Metal Tray "Environmentally Friendly Initiative" @ All-Star Music And All-Star Movies

[buzznina]

If true, I have no problem if the tray is disposable, but if it is served on a tray metal or plastic (like the BBQ picture) where the food is actually touching the tray, and by being washed between customers = just wiping it down with a towel. No thanks!.
Well, I guess I will always tell them it's to go

 

[Dug720]

I wonder if this will work out for Disney in the long run? Sure, those of us who stay on site can ship our purchases back to the resort. But what about the many, many people who don't stay on site? Most people pack lite when going to the parks. I myself leave my giant purse at home and only bring a very small crossbody to the parks. Who is going to want to carry a bunch of loose items around a theme park? Or buy bags to carry it all when they are already paying premium theme park prices for those items? How many people are going to say, "Forget this!" and leave their potential purchase on the counter?

Even with the Disney Stores, now I know to bring reusable bags but I guarantee I will forget to bring them. And who wants to carry a bunch of loose items around the mall or buy bags to carry their purchases? Not me. It's one thing to use reusable bags at the grocery store, a place people go on a regular basis and usually have a routine down. People don't usually go to the Disney Store in the mall and certainly not shops in the theme parks enough that they are going to remember or want to carry empty reusable bags around with them when they go.

Even if you're staying off property, you can have your packages shipped to the front of the park. So you would not have to "carry a bunch of loose items".

The cost of the bags is not ridiculous (I believe up to $2.00 for the largest - at the Disney Store in Times Square, at least prior to this move, reusable bags were always offered as an option...but they were $5.00 or more) - if you don't want to do ship to the front of the park and know you're going to be getting more stuff, get the largest size and put new purchases in there. Or I suspect that there will be more people who do what my family has always done since I was a child - look at options all day, and buy as we're leaving.

 

[Dug720]

If true, I have no problem if the tray is disposable, but if it is served on a tray metal or plastic (like the BBQ picture) where the food is actually touching the tray, and by being washed between customers = just wiping it down with a towel. No thanks!.
Well, I guess I will always tell them it's to go

Again, have we had VISUAL AND VERBALLY CONFIRMED PROOF that they are not washing them? Until then, that line of thinking is fear-mongering.

 

[Farro]

If true, I have no problem if the tray is disposable, but if it is served on a tray metal or plastic (like the BBQ picture) where the food is actually touching the tray, and by being washed between customers = just wiping it down with a towel. No thanks!.
Well, I guess I will always tell them it's to go

Why do you think this would be different than washing plates?

 

[Dug720]

Why do you think this would be different than washing plates?

Because someone early on ASSUMED that they would just wipe them off, and many just jumped to the conclusion that that was fact and what was happening. To my knowledge no one has any visual and verbal confirmation from management that they are not being washed but only wiped.

 

[angelmav]

Why do you think this would be different than washing plates?

They could, you know, offer actual plates....that being the case.

 

[Farro]

They could, you know, offer actual plates....that being the case.

Well, they aren't apparently. Still doesn't mean they won't wash the trays.

 

[buzznina]

Why do you think this would be different than washing plates?

Saw this back years ago on either 20/20 or 60 minutes show. This part of the show followed a lab tech around an amusement park and also his hotel. He swabbed rides, lap bars, line rails, tables, food trays, TV remote, toilet, drawers etc. Out of all those, the highest amount of bacteria was found on the food trays. They said since the trays were plastic (like the BBQ pic that I was referencing) and had a pattern and were not totally smooth that when you put them in the dishwasher the bacteria stayed in the nicks or grooves and was much harder to kill. Where as plates normally have a glass like coating that makes it much easier to eliminate the bacteria. The one that really surprised me was the top of the pepper shaker and the bacteria found there. This show has stuck with me ever since. If you remember yearsssss ago, a lot of places had fiberglass(?) trays with a very smooth surface, especially hospitals, which made them easier to clean. The big problem was that once you put plates and stuff on them everything slid around, like it was on ice.
Of course, does it really matter, because I have watched CM's clean the tables and well.... at least they use paper towels now, which helps.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Many of the burger places in my area serve on these trays. I've never once given it a 2nd thought.

My goodness this is up there with the dog resort threads.

 

[jo-jo]

Many of the burger places in my area serve on these trays. I've never once given it a 2nd thought.

My goodness this is up there with the dog resort threads.

I think what is annoying people is at disney you are paying $15- $20 for that hamburger. Sure at home, BK burger and fries, eat off the wrapper that the burger came wrapped up with . Cost $5. For the extra $10, I'd like a plate.

How do you manage getting a drink and getting the whole thing to a table? I haven't been to disney in almost a year, but I believe there are no more lids on drinks? Are you splashing soda on the tray with your food?

 

[SaintsManiac]

I think what is annoying people is at disney you are paying $15- $20 for that hamburger. Sure at home, BK burger and fries, eat off the wrapper that the burger came wrapped up with . Cost $5. For the extra $10, I'd like a plate.

How do you manage getting a drink and getting the whole thing to a table? I haven't been to disney in almost a year, but I believe there are no more lids on drinks? Are you splashing soda on the tray with your food?

I'm not talking about Burger King. I'm talking about the majority of burger and sandwich restaurants.

There were plenty of lids when I was there in September. Not sure how it is today.

 

[angelmav]

I'm not talking about Burger King. I'm talking about the majority of burger and sandwich restaurants.

There were plenty of lids when I was there in September. Not sure how it is today.

None of those places exist out here, and we have some pretty sketchy places. But even the hipster dives use plates, even if they don't match. Didn't realize I was in the middle of the last bastion of civilization.

 

[FCDub]

How do you manage getting a drink and getting the whole thing to a table?

What difference does that make with plates vs. no plates on a tray?

 

[Disneylover99]

What difference does that make with plates vs. no plates on a tray?

If your lidless drink splashes on your tray, the liquid will roll around and make your burger etc... wet.
If the burger is on a plate, there is less chance of that happening.

 

[jo-jo]

What difference does that make with plates vs. no plates on a tray?

If you get your food on a sheet of paper, then go to get a cup of soda , do you place the soda on the sheet of paper along with your food? If you get bumped a bit, do you now slosh soda onto the paper that has your french fries 3 inches away?

Or do you get your plate/tray of food which then goes on top another tray? And then your soda is on bigger tray.

 

[QueenElinor]

The term 'environmentally-friendly' is often thrown around too much, and yields dubious practices that appear to look good to the greenies, yet is tantamount to greenwashing. 90% of the time, they're not often backed up with an ecolabel and/or other certification such as ISO 14000, and often smells of bottom-lining. With their solar farm often praised, Disney could easily use that to power their dishwashers and also use soap that's also truly environmentally-friendly, backed up with proof, of course.

Absolutely. And the equation of whether it is more environmentally responsible to choose water use over landfill will vary across the country. If they were doing this in Disneyland- a place that has has severe water shortages at times- I could see choosing paper liners over plates. But this is Florida, drill down a few feet and there it is.

I noticed. Impossible to cut on without cutting the paper. I've noticed more and more places doing this and I can't stand it. The food always get cold real fast too!

That's the first thing I thought about this tray thing! Cold food, which happens often enough as it is. I haven't seen food served this way, I live in MT. It's a constant battle to serve food warm, even at home. I always have the oven on to heat the plates, and a Cuisinart warming tray on which to set serving pieces. My next house will have a warming drawer.

I am pretty much obsessed with not eating cold food, unless it's supposed to be that way!

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

My biggest problem is that plateless trays makes it impossible to order food for more than 1 person.

I often have my wife sit with little kid (who is tired), while older kids and I get food for all. Which means 2-3 plates per tray.

Now whole family needs to get online? And even then, it’ll be hard to carry food for little ones, who can’t carry their own tray. Putting their plate on your tray is easy. Carrying an extra tray is much harder.

 

[maxiesmom]

My biggest problem is that plateless trays makes it impossible to order food for more than 1 person.

I often have my wife sit with little kid (who is tired), while older kids and I get food for all. Which means 2-3 plates per tray.

Now whole family needs to get online? And even then, it’ll be hard to carry food for little ones, who can’t carry their own tray. Putting their plate on your tray is easy. Carrying an extra tray is much harder.

Well, depending on time of year you might not be allowed to sit until you have your food.

 

[Disneylover99]

Well, depending on time of year you might not be allowed to sit until you have your food.

I haven't seen any cm's enforcing the no sitting til you have your food rule since mobile ordering came out. We were at DW over Christmas and New Years and we mostly ate at counter service. You could sit anywhere you wanted any time with or without food.

 

[vinotinto]

For those wondering what these metal trains look like. Josh has a pic of one of these metal trays with the BBQ platter at Sci-Fi. As I mentioned upthread, it is a perfectly reasonable option, IMHO. This is similar to how I have been served in BBQ places here in Atlanta.