List prices: 

$2.00 for Powerades (Blue, Red, Purple)

$1.50 for Dasani Water

$1.50 for Diet Coke, Sprite Zero, Coke Cherry Zero, Minute Maid Lite, Mello Yello 0, Lemonades 

OVERARCHING VENDING MACHINE ADVICE:

Don’t expect Apple Pay to work. Spare yourself disappointment and use cash or coins; card if you absolutely have to. Also, between each press of a button, give it 5-10 seconds. If it matters to you if the drinks are “0 sugar” or “lite”, make sure to check your drink. There’s always a chance you’ll get a normal Powerade or normal lemonade when the label says it’s “zero”. 

Vending Machines by the bio room on the second floor:

Accessibility: 3/5

Atmosphere: 4.5/5 

Drink Quality: 2/5

Reliability: 2/5

Expert tip: Use coins or cash in this vending machine. Apple Pay and cards are especially unreliable at this location. Don’t take your chances. 

PROS: 

It’s out of the way of crowds/traffic, but is not in a super remote sector of the school, so this vending machine is in an optimal location. The vibes here on a sunny day are impeccable. The windows nearby give this location an ambient quality. 

CONS: 

I tried to buy a Purple Powerade here once, and received a rock-solid hunk of ice in a bottle with the concentrated grape liquid all over it. Another time, I got a normal Minute Maid instead of a Sprite Zero. Other people have experienced the same. 

Vending Machines by the fieldhouse/ gymnastics gym: 

Accessibility: 2/5

Atmosphere: 2/5 

Drink Quality: 4/5

Reliability: 4/5

Expert tip: Go here if you’re looking for a beverage at the end of the day, or in the middle of the period. The gym classes that crowd around the stairs obstruct the path at the end of periods. Don’t use the first blue Powerade button because there’s about a 50% chance you’ll be jumpscared with a Dasani Water instead. 

PROS: It is a little musty, but I have never had to wait in line to get my drink here. I have turned to this vending machine many times because Grape Powerade is reliable at this location. The temperature of these drinks are also consistent, which is a plus. 

CONS: This location features a dank third vending machine with 4 bottles of clearly unrefrigerated Muscle Milk that hasn’t moved since my freshman year. This location is also a little out of the way, and it’ll rarely be on the way to any of your classes if you aren’t already at this corner of the school. 

Cafeteria vending machines on the side of the main gym: 

Accessibility: 5/5

Atmosphere: 2/5 

Drink Quality: 4/5

Reliability: 2/5

Expert tip: If you don’t give enough time to these vending machines after the person before you uses it, they will eat your money. Don’t go too quickly. Twenty extra seconds of patience will save you from devastation. 

PROS: It’s in the cafeteria, so if you’re getting a snack, then this location obviously makes it easy to get a drink too. 

CONS: The drinks don’t come out very cold; they’re barely refrigerated. It sometimes takes two tries to pay with a card for each. Also, the cafeteria is closed to students during the seventh period, so plan accordingly. 

Cafeteria vending machines on the side of the studio theater: 

Accessibility: 4.5/5

Atmosphere: 2/5 

Drink Quality: 2/5

Reliability: 2/5

Expert tip: By Thursday, basically every drink on the right vending machine besides the waters are out of stock. Use cash or coins here if you can. 

PROS: These are easy to access, especially for those who use the studio theater entrance. They’re also right by the bathrooms, so you can take a bathroom trip and vending machine trip all in one. 

CONS: It took me three tries with a card to get the right vending machine to work, and the one on the left didn’t work with a card at all. The drinks don’t come out very cold. There is not a lot of space between the lunch tables and vending machines, so be wary of that. 

Vending Machines by the driver’s ed classes on the stairwell:

Accessibility: 2/5

Atmosphere: 2/5 

Drink Quality: 3/5

Reliability: 4/5

Expert tip: The vending machine on the right will give you the correct drink, so if you want diet sodas, this is the place to go. The lemonade and Powerade will most likely not be low/zero sugar, so be aware of that. 

PROS: Card is pretty reliable here! It usually works on the first try. No one is ever here, so you won’t have to wait in line. 

CONS: For the drinks that aren’t already out of stock (Powerade is a major culprit of this here), it’s very likely you’ll get a full sugar drink despite what it is labeled as.