Yes, you read that correctly, I, Aunesty Janssen – Reikofski, am never ever going to go to Walt Disney World, Disneyland or any of the Universal theme parks again … with bottled water. You know what I am talking about. Lugging around bottles of water for each person in our group, refilling them at the water fountains… For years of our vacations I did this. I had no idea that every single one of the Disney and Universal theme parks gave guests FREE cups of ice water. Yes you read that right, FREE.
Last August, the best tip I have ever received about visiting the parks came from a stranger on the monorail. She saw our bottles of water (which were actually for Courtney’s bottles) and assumed we had brought our own water into the parks. She then offered up a bit of advice that I have been thankful to know (and share as often as possible) – She said, you know if you go to any quick service location you can get Free cups of ice water.
Wait, What?!?!?! Soooooo….
After getting off of the monorail, we headed on into Magic Kingdom and started on our adventure for the day, after about an hour, we were thirsty and in Tomorrowland, so we headed over to the Quick Service dining location in the middle of the land, and asked for three cups of ice water. AND… with a smile on his face, the cast member handed me THREE full size cups of ice water for FREE!
So since that HOT summer day in August, we have used this little tip on almost every visit to the parks, and I share it with everyone I see filling up water bottles at the drinking fountains. Because I am that strange lady who gives random unasked for advice at the parks to strangers….
So did you know this money and back saving tip? If not, are you as thrilled as I was to learn about it?
What you didn’t really think I meant I was never going to go to Disney again? Oh no, I am too much of an addict to give up going to the parks…
I try not to drink water away from my home. Can you say Montezuma‘s revenge?
I’ve drank water all over the world. I’ve never had anything happen to me or anyone I was with.
It’s Orlando, not India, you’ll be fine.
The queues are bad enough at QS counters without everyone being too lazy/selfish to carry a water bottle. That’s before thinking about the appalling waste! Think of all the trash from those cups!
was at magic kingdom 2 yrs old & was told sorry we don’t give free ice (Starbucks) u have to buy something.
This is a great tip if you happen to forget your water bottle but getting disposable cups creates so much waste. I was actually surprised the last few visits, that Disney has not installed water refill stations to save on waste. We bring 1 or 2 reusable water bottles for the entire family and just share. We then refill when we see a water fountain.
I know someone that works at a Starbucks at Disney and their water is triple filtered. I get a free Venti size at the beginning of my adventure and I’m good to go.
A great thing about taking your own reusable bottle is that we’re not using one of those non recyclable cups! Each time we refill it is one fewer cup… how many would that be if we all did it?
Had to laugh at all of the posts disparaging FL water. Yup, it tastes bad, even filtered. I live here and drink from a treated well and it’s still funky. But where do y’all think the ice and bottled water comes from?
When we visit we prefer to bring bottles to fill up. That we we can have a drink, and then put the bottles away in our bags. With those cups, your burdened down with holding a paper cup and have the potential for it to spill if you try to carry it another way than in your hands.
Headed in February for the first time. The interesting thing about your post is that we share the last name. Not many out there.
As for universal, there are coke freestyle machines throughout the park, where you can put your water bottle underneath and get free ice and cold filtered water too
We are going to Florida next week and we all bought water bottles that have filters in them so we don’t have to worry about where the water is comming from it will filter as we drink it !
A little tip for those who don’t like the taste of Florida water…carry a small squeeze bottle of Crystal Lite with you to add to your FREE iced water! Keeps you hydrated at a fraction of the cost of purchasing drinks in the parks!
Good tip. Snack size resealable bags come in handy for that and also for hand sanitizer.
Yuck! Add chemicals to make it taste even worse! No thank you- I like my body.
it is a US law that any out door theme park must provide free water to guests so no one gets heat stroke… I thought everyone knew that. my tip to you is to bring a water bottle on a lanyard to fill with said ice water. you can get them in hotel gift shops for about 5 bucks an is a great cheap souvenir.
I’ve tried this tip. Unfortunately I don’t like the Florida tap water:(
It’s not Florida tap water, It’s Disney tap water. Super filtered water all over the parks even in the campground laundromat. They filter it I think 3 – 6 times. Give it a try. It’s free.
It is one of the first tip I give in any blog post about Disney. I learned this years ago when son was about 4 and he was fussing about being thirsty. A cast member went into a quick sere and brought back three glasses of ice sold water. Since that day 11 years ago I have never taken water bottles into the park.
I am so thrilled that this worked for you and you are sharing this tip in a BIG way! It is the #1 tip we share on each of our frequent visits to the parks. (In fact, I was the one on that monorail ride with you last August) We chatted about your blog and I excitedly looked you up to follow after that meeting. Keep up your great work and perhaps we will see you and your family on a future monorail ride!
Thank you for the great tip. We are aware of the free water, but will continue to bring bottled water with us because the water in Orlando smells & tastes funny to us (a little like sulfur) & we won’t drink as much to stay hydrated. Since my kiddos were 4 & 6, each family member has carried their own small back pack that included at least one bottle of water. I don’t know how you do it though, with all of your camera equipment. I always bring my SLR cameras & lenses, but then they end up just staying in my room in exchange for my point & shoot. 🙂
Our first trip, we did bottled water because that was what was suggested. We got water from Walmart and filled all our bottles with it, and then refilled with water from the fountains. Nobody got sick. Our second trip, we used tap water as we didn’t have a vehicle to buy water from Walmart, and bottled water in WDW is pricey. My son got very stomach sick from the water (we are from Canada, so the water is quite different). It was enough to have him in the hotel room one day, and dealing with the runs (and he was embarrassed as we needed to use pull ups for him as he had zero control, poor guy). Next time we go, I will not risk it and will be doing bottled water, at least for all my kids.
I use amazon prime pantry to have water and snacks delivered to my hotel room wherever I travel. I’m from the Pacific NW and we have some of the best water so I can’t stand tap water.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your tip…and yes I’m as thrilled as you are for this tip
Excellent tip! Thank you so much for passing that knowledge on! Our last trip, we spent at minimum $25 on purchasing water bottles or like you lugging our own around in backpacks! We are headed back in July 2015 and will us this tip often :-). {so to have we become huge fans of Disney 😉 }
Thanks for the great tip, I have lugged about 25 bottles of water a day per park for years.
That will not only save me lots of money but also a lot of hassle and Heavy lifting…
If you don’t mind check out our new web-site for Disney fans and Disney Birthday Cakes.
Thanks again 🙂
I also give unsolicited advice on my Disney trips lol….Sometimes the tips and secrets are too good to not share!
We always pack two empty cups with hooks on them so they can hang from the backpack. We also bring propel, koolaid, mio, crystal light etc. two so I don’t have to share with the children! We fill up with the free water and add flavoring! Saves us tons!!!
That is an awesome idea too! I wonder if this free water tip still works??? I am going in June 2015 and planned on bring loads of water into the parks with me. I’d rather not! lol
Oh yeah, it’s still free and everywhere
I am taking a Britta water pitcher for our room. We drink a LOT of water. Refill our water bottles in park at quick service counters.
That’s awesome! I will definitely remember this when we visit in LESS THAN A MONTH *squee* 😀
I always forget when we are there. Thank you for the reminder!
So you are actually cool with paying $100 a day to wait in line?
You know they are now dropping Guest Assistance passes for the Handicaped?
You know that Bob Iger CEO makes $40 million a year while most employees under him make minimum wage, no full time or benefits?
Yea, have fun at the Magic Kingdom where all the overpriced cheap plastic toys comes out of China from workers that make pennies on the dollar.
Wow Mike, you are awfully critical for someone who is more than likely typing on his overpriced computing device made in china
Wow Jack! I hardly ever comment on hateful, ignorant posts such as yours but I just can’t stop laughing! Dude, you are truly clueless! I mean… Wow. I’ll just address the most simple concern in your vile comment: They most certainly DO still offer Guest Assistance passes for the Handicapped. The next time you decide to go trolling through a blog just so you can leave nasty comments, at least get your facts straight. Now I you’ll excuse me, I’M gonna go have some fun with my family at Disney World!
Yup, knew this!
Although when my family used to go to the Parks, they used the free iced water to refill our water bottles (only 1 or 2 shared amongst 4 people) because they liked [the bottles] could stay closed and we could have it on hand when we weren’t by a restaurant, like in line or such.
Myself alone, I started taking full advantage of the free water once I decided to save some money by cutting back on always ordering soda with my meals. Since then, unless I’m craving a specific beverage, I only drink water at the Parks because it’s easy to get, it does the job refreshing me, and it doesn’t cost anything. I’ve found I go through 2-3 cups minimum a day in the Parks.
I carry a container of Mio in my pocket to add to my free water. Depending on the size of you group you can literally save hundreds of dollars. A bottle of soda is $3.00. It would be easy to buy 3 or 4 a day per person if you are in the parks all day. For a family of 4 that’s $50 a day for soda. Mio is about $3-$4 a container and is enough for about 20 free waters. That puts you at $4 a day if you are on the high side of everything. On a 7 day trip you are at $350 for Soda or $28 for free water with Mio (even less if you buy the generic brands). I know I have better ways to use the extra $325.
great tip about the water. Also, have you taken advantage of baby care. If you require water for bottles or need to heat up a bottle its a great place. Also changing areas, high chairs and adult/child medications
The only problems I see with this is that all of the family we had visiting that didn’t live in Florida were getting sick from Florida’s water regardless of their filtering processes. I suggest to all out of towners NOT to drink Florida water even at Disney in order to save their stomachs from possible upset. For locals, fine.. but for those that live in other states, they don’t tend to fare well. 🙂
Agreed!!!! I was going Post the same thing…..i can not drink Florda water, ugh my stomach just freaks. Florida water is terrible, it is full of sulfer.
Good to know, we are heading down from Michigan and it’s been years since I have been to Florida…. I totally forgot about Florida water. :p
Starbucks filters their water, best place for water in the park!!
So true…and the water from Florida taste funny also.
We’ve seen cups lined up filled with ice water at Cosmic Rays. This was a great tip for everyone. Thanks for posting.
only the counter services that sell fountain drinks have free water. you can also get them from the snack stands that sell fountain drinks. i also take my resort mug and fill it up at counter service restaurants like electric umbrella in EPCOT, Backlot Express at Hollywood Studios, & Restrauntasaurous in Animal Kingdom. And i find the water has a taste to it that i am not used to, but i bring those kool aid or crystal light drops or singles and make the FREE water a basically a FREE drink. some people cannot drink out of state water it messes with their systems, but i think the water from the fountain machines is much better than the water fountains. you can also get free cups of ice and then use your snack option to purchase 1 20oz bottle of soda and share it among the family in their own cups. this way there are snacks saved and not wasted cause you had to toss the unfinished soda cause it got to warm or went flat during that crazy bumpy ride of space mountain.
*I only refill my resort mug in the parks with WATER. I don’t want people yelling at me that that is stealing. lol
I thought you can use the refillable mugs anywhere at the parks and get a free refill of whatever you want to drink.
oh no, they have always only been for your resort. You have never been able to refill them at the parks
You can Refill your resort mug at any resort. We stayed at Port Orleans but when we went to dinner at the Poly we refilled our mugs twice before dinner while waiting and again before heading back to MK. They are not refillable at any of the parks though.
We have used that multiple times! No more carrying bottles of water in backpacks. One of my favorite tips to pass along 🙂
Aunesty, thank you for the article and the tip. I just wanted to let you know that I did mentioned you in my my Disney Blog, and asking my readers to come read your post: http://travelingdisneyfun.blogspot.com/2013/06/in-case-you-did-not-know-water-and.html. Again, thank you
That is a great tip. We are all so used to bottled water that we have forgotten to ask for it for free.
But is it filtered water from the soda machine or good old Florida tap water?
It is Filtered Water, they won’t serve you tap water. If they don’t have filtered water, then they give you a cup of ice to fill at the water fountain
It’s a great tip if you’re in need of some ICE water – especially on a hot day. But we still carry the water bottles (and will continue to do so). We freeze them overnight so we have cold water for quite awhile in the parks. Just the thought of ANOTHER line to stand in and the time that takes away from touring is enough of a deterrent. :-((
Plus we often take our sips while waiting in line or walking from one attraction to another so a bottle is handy for those spur of the moment drinks. Still … this is a great tip to know about!
BTW, we HAVE taken advantage of the free cups of HOT water to warm up a baby’s bottle (available at almost every stand selling hot beverages).
when you are getting ice water, you don’t need to wait in line. They actually prefer you to go to the side where they fulfill the orders and ask them. They usually have a stack of ice waters waiting for you. We take our in the line with us.
Also for warming up baby bottles, head over to the Baby Care Centers, they not only have microwaves, hot water and food, they have great rest areas and changing tables. http://temporarytourist.com/walt-disney-worlds-baby-care-centers/
Good to know about not waiting in line.
And the Baby Care Centers are wonderful. Unfortunately there’s only one per park … and it never seems to be in the section we happen to be in when we need the hot water! So we’re grateful it’s available free of charge at the food stands as well.
It may be in fact UNLAWFUL for the restaurants to charge for water over a certain outside temperature. In Alexandria, Virginia the local buses offer free fares when the temp is over 94 degrees.
And if you choose the Dining Plan, a water bottle is part of the beverage option. We’ve reused those bottles until they got too bulky.
I just found this out and this is a great service, especially in the heat. I will definitely be passing this along to my clients.
when they built the parks Walt Disney had to decide between water fountains and bathrooms. he decided on the bathrooms and made it a “rule” that guests HAD to be able to get free cups of water whenever they wanted in order to keep people from overheating. and that, my friends, is your fact of the day. 🙂
I knew it! There’s nothing magical about port-o-potties.
Almost the story… When Disneyland was opening Walt was tod they could have either the bathrooms ready or the water fountains on opening day, he chose to have bathrooms operating. As for the free water that day I have never heard that piece of trivia either way.
In addition Walt passed before Disney World and the various Magic Kingdom Parks were opened so he could not have made this decision about the Florida parks, he was involved in the planning of the Florida parks and purchase of the land, just didn’t make it to the opening time. This is why Disneyland in Anaheim, California is the only park where Walt actually walked in the completed park, give the first park it’s one of a kind magic, not to say the others don’t have some magic about them but the nostalgia of DLand belongs to Walt.
I already knew this but my husband didn’t. We went to Hollywood Studios one day and hubby asked if I wanted something to drink. (We were at Backlot Express.) I said “Just ice water” He came back to the table with 2 ice waters and said “They didn’t charge me. I think it’s because they were closing and maybe had their registers locked” I told him – water is FREE honey! He had a look of amazement! Definitely going to take advantage of this more often.
Carrying a bottle of water or personal thermos seems to be the thing to do these days, so what a lovely, ‘hands saving’ gesture on the part of Disney! Thanks for the tip!
I had no idea! Lol, I made our daughter lug around the bottles because she had those nifty mesh side pockets on her backpack! We are leaving in July for our Disneyland vacation and I’m really excited to know this before hand! THANK YOU!!!
Free is a very, very good word, LOL. I have to have a water bottle with me at all times, but am so not fussed on the whole filling from the water fountain thing ( germs abound) so I was super happy about this tip when I found out about it awhile ago. Nothing makes a Disney trip a little easier then the word free 🙂
Suz
When at Disneyland two years ago we discovered we could get free cups of ice. My grand daughter has a medical issue which keeps her body from properly controlling her internal temp. The free ice was literally a life saver.
This is one of the things that I just ADORE about Disney! We haven’t carried water into the parks for years now, thanks to this little tip. 😉
You do realize, that the soda fountains use Florida water as the free water was. A soda fountain has a CO2 supply, A water supply and then a syrup supply. The water supply is the local water. Syrup is typically a bag in box situation these days. Premix soda is a thing of the past. Its heavy, and more expensive. Some might filter but when I did food service the machines didn’t. The machine mixes the 3 together when you fill a cup. So there is no logic on the free water vs soda fountain it’s the same water. If the free water bothers your stomach then the soda fountain sodas will as well best drink all bottled, and find out where it was bottled. My state doesn’t have a bottling plant but if they do in Florida it’s once again, same water.