Well parks can’t stop people from getting free water so…
But yeah water fountains usually suck. My experience is that most of them dispense highly chlorinated warm water, but i’m too cheap to pay for drinks when i’m already being nickel and dimed.
3 Likes
It’s the principle of the thing!
3 Likes
Everyone is thinking too small! To enter the park you have to agree to our terms and conditions, and also to have this microchip surgically implanted in your tongue…
4 Likes
Making ice takes lots of expensive electrons. Knowing you won’t be able to get a refill later, you might skip the ice in order to get more soda into the cup, thus lowering the cost.
3 Likes
Just get in the DeLorean and go back two hours.
2 Likes
So the disposable cups can no longer go to the landfill or the compost heap. They have to be sent overseas to an e-waste recycling station.
6 Likes
I’d imagine this was one of the first scenarios they were trying to disallow. There’s probably a timestamp associated with something like “when was the last time this cup was used” during the refill time allowed.
Really quite simple, really. The actual RFID chip is unique and well, as we all know, the internet (would be the IOT dispenser machine) NEVER forgets.
2 Likes
Doesn’t stop there. How long before the all-you-can-eat asian buffet starts using this?
One more thing to look at…How long before the business automatically charges you for the refill? Recalculates your billing on the fly as it happens.
It’s the mark of the beast, I tell ya…
3 Likes
I am thinking of the big data/target marketing implications of this. Jr. went through 40 refills, keep his name as a prospective customer for Diabetes supplies for x months after his visit.
5 Likes
Exactly. IOT never forgets that you personally have a tendency for sweets or crab legs, or whatever…
2 Likes
THE BUREAU, Part Thirteen,
you are denied soda by a robot voice
2 Likes
Insurance company: “From your amusement park drink records, we judge that your diabetes was a pre-destined condition. Claim disallowed.”
11 Likes
It’s the mark of the beast, I tell ya…
2 Likes
Nothing says Fun for the Whole Family like monitoring your fluid intake!
Just like the ICU.
7 Likes
Or the future could be far more insidious…
“This is your fourth caloric over serve this month. You are denied further caloric consumption until your daily maximums have been met for a period of 7 days or until your cash payment is received. Thank you for shopping at Walmart.”
2 Likes
In the UK you get unlimited refills at Five Guys, but the cup costs about £4 so it’s bloody expensive if you only want one cupfull.
Nando’s also does free refills.
5 Likes
Cut a hole in the bottom of the cup.
Affix one end of a drain tube to the cup; the other end goes in a bucket (or 55 gallon drum, if you are that thirsty if you are committing suicide by diabetes).
Aww the hell with it: just route the other end of the tube into the floor drain, and let 'er rip.
Update: Further sardonic observations.
2 Likes
The real question is how many extra cups they need to sell to offset the cost of the chipped cups.
4 Likes
I can’t speak for Universal, but the Disney parks make free water very accessible, especially in subtropical Orlando.
6 Likes
Good to hear. The closest I used to get to a theme park was the RennFest in Larkspur, CO. Summer in the mountains. I don’t recall seeing a functioning drinking fountain, and water was $3 or $4 a bottle. No refills. And you weren’t allowed to bring your own water. It’s one of the reasons I stopped going.
5 Likes
