Taking Food from the Buffet

[rabbitroger]

I am heading to WDW in the summer and this is my first time in the US. In it is considered quite normal to take a item with you when you leave a buffet. I'm talking a pastry, ice cream, fruit, that sort of thing, not big items. To eat as you're leaving or to eat outside.

Is this also considered normal ettiquette in the US?

 

[StanH]

No, not really.

 

[DreamLiveLoveDisney]

No. You should really finish eating at the table.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I think you're going to get a lot of mixed responses for this. I don't think it's bad to take a couple cookies or a piece of fruit for later, but anything more then that I'd have to say no.

 

[kathie859]

OP, you asked if it was considered "normal" to take food from a buffet to eat later--well, not normal but I doubt you'd be tackled at the door if you grab a cookie or an apple as you walk out

 

[hydrotony]

If you walk out carrying the item in your hand like a movable desert, no real problem. Putting items in a zip lock bag to eat as a meal or snack a couple of hours later is a problem. It's always a question of quantity and intention. One banana yes, a bunch of bananas no.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

I always try to gain admission to the esteemed CLEAN PLATE club (LOL) whenever I'm at a buffet. I usually do a walk-around the buffet, take a little taste of whatever looks good, and then come back for any extra helpings.

BUT sometimes if I'll have something like a cookie or piece of fruit that is already on my plate, which I had fully intended to eat, and just got too full - I wouldn't feel too guilty about taking it along with me when I left the buffet area.

In 2010, at breakfast at Cape May, we watched a mother take these HUGE gallon size zip-locs out of her purse, and pour 3 full cereal bowls of frootloops into them. We just shook our heads in amazement. This was at the end of their meal - the kids were done eating and running around - and those bowls had been filled for the express purpose of taking the food with them when they left.

 

[minnie mum]

I'm talking a pastry, ice cream, fruit, that sort of thing, not big items. To eat as you're leaving or to eat outside.

Is this also considered normal ettiquette in the US?

How the heck do you grab ice cream from a buffet and eat it outside? I had visions of someone licking a big blob of soft serve off of their hand as they walk out the door.

 

[patsal]

How the heck do you grab ice cream from a buffet and eat it outside? I had visions of someone licking a big blob of soft serve off of their hand as they walk out the door.

Haha, Crystal Palace has cones for the ice cream. I have often made the kids cones and then left before they finished them to free up the table for the next group.

 

[minnie mum]

Haha, Crystal Palace has cones for the ice cream. I have often made the kids cones and then left before they finished them to free up the table for the next group.

Yeah, I kind of thought that was the case, but the visual that popped into my head while reading the OP had me laughing out loud. My cat now thinks I'm weird.

 

[mom of princessx2]

I think if you have to put it in your purse, as to hid it, it would be a no no.

I had a friend (and I will use the term loosely) that was at WDW at the same time as us so we decided to meet at Cape May for breakfast on departure day. After we were done eating she went to the buffet and got 6 muffins and stuck them in her purse for the drive home. She didn't see the problem with this because "they had used up all their snack credits". Last buffet we attend with that family!!

A piece of fruit, a zebra dome or a tart, no problem but to actually go back up to stuff your purse.....Problem!

 

[TDC Nala]

It is not normal, nor is it expected procedure, but most buffets will say nothing if guests carry a small item. Purse stuffing, gallon ziplocs, no.

 

[DisneycrazedX6]

I always love the responses to this topic! No one should be as judgemental as Disney folk seem to be.... Buffets are pricey and most people would like to get their moneys worth. Maybe someone in the party just wasnt hungry or feeling well and didnt want to ruin the experience for everyone else. Disney is still going to charge that person the same amount of money as everyone else. What is the big deal if that person took a banana and muffin to go?? Some cereal in a bag is not going to break Disney either is it????? Relax people and mind your own plate and not everyone else's.....HAHAHA....

 

[jfulcer]

I always love the responses to this topic! No one should be as judgemental as Disney folk seem to be.... Buffets are pricey and most people would like to get their moneys worth. Maybe someone in the party just wasnt hungry or feeling well and didnt want to ruin the experience for everyone else. Disney is still going to charge that person the same amount of money as everyone else. What is the big deal if that person took a banana and muffin to go?? Some cereal in a bag is not going to break Disney either is it????? Relax people and mind your own plate and not everyone else's.....HAHAHA....

Highlighting mine... One person doing this is not a problem. Two people is ok. But what if everyone did? Would it break Disney then?

I don't want to pay for everyone else's snacks they stuff in their purse. They should pay for them, not me...which is what will happen.

 

[BriarRosie]

I always love the responses to this topic! No one should be as judgemental as Disney folk seem to be.... Buffets are pricey and most people would like to get their moneys worth. Maybe someone in the party just wasnt hungry or feeling well and didnt want to ruin the experience for everyone else. Disney is still going to charge that person the same amount of money as everyone else. What is the big deal if that person took a banana and muffin to go?? Some cereal in a bag is not going to break Disney either is it????? Relax people and mind your own plate and not everyone else's.....HAHAHA....

The question was about buffet etiquette, and the answers were perfectly honest. It doesn't have anything to do with being judgmental. Most people don't have any ethical issues removing one last portable item, but they do agree that "bag stuffing" is in poor taste.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Here is a related question.

A friend of ours went to dinner at Ohana with us. They had been there before, and knew the drill. It had been a long day, and this guy had mentioned he was hungry as a bear. So, much to my surprise...the salad came out...didn't take any...noodles, nope, nothing...etc., etc., then the shrimp came out.

This guy took everything off the skewers...and said...please bring some more...and they did! The guy then explained that the shrimp was the most expensive thing on the menu...and that was all he planned to eat.

Is that ok?

and to answer op...I tend to agree with everybody else. Grab a cookie, muffin, or ice cream cone if you want...don't put slabs of prime-rib in your purse!

 

[GirlDreamer]

Mickey'sApprentice: There's no rules about what you can eat and how much when you're at a buffet, as long as he doesn't start packing it in bags to take with him.

Having stuff to go in a buffet isn't allowed in Disney, I know because I used to work in one of them. But to answer the original question about just grabbing an apple or a cookie, I don't think that should be a problem. And the reason I'm saying should, is that you never know when you'll meet a CM that is very strict about following the rules. I've actually been to buffets in Disney where the CM asked if I wanted a refill of my drink to go as we were leaving

 

[rabbitroger]

Just to clarify in my original post i never meant to insinuate i was looking at taking bags of cereal or sneaking lunch out of a breakfast buffet, anything like that.

Simply a case of taking a piece of fruit to eat on route to the monorail, things like that.

 

[mom of princessx2]

Just to clarify in my original post i never meant to insinuate i was looking at taking bags of cereal or sneaking lunch out of a breakfast buffet, anything like that.

Simply a case of taking a piece of fruit to eat on route to the monorail, things like that.

Please don't take it that way. I think some of us were just sharing our stories of some "over the top" taking from a buffet that we have witnessed.

 

[TDC Nala]

This guy took everything off the skewers...and said...please bring some more...and they did! The guy then explained that the shrimp was the most expensive thing on the menu...and that was all he planned to eat.

Is that ok?

As long as he ate the shrimp at the table and didn't fill up bags to take with him then yes it is fine. They're likely ready for the once in awhile customer who eats just one item and loads of it. But if the majority of guests asked for all the shrimp off the skewers all at once, and ate those and nothing else, likely shrimp would come off the menu at some point - or the price would go up.

I'm kind of reminded of the Simpsons episode where Homer sued the local seafood buffet because they didn't have "all he could eat" - he ate so much that they ran out of food.

I don't think eating is permitted on the monorail, I know it's not permitted on the buses.