Why all the removal of favorites?

[bytheblood]

$$$$$$

OK, that's my opinion.

I saw that the fingers became nuggets. DH and I used to share a chicken finger at Electric Umbrella and get a fruit salad on the side. But not if there are three tiny strips instead of larger ones! People will be inclined to buy more.

And I'm not saying that WDW is out to take scam us - some of it is cost savings I think. If you serve all the same things at all the same places, you can move workers around more easily. A serving of fries and a burger at DHS would be the same as a burger and fries somewhere in MK. Food distributers might discount more if you are buying a BAZILLION burgers and fries, right?

It's just hard to eat the same thing for a week! BLEH!! I like a little variety please!

It all boils down to the Benjamins. I don't think it has anything to do with updating the menus or being "healthy". They are taking away or changing items that are no longer making them as much money as possible. Perhaps its the cost of the item vs. how much of it they sell is no longer turning a profit, or the vendors they are purchasing their food from raised the prices of certain ingredients. As for the wheat buns and chicken nuggets, they are probably cheaper to purchase and more cost effective for Disney. Pretty soon all of the Disney restaurants will be serving the same food. One big Disney "chain" restaurant.

Don't forget that here on the Disboards, we are just a small percentage of people who go to disney world every year. What we call favorites does not mean that it is a favorite to the rest of Disney's visiters.

Also, I believe it is money, plain and simple. If it were to be about health, then explain why they took the healthiest things of the figaro fries off (lettuce and tomato)?

Or why did they make the chicken strips into chicken nuggets (which, by the way, are NOT formed or pressed, they are simply small pieces of whole chicken breast) which actually makes it MORE unhealthier because of the increase of breading on smaller but more in quantity pieces. This actually tricks the consumer into thinking that he/she is getting the same. But in fact, you are getting more breading, less meat.

Or why their food prices have been steadily rising. And how they are constantly changing food buyers to get the best of their money. If an ingredient becomes more hefty in price, they nix the ingredient, which nixes that item.

 

[disnut8]

Can anyone imagine the pressure Disney faces on providing healthy meals? Think about it. If they leave things alone, the health watchers will condemn them. If they change to make the health people happy and take "unhealthy" things away, their guests are unhappy. The guests will still keep coming.

But the healthy food people are a very powerful and mighty voice. Does Disney risk one person coming to a park and saying there are too few healthy meal choices? Do they risk a Michael Moore-type doing a documentary on the food at Disney World?

I am quite vocal about the wheat bun issue and would like a choice. But I understand that Disney World HAS to have "healthy" foods (really, a wheat bun on a hot dog? Come on!). I really, really don't like that we all are being forced into eating healthy. But, that's what the current trend is right now. Being green and eating healthy. Whether we like it or not.

 

[NikP]

Before we went on our May 2008 trip...there were several things people on these boards said were gone from menues, like the maple brulee at Le Cellier. so we were lamenting never had the chance to try it (finally had a rez for Le Cellier in May.)

So we went, expecting that we'd have to choose something diff...and lo & behold, guess what was on the menu...yup, maple brulee. We had it, we loved it...in May 2008.

So maybe they took it off the menu before and after we were there, but apparently the pixie dust was working just for us, cuz we got to have it.

Your faves might still be there...everything that gets posted on here is not always true!

I am not sure you had the right item from Le Cellier. The Maple fillet was removed not the Maple Creme Brulee. I had both last time we were at Le Cellier in October 2007. I could do without the dessert, but I will really miss the steak. It was the best I have ever had!!

 

[marivaid]

Can anyone imagine the pressure Disney faces on providing healthy meals? Think about it. If they leave things alone, the health watchers will condemn them. If they change to make the health people happy and take "unhealthy" things away, their guests are unhappy. The guests will still keep coming.

But the healthy food people are a very powerful and mighty voice. Does Disney risk one person coming to a park and saying there are too few healthy meal choices? Do they risk a Michael Moore-type doing a documentary on the food at Disney World?

I am quite vocal about the wheat bun issue and would like a choice. But I understand that Disney World HAS to have "healthy" foods (really, a wheat bun on a hot dog? Come on!). I really, really don't like that we all are being forced into eating healthy. But, that's what the current trend is right now. Being green and eating healthy. Whether we like it or not.

- How is mahi-mahi unhealthy ?
- A hot dog, no matter what kind of bun you put around it, is never going to be "healthy" food. Especially when it's served with fries and Cracker Jacks.
- Chicken nuggets aren't any more healthy than chicken tenders...
- Fries covered in cheese sauce and bacon bits = not healthy. Yet that's still on the menu, and the antipasto salad has gone bybye.

It's all about money.These days it's hard to blame companies for trying to save a buck here and there, but why on Earth do they have to lie about it and tell us it's for our health ?

 

[Tricia1972]

I still feel that the menu changes have much more to do with the bottom line than health.

Even not offering a choice of bun has to do with money. If you stock both you'll waste more of both because it'll be impossible to order the right amount of each. Not to mention the confusion of the special orders. Instead of an occasional special order burger, every burger order will be special ordered.

To anyone who says that you can't eat junk food at Disney I say you're not looking closely enough at the menus. Deep fried chicken breasts are not healthy, no matter how big the pieces are.

 

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I think Disney should have options. You should have the option of white or wheat....apples or fries....etc. That way both people are happy. As for changing to wheat that may be healthier but not all people can have wheat. They will have people making requests for white bread.

 

[Tricia1972]

All flour (in white bread) is made from wheat so anyone who can't have the processed wheat buns in Disney couldn't have had white anyway. The buns at Disney aren't the whole grain or multi grains that will affect those with tree nut allergies.

Yes, a choice would be nice, but Disney has never offered a choice of buns.

 

[TDC Nala]

They may have people making requests for white bread, but they don't HAVE any white bread to substitute. If someone needs gluten free can they even have the white ones?

As far as I know these are not whole-grain wheat buns (so I must say I don't understand what makes them healthier). I do think the pizza crust is multigrain with whole grains, however.

 

[Pat329]

Eating healthy or trying to is part of everyone's daily life. Isn't vacation a time to get away from reality??? I wait all year to splurge and now the menu's aren't going to be as interesting as they use to be!!

 

[SorcererDonald16]

Wait a minute... since when was the Strawberry Swirl gone from MK? I just had one in May. Please don't tell me they just got rid of this!

I know they make menu changes all the time, but geez. I feel like whatever food/dessert I really like, they take it away! Figaro Fries, ham sandwich at Columbia Harbor House, white bread, the chicken strips became nuggets, the sandwiches at Kringla Bakery got changed, and now my beloved Strawberry Swirl has bit the dust... *Sigh*

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I echo what some others have said. Disney owns WDW and therefore Disney gets to make the decisions about what it sells and what it doesn't. I can understand being upset when a favourite goes away but I always get a chuckle out of the people who seem almost offended by their decisions. They don't need to justify their decisions to any of us. So, really, why does it matter why they replace certain items?

Okay, the Strawberry Swirl at MK is gone. Figaro Fries gone. Starboard Sandwich gone. Fiesta Margarita kiwi flavor gone. Macadamia Chocolate Torte at Kona gone. Maple Filet at Le Cellier gone. Fried Cheese at Prime Time gone.

Well, I'm not sure about a lot of the items you have listed but the Macadmais Chocolate Torte is most certainly still at Kona. The Figaro Fries are not gone, as others have pointed out, but they have changed. Can I ask what your source is on all this info? If it's the DIS, take it with a grain of salt.

Also, the Chefs do change up the menu several times a year. Sometimes the changes are good, sometimes not! Lol!

Right. This is a sign of a good restaurant actually. They keep signature dishes often but change around other dishes to offer variety, to keep up with the seasons, to keep the cooking staff interested, and for any other number of reasons. Why does it surprise people when the restaurants in WDW operate in much the same way as restaurants outside of WDW? Change is not always a bad thing. It can often be quite good.

Last time I checked, there were lots of places where you could get lots of yummy bread, fried foods, full-fat ice cream, etc. It's all a matter of choices, including your choice about where you decide to eat.

Exactly! Are people actually trying to say that they can't find enough unhealthy foods at WDW?

 

[DVCtinkerbell]

Sadly I think that Disney restaurants will be in the same situation they were years back. The last thing Disney was known for was for its food/restaurants. They overcame this reputation during the Eisner years and now are slowly returning to poor quality of food choices at high prices.

Yet, take a drive down 192. The traffic is unbelievable but if you can stand that, the choice of restaurants is staggering.

The state of the economy will make things worst. Hopefully Disney will not let things slide too far.

 

[SnwflkCts]

I won't get to taste the new bun until Feb but I have a feeling it is the "white-wheat" kind of bun. I use them now for hotdogs. They are drier in texture but I can stand them. (On WW they are only one point each ).

I do understand the idea of choice but I can see it would be almost impossible to keep up with the "custom" order at a CS. Retrieving and replacing a fries when apple slices were ordered is easier than redoing a burger if the wrong bun was on it. Anyway just my 2 cents on this one.

I just don't see much changing. It is the way of feeding masses of people. Interesting topic though!

 

[_queenie_]

Sadly I think that Disney restaurants will be in the same situation they were years back. The last thing Disney was known for was for its food/restaurants. They overcame this reputation during the Eisner years and now are slowly returning to poor quality of food choices at high prices.

ITO, I knew Disney's 'golden age of food' would never last.

 

[Corinne]

These disappearances are all due to the existence of the Disney Dining Plan. A restaurant or counter service gets a fixed dollar amount per meal, no matter what is ordered. Normally in the restaurant business the actual cost of the food is about 1/3 of the total expenses. So the higher the food quality or quantity the higher the selling price.

It is often human nature to, if there is no difference in their payment, order the highest price items. Which is why both the restaurants and the quick service locations are removing their highest priced items.

If DDP, as we know it, goes away watch and see some of the higher end items coming back.

ITA, and I wish the DDP would go away, sadly, I doubt it will.

 

[Corinne]

Wait a minute... since when was the Strawberry Swirl gone from MK? I just had one in May. Please don't tell me they just got rid of this!

They were still on the Enchanted Grove menu last week when we were there. I will be really bummed if they get rid of it, I love them too!

 

[bicker]

It's all about money.These days it's hard to blame companies for trying to save a buck here and there, but why on Earth do they have to lie about it and tell us it's for our health ?

Because it is what we demand of them.

 

[_queenie_]

ITA, and I wish the DDP would go away, sadly, I doubt it will.

I know it, though so many disagree. I couldn't at all say that it's the source of the problem, this slump of not-as-good-as-it-used-to-be food is really from a combination of things when you think about it.

I think that saying the DDP is to blame is a fair statement, I'm not sure if it's entirely true, but it's a fair statement. Something's up though and it needs to be changed, but again the trouble is everything's up.

 

[ransom]

ITA, and I wish the DDP would go away, sadly, I doubt it will.

I agree. I'm pinning my hopes on price increases for the DDP. If they can make it into nothing more than a prepaid plan, rather than a bargain plan, then there won't be a problem any more.

I think that's much more likely than eliminating the DDP. Certainly, we all know Disney isn't averse to raising prices.

 

[ElizabethB]

DDP is to blame.