Must…find…water!
So… What IS a refillable mug?
Well, other than it being exactly what it sounds like, there are some cool things worth mentioning. First, they’re super cute collectable items. These 16-ounce mugs are insulated and themed seasonally. The current mugs available are themed to the 100th Anniversary Celebration.
100th anniversary refillable mug
These mugs are available through the Rapid Fill program at Disney World resorts for $21.99 for the length of your resort stay — up to 14 days.
Previously, visitors could purchase their mug for prorated costs based on their length of stay (i.e. $8.99 for 1 Day, $11.99 for 2 Days, $14.99 for 3 Days, $17.99 for Length of Stay up to 14 days), but now it’s just the one flat cost.
Refillable mugs
So, what’s cool about these? Well, they’re enhanced by an RFID bar code which deactivates the mug once your stay is complete. Throughout your stay, place your cup under the stand below the drink dispenser at Disney World resorts, and some sort of RFID magic will read the bar code inside your mug and then begin filling it. Cool, huh? You can choose from the soft drink, coffee, and tea options.
Rapid Fill info
Of course, there are several limiting factors to this process. There are a few rules that Disney has set in place so that visitors aren’t going around getting free drinks willy nilly at Disney World. Here are five important things to know before you purchase a Rapid Fill refillable mug.
1. They’re Good For 14 Days and 14 Days Only
The barcode inside the mug WILL deactivate after the 14th day of your stay, making it to where the beverage machine simply will not fill your mug.
Rapid Fill Refilling Station
Further, you can’t reactivate the same mug. You’ll probably have to purchase a new one. We’ve gotten varying answers from cast members about whether you can buy a new RFID chip or the whole mug, so know you might need to get a new one.
You Can’t Refill Them In The Parks
While you can take these cups to the parks and refill them yourself with water, you can’t refill them in the parks with soft drinks. We recommend filling up right before you head out for the day!
Rapid Refill Station
However, you CAN refill them at any of the resorts and not just the one at which you’re staying.
3. You Can’t Fill Them With Milk, Juice, or Alcohol
We know, we know. A refillable 16-ounce margarita cup would be very nice, but hey — this is Walt Disney’s dream and not ours. Although your choices of beverage are pretty impressive, you can’t fill your mugs with milk, fruit juice, or alcohol.
Sorry to all the milk and margarita lovers!
While most of the beverage machines include drinks such as Powerade and HiC, which WILL work with your mug, 100% juice like apple juice or orange juice won’t dispense.
4. You Have To Wait Between Each Refill
There have been several times that we’ve paused our filling to allow the foam from our soft drinks to settle and not bubble over. Wrong move!
Drinks
Once you remove your mug, you have to wait two minutes before you can start filling up again. Try to fill it with one “stream” if you can. If your plan is to fill your mug repeatedly and pour into a larger vessel (because you need a VAT of coffee to get going in the morning), that’s going to take a long time and may be altogether impractical.
You Can Continue To Use It In The Parks After Your 14-Day Period Is Up
We love to take these into the parks as water cups once we can no longer use them at the resorts. The handle makes them super easy to attach to our bags, and they actually do a decent job of keeping our drinks cold.
Refillable mugs
Just ask the Cast Members for free water cups that you can then pour inside!
What do you think? Will you be purchasing a refillable mug on your next trip? Here at DFB, we try to share with you all the best tips to make your Disney World trip easier. Follow along for more, and click the link below to check out more refillable options at Disney World.
If an endless supply of popcorn sounds GREAT to you, click here to check out all the details on Disney World’s refillable popcorn buckets!
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Have you ever purchased and used the refillable mugs? Let us know in the comments!
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I’m going to Disney in September of this year and I do plan to buy the 100 anniversary refillable mug. I know i will get my $ worth with my daily morning and evening coffee and I can take it into the parks for water during the day. It will be a great reminder of my stay and the 100 anniversary mug is so pretty.
I wish Disney would bring back the stainless steel refillable cups.
Just an FYI, When you buy a new mug they activate it when you buy it, then it is good for 14 days from activation. If you bring your mug they charge the same price of a new mug but just activate your access. There is an RFID chip in the bottom of the cup that has a code on it. They just add your RFID code to the list of active codes with a removal date of 14 days after the activation. Also in the System they have a setting that only allows the same RFID code to be used every 2 minutes. That way you cant fill your cup then dump it into something else and fill if again. (I configure and setup RFID systems as part of my job. Disney also uses RFID in the Magicbands. Same type of system just different functions.) Just another note the RFID chip has a battery just like the Magicband2 so it will die after a few years. Disney says 2 years but it can actually last up to 5 or more in my experience.