no one has any problem touching that.
As for straws, I don’t really like them but I know I’m in the minority. I truly don’t see what the big deal with having to ask for one is though if you want one.
We live in a truly spoiled society if these are such “big” problems.
As to the last comment made – we all have opinions and preferences, and we are all different . Different things bother different people . What works for you may not necessarily work for somebody else. What grosses you out, doesn’t necessarily gross out somebody else. So it’s not about being “fragile”, or “spoiled”, it’s about your personal preferences and everyone’s right to like or dislike what they want to. Especially in this situation where you are paying to be at a Disney resort. Bottom line is this – the Disney Corporation has enough money to accomodate its guest and their needs; whether it’s for something as small as a straw, or as simple as giving your guest a shopping bag when they are shopping in your store on your property. To be conservation- minded is good ; we all need to care for our environment, that’s true. But Disney has enough resources to be concerned about the environment and also to accommodate their guest. If some people don’t want to use the shower pumps then they should be able to ask their housekeeper for throwaway toiletries. Need a straw? I agree that Disney should be able to give a straw to anyone who asks for it, and especially to those with disabilities who have a hard time swallowing and really need a straw. Disney is a multi-million dollar business, that depends on the satisfaction of its guest to continue operating. If no one shows up to their parks or hotels, Disney does not make any money. As a company that depends upon guest satisfaction, Disney needs to listen to it’s guest- ALL of its guests. Just as we need to listen to each other and accept that we are all different with different situations, likes and dislikes and different needs. Doesn’t make anyone right or wrong, just makes us different, and that’s OK.
Very well said, ARLENE. Thank goodness not all Disney guests are as judgmental and disparaging of their fellow Disney guests as others who’ve replied to this post are.
@Jackie: I was responding to Jaycee’s judgemental tone more than anything else. I don’t think request only is a perfect system (though some of its pitfalls are hopefully things that happen less at Disney, I hope), but it’s definitely better than an outright ban.
I mentioned a scenario in which someone outright *couldn’t* drink without one because most people I see hanging around this topic and advocating for their own straw needs are noting that they *can’t* drink without one, or if they do, there’s a 97% chance they’ll end up covered in it instead, etc. That is, people for whom it is actually more or less a complete necessity. (Also, hrm, I’m not sure I needed a straw when I had my own braces adjusted, but to be fair, that WAS awhile back. *puts in my extremely-ill-fitting retainer to see if I can drink out of a cup after it’s been in long enough to hurt*)
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not having straws. People who need it will ask for it. Will that make them feel less independent? Unfortunately fornsone of them it will. But on the other side many people will get used to not drinking out of straws and less people will use them. Is that good for business? Yes, but it is also good for the environment. There is no other way to discourage the use of plastic straws. When people see straws they take them, regardless of whether or not they need them. There was a time when very few people used straws in this country and they were all fine, we wil be too
Is there any update to the current status of straws and lids at WDW? I was at Disneyland and California Adventure this week and straws were everywhere but lids were hit or miss. Literally everytime we had a cup without a lid something was spilled. Luckily it was only water everytime but once.
Last night, I was told by a cast member that WDW is completely out of straws and lids and that Disneyland won’t be replacing any of it once their supply runs out.
Sara, we can confirm that counter service locations in the parks and the resorts at Walt Disney World DO have straws out for guests to pick up themselves. We’ll check into Disneyland.
Thanks. Do you know about lids at Walt Disney World? Those are more of a problem than the straws as I can easily bring my own disposable straws in but not lids.
I just got home from Disneyland last night so I know straws are still everywhere there but some places don’t have lids.
In WDW resorts had lids, Epcot did not. Straws were available.
I am definitely NOT a fan of sharing amenities with ANYONE other than my own family. I have had so many issues with cleanliness in my rooms (and I’m in suites as a DVC member), so this is gross to me. This is also a potential claim/lawsuit for Disney, if anyone tampers with the contents of these bottles – – and it will happen, because there are demented people who will do so.
The straw thing doesn’t bother me, but I do think it’s a Money thing over conservation. They are nickel and diming everyone and everything – – the charge for daily parking at hotels still bothers the hell out of me.