Free Water

[House]

I was at Cedar Point on thursday and went to the oldies diner by iron dragon. The lady working there told me I couldnt get water there but could anywhere else but there. I thought there was a law stating that parks had to give people water. This was weird considering this same place gave me some last year.

[The Interpreter]

There is no such law in Ohio. It is wise practice to give out water to prevent heat stroke, but no law requires it. Separately, note that some McDonald's and other fast food joints now charge for ice water, even from the tap. Cups and labor do cost money, you know.

[jondrewfoo]

you are right about the mcdonalds. the one in monroe of off route 63 (exit 29) and the one in middletown at exit 32 both charge 25 cents for a cup of ice water.... they also dont do the 1.00 drinks promotion either, but thats a whole other conversation...

[House]

Wendys always gives me water the size up a tea cup. This is really annoying considering I rarely drink pop. I did get around this at jack in the box by asking for two waters lol

[violakat03]

It is company policy to give you free water, though not state law. If they turned you down for free water, they have 2 valid excuses: 1. They were out of water cups or 2. They don't have a fountain drink machine that dispenses water at that location. If either of these were not true, file a complaint with guest relations.

On a side note, Cedar Point is no longer handing out decent sized water cups. They now give you something about the size of a shot of alcohol. Not enough to quench my thirst. I ask up front for two or three now. The first time I was handed one of these, I said "well, since it's so small, I guess I'll have two." The girl looked at me, got water for the rest of my group, then moved on to the next customer. I told her "Hey. I wasn't kidding. I'd like another." She gave me a VERY dirty look and got me another.

[House]

They gave me one of those tiny cups at the tacos place by skyhawk. I was given normal size cups at Soak City though, and at the swim up bar they gave us 16 oz cups.

[DaveStroem]

I was at CP today and got one of those little waters up front. Back in Frontier land I got a larger sized one. What I find interesting is that they are now using a plastic cup for the free waters instead of the paper ones. I would think that the paper ones would be cheaper and better for the environment. Also giving 1 larger water verses several smaller ones would be more environmentally friendly.

[The Interpreter]

One of the reasons for using completely different cups for "free" water is it makes inventory control more possible and practical. By counting the number of missing cups and multiplying by the expected retail price per each, one can somewhat quickly determine if one has a "dipper" working one's tills....or put another way, a small time thief working the cash register and taking the nickels that Cedar Fair had hoped to extract for itself.

[G-Force]

I've only been refused water once, during last year's Haunt at Panda Express.

[Oldiesmann]

The best solution to the small cups of water is to buy a souvenir cup and take that with you. A 46oz souvenir cup refilled with ice water is the same price as a small cup of ice water - free.

[The Interpreter]

I prefer not to have loose articles with me in the park. I'm funny that way. At least Kings Island still has refrigerated water fountains throughout the park (and hot water in the restrooms....neither is commonly found at Cedar Point or other Cedar Fair parks. Yes, they have water fountains...but seldom is the water refrigerated...and hot water? Forget about it in most Cedar Fair restrooms).

[pcc]

We always take to-go drink packets and our souvenir cups with us and take them to any food place for free water. Then I add 2 drink packets, and voila! Free tasty drink.

[CedarPointer]

I've never had someone refuse to give me water, but I've had a few people who were rude about it. One told me "Are you actually going to buy anything?", and one told me that I was getting the "gold pass special" (huh?). Although, only two rude employees out of the countless times that I've gotten water is still pretty good.