We love to talk about freebies you can get in Disney World.
Magic Kingdom
WHAT? You can actually get things for FREE in Disney World?! Yes you can, if you know where to look! From celebration buttons to complimentary activities at the resorts, there’s a lot of free fun to be had when you take your Disney World vacation. But perhaps the most popular free “perk” is the cups of ice water!
It’s common knowledge that you can get free cups of ice water at any quick service restaurant or snack stand with a drink machine in Disney World. Disney does NOT want you getting dehydrated in the parks, especially during those hot summers.
Stay hydrated!
However, these cups of free ice water can be a little bit controversial. While some people are die-hard fans of them, others complain that the water tastes absolutely disgusting, and that’s it’s more worth it to bring your own filtered water or buy bottled water in the parks. So which side is right?
Don’t forget your free water
Well, as it turns out, not all ice water in Disney World is created equal! Some places fill up ice water cups with tap water, while others use the filtered water from the soda fountains. And arguably…that soda fountain water is a LOT better! So where can you find the good stuff?
Did someone say free water?
Well, in our experience, some of the best water spots are the places where you can self-serve from a soda dispenser. This includes locations like Restaurantosaurus, Satu’li Canteen, Sunshine Seasons, Connections Eatery, Regal Eagle Smokehouse, and many of the quick service spots at the resorts.
Drink station
Also, we’ve found that water cups usually don’t taste as bad when the restaurant has self-serve dispensers out, but particularly if they’re METAL dispensers instead of the old brown ones. When it comes to water dispensers, BaseLine Tap House is arguably the KING of having delicious and icy cold water.
New metal water dispensers at Ronto Roasters
But if you end up with the “icky” Disney World water, what can you do? Well, we recommend having some drink flavor packets on hand. Some of our favorite options are things like MIO or Liquid I.V. Bonus points if your drink mix has electrolytes to keep you hydrated throughout the day!
©Amazon
Ultimately, the water taste may be good or bad depending on your personal preference and what you drink at home. Just prepare yourself for it to not be the most perfect water you’ve ever had in your life. 😂
Stay tuned to DFB for more tips and tricks for Disney World!
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Now, granted, I’m kind of a water snob (coming from Colorado, where we’re first in line to get the fresh water straight off the snow-capped mountains), but so much of the water in WDW is positively nasty!
The newer parks (HS and AK) are much better, but the older ones (MK and EPCOT) can be pretty vile. Sometimes, even the soda from the soda fountains tastes “off.” Having powdered drink additives doesn’t seem to help much either. I’ve even tried carrying a water bottle with filtration properties, but it was clearly seriously outmatched by the sulfurous FL water.
I’m not sure if Florida pumps their water from stagnant underground pools – or from under an outhouse – but we’ve started ordering bottled water from Amazon, timing it so it’s delivered to our resort on the day we arrive. We plan on at least 2 bottles/day/person, otherwise we get dehydrated too easily. I can’t recommend this approach highly enough!