The Resorts Gal Guide to Disney World Resort Refillable Mugs

You purchase a cup of coffee for breakfast at the resort. Then, you buy a bottle of water to take to the parks. When you return to the resort, you pick up a soda to take back to your room. These three drinks alone cost approximately $15.00, which only counts what you spent at the resort for one day. You’ve probably already figured it out, but the cost of beverages at Walt Disney World is expensive.

To help alleviate some of that expense, you might consider purchasing a Disney Resort refillable mug (AKA a Rapid Fill Mug). They are refillable at any resort’s self-service beverage station at Walt Disney World. Sound great? It does. However, there are a few catches. Below, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about refillable mugs at Walt Disney World. We’ll review how to discern whether or not they’re worth it and get into the specifics of where to locate each station.

An Introduction to Rapid Fill Mugs

Rapid Fill mugs allow you to enjoy refills of fountain drinks, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate at any resort self-service for the entire length of your resort stay (up to 14 days). Guests can purchase a Rapid Fill mug one of three ways. You can purchase one at the register, receive one with the purchase of a Disney Dining Plan, or order one via the online menu in the My Disney Experience app.

Most Rapid Fill mugs can be purchased at your resort’s primary quick-service restaurant or gift shop. Each mug has an RFID chip that is activated at the time of purchase. After it’s activated, you can visit any resort beverage refill station.

The chip is programmed to last until midnight on your checkout day. After the chip is activated, you can begin using it. You’ll place the mug on the stand under the dispenser to refill sodas. Usually, you’ll hear a magical tune that sounds like the waving of a wand. At this point, you can refill your mug. However, you’ll want to remember not to pull the mug away until you’re satisfied with the refill. When you remove the mug from the station, the chip is reset and will not work for 2-3 minutes. This prevents guests from turning around and filling extra cups to take advantage of the system.

You can use your mug at any resort’s self-service beverage station. Unfortunately, they do not work outside of the resorts. Below, we’ve listed every single self-service beverage station at each resort. So, if you’re doing a little resort-hopping, don’t forget your mug!

Are Resort Refillable Mugs Worth It?

One of the most common questions we receive is whether refillable mugs are worth it. That depends largely on what you drink, how often you use them, and how easy it is to refill. For example, if you were to stay at a resort where you had to walk a long distance to refill your mug, it might not be worth it.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach is the only resort with beverage stations in each resort section. If you stay at Caribbean Beach (no matter your room location), you will be near a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine. However, if you stay at Port Orleans Riverside, you’ll have to walk to the Riverside Mill Food Court whenever you want to refill your mug.

Only a handful of resorts have Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. Freestyle machines offer many more beverage flavors and a few options that aren’t soda. Resorts with regular dispensers will have fewer options. This can go either way. Some guests do not like the Freestyle machines because they only use one dispenser, and the flavors can get muddled. If that’s the case, you might try to let water run through the machine for about 30 seconds to help clear the line before you refill your drink. The water selection is on the bottom left-hand corner of the station.

Each resort’s quick-service restaurant will have additional drink options for refillable mugs like coffee, hot chocolate, and Gold Peak Tea (regular, decaffeinated, and flavors). If you prefer not to use your mug for coffee, show it to a cast member at a register and ask if they’ll provide a coffee cup. It has been our experience that they will do so for coffee.

Here are a few other quick need-to-knows that will help you decide whether or not they’re worth it.

• Cost of the Mug: $22.99
• You get to keep the souvenir mug.
• You can use the mug at any Disney Resort Hotel with a self-service refill machine. It doesn’t matter where you’re staying. For example, if you stay at All-Star Music and visit the Boardwalk, you can refill your mug at the Boardwalk.
• You cannot use refillable mugs in theme parks, water parks, or Disney Springs. However, you can refill one before leaving the resort and bring it with you. (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach have separate refillable mugs that can be purchased at the park.)

Bottom Line: An average beverage costs $5.00. So, guests who drink five or more sodas, coffees, or tea (at the resort) can usually justify the cost of the mug.

Beverage Options for Resort Refillable Mugs

If you’ve made it this far, you might wonder what beverage options are available. We have found that they vary by resort. However, each resort will have Joffrey’s coffee, Coca-Cola products, and Gold Peak Tea. Hot Tea is also available. Twinings Tea provides tea bags.

Regular soda dispensers usually have Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid Lemonade Zero, Fanta Orange, Coca-Cola Zero, and Barq’s Root Beer.

Here is a photo of the home screen for the Coke Freestyle Machines. When you select a flavor, you usually have the option to combine additional flavors. The main beverages include Seagram’s Gingerale (Zero Sugar), Mello Yello (Zero Sugar), Pibb Xtra (Zero Sugar), Barq’s Root Beer (Cream Soda and Zero Sugar Options), Fanta (Zero Sugar), Sprite (Zero Sugar), Coca-Cola (Zero Sugar), Diet Coke (Caffeine Free), Aguas Frescas, Minute Maid Drinks and Lemonade (Zero Sugar), Aha, Powerade (Zero Sugar), Vitamin Water (Zero Sugar), Hi-C, and Water.

Every resort beverage station has a sink where guests can rinse their mugs.

Most food courts and primary quick services have a hot chocolate dispenser. However, you won’t typically find hot chocolate at the poolside bars.

Every Resort Refillable Beverage Station at Disney World

Now, you might be wondering what kind of beverage options are available specific to your resort. We’ve visited every single resort at Walt Disney World to put this guide together. Below, we’ve listed each station. Locate your resort and click on the corresponding guide for pictures of each station and the types of beverages. The resorts are listed in order of their location.

Resort Refillable Mug Guides

We’ve created an individual resort mug guide for every resort. You can scroll through and select your resort to see photos of the beverage stations and locations at each resort.

Final Thoughts

We hope you found this guide helpful. We visited each resort to do this research. One of the things that surprised us the most was how different of an experience you could have depending on your resort. So do the math and check our individual resort guides for specifics. For more on dining at Walt Disney World, our Disney World Dining Handbook is an excellent place to start. It provides an overview of what to expect for various dining experiences.

If you’re on a tight budget or want to know how much you’re spending, you might also want to check out our budgeting spreadsheets. They can get you nearly down to the exact penny for how much you’ll spend, and they are simple to use! Sign up below to try our complimentary spreadsheet.

In the Comments

What do you think about resort refillable mugs? Have you ever purchased one? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below. Do you have any other questions? If so, drop them below or on social media. We love to hear from our readers, and your feedback is invaluable.