Disney to eliminate plastic straws, hotel in-room plastics and plastic shopping bags

[EveDallas]

Now that Disney has done it you don't think Universal will?

Did Universal follow Disney's lead on treating everyone like a suspected criminal and checking their rooms every day? Nope. And I don't think they will here either. Not that it matters because Universal sells awesome refillable mugs in their parks.

 

[Jennasis]

Couple of things, I have always been told that straws are a primarily American thing. Can those on the other side of the pond weigh on straw use on your country? I was told ice in drinks is also an American thing and that's why we like our straws. Again, anyone over seas have any insight?

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

 

[2China2009]

We are headed back to the mouse next summer. Glad to know this. We always bring a bag full of food and snacks. I will add straws to my list. We have some cute Disney bags that we will bring to pack our gifts in.

 

[EveDallas]

Couple of things, I have always been told that straws are a primarily American thing. Can those on the other side of the pond weigh on straw use on your country? I was told ice in drinks is also an American thing and that's why we like our straws. Again, anyone over seas have any insight?

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

Well, when I'm at home I don't worry about things flying into my drink. When I'm out and about, I don't carry open cups around.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Couple of things, I have always been told that straws are a primarily American thing. Can those on the other side of the pond weigh on straw use on your country? I was told ice in drinks is also an American thing and that's why we like our straws. Again, anyone over seas have any insight?

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

In my experience, fast good chains like Burger King, Subway, etc all have Straws in Europe.
The only table service places I've been given or offered a straw over here are American style diners.
We go to a lot of theme parks. DLP does straws. So did Movie Park in Germany. I don't think any of the others do.

It's hard to get ice in much of Europe . Spain is great about it now. Germany, if I ask for a llo of ice at McDonald's I usually get six little cubes instead of three. Sigh. Subways and KFCs don't even have ice at all. Same for France. Other places I don't do enough road trips to end up at fast good chains to know if they have straws or ice.

So basically, any place to eat which is heavily associated with America provides straws but may or may not even have ice available.


Editing to add, on a semi related note, there is a large mall we go to occasionally . They have a pretty big food court including McDs, Subway, KFC and about ten other smaller or local places. The three big chains serve in and on disposable stuff . All the others have real, reusable flatware, glasses, plates, etc

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Did Universal follow Disney's lead on treating everyone like a suspected criminal and checking their rooms every day? Nope. And I don't think they will here either. Not that it matters because Universal sells awesome refillable mugs in their parks.

Just because they have not yet does not mean they never will.
Universal and other theme parks tend to follow Disney's lead. Just like whe Disney sees something happening elsewhere they follow others lead.

 

[powellrj]

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

I must have a straw at home too. I can’t hold most cups because I lack upper body strength, so I have to keep the glass on the table and lean into the straw. Not pretty, but it works. I can hold small cups like the water cups so I don’t need a straw then, but for larger cups I need one.

 

[Minniefan2296]

Couple of things, I have always been told that straws are a primarily American thing. Can those on the other side of the pond weigh on straw use on your country? I was told ice in drinks is also an American thing and that's why we like our straws. Again, anyone over seas have any insight?

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

I use a hard plastic straw every single day at home in my starbucks disney tumbler.

 

[brockash]

Any dentist will also tell you that drinking water INSTEAD of soda or juice is better for your teeth. And, when you do, you can drink it any old way you want, and it makes no difference. Plus, again, they sell reusable straws on Amazon and in your local Target store (and probably others). Bring all you want.

What was the point of your post? This thread is about lids/straws, not the healthiest drink for you. The pp you quoted pointed out a positive reason to use a straw....they were not trying to persuade ppl. to drink sugary or acidic beverages, just that for when ppl. do there's a pro to using a straw. I don't understand the point of wasting time/space on a thread to promote your thoughts on what ppl. should be drinking....so odd.

 

[EveDallas]

Just because they have not yet does not mean they never will.
Universal and other theme parks tend to follow Disney's lead. Just like whe Disney sees something happening elsewhere they follow others lead.

If they follow Disney's example of affording people no expectation of privacy while on vacation, I'll vote with my money and vacation elsewhere. But I don't think it will happen. Not every park wants to be Disney.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Couple of things, I have always been told that straws are a primarily American thing. Can those on the other side of the pond weigh on straw use on your country? I was told ice in drinks is also an American thing and that's why we like our straws. Again, anyone over seas have any insight?

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

I did not get a straw in Europe but yeah there's no ice to worry about.
No I don't use a straw at home because I don't drink cold things at home other than milk and generally that's not too cold.
I get water from the tap at what is basically room temp.
I keep my soda in the basement which is about 62 so far from being as cold as it would be out of a machine.
If my request for no ice was ever granted I would rarely use a straw out but *sigh* it never is granted so the use of a straw is necessary for me.
If there are no alternative straws provided I will insist on a new cup without ice.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

If they follow Disney's example of affording people no expectation of privacy while on vacation, I'll vote with my money and vacation elsewhere. But I don't think it will happen. Not every park wants to be Disney.

I've devised a way to make sure they won't walk in on me more than once.... If/when they come banging on my door I'll open it nude. Being completely serious.

 

[lifesavacation]

Some on this thread are making a very good case why we in 1st world countries need to curb our consumption of plastics to help our planet.

Take a step back and read some of the selfish complaints over plastic bags and straws!

It's amazing what items you can put in your pockets to avoid bag check-reusable bags fold very small and fit in your hand. There are lanyards for reusable bottles with built in straws.

No kidding. It all sounds so entitled.

 

[Colleen27]

And second...show of hands...how many of you "must have straws" folks use them at home? I use straws all the time at restaurants but never at home. Fountain drinks only (never with water). Odd. If I can survive at home without a straw I will survive at Disney without one (or I'll bring my own).

I do if I'm drinking soda or iced tea or anything else that has ice in it. My husband and two of my three kids do as well (the other seldom drinks anything with ice). That's not as often as we use them while out because at home we're more likely to drink milk/juice/beer/wine than we are when we're out and I don't usually ice our tap water because it is cold coming into the house, but we use them often enough that I have a set of dishwasher safe metal straws for home use as well as a refillable travel mug that goes everywhere with me that has a reusable hard plastic straw.

 

[Wendy31]

I do think we, as consumers, use way too much plastic, & we need to be more aware of what plastic is doing to our oceans & try to be more resourceful by reducing & reusing.

I'm sitting here, &, on my bedside table, - just from today - is my YETI cup w/ water (no straw), an iced tea in a styrofoam cup w/ a plastic straw from a local restaurant where we went to lunch, AND a plastic water bottle in which I mixed a powdered energy drink.

Of my 3 current drinks, only the YETI cup is reusable.

Earlier this morning, I had a protein shake for breakfast & used another plastic straw.

I can do much better.

However, I feel like, in some ways, Disney is jumping on the "ban plastics" bandwagon as just another way to improved their bottom dollar & not really out of a desire to be more environmentally conscious.

If it were truly a concern, they'd find an alternative to the millions of plastic water & soda bottles they sell daily.

Think how much $$$ they'll save by not purchasing plastic straws (& lids?), by not providing logo-ed plastic bags for the hundreds of purchases made across Disney parks & stores, & by not providing sets of individual toiletries for their thousands of resort rooms. (And, by asking guests to purchase reusable bags, they're passing even more of their costs on to their guests.)

If being more environmentally conscious would cost them more $$$, they wouldn't make the changes.

 

[AustinTink]

However, I feel like, in some ways, Disney is jumping on the "ban plastics" bandwagon as just another way to improved their bottom dollar & not really out of a desire to be more environmentally conscious.

If it were truly a concern, they'd find an alternative to the millions of plastic water & soda bottles they sell daily.

Think how much $$$ they'll save by not purchasing plastic straws (& lids?), by not providing logo-ed plastic bags for the hundreds of purchases made across Disney parks & stores, & by not providing sets of individual toiletries for their thousands of resort rooms. (And, by asking guests to purchase reusable bags, they're passing even more of their costs on to their guests.)

If being more environmentally conscious would cost them more $$$, they wouldn't make the changes.

That's what is boils down to.

 

[Colleen27]

Some on this thread are making a very good case why we in 1st world countries need to curb our consumption of plastics to help our planet.

Take a step back and read some of the selfish complaints over plastic bags and straws!

It's amazing what items you can put in your pockets to avoid bag check-reusable bags fold very small and fit in your hand. There are lanyards for reusable bottles with built in straws.

I don't think anyone is suggesting we shouldn't curb our use of plastics. But it is interesting how quickly plastic straws have become The. Defining. Question. over reducing that consumption and a sort of eco-moral litmus test all rolled into one.

There are a MILLION places Disney could reduce plastics without impacting the guest experience. But they're not going to because there would be less profit (stop selling bottled beverages) or additional cost (move to reusable plates and silverware in QS locations). And that's viewed as understandable. But individual comfort and enjoyment - being able to enjoy an ice-cold drink on a hot FL day, not lugging gear around the theme parks as though you're hiking in the wilderness - is selfish and entitled and a sign that a person just doesn't care about the environment at all, without knowing what they do or don't do in their day-to-day lives to reduce their personal plastic consumption.

 

[EveDallas]

I don't think anyone is suggesting we shouldn't curb our use of plastics. But it is interesting how quickly plastic straws have become The. Defining. Question. over reducing that consumption and a sort of eco-moral litmus test all rolled into one.

There are a MILLION places Disney could reduce plastics without impacting the guest experience. But they're not going to because there would be less profit (stop selling bottled beverages) or additional cost (move to reusable plates and silverware in QS locations). And that's viewed as understandable. But individual comfort and enjoyment - being able to enjoy an ice-cold drink on a hot FL day, not lugging gear around the theme parks as though you're hiking in the wilderness - is selfish and entitled and a sign that a person just doesn't care about the environment at all, without knowing what they do or don't do in their day-to-day lives to reduce their personal plastic consumption.

Exactly. They aren't going to do anything that will touch their profits. They're just getting rid of things that cost them money and pretending to be "environmentally aware" at the same time.

BTW - totally off topic, but you're the only other person I've ever "met" named Colleen.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's reasonable to expect the styrofoam cups will be replaced by glasses.

It's reasonable to expect the in-room drinking vessels will be paper/cardoard, much more so than glass.

Yes I'd be one of those that opted for a bottle of coke over a cup of it with no straw/lide.
Can you imagine how sticky the floors will be from soda sloshing?
Also with no straw I want no ice and every time I ask for no ice now I always end up with it so if I were to ask for no ice with no straws and got ice I'd be wasting the drink

When you opt for a bottle instead of a cup, it's extremely unlikely that you need to worry about ice in your drink. Do you ever buy a bottle of soda anywhere that the server or vendor hand-inserted ice cubes small enough to fit the narrow neck opening?

Like I've said in previous posts I'm not opposed to change but they did not say a replacement was coming as far as the straws go.

The "straw hysteria" article from the Sentinel stated that Universal and Sea World have already eliminated plastic straws. What are they using now? Nothing?

Nah, I'll just spend my money at Universal. Where I can not only get a straw, but an actual Do Not Disturb sign for my room.

Okay. Bye.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Here is an interesting article to read about plastic. https://www.dailywire.com/news/33611/walsh-walsh-america-responsible-almost-none-matt-walsh