Healthy Food - Will You Still Go?

[disneyfav4ever]

If Disney does get rid of all junk, and just offers healty food, and I mean gets rid, and/or changes items so they just "aren't right," to everything - Mickey bars, Dole whips, etc, etc. Would you still go to Disney, or as much.

I know that if all of the restaurants end up having pretty much a same basic, generic, menu, that would take a big chunk of fun out of Disney for me, and instead of going up to three times a year, I'd be going about once every few years.

And I wouldn't patronize their restaurants, I'd eat mainly off-site, which I never do.

 

[matt&jakesmom]

We just go once a year anyway. My 9 year is glad that he will be 10 on our next trip because he would not eat anything off the child's menu. In fact I look at a vacation as a vacation and eat things we would normally not eat at home. For instance on our past trip he ate a hotdog at least once a day. That was his treat for vacation plus it was mine as well because I did not hear any complaints.

We are not going again to WDW until next year so we shall see what changes will be made at that time. I hope there will be no changes to the buffets.
Leave those alone.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

My dd and I don't go to WDW to eat - except those Mickey Bars - so the healthy choices will not deter us in any way. My husband, now that's a different story LOL!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

If Disney does get rid of all junk, and just offers healty food, and I mean gets rid, and/or changes items so they just "aren't right," to everything - Mickey bars, Dole whips, etc, etc. Would you still go to Disney, or as much.

The Disney Company does not plan to "get rid of all junk." There is no reason to think that we won't be able to get Mickey Bars, Dole Whips, and other tasty desserts, appetizers, and entrees.

Disney announced healthier food guidelines for its licensed foods. And Disney will eliminate artery-clogging transfat from park and resort food by the end of 2007.

Food producers like hydrogenated oil (transfat) because it has a long shelf life. However, food producers now must identify transfat grams on nutrition labels. Food producers are eliminating hydrogenated oils, or at least reducing levels to less than a half gram per serving, so that the nutrition label can say "0 grams of transfat."

Good ice creams and frozen novelties don't have hydrogenated oils (transfat); they have milk and cream (saturated fat, which is bad, but not as bad as transfat).

Good restaurant meals do not use hydrogenated oil shortening and hydrogenated oil margarine (transfats); they use butter (saturated fat) or vegetable oils that have not been hydrogenated. For example, olive oil is high in healthy monounsaturated fat.

I applaud Disney for their plan to eliminate transfat from park food. There is no reason for any hysteria that Disney will eliminate all tasty foods.

See Disney unveils new food guidelines, to eliminate trans fats at MarketWatch.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

You bet!

Our family started eating off site a couple years ago when (a) it started becoming REALLY difficult to get a decent sit-down meal at WDW without making a reservation months out (a week or two we can handle, but not months out); and (b) when the service and food itself started going downhill.

We still have Jiko we frequent, although I wouldn't eat there again during the free DDP, as things we like were gone during that time. And we rely mainly on CS places -- which I think have actually improved while the TS has not -- during our actual time in the parks.

We also bought a timeshare in Orlando which enables us to easily prepare breakfasts in our room and affords us the opportunity to get around town to try dinners at various Orlando restaurants after a day in the parks.

So, yes, we still hit the parks during the day, spend a fortune on souvies, love the characters, but basically because of several dining issues since, say, 2000, we no longer stay on site, and we do not plan our major vacation dinners there anymore.

And we love it. For years and years, we always stayed on site and never left the property. Because of how we felt about dining, we ventured out of the WDW gates and really had our eyes opened. There's an awful lot of fun to be had in Orlando besides only WDW

 

[laceemouse]

The same article ran in the Dallas paper. It said that parents have the OPTION of choosing healthy meals, but they can still get fries and soda for their kids if they want to. Wendy's and McDonald's are doing the same thing now. I like having a choice. We will probably get veggies and fruits sometimes and fries sometimes just like we do at home. Why is everyone so upset about this?? I am clueless !

 

[bicker]

Overreation, laceemouse -- the Interent is renowned for this sort of thing.

We'd still go. We know that the healthier food, even if that was ALL they'd offer (which it won't be) would be better than what we'd get most anywhere else we can afford to go.

 

[saschab]

I'll still be going, you couldn't beat me off with a stick!

I agree with Horace; Disney's not getting rid of all junk food. It's not all beans sprouts and tofu. That would definately NOT fly! (although I like both )

Which is what confuses me about these kiddie meal threads...There are still unhealthy options to be had...just not the same ones at every one of the restaurants. Folks ask for variety, get it, then are unhappy. I don't get it, so I stay out of those threads!

I indulge in junky, unhealthy choices and I know I'll still find them at Disney. I like finding the healthy choices too. All things in moderation.

 

[thirtycats]

I'll keep going as long as it is delicious healthy food!!

And there are a lot of choices.

I go both ways. I LOVE a lot of healthy foods. Apples (and other fresh fruit) raw veggies, cooked veggies, etc.

I'm totally fine with frozen yogurt instead of ice-cream.

But I can also enjoy a overindulgent big bag of candy or a huge ice-cream sundae.

Here's what I wish for the new and improved Disney Dining

1. More fresh fruit. And organic fresh fruit. And have it wrapped in some way. I always get nervous grabbing an apple that might have been touched by thirty different people.

Plus, they should have the fresh fruit available at more places in the parks...It seems like each park has only one fruit/veggie center.

I think they should offer fruit salads and packs of baby carrots at every snack place.

Although maybe there's just not a demand for it.

2. A children's menu with at least 10 different healthy choices on it.

3. Get rid of trans fat items

4. Smaller portions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not like you can easily take food back to the hotel with you. Maybe they could do more tapas-like menu. Lots of smaller dishes for less money. For those who want to eat light, they can get one or two dishes. For those who want to endulge, they can get more dishes. You pay for the amount you eat.

5. Cook food in healthier ways. I eat cooked vegetables every night. Either steamed or I stir fry with a little bit of vegetable broth or Pam. They taste delicious. There's no reason to use butter or huge amounts of oil.

6. More vegetarian options!!!! Vegetarian does not have to equal boring.

 

[Lisa F]

This sounds like it's typical Disney to me. For all of the smart people who supposedly work there, it seems like the way they make big decisions is to float them in the parks and see how it goes (like eliminating early entry) rather than actually thinking things through.

I read a bunch of the threads about this and it really seems like the big mistake they made is by basically being so blatant about their money saving thing. These meals look like airline kosher meals, they are meant to be prepackaged and delivered to the restaurants to save time and money and make more money for Disney. Instead of being "fun" they feel cheap and they feel constraining. I think that if these meals were offered across the board IN ADDITION to the existing kids menus at restaurants, no one would be complaining... it's the implication that these would be the only choices for kids regardless of restaurant that has people up in arms for the most part. It basically looks like they are trying to serve CS food in TS locations in order to make more money.

Also typical of Disney is fixing it once they've been slapped in the face with the reality of what people think. I wouldn't be surprised if these healthy choices stuck around in some form or another, but they are probably a quick and easy way to grab onto a current PR opportunity rather than going through each restaurant individually and revamping existing menus, requiring chefs to change what they're doing etc.

In either case, what I REALLY don't get is how people who go to disney so darn often can get so bent out of shape about any little thing that goes differently than they think it should go. Okay, so if this trip was a once in a lifetime trip and the whole purpose of this trip was to have a piece of child sized grilled fish at the coral reef I can see the problems... but there are still many choices available such as buffets where your child can choose to eat whatever they want, healthy or not... or ordering from the adult menu, either an appetizer for a main meal or maybe sharing your meal with your child and getting an appetizer or two to supplement. All of this "children watching their parents eat the good stuff" makes me think that disney is tying your children to the chair and force feeding them plain celery while all of the adults dance around naked and gorge themselves on fried chicken and chocolate cake in front of their crying, starving children. If your kid wants chocolate cake, order them a chocolate cake. Heck, my husband and I rarely polish off a SHARED dessert, I'm sure I could share mine with my child!

No one ever promised that Disney would be cheap, but there are still lots of ways to let your kids eat whatever they darn well please even if it's not the cheapest way possible to feed them.

 

[hercamore]

Of course.

We are there for the entertainment, not the resorts or food.

I cannot believe the uproare over this food issue.

herc

 

[Frantasmic]

Since I haven't heard of Chick-Fil-A opening up a Pirates of the Carribbean themed play area and ride, I guess I'll have to continue to go to Disney

 

[saschab]

All of this "children watching their parents eat the good stuff" makes me think that disney is tying your children to the chair and force feeding them plain celery while all of the adults dance around naked and gorge themselves on fried chicken and chocolate cake in front of their crying, starving children.

If your kid wants chocolate cake, order them a chocolate cake. Heck, my husband and I rarely polish off a SHARED dessert, I'm sure I could share mine with my child!

 

[bartleby1]

Well, I definitely couldn't stay away because of the new changes, but it does have me considering offsite for next time. We used to stay offsite every year but the past few years we've been doing more and more nights onsite and have grown to love it. Our past trip was entirely onsite this past summer. However, my kids were not thrilled with the kids meal counter service choices this past summer (they are not into chilled chicken and I can't say I blame them). My DS loves fruit but will not eat applesauce, which came with almost every kids meal. My kids basically lived on chicken nuggets for the whole trip and were quite sick of them by the end of 11 nights there!

My kids eat pretty healthy at home but if they want a hot dog or fries on vacation I let them have it! I do agree that disney should be looking for ways to decrease the trans fat, but they don't need to get totally replace everything either! I also think that disney (as well as most restaurants) should offer more in the way of fruits and veggies as side dishes. However, these need to be CHOICES, not FORCED. And not allowing substitutions is just ridiculous. Not every kid or adult wants the same side dish, veggie, or fruit.

I am strongly considered offsite for next time so my kids can get more variety without me having to pay a fortune for them to order off of the adult menu. My kids are 6, 4, and 2 and would waste most of an adult portion. Sometimes they will agree on the same food so they could share, but often they want different things. I can't afford to buy adult meals for them to throw in the garbage.

Basically, I'm really torn with these new menu options. My kids will not eat most of what is being offered and if disney isn't allowing much in the way of substitutions, it isn't going to go over too big with my kids. If they want to do something healthy, why not go with a list of choices from each food group and kids can pick one thing from each category? Let them pick a veggie, pick a fruit, pick a main course, pick a dairy, etc. instead of forcing them to pick a predetermined, set meal.

I really think disney is really blowing it on this one. They had an ingenious plan worked out to get everyone to stay a longer length of time (cheap to add extra ticket days) and to keep everyone onsite (providing magical express to and from the airport so people don't rent cars and go offsite). Now, they are risking losing these guests to offsite restaurants. Let's face it, food at disney is not cheap, and if my kids aren't going to enjoy eating there we might as well go somewhere cheaper that they will enjoy. We drive down so we will have a car so going offsite to eat really isn't that big of a problem for us.

Now, if they offer free dining again for next August, somehow we will just have to make it work, lol!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

There are two different topics going on in this thread.

There's the topic of Disney restaurants providing healthier meals by eliminating transfat. Even french fries do not need to be fried in hydrogenated shortening (transfat), so this doesn't mean the end of french fires or fried seafood. Beyond that, I hope the Disney's chefs will make a real effort to develop and identify healthy options. As I noted earlier in this thread, that doesn't mean an end to tasty appetizers, entrees, desserts, and snacks.

Then there's the topic of children's menus. Providing healthier options is a good thing. Standardizing the children's menus across restaurants is a bad thing. Even most kids don't want the same limited choices day after day.

 

[Laura]

Even IF they did get rid of all the junk food, I'd still go. I have better restaurants here at home that are cheaper and more diverse. I don't go to WDW for the food.

 

[lovethattink]

Here's what I found today.


Published Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Obesity Wars: Advantage, Disney


The folks looking to make snack foods a little healthier for kids have just picked up a well-known - and powerful - marketing ally: Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Sparrow, of "Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man's Chest" fame, is part of the Walt Disney Company's collection of characters. Those characters are sought-after marketing tools by other companies.

Disney officials announced Monday that any food products that use its company-branded characters must follow guidelines placing limits on caloric, sugar and fat content.

Disney said it will eliminate trans fats (which have been linked to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses) from food served at its parks by the end of 2007, and from licensed and promotional products by the end of 2008.

Total fat will not exceed 30 percent in main and side dishes, 35 percent in snacks.

Federal Communications Commission member Deborah Taylor Tate, who serves on an FCC task force on childhood obesity, marketing and the media, said Disney's announcement was "a great day for American families.

"As an FCC commissioner and parent, I am pleased that Disney is demonstrating its commitment to being a part of the solution to the epidemic of obesity in America, especially as it relates to our most precious resource - our children."

Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, noted that given Disney's high visibility among families with children, "it is welcome news that the company is setting sound nutritional guidelines for the food products it helps market with its kid-friendly characters."

Wootan went on to point out that parents have enough problems getting children to eat healthy "without having cartoon characters pulling the rug out from under them. Disney's new practices put it in a much more family friendly position than its competitors, notably Nickelodeon, whose programming is filled with junk food ads and whose characters grace all kinds of junk food packaging."

Having said that, Wootan left Nickelodeon and its flagship character with a parting shot: Disney's actions "put Mickey Mouse head, shoulders and ears above SpongeBob SquarePants."

SpongeBob got a swift kick in the SquarePants about a year ago from the Institute of Medicine, which found that food marketing strongly influences what children eat. Overwhelmingly, the food aimed at kids was found to be high in calories and sugar, but low in nutritional value.

The growth in that industry has been tremendous, swelling from 52 products in 1994 to nearly 500 items in 2004. And while SpongeBob SquarePants has played up the value of spinach and carrots in Nickelodeon programming, he's also been found endorsing Pop Tarts, Pez and other products.

In Nickelodeon's defense, it should be noted that last year, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which is a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, joined with Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" campaign to fight childhood obesity.

And about three months ago, Nickelodeon announced it was partnering with several food companies to use Nick characters to help market child-friendly fruit and vegetable products.

Critics point out that Nickelodeon characters have long been associated with sugary cereals and candy. Nickelodeon said it is providing parents and children with alternatives.

The Institute of Medicine issued a report in September that showed childhood and adolescent obesity rates are increasing. The institute said one-third of American children and youth are obese or at risk of becoming obese.

The obesity rate for children and youths increased from 16 percent in 2002 to 17.1 percent in 2004 and will reach 20 percent by 2010 if that path continues.

Jeffery Koplan, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the good news was "Americans have begun to recognize that childhood obesity is a serious public health problem, and initiatives to address it are under way."

And when Capt. Jack Sparrow talks to kids about good eats, they'll listen.

 

[fromscratchmom]

To answer the question that the OP posed: I haven't been to Disney in many years and in that time, I saw a lot of good marketing aimed at convincing me that the food choices at Disney were getting better every year. I have been influenced by that and chose to book my vacation on property with the Dining Plan. I still can't wait to take my kids to WDW, but if we run into a situation in the table service restaurants where they want my daughters to eat off of a kids menu and it is basically prepackaged "healthy" food that isn't even made in that restaurant's kitchen (and if especially if it is what the info on all these threads make it look like--low-fat schlock with too much sugar added), it will effect any future decisions we make and what we recommend to others. I hope that in the future we will be able to go back to Disney again, but I would be much more likely to stay and eat off property unless they are able to offer my kids meals that meet my standards.

When I cook at home, even if I'm making a more expensive meal, I make good whole food dinners for my kids the same as I make for my husband and any other adults that will be with us. It has always been kind of a pet peeve of mine that there is so much food marketed to kids that is substandard quality and you sometimes see adults eating first rate dinners while giving their kids high-sugar processed foods that cost less. Mainly because it reminds me of a specific situation when some butinsky accused my dad of showing off, just because he bought me a good steak at a restaurant when I was still fairly small. Well, that is exactly what that person was eating; she just thought that kids should be given the inferior quality foods that cost less. So when we eat out I ask my kids what they want and if what they want is something off of the kids menu, that is OK; it is only a rare night out after all. But if what they want is the good food then that is what I buy for them. My son has now grown to love lobster and shrimp and lots of other foods that he wouldn't eat when he was younger. And I hope that my daughters will continue to develop a taste for good food too. I wouldn't purposefully plan to feed them prepackaged lesser quality food for three meals a day for our entire 6 day/7 night trip. I was only coping with giving them counter service once a day for the whole trip because it is a rare type of vacation that we are taking.

 

[ADP]

A big part of some people's vacations is the food they enjoy while on that vacation. If you frequent Disney World then I can understand why it would bother some of you. There are others on these boards who don't look at food the same way while on vacation. Food is not one of the main attractions. It's really not that big of an issue for them.

I believe we are seeing this basic difference between people on all of these kids menu change threads.

As other posters have already noted, if my child wants fries with there meal and I feel they should have them, then I'm going to order them for her. Disney is not saying your child will no longer be able to enjoy these foods. They just won't be the standard choice, you will have to request them.

 

[DisneyPhD]

The last 2 trips to WDW were pretty much dessert and fun food free for me. It was because of my DD who is (was ) allergic to milk and eggs and as her breast feeding mama they were off limits to me too.

This really eliminates most baked goods, desserts, and fun foods. Butter is in so much. Disney was good about it (soy ice cream, special prepared foods at sit down places and ingredient list at non table service places.) However it was lacking in all the food I consider Disney fun.

This next trip (Jan 2007) we should be able to be more relaxed about it (recent allergy test show she has outgrown the egg, and the milk is almost gone.) So yes we plan to have a little fun with food.

But yes, Disney is still great with out all the fun food. Still it is part of it.

So the question is would you go to Disney if you couldn't eat the food you love? Yes I did 2 times. I also went pregnant so I couldn't ride some rides I love too. I just like being there to be honest.

Now should Disney adjust this new menu to include more kid friendly meals as options, and maybe more older kids portions? YES! Maybe more fresh fruit sides. The new meals so seem rather toddler meal sized.