No refillable cups at the parks so how do you cut drink costs??

[DisLiss]

For 7 days and 5 people, we spent about $180 on bottled drinks -- less than 1% of the total cost of our vacation. Not worth the inconvenience (to us) to do something to "save" that money.

I can't imagine that our water consumption would ever ring in at such a low amount. We are very big water drinkers.

 

[starry_solo]

For water, I will bring a bottle of water from the hotel and drink from it only when I don't get the free iced water from a QS restaurant.

 

[bluezy]

I can't imagine that our water consumption would ever ring in at such a low amount. We are very big water drinkers.

So are we. But we each take a bottle with us when we leave the room, get a bottle mid-morning (though we often only buy 2 bottles for the 5 of us because none of us likes it when it gets warm so rather than throwing away warm water, we prefer to share a bottle so it gets finished when it's still cold. Plus, our daughters will drink the free water when it's convenient -- but we won't stand in a long line to get it.). Then we get a bottle with our lunch. We head back to the room for the afternoon, so we drink the water we already have in the room and then take a bottle with us when we leave, get a bottle with dinner, and then *maybe* get another bottle later in the evening if needed. The reality is, for us, even if we had to purchase twice as much water in the parks, we still would choose that option rather than drinking the free water or lugging water with us all day.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Freeze your favorite water the night before and take with you.

 

[bluezy]

Freeze your favorite water the night before and take with you.

That's becoming more and more challenging at Disney resorts. They seem to be switching to refrigerators that don't have freezer compartments. The last 2 times we stayed in a suite at AoA, the refrigerator in our room didn't have a freezer even though the first 2 times we stayed in a suite, our refrigerator *did* have a freezer. And the new refrigerators at Pop and ASMovies don't have freezer compartments either. I'm pretty sure there were other resorts that people mentioned but I don't remember which ones.

 

[bluezy]

You spent EIGHTEEN GRAND on a week's holiday for five people? Yeesh, I thought our trip was pricey...

Oops, that's a typo...should have been "less than 2%". The point was that it's insignificant in the grand scheme of the cost of our vacation as far as we're concerned.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Britra water bottles are awesome, we got ours new on ebay for half the price as walmart also we take drink mix sticks. I dont use amazon prime now anymore, i use walmart delivery use the code fastcar and your first delivery is free.

 

[atkinstogram]

Oops, that's a typo...should have been "less than 2%". The point was that it's insignificant in the grand scheme of the cost of our vacation as far as we're concerned.

Yea, I get your point entirely. My gob was momentarily smacked is all!

 

[lilmc]

We drink tap water. Safe to drink. More environmentally friendly than the fossil fuel consumption to transport bottled water. And not single use plastic. Cheaper. And I’d rather eat my calories than drink them in a coke.

 

[maranara]

Could you please comment on my post, above? Thanks!

I honestly don't know...we were last there in early 2017 and I didn't see any of the water bottle refilling fountains. They're becoming standard around here - so much that my daughter comments when we can't find them - hopefully they are starting to install more at Disney because they're SO easy to use (and the water usually tastes better!). But I think that when we were in Disney we mostly refilled the bottle from quick service ice waters. Whenever we walked by someplace that didn't have a line I grabbed a couple and refilled. I'm a big water drinker and it was never an issue.

 

[samsteele]

Bring a refillable water bottle and fill it with ice and free H2O at quick service restaurants and cafeterias. If space at a premium, consider a folding bottle. Some soda fountains have filtered water. If the taste bothers you, bring flavour packets to mask it.

 

[Elephantay]

I honestly don't know...we were last there in early 2017 and I didn't see any of the water bottle refilling fountains. They're becoming standard around here - so much that my daughter comments when we can't find them - hopefully they are starting to install more at Disney because they're SO easy to use (and the water usually tastes better!). But I think that when we were in Disney we mostly refilled the bottle from quick service ice waters. Whenever we walked by someplace that didn't have a line I grabbed a couple and refilled. I'm a big water drinker and it was never an issue.

Thanks!

 

[North of Mouse]

I wish there was a refillable mug for the parks like US/IOA has. To cut costs I usually freeze a water bottle or two and use them to keep a few water bottles cold. What do you do????

We drink the free ice cold water from the CS places - have no desire to lug water bottles around, and we don't care for surgery sodas very often. The water is filtered, so tastes fine.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

For our 2017 WDW and our 2019 DLR trip we just brought a foldable connected with a carabiner water bottle and drank from QS locations. Water would appear to be filtered as I tasted nothing bad but water fountains didn't taste bad either (I *think* they are filtered too or at least some are). I loved that we could attach it to our park bag and go and be hands free.

The actual only place that I tasted the water was ironically a TS place--Skipper Canteen. I have no problems drinking tap water at home but that tap water at that place was quite strong.

 

[snoopboop]

how was your amazon prime now experience with water buying and was the $6 upcharge to resort worth it in your opinon?
did you find it super heavy carrying it in your backpacks especially in the heat and how did it stay cold?

It was quick and easy - and yes, I'm willing to pay for convenience, so it was totally worth the uncharge. (Although, honestly, I'm not certain they actually charged us! I'd have to look back on my folio for the stay. But, assuming that we did pay the $6 fee, yes, I found it totally worth it to not have to lug a case of water all the way across the Pop grounds!). Each of us threw 2-3 bottles in our backpack each morning, and though there's definitely some weight associated with that, none of us found it to be problematic in the grand scheme of things.

I absolutely agree with other posters about not wanting to use single-use plastic... we actually purchased awesome collapsible silicone water bottles with carabiners specifically for this trip, and we used them on our first park day... and seriously, the taste of WDW water is SO bad that none of us were able to stomach it. When the choice was between staying hydrated and using single-use plastics for a few days, we chose staying hydrated.

I appreciate the suggestion of bringing flavor packets, and I'll maybe try that next time.

 

[shocker]

Does Disney have the push button type of fountain that comes down like a soda machine or the nasty curved arc of water like schools that kids suck on?

Mostly curved arc. A few vertical drop type. I mean so precious few as to not count on them at all.

When Pandora was built there was a hope to move to the more modern vertical drop design. But, they didn't do it at the 2 restroom sites. They did put one in the standby line for Navi River, but if you have a FP, you won't see it and when the line gets short enough they don't have have you snake through to this fountain (yes, Virginia, this does happen). At the CS locations that offer self serve soda machines, you'll be able to fill your bottles there vertically (Satuli, Backlot Express, etc.).

 

[JasD]

I think the water taste depends on where you get it. At AK in Asia we didn’t notice anything. In MK across from SDMT it tastes just like Splash Mountain.

 

[Tndnknin]

You spent EIGHTEEN GRAND on a week's holiday for five people? Yeesh, I thought our trip was pricey...

$180 is 2% of $9000 ....I think.... someone check the math

 

[bluezy]

$180 is 2% of $9000 ....I think.... someone check the math

I corrected the typo in my original post. I originally had typed 1% but it should have been 2%. Our trips usually run around $8-10K...not $18k (not that I would have trouble planning an $18K trip to Disney!).

 

[YawningDodo]

It was quick and easy - and yes, I'm willing to pay for convenience, so it was totally worth the uncharge. (Although, honestly, I'm not certain they actually charged us! I'd have to look back on my folio for the stay. But, assuming that we did pay the $6 fee, yes, I found it totally worth it to not have to lug a case of water all the way across the Pop grounds!). Each of us threw 2-3 bottles in our backpack each morning, and though there's definitely some weight associated with that, none of us found it to be problematic in the grand scheme of things.

I absolutely agree with other posters about not wanting to use single-use plastic... we actually purchased awesome collapsible silicone water bottles with carabiners specifically for this trip, and we used them on our first park day... and seriously, the taste of WDW water is SO bad that none of us were able to stomach it. When the choice was between staying hydrated and using single-use plastics for a few days, we chose staying hydrated.

I appreciate the suggestion of bringing flavor packets, and I'll maybe try that next time.

While I've never been so bothered by the taste of Florida tap water as to be unable to drink it, I'm thinking of bringing Propel powder (or a similar zero-calorie electrolyte powder) on my upcoming trip. Propel comes in little single serving tubes, though you need scissors to open the dang things (seems like bad design for something you drink on the go!). But you could probably snip an indent in the end of the package ahead of time to make it easier to tear. Anyway, the point I was going to make is that if you're going to do an additive, you might as well get something that'll replenish your electrolytes while you're at it, and there are some surprisingly good-tasting powders for that.