No Water from Freestyle Machines

[NJBrandon]

You can still get free water from water fountains and quick service locations. No one is forcing you to buy a bottle of water.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

You can still get free water from water fountains and quick service locations. No one is forcing you to buy a bottle of water.

We are now just back to where we were before the freestyle machines were installed.

 

[JoeCamel]

You can still get free water from water fountains and quick service locations. No one is forcing you to buy a bottle of water.

Absolutely true and I don't use the machines but I don't like what was done. I now see someone who has not been to the parks saying they saw (yeah!) where it was Coke that did it!

Well maybe Coke has a contract with Universal that would allow it to be turned off if Coke thought it was cutting into their sales but I would rather hear that from Universal than all this misdirection

 

[JoeCamel]

@Galaxy Defender , I agree but I don't have my 8 bottles that they said would be replaced by the Freestyle option.

 

[UniversalCityFL]

Guys, please allow me to chime in.

The Freestyle machines in the park have an advanced filter in it. The city water going into the machine is filtered before mixing with the syrup because Coca-Cola wants their soda to taste perfect and maintain their brand integrity.

Therefore, when you press the "water" button you are getting filtered water. We live in a world where you pay for filtered water, and it's been free up until this point.

The Freestyle machines (and their filters) were not designed to supply all the drinking water to 30,000 park guests in the hot summer. They were designed to sell sugar water.

If you want water, there are water fountains at EVERY restroom location, and food locations will give you water. Nobody is taking away your free water.

 

[Nash]

It would be nice if they put in water fountains around the park like the one I posted below. It would certainly limit their water bottle sales, but it would solve this problem easily. It's not a super expensive upgrade, and they don't require a lot of maintenance.

 

[MrRoamer]

Guys, please allow me to chime in.

The Freestyle machines in the park have an advanced filter in it. The city water going into the machine is filtered before mixing with the syrup because Coca-Cola wants their soda to taste perfect and maintain their brand integrity.

Therefore, when you press the "water" button you are getting filtered water. We live in a world where you pay for filtered water, and it's been free up until this point.

The Freestyle machines (and their filters) were not designed to supply all the drinking water to 30,000 park guests in the hot summer. They were designed to sell sugar water.

If you want water, there are water fountains at EVERY restroom location, and food locations will give you water. Nobody is taking away your free water.

So the water from the coke machines at the restaurants and carts aren't filtered as fantastically.

 

[Hockeyman55]

No more water but nowhere does it say you cant still get ice from the freestyle machines right?

 

[Galaxy Defender]

@Galaxy Defender , I agree but I don't have my 8 bottles that they said would be replaced by the Freestyle option.

I see your point. In your case you have been royally hosed.:angry:

 

[JoeCamel]

I see your point. In your case you have been royally hosed.:angry:

I posted this elsewhere but it is worth posting here I think.

I never felt like Universal was trying to pry the last cent out of my wallet but this smacks of that. They always did things than made me want to give them my last dollar.

 

[GAcoaster]

It would be nice if they put in water fountains around the park like the one I posted below. It would certainly limit their water bottle sales, but it would solve this problem easily. It's not a super expensive upgrade, and they don't require a lot of maintenance.

They have been installing them for the TMs so it's possible we'll see them in the parks too.

 

[Nash]

They have been installing them for the TMs so it's possible we'll see them in the parks too.

Awesome! I'm glad they're doing that for TMs. When they installed them on my undergrad's campus, it made it so much easier to choose to drink water rather than something else. It's a good health investment on Universal's part even if it never hits the public.

But....maybe this backlash will make it happen for park guests as well.

 

[JoeCamel]

They have been installing them for the TMs so it's possible we'll see them in the parks too.

Cool, maybe they will sell themed water bottles too? Yeti's would be nice

But do they have to shut down the water to do this?

 

[s8film40]

I have stood in line and waited behind people that did not have freestyle cups getting water and ice. The machines run out of ice later in the day. I honestly think this was done to speed up the lines and to keep ice in the machines.

Much as I like to get water and ice out of the machine, if it speeds up the freestyle line then I'm all for the change.

If it's any consolation I never get ice even if I activate my cup. Ice in drinks is a disgusting habit that I have never been able to understand. I'm pretty sure that the ice mechanism is completely separate though, is it possible to still get free ice without an activated cup?

 

[UNIrd]

This doesn't affect me as I absolutely loathe Freestyle machines and think the flavor of the drinks is WAY off from a regular dispenser. Sprite tastes like Lemon Pledge from those God-awful machines. But I do feel for this who used it for water and I would think using it to clean out your cup in between flavors would be the most obvious reason to have it active for it's users.

This just reeks of greed as I can't imagine this is abused that much. Don't you need a valid cup to use the machine anyway? I'm guessing with a chip like at Disney?

 

[Frogki]

You don't need any special cup to get water, or you didn't. It was a much more convienient way to get water if you needed it because the freestyle machines are a lot more spread out around the parks.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Who knows if this was a penny pinch move or a way to free up machines for those paying, either way I dont think the reason is to add more options. Regardless of flavors, there still has to be a dedicated water line running to the end of the dispenser to mix with syrup. Adding new flavors would be as easy as inserting a new cartridge like we do with our printers ink.

 

[sparky]

We are now just back to where we were before the freestyle machines were installed.

Our first trip to universal was when I found out about this free water thing. We bought a refillable cup for the counter service places, before freestyle. The TM told us that we could get free water refills as much as we wanted. That sounded really great to me, and I thought it was only good if I used the cup I purchased to do it.
Im kinda bummed about them taking the ice/water from the freestyle machines. Staying hydrated during a mid August trip is looking a bit more complicated. We will manage, but it is just a little less, nice, ya know?

 

[s8film40]

Has anyone actually confirmed that the ice is no longer free? I've never actually ever seen anyone have to put their cup on the sensor and reach around with their hand to press the ice lever. This would be very counterintuitive and I would imagine would really cause a lot of confusion and long lines.

If it's still free you can get ice and wait about 5 minutes for water.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Has anyone actually confirmed that the ice is no longer free? I've never actually ever seen anyone have to put their cup on the sensor and reach around with their hand to press the ice lever. This would be very counterintuitive and I would imagine would really cause a lot of confusion and long lines.

If it's still free you can get ice and wait about 5 minutes for water.

Name cannot be blank ‏@jtamagni1976 8m8 minutes ago
@Hockeyman55 @ksortego @thrillgeek I tried to get ice at IoA around 3 yesterday with a non activated cup and that didn't work either.