Gripe - Food in the Parks

[apostolic4life]

do the right thing. if you want to save money and bring your lunch into the parks, good for you. just exercise common sense where you eat it. don't take the 'I'll do what I want' attitude.

I agree with what you have stated in most of your post, but by trying to apply a rule that WDW does not even have in place is also an "attitude". As DMRick has been saying, we all have opinions, but if WDW does not support our opinions that is all we have (opinions that is), we should just agree to disagree and remain civil and respectful.By the way, I do agree it would be more courtious for people not eating to get up for some who is looking for a seat so they could eat, but if these people were eating on a bench or table elswhere in the park the next thread would read "Why don't people eat their food in designated eating areas instead of public resting areas"

 

[jaysue]

We sometimes supplement the CS offerings with our own food as well

Due to food sensitivities and dietary issues we have to take our own food as well as order some CS offerings

Does that make us bad?

cheers
jaysue

 

[apostolic4life]

Ummm, maybe you should read the whole thread. I posted early on that I agreed there should be some place for people to eat outside food. It would be nice, but what I have read seems to be that Disney does not really want you to bring food in,and is in fact just turning the other cheek to keep some guests happy. So in their view they should not have a place for people to eat outside food, lest they encourage it. They are not ripping your loaf of bread from your hands, but they really don't want you to have it either. And I highly doubt they factored in people eating outside food when they decided how many seats to place in their dining establishments. So in fact they have left people bringing in coolers high and dry as to a place to sit. Maybe that should be part of the decision making process when you decide to bring your own food or not. I still would never dream of going in to a restaurant and spreading my brought in food out. But this is yet another thing that we will all never agree on and just have to deal with. It would be so much easier if Disney actually enforced their own policies, wouldn't it?

What policy?? I believe we have established on this thread the non-exsistance of a policy and that is what seems to be fueling the flames of this thread. Again, it seems we all have on iron clad opinion except for WDW; who seems to have no "official" opinion.

 

[C.Ann]

If you had read the whole thread you would see that I had commented that it would be nice to have a place for people to eat their own food.

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Which part of I have read the whole thread is it that you don't understand?

 

[apostolic4life]

You are still purchasing food on property and should have a place to sit and eat. I think the bigger gripe is over people who don't want to pay Disney prices for food so they pack their own, yet feel entitled to a seat in a restaurant where others are paying for food but have no place to sit and enjoy their meal.

As I stated much much earlier in this thread, what if they have purchased all their "picnic" items from the small stores located in the many WDW resorts. You can purchase enough items to make a complete picnic lunch at many of the stores; are they or are they not entitled to seating since they have "purchased" food from Disney??

 

[C.Ann]

However, it would be interesting if we were to write Disney and ask them where to eat our brought in food. I wonder what they would say???

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Great idea! Why don't you do that - considering how stressed out you appear to be over where people are eating?

That way you would have something to validate your opinion..

Oh - and I'm still "keeping up" and reading all of the posts as time permits.. Wouldn't want you to keep insisting that I "haven't read the entire thread.." Today I picked up right where I left off last night, so I don't believe I have missed anything "new"..

 

[C.Ann]

C.Ann--you were not the one I was speaking of when I said someone had not read my first post on this thread. No reason to mock me.

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Me? Mock you? I believe you were the one that first made mention of "ummm..reading the whole thread" and then inserted your little rolleyes..

So basically what you're saying is that you were mocking everyone and assuming no one but you had read the entire thread?

That's an interesting line of thought...

When I post on a thread that I have not read right from the beginning, I make that statement perfectly clear before I voice my opinion.. Maybe that's not the way you respind to threads - or the way you assume everyone else responds to threads - but that is the way I respond to threads..

 

[C.Ann]

Why? Maybe they (Disney) don't mind people eating inside the park. I really think this thread has blown out of proportion the amount of people who bring in full meals, from the thousands who buy inside the gates. I see a problem with the amount of food they sell versus the amount of seating for the counter service places..even without the "outside" people in the mix. That's where Disney ought to add tables.

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You hit the nail right on the head.. There is not adequate seating - even if no one brought ANY type of food and/or beverage into the parks from this day forward..

 

[skiwee1]

But Disney says I do........(well, they certainly allow it)

Not exactly. I saw a family complain to a CM at Pecos Bills last year about those sitting at the tables but not buying the food. A CM actually went up to another family that was eating out of a stand up backpack and told them they were not allowed to sit at a table unless they were buying something there. The father figure got up in a huff and went and bought a couple of drinks. The CM then went around to other tables and told folks and I saw some leave. So CMs do care. You just have to complain. I won't think twice about complaining if I need a table to eat my CS meal when they are being taken up by non buyers.

 

[Debbie]

You just have to complain

Can't be bothered. Yes, I've seen my eyebrows rise, but, complain? Got too much to do, and too little time to do it in.

The CM then went around to other tables and told folks and I saw some leave.

That's a lot of people that are eating their brought in food in one place. I've actually only seen it once or twice, and they certainly weren't all at the same restaurant area. I guess that I've been lucky in this.

Pool police. Mug police. Table police. Nope, too much fun at Disney for all this worrying about others doing the wrong thing. Like I said....

Mom to teens, so I can't get nothing right! (sic)

Have a magical day!

 

[C.Ann]

That's a lot of people that are eating their brought in food in one place. I've actually only seen it once or twice, and they certainly weren't all at the same restaurant area. I guess that I've been lucky in this.

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I think the numbers of people being accused of all kinds of "misconduct" on this thread and others has been grossly inflated.. If it were as bad as some people would have you believe, everyone would be standing up to eat.. (Well - maybe not the hundreds of people who drag HUGE coolers into the parks on a daily basis.. They could just plop them in the middle of Main Street and use them to sit on.. )

 

[skiwee1]

Can't be bothered. Yes, I've seen my eyebrows rise, but, complain? Got too much to do, and too little time to do it in.

That's a lot of people that are eating their brought in food in one place. I've actually only seen it once or twice, and they certainly weren't all at the same restaurant area. I guess that I've been lucky in this.

Pool police. Mug police. Table police. Nope, too much fun at Disney for all this worrying about others doing the wrong thing. Like I said....

Mom to teens, so I can't get nothing right! (sic)

Have a magical day!

I don't know about a lot of people at once but he went to 3 other tables in our immediete area. Does it happen all the time? I have no idea. We generally avoid CS at all costs because of the food and the crowds. We'd rather avoid all that and just eat at a nice sit down.

 

[C.Ann]

Maybe this would be an even better solution to the problem.. Do away with all of the food establishments and then everyone has to leave the parks to eat and seating will no longer be an issue..

Come on folks! Unless you're there on the busiest day of the entire year, I don't believe it is anywhere near the magnitude that people are professing it to be on this thread.. Were each of you who are complaining in WDW in the exact same park on the exact same day? If not, you could be talking about no more than a handful of encounters over the course of an entire year!!

Even giving you the possibility that this is a daily occurence of a significant magnitude, you still haven't suggested where these people should eat if not at the outdoor tables..

(A) The park bench that your 80 year old grandmother needs to rest on?

(B) The curb - while waiting for the parade?

(C) The curb that you want to rest on because all of the benches are being used by people eating their food they brought in from the outside?

(D) On the sidewalk on Main Street where they can disrupt the flow of foot traffic?

(E) On the grass - which Disney prefers you not sit, walk or trample on?

(F) Any show that isn't posted "no food or drinks permitted"?

(G) Standing next to you in line waiting to get on a ride?

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If any one of these places were used you can be sure a whole lot of "someones" would be right back here on the boards pitching a fit about it..

It's a no win situation until Disney decides to address it themselves by either officially banning ouside food and enforcing it - or - they provide more adequate table arrangements for everyone involved..

 

[DMRick]

It's a no win situation until Disney decides to address it themselves by either officially banning ouside food and enforcing it - or - they provide more adequate table arrangements for everyone involved..

And the one nice area they had, to the right of the dole whips, they pulled all the tables out. So lets, see..they allow food, but pulled out the only tables I knew of not outside a counter service establishment. Yep, I can tell they don't want to send people over to counter areas to eat.

 

[C.Ann]

And the one nice area they had, to the right of the dole whips, they pulled all the tables out. So lets, see..they allow food, but pulled out the only tables I knew of not outside a counter service establishment. Yep, I can tell they don't want to send people over to counter areas to eat.

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Wait a little while.. Invariably someone will come along here and post that it's Disney's "subtle" way of discouraging people from bringing food into the parks..
LOL

Still waiting for someone to respond to where they prefer these people eat..

 

[Sylvester McBean]

Can't everybody just be grateful that they are alive, healthy, and in WDW than yelling on a chat board that they had to wait a few extra minutes for a table. Your life must be pretty great if that is what gets you angry.

my life is pretty great and I'm not angry. I'd just like to able to roll a cooler full of Miller Lite into MGM during football season and watch the Bucs game between TOT rides at a table. what's the difference between that and a family packing in Subway sandwiches and grabbing a table?

 

[PrincessLindy]

Someone mentioned that maybe they could eat at off peak times. I think that is a good idea. I have brought snacks into the park and if we were hot or tired we have sat in the corner of a CS. It was always at off peak times. I would never take a table in a crowded CS.

Last time we went we had a small soft side cooler in the stroller. We had to take it out for the bag inspectors. Once a guard grabbed the cookies and said with a straight face that he had to take those. He laughed at my shocked face and said that Chocolate Chip was his favorite. I wonder how many times a day he did that joke.

 

[DMRick]

Not much, except the security offices will snag your booze. I don't believe Disney allows alcohol at any park except Epcot, and even there they don't let you tote in your own..because it's alcohol. Now, if you want to fill that cooler with water, you might not have a problem. I personally don't see these rolling coolers all over the park, so I have non idea on their policy on those. I think I've seen one, in all my 31 trips. (And I only know that because one time coming into Epcot, they kept a six pack from the bottom of a stroller. Told them they could return it to their car, or throw it out. They tossed it).

my life is pretty great and I'm not angry. I'd just like to able to roll a cooler full of Miller Lite into MGM during football season and watch the Bucs game between TOT rides at a table. what's the difference between that and a family packing in Subway sandwiches and grabbing a table?

 

[pampam]

wasn't there picnic tables at the TTC so people could eat what they brought from home there??? most guidebooks say enjoy a picnic lunch there or did they get rid of the tables lately????

Yes the tables at the TTC by the lynx bus stop are still there. I believe there are only 2, and I have yet to see anyone have a picnic at them. but then, I can't imagine anyone leaving MK, getting a monorail or ferry boat and going to the tables to eat a pb sandwich and then going back to the MK. I've never seen any other picnic spots. Are there tables outside MGM, AK, and Epcot?

 

[lillygator]

did anyone else get a response?
Here is my full email, with my last name and work info deleted off...
Dear Vanessa,

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World Resort.

We would also like to mention that as an exception to our standard policy, guests who have specific
food allergies are welcome to bring their own small snack items with them into the theme parks.
However, picnic baskets, ice chests, and coolers are not permitted.

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.

Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if applicable on all
correspondence.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Peggy Bishop

WDW Online Communications

PLEASE NOTE: All information is subject to change without notice and should be confirmed just prior
to your visit.



Original Message Follows:
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Hello,
I was wondering if WDW has a written policy on bringing food, drinks and
coolers into the theme parks...so far no one has responded to my question.

Please let me know.

Thanks!
Thank you,

Vanessa
Memorial Healthcare System
Corporate Finance