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

[TwingleMum]

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????

 

[bigbabyblues]

Bring in a refillable water bottle (I like the Hydroflask) and fill it with free ice water from counter service places. You can also just drink the free ice water out of the cup, but they have done away with straws (or give the nasty paper ones).

 

[snoopboop]

We tried this last week but WDW’s water tastes so awful that by day 2 we’d resorted to just buying bottled water. Ugh. I ended up ordering a case of bottled water from Amazon Prime Now and each morning after that we stocked our backpacks before heading to the park.

 

[Mollygirl21]

We just drank the ice water available at any QS restaurant - I didn't notice any bad taste whatsoever. If you are concerned, maybe pack some lemon slices?

 

[MrsPete]

We ask for free ice water at the Quick Service places.

If refill mugs were available in the parks, I wouldn't buy them. I don't want to haul them around. I also don't want to haul warm water around.

 

[AllieBoo]

We bring a backpack cooler and fill it with bottled water every morning before we hit the parks. If that runs out, we ask for ice water at any QS place. I haven't noticed a bad taste with it.

 

[starry_solo]

Pack a couple of cans of soda (you can get those from Amazon Prime too) if you want a soft drink. Get free ice at the QS places.

 

[YawningDodo]

I drink the water from the drinking fountains. I recently bought a silicone drinking cup that folds flat and has a lid (so you can put it in your pocket without any pocket lint or debris getting inside the cup) and really liked having it on a recent trip to Kings Island because I find it easier to drink from a cup than to drink directly from a fountain, and that helped me keep better hydrated without having to carry a bottle. I made a point of stopping and drinking at least one cup of water every time I passed a fountain.

Before people quote me: yes, I'm aware that many on this board absolutely can't stand the taste of the tap water in Florida. I've never really understood that; I definitely taste it and it's not the greatest flavor, but I always get used to it again within a day after arriving.

 

[DisLiss]

We only drink water at home, so we just keep doing that at the parks, too. We're perfectly okay with the free water at the park. At home, when it's 70 degrees and we're not walking 395 miles a day ( ) we might be more fussy about our water. But when we're walking our butts off and it's eleventy billion degrees, pretty much any ice cold water tastes like the nectar of the Gods.

 

[Barbydoll8]

Free Ice Water at any QS location comes from the soda fountain not the tap. I live here and will tell you our water is nasty. LOL
I did by Cold Brew Ice tea bags from the Twinings store In England in Epcot and they do roll up into a water bottle nicely. I also bring drink sticks to add to the water. You can ask for as many cups as you need so I normally bring a bottle and fill it up at the QS locations.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Ask for free cup of ice water and use Propel packets in them

 

[Kestryl]

We brought in pop each morning, and then used the bottles for water refills. Sometimes we used those KoolAid/Crystal Light packets to make lemonade or fruit punch.

We didn’t mind the taste of Florida water from the fountains, though the water wasn’t as cold as I would have liked. I firmly believe that the water fountain on the bridge between the Outpost and China in Epcot has the coldest water of any of the water fountains in the parks.

 

[Elephantay]

I drink the water from the drinking fountains. I recently bought a silicone drinking cup that folds flat and has a lid (so you can put it in your pocket without any pocket lint or debris getting inside the cup) and really liked having it on a recent trip to Kings Island because I find it easier to drink from a cup than to drink directly from a fountain, and that helped me keep better hydrated without having to carry a bottle. I made a point of stopping and drinking at least one cup of water every time I passed a fountain.

Before people quote me: yes, I'm aware that many on this board absolutely can't stand the taste of the tap water in Florida. I've never really understood that; I definitely taste it and it's not the greatest flavor, but I always get used to it again within a day after arriving.

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?

 

[IluvMGM]

I have a case of water delivered to the hotel and take bottles of water to the parks.

 

[maranara]

I bought a Brita water bottle which was the best - I refilled it with free ice water the entire trip and a few times just filled it from a water fountain. The filter took out any taste issues - it's now my go-to water bottle when I travel!

 

[bluezy]

We buy water when we need/want it. It's part of the cost of the trip that we plan for. Our daughters will drink the free water at the QS locations but DH & I and our son don't like the taste. Adding a flavor packet isn't an option that we use because we all prefer plain water -- no flavoring -- as we feel it quenches our thirst much better than when we turn it into fruit punch, lemonade, etc. We drive to Disney so we bring 2 cases of water with us. We drink that in the room and usually take a bottle with us every time we leave the room to head to a park, but once that bottle is empty (which is usually is by the time we get to a park), we just buy it when we need it. None of us wants to be a pack mule so we don't take any bags to the park so bringing a supply of water bottles for the day isn't even an option. I kept track of how much our drinks (outside of meals) cost us in the parks on our last trip. For 7 days and 5 people, we spent about $180 on bottled drinks -- less than 2% of the total cost of our vacation. Not worth the inconvenience (to us) to do something to "save" that money.

 

[Elephantay]

I bought a Brita water bottle which was the best - I refilled it with free ice water the entire trip and a few times just filled it from a water fountain. The filter took out any taste issues - it's now my go-to water bottle when I travel!

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

 

[wdwrule]

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?

Disney has the push button type of water fountain. Just recently though I heard they installed the other kind you mentioned at Cosmic Ray’s in MK. Very new installation so not sure if it’s operable yet.

Typically we get the free ice water at QS places and pour it into our filtered refillable water bottle. Some QS ice water tastes fine without our filtered bottle (in our opinion) and Starbucks in the parks has the best tasting free water....I heard it’s triple filtered.

 

[disneyworldsk]

We tried this last week but WDW’s water tastes so awful that by day 2 we’d resorted to just buying bottled water. Ugh. I ended up ordering a case of bottled water from Amazon Prime Now and each morning after that we stocked our backpacks before heading to the park.

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?

 

[atkinstogram]

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.

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