Witnessed much waste of food during free dining

[RACHELSMOM1]

I have never heard of so much complaining. If you don't want to waste food, just don't order it. I don't understand why so many complain about "too much food" because if the portions were very small, many would complain about that, too. I do not want to be told I can only have a smaller portion because so many people complained about too much food. I just don't get it!!

 

[DiszyDean]

You know what is really fascinating about this debate. You can have one thread complaining about the appetizer being removed from the 2008 dining plan and another thread about how the dining plan is too much food. And that is the crux of the problem. You cannot please everyone.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

You know what is really fascinating about this debate. You can have one thread complaining about the appetizer being removed from the 2008 dining plan and another thread about how the dining plan is too much food. And that is the crux of the problem. You cannot please everyone.

How true!! I know you can't please everybody, but does everybody have to complain?

 

[Colleen27]

DH and I visted WDW in September during the free dining. Being DVC members we are not eligible for free dining but that is just fine with us. We did use the DDP on two other occasions, and found that it did not suit us for a number of different reasons. Good plan, just not for us.

Anyway, being aware of the free dining I did pay a little more attention to other tables near by and what they were ordering. One day we had lunch at LTT. Next to us was a family of two adults and 3 children in the 7 to 10 age group. First came a round of soda for each one. Then out came five (yes five) orders of the tavern cheese with marinara sauce. Each of the kids put a good dent in their appetizer because they were hungry. Next came five entrees. Each child had the burger with fries. (unsure what the adults had) They were rather large burgers for a kids menu item. One plate went untouched. The other two burgers had one or two bites taken from them. I thought that was a shame. Perhaps the kids could have shared an appetizer or entree'. You could tell that the waiter was slightly annoyed by the waste. But boy was I shocked when out came five apple dumplings with ice cream desserts. The two adults had a few bites and the other three were cleared away untouched.

I know it is free.....but still it would be a good idea to teach your children about not wasting food. I cringe to think what those children did learn from that dining experience.

There were other incidents in other restaurants, however LTT was by far the worst we witnessed. I apologize for getting on a soap box but I needed to get this off my chest.

The problem is that Disney has cracked down on sharing by dining plan guests. So if you're on the plan, you can't order the 2 meals for 4 people that we'd order OOP someplace like Beaches & Cream or Sci-Fi. It works out okay for us, because our kids are still under 10 and good eaters who are happy to eat their kids meals and try a few bites off the adults' plates. Once the kids hit 10, the amount of food on the plan really gets out of control. I don't think even my 58", 95# football player DS9 would be able to eat a full Disney dining plan meal at 10 or 11.

 

[Kaler131]

No offense to the OP, but it kinda creeps me out to think that there are people out there watching you in a restaurant and monitoring what you & your family are eating....

 

[Colleen27]

A big part of this problem lies within Disney itself. Disney should have some sort of portion control on the kids menus. I know as a 5 or 6 year old there is no way that I would have been able to eat a full size appetizer, meal and dessert. Maybe the kids DDP portion should offer 2 or 3 fried cheese sticks instead of 6 or 7 and a smaller sized burger. I don't think I know a kid and not many adults who could finish all that food.

In most places, the kids don't really get a big appetizer. At Kona, the kids had a choice of soup, salad, or veggies with ranch dip. At ESPN Club, I don't remember what the choices were, but both my kids had veggies with ranch. At Grand Floridian, the choices were soup or fruit salad. And I don't think the kids entree portions that I've seen were unreasonable either - one hot dog, or a small bowl of mac & cheese, or a smallish piece of salmon. Perfect for DD6, but DS9 usually shared a little of my food on top of eating his kids' meal. Where it gets a little crazy, IMO, is with the "10 year old is an adult" policy that gives older kids adult portions of everything.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

No offense to the OP, but it kinda creeps me out to think that there are people out there watching you in a restaurant and monitoring what you & your family are eating....

Ewww!!! Me, too. It is none of their business what my family does or does not eat at a restaurant. I say, mind your own business!!!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Ewww!!! Me, too. It is none of their business what my family does or does not eat at a restaurant. I say, mind your own business!!!

If we all minded our own business there wouldn't be a DIS

 

[disneyjunkie]

DH and I visted WDW in September during the free dining. Being DVC members we are not eligible for free dining but that is just fine with us. We did use the DDP on two other occasions, and found that it did not suit us for a number of different reasons. Good plan, just not for us.

Anyway, being aware of the free dining I did pay a little more attention to other tables near by and what they were ordering. One day we had lunch at LTT. Next to us was a family of two adults and 3 children in the 7 to 10 age group. First came a round of soda for each one. Then out came five (yes five) orders of the tavern cheese with marinara sauce. Each of the kids put a good dent in their appetizer because they were hungry. Next came five entrees. Each child had the burger with fries. (unsure what the adults had) They were rather large burgers for a kids menu item. One plate went untouched. The other two burgers had one or two bites taken from them. I thought that was a shame. Perhaps the kids could have shared an appetizer or entree'. You could tell that the waiter was slightly annoyed by the waste. But boy was I shocked when out came five apple dumplings with ice cream desserts. The two adults had a few bites and the other three were cleared away untouched.

I know it is free.....but still it would be a good idea to teach your children about not wasting food. I cringe to think what those children did learn from that dining experience.

There were other incidents in other restaurants, however LTT was by far the worst we witnessed. I apologize for getting on a soap box but I needed to get this off my chest.

Why do you care?

I can't imagine spending our vacation scouting what others are ordering eating. My poor son would die from embracement. He already thinks I've lost my mind because I take pictures of our food.

Personally I think people should order what they want and eat as much or as little as they care for. Cleaning your plate is NOT a good idea.

I agree. We skipped many courses while we were on the dining plan. Some meals we completed, some we didn't.

Fired, for giving someone their own food, for which they'd already paid and should have received???

Nope, fired for forcing a guest to order something they didn't want to order.

I had a server do that to my son and I during lunch at Sci Fi. We didn't want a dessert. We were stuffed after eating lunch. As a matter of fact we didn't finish our soup, salad, burger and fries. (Sorry OP, we could have share, but we just didn't want to. ) The server would not take no for an answer. She just kept insisting that we take our desserts. My son finally said ok.

When the dessert came out, I took one bite and he took two. Well, that still left one dessert left. When the server bought over the bill, she had 2 HUGE sodas in her hand. I asked what they were for. She said they were to replace the dessert we didn't order.

She was determined to every bit of the tip that she could.

That was the last time I allowed a server to force a dessert or starter on us.

No offense to the OP, but it kinda creeps me out to think that there are people out there watching you in a restaurant and monitoring what you & your family are eating....

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

There would be a DIS if all minded their own business - information can be shared without minding what others are doing - gossip about something is not "just information". I come here for ideas and info. It is nobody's business, though, what my family does or doesn't do while at WDW unless I want to make it their business. It is just creepy to think there are those out there who will watch every move we make while dining with our family at WDW!!!!

 

[LizinSTL]

There would be a DIS if all minded their own business - information can be shared without minding what others are doing - gossip about something is not "just information". I come here for ideas and info. It is nobody's business, though, what my family does or doesn't do while at WDW unless I want to make it their business. It is just creepy to think there are those out there who will watch every move we make while dining with our family at WDW!!!!

I agree. I also need to comment that the OP obviously guessed incorrectly on the children's ages. If they ordered what the OP said they ordered they were all over 10 (and therefore adults on the plan!) Just another example of the need for a junior menu at WDW.

 

[jjohnson]

This is one of the reasons I can not justify doing the plan anymore. A 10 year old is not an adult and shouldn't be expected or required to eat like one.

 

[LYNSUE]

I knew it would be just a matter of time before this thread turned nasty. I should have known better than to open such a sensitive subject. I apologize to all of those who felt the need to be defensive. Oh and I am not creepy, just observant.

Thank you to the poster who mentioned that the leftover food is used as animal feed. That really was the whole point of my post..... The guilt I feel for us being wasteful Americans when there is so much hunger in the world.

 

[lilyv]

I was rather surprised several times during my last stay to hear loud, unhappy discussions between DDP guests and CM's over exactly what the guest was allowed, how much, etc. Probably the worst was at LeCellier for lunch, where there was heated "negotiating" on either side of me. I came away wishing the system was really simplified, like a basic $$ credit/meal, or a flat % off. I felt really bad for the CM's.

 

[Gerweniel]

Just my perspective on this......
I've purchased the DDP our last 2 trips to WDW and will bought it again for our upcoming trip.
My 2 DSs are 14 and 13, 6' and 5'10" respectively and not obese. They easily eat a 3 course meal at dinner after a day in the parks and then generously assist me with my food. We look forward to planning and eating at the TS restaurants.

We have never had any credits left after our trips and I always have to pay for some food OOP. The DDP works out the best for us in our situation. There are so many family scenarios that what works for one may not work for others. I'll continue to buy it, however my DSs are disappointed that the appetizers will no longer be included in 2008.

 

[Priorityonecb]

We aren't of the "clean your plate" nature at home, and we aren't on vacation either.

I am sure others may, if they were paying attention to our family, be horrified at my youngest eating habits. She has a very adventurous appetite (she is most looking forward to seaweed salad in December!), but she eats so very little. Five or six bites at any given meal is standard for her....and she doesn't ask for another thing until the next meal.

I would hate to think that someone was juding my family harshly, because we simply do not care how much she eats. She eats when she is hungry, stops when she's full. I care more about her health and comfor than about wasting food...sorry!

We also order what we want, (have only *paid for dining plan). If we don't want 4 appetizers per table, we don't order them. Same with desserts. I like the prepaid part of the plan rather than the financial "get all you can from it" aspect.

 

[Priorityonecb]

DSs are disappointed that the appetizers will no longer be included in 2008.

Even when we eat out at home, we almost always get an appetizer (one per table though!). It's nice when you walk in starving to get that quick food, and I think it helps with younger children especially. Then once you are aren't sitting there starving...you can relax a bit and settle in for some good conversation and a leisurely meal.

 

[4orm]

I'm not sure why people are getting so defensive over the OPs observations. Sure they did say that they were taking note because they were aware of DDP but I have to say I've noticed a lot of gorging in WDW when on vacation. I just couldn't help but notice. Wasting food is awful. Over eating is awful. It's all about portions. I can't believe the portions that I recieve in the states or at chain restaurants here in Canada. No wonder North America is becoming so obese. My husband and I always share meals because we just can't pack that much food away.
Restaurants wanted to show their patrons how much value they're getting so they up the portion size. People get used to massive portions and eat it all up. Waistlines grow due to lack of control... and on and on.
We were just in Switzerland and we read a McDonalds menu posted outside... the prices were about $11 for a meal deal and the size of fries and drink included were smalls. It was another $2 for medium. No large,x-large or supersize listed.
I understand the OPs shock when witnessing the mass ammounts of food going to waste. It would be even worse to see those people downing 3000 calories in one sitting (not to mention there are less fortunate people out there who can't afford a single nevermind a Disney trip). We live in a society of excess and it's up to the people to change something if they deem it necsessary.
*off my soap box*
I'm sure some people will be p.o'd but it's just my opinion. Everyone is entitled to them. Let's not jump on someone when they have one that differs from yours.

 

[4orm]

and we aren't clean your plate people either, but we do try to make smaller portions.
As the March Hare saids in Alice in Wonderland "you can't very well take less of something, but you can always take more".

 

[ExtinctDino]

So there are some people who will judge you harshly for being "cheap" enough to share meals, and if you don't share meals others will judge you harshly for throwing away food.

Personally I think Disney has much of this in its own control. They have not in my experience "cracked down" on meal sharing, as another poster said. But if they wanted to charge say $5 for an extra plate for meal sharers I think that would be reasonable. Or they can reduce portions. The 2008 DDP eliminates the appetizer, which will reduce meal sharing at the same time it reduces waste and turns tables faster. It also removes servers' incentives to push food on guests, by eliminating the 18% automatic tip.

In the meantime I'm not going to condemn guests, who are just playing by Disney's rules, either for sharing meals or for throwing away food.