Drink Refills

[Galaxy Defender]

I was in the parks last week with my girlfriend. We both had the red Universal bottles that refill for 99 cents. She commented that almost no one else had those cups. Once I started paying attention I realized she was right.

We asked about this the next time we got a refill. The person behind the counter seemed pretty informed about this. He said Universal still had some of the red cups but were working through the last of their stock. Those cups would no longer be valid for discounted refills after the first of the year. The only cups eligible would be the more deluxe character figure cups like the Minion and Optimus.

He said Universal was doing this to focus more on the day long Coke Freestyle cups and would be adding more freestyle machines. He said that when they first came out Universal had high hopes for them but that the $9-10 cost for additional refill days turned people off, which was why the price was dropped to $6 and the refill interval shorted to 10 minutes. I was not aware those changes had been made.

Anyone heard anything else about this or can confirm or refute any of it? As an annual pass holder this is a big deal to me since I have no interest in paying full price for drinks every visit.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Not sure, but what l learned on my last visit is that you can get the $0.99 refills in the freestyle cups, not sure if that will change, but it adds value to the cup for me as I can add a day for around $6 if I'd rather deal with the machines or just get a few $0.99 refills when I know the lines won't be bad and we won't get six refills...plus they have a cool HHN25 freestyle cup right now.

 

[princeinc]

yeah they are focusing just on the free style cups. cool thing is that the day price is only $6 and you still get to use your annual discount for it. the window is 10 minutes though which i don't mind. eating in the restaurant, ill fill it up and drink. If i run out in 10 minutes, then ill go get some water from the machine until its up. then ill go get some soda.

 

[awhen]

I stopped bringing mine when they stopped letting me get fresh lemonade for $.99.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

My issue is carrying around a darn cup all day! If they offered a free drink pass I'd be game. Or go a full Holiday World and offer free soft drinks.

 

[IzzyB]

Not sure, but what l learned on my last visit is that you can get the $0.99 refills in the freestyle cups, not sure if that will change, but it adds value to the cup for me as I can add a day for around $6 if I'd rather deal with the machines or just get a few $0.99 refills when I know the lines won't be bad and we won't get six refills...plus they have a cool HHN25 freestyle cup right now.

Oh, if you can do that then it is worth getting a freestyle cup. We used our red one yesterday for .99 and I was shocked they still honored it since I didn't see them in the parks. I would move to the freestyle cups if they honor .99 refill in them when you don't buy the day for $6.

 

[graspthesun]

Oh, if you can do that then it is worth getting a freestyle cup. We used our red one yesterday for .99 and I was shocked they still honored it since I didn't see them in the parks. I would move to the freestyle cups if they honor .99 refill in them when you don't buy the day for $6.

It's a mixed bag on whether you can get the 99 cent refill or not. Monster's Cafe offered me one, but when I went to upgrade my ticket to a Power Pass I overheard a conversation from one of the customer service guys telling a guest that the 99 cent program for Freestyle cups have been completely phased out.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Oh, if you can do that then it is worth getting a freestyle cup. We used our red one yesterday for .99 and I was shocked they still honored it since I didn't see them in the parks. I would move to the freestyle cups if they honor .99 refill in them when you don't buy the day for $6.

It's a mixed bag on whether you can get the 99 cent refill or not. Monster's Cafe offered me one, but when I went to upgrade my ticket to a Power Pass I overheard a conversation from one of the customer service guys telling a guest that the 99 cent program for Freestyle cups have been completely phased out.

I had no questions getting the $0.99 refill from the little stands around the Studios a few weeks back, but I guess anything can be hit or miss dependent on the knowledge of the person serving you and I imagine they can change their policy at anytime...the one thing I like about having the Freestyle machines around is that you can get water and ice from them (last time I went anyway) even when your cup is expired.

 

[Panagiota]

If you have your own water bottle can you fill it with ice and water from the freestyle machines?

 

[WAJAS]

If you have your own water bottle can you fill it with ice and water from the freestyle machines?

Yep

 

[Frank Drackman]

Just as an update, I had no issues paying for single drink refills in a freestyle cup, but the cost is now $1.27 after tax

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Freestyle for the day is now $6.99

 

[Galaxy Defender]

The last couple of times I got the freestyle for the day most of the machines were out of ice late in the day. I learned to save my ice.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

My freestyle cup got knocked over and the interior lining cracked all the way around. I was able to swap it out at the nearest food station with no questions asked. Thanks Universal!

 

[IzzyB]

Universal I will say is good about that. They also replace wand tips if you have an interactive wand that stops working you can go to the wand shop and they will repair it for free.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Universal I will say is good about that. They also replace wand tips if you have an interactive wand that stops working you can go to the wand shop and they will repair it for free.

Good to know. They have also replaced one of the old red refill cups for me.

 

[UNIrd]

The last couple of times I got the freestyle for the day most of the machines were out of ice late in the day. I learned to save my ice.

Exhibit A. No Water from Freestyle Machines | Page 14 | Orlando United Forums

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Exhibit A. No Water from Freestyle Machines | Page 14 | Orlando United Forums

This is an ongoing problem that many freestyle users complain about. This is why I am all for the change.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

I paid for a day of freestyle a couple of days ago. When I went to get my first refill it said the cup was not activated. I saved the receipt and showed it to a manager. He had a staffer behind the counter scan the cup. The scan pulled up a history of the cup's usage. I had no idea Universal was keeping that information.

Many team members have encouraged me to save the drink receipt. This was the first time I needed it.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

They still need to these on some more machines.