Taking food from buffet

[Toffeewoffy]

My DD has eyes bigger than her belly and at Boma I asked whether they had something I could pack up the two uneaten pastries she'd taken to take with us. All she could give us, she said, was a cup with a lid (being all they had). If it's left over on your plate you may as well take it as it'll only end up in the trash otherwise.

I often don't feel I've had my money's worth from the breakfast buffets as I can't eat much in the mornings. Some of you are advocating that if all we can eat is a little bit of egg and maybe a pastry then that's our lot and we're stuck with it. Sorry, but I've paid a lot of money for that buffet and I DO want my money's worth!

That said, I certainly wouldn't go back to the buffet with a baggie once I was full to get things to take away with me! I also won't expect to take stuff away from a dinner buffet as that would be gross anyway! Maybe a pastry or cake (something easily transportable and definitely not something like cobbler, for example) which I would have had as dessert if I hadn't been full up with my main course ...

 

[buzzrelly]

I've taken a banana or an apple. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I wouldn't bring tupperware or ask them to make me a whole plate to carry around, but a couple pieces of fruit isn't hurting anyone.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I don't take a food from a buffet. If I feel the price is more than the meal is worth, I don't go there. I don't justify it by taking as much as I want until I feel what I have gotten has equaled what I paid.

A buffet is all you care to eat, not all you care to eat plus maybe a little more in case you weren't hungry, ate too much breakfast, had a queezy stomach, wasn't in a good mood, etc.

I know it sucks but it's no different than stealing hotel linens or something because you feel what you paid for your room rate was too high.

Taking more food than you intend to eat during the meal (waste) is one of the largest contributors to increased prices. It's also one reason some buffets on college campuses have removed trays from the lunchroom. By eliminating cafeteria trays, people are limited in how much food they can take at one time and by reducing how much food people were taking (as opposed to eating), they were able to stabilize things as it pertains to cost.

 

[davedmaine]

See you don't know the whole story, I took the 2 cookies for my daughter who was 5 and they were on her plate. She wasn't feeling well because of the heat and she ate them about 30 minutes later once she felt better. They were her dessert which she put on her plate with Mac & cheese and green beans. Which she ate 1/2 of both the Mac & cheese along with the green beans. The roll was also for her at a different meal. I have ziploc's in my bag to place items in so the do not get wet if it rains not for the reason to take food. Also the whole fruit was taken at a breakfast buffet to take meds with at a specific time after we ate.


I didn't fill the ziploc baggie with an enormous amount of food at anytime. Nor was it a whole meal and it wasn't beyond what I paid for.

Opinions are like butt holes everyone has one. I have an opinion there was nothing wrong with what we did and you have the opinion I over stepped a boundary. You and I understand each other now.



.

Yeah, that's a whole lot of stealing.

 

[jcjen519]

I don't really take food from any restaurant. That's not a rule, I just don't do it. It's more trouble for me than its worth. Now if my kid was sick and the restaurant was in our hotel and I thought he'd want it shortly I may have them put his food in to go boxes but that would be it. It's just not that important. I really don't care what other people do and I don't like buffets so haven't had much experience with this.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Ohana

Chef Mickeys

Tusker House

 

[KaptainK]

OP here, I guess I should have known that this discussion might get heated. Hopefully no one got their feelings hurt. I think we could all agree that taking baggies or containers up to the buffet to fill with food would be in poor taste. Taking a piece of fruit, pastry, or portable dessert is more of a gray area and folks should just do what they are comfortable with.

I've never been to a buffet at disney but in a few reviews I read of Tuskar house online, people mentioned that the CM encouraged them to take a few rolls to go so I wondered if that was a disney thing or something.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If a CM or restaurant employee offers the opportunity to remove a small bit of food from a buffet, great. But taking it upon oneself, or even asking, to take something to go isn't a gray area. It's incorrect.

 

[kaytieeldr]

See you don't know the whole story, I took the 2 cookies for my daughter who was 5 and they were on her plate. She wasn't feeling well because of the heat and she ate them about 30 minutes later once she felt better. They were her dessert which she put on her plate with Mac & cheese and green beans. Which she ate 1/2 of both the Mac & cheese along with the green beans. The roll was also for her at a different meal. I have ziploc's in my bag to place items in so the do not get wet if it rains not for the reason to take food. Also the whole fruit was taken at a breakfast buffet to take meds with at a specific time after we ate.



I didn't fill the ziploc baggie with an enormous amount of food at anytime. Nor was it a whole meal and it wasn't beyond what I paid for.

Opinions are like butt holes everyone has one. I have an opinion there was nothing wrong with what we did and you have the opinion I over stepped a boundary. You and I understand each other now.



.

No, actually you paid for what was eaten at the buffet venue. If buffets aren't a good value, there are other dining options that would likely be a more comfortable use of one's dining dollars.

If you bring enough Ziploc or similar bags to hold both your belongings in wet conditions and "extra" food, have you considered may be bringing too many of those bags - not to carry, but given the purpose you claim?

The buffet restaurant shouldn't be expected to provide foodneeded at a time other than while one is in the restaurant. Food needed to take medication should be with by that person, or purchased when needed.

 

[wilkeliza]

There are 2 instances I have taken things from the buffet. One was when I was a CP and we ate last sitting at Chef Mickeys. We were there forever because we were friendly with the manager (one of the girls I was with was his sister) and we just ate our fill. At the end of the night they still had like 3 trays of the little Mickey dome desserts. They gave us each a cup and said if you don't take them they are going in the trash. We were literally the last people there since we were waiting for the brother so I don't think that is normal procedure.

The other times was on a race morning. After Avengers 5K I grab a couple fruit loop boxes that morning. I didn't use all of them so I took the two extras for later as I knew I was going to have a hunger attack soon since I didn't eat much and would be needing to refuel from the 5K and fuel for the half the next morning.

 

[nkereina]

IMHO, if I saw someone doing that, I'd roll my eyes. You're not paying a definitive price for an entree like at a TS restaurant and not finishing it. You're paying one price for all you can eat. Eat up what you can while there, it's not meant to be a meal for later too.

 

[starousse]

Maybe....really I don't see anything wrong with taking a little snack like a cookie or piece of fruit. You've certainly paid enough.

Agreed!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have allowed our slow eating DS to take a cookie or ice cream cone with us when we are trying to get to an activity after a meal. I always ask the waiter first and have always been told sure or of course. We did have a waitress at CP notice that DS did not eat much of anything at breakfast and suggested that we take a banana or two along in case he was hungry later. I have NO desire to take anything else away from any meal at WDW. It's just not worth having to deal with carrying it or to get it back to the room. We do OFTEN take our CS meals dessert when we leave as DS has a PA and they have few to no options that he can eat. We just carry them until we find a ice cream cart to get his Popsicle and then eat all together.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

If it's already on your plate or at the table (cookies, piece of fruit, pastries) and they are going to throw it away if it's left why not pack it up and take it with you?? I'm talking something small. Not a whole tupperware container full of food.

I hate wasting food. So do my kids. I find all kinds of stuff in my fridge that they are "going to eat later." Or they try to feed it to me.

I have taken am apple that DD brought to the table and didn't eat. And I believe DS left with a donut once. They both ate them shortly after while we walked around AK.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

If it's already on your plate or at the table (cookies, piece of fruit, pastries) and they are going to throw it away if it's left why not pack it up and take it with you?? . . .

1) You would be surprised how many folks go for a third plateful.
2) They are full, but "as long as it is on the plate, might as well take it out."
3) So, they load up with no intention of eating it . . . at that sitting.

NOTE: People talk about food being thrown away. At Tusker, they throw away
eight-to-nine 45-gallon garbage cans of uneaten food per day. At Crystal, they
throw away nine-to-eleven 45-gallon cans daily. Once it is on a plate, they cannot
save it for other groups (eg. Second Harvest), so they feed earthworms at the dump.

 

[aristocatz]

We often take one piece of fruit or one cookie for my DD to eat later. She is often too full for dessert in the restaurant. We never try and "sneak" it & no one has ever said anything to us about it. We do this at home as well.

 

[MickeyNicki]

This has happened to us twice - once at CP breakfast the CM wrapped up chocolate chip cookies for us because she noticed how much my nieces loved them and another time at Ohana breakfast the CM gave us a to go box with the breakfast pastries in it - she brought us out extra and we were full and couldnt finish, she asked if we were staying at the Poly (we were) and she put them in a box for us to leave in our room for later.

 

[RhodyChief]

A couple of years ago we were at Crystal Palace for breakfast and a table near us had a couple of plates filled with pastries and fruit that the parents were putting into ziploc bags and acting like they were "beating the system." It was pretty sad.

 

[Jennasis]

I wouldn't ever take food with me from a buffet.

 

[sndral]

We have taken whole fruit, cookies, or a roll. We just take a ziploc Baggie with us. .

A couple of years ago we were at Crystal Palace for breakfast and a table near us had a couple of plates filled with pastries and fruit that the parents were putting into ziploc bags and acting like they were "beating the system." It was pretty sad.

Am I the only one who wondered if these two were in the same place at the same time? Just kidding, I'm sure AlohaAnnie wasn't over the top in her ziplock food stashing like the party described
Naw, I don't haul food away from buffets, if I'm hungry later I can easily afford to pay for a snack or a piece of fruit. Disney has snack vendors every 20 feet or so, so it's not like anyone is in danger of starving if they leave a buffet empty handed.
Besides, who wants to haul stale buffet food around the parks or eat a bruised banana or piece of fruit that's been smooshed on several rides? I don't even take leftovers from non buffet restaurants because it's too much hassle to haul them through the parks, on rides, on busses, etc..
If it depletes someone's budget so much to eat in buffets that they need to cart away food to make it feel affordable maybe they need to dine in a more pocketbook friendly venue.