Wasted food at Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue

[LittleBuford]

I experienced the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue for the first time yesterday and enjoyed both the show and the food, which was much tastier than I thought it would be. What I didn't enjoy, however, was the amount of uneaten food at the end of it all. My friends and I went with empty stomachs knowing that it was all-you-can-eat, yet we barely managed a fraction of what was put on our table. Though I'm sure the odd party is able to get through it all, those around me were pretty much in the same boat as us. All that food definitely makes for an impressive visual feast, which I suppose is why they do it, but talk about wasteful! Even half the quantity would be sufficient, and those who want more could ask for it. Does anyone know if all the uneaten food is at least repurposed in any way? I'd like to think it's turned into animal feed, but that's probably highly wishful on my part.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If you don't like wasted food you should avoid WDW altogether, along with any dinner show, amusement park or other high volume entertainment venue. Even most restaurants serve a lot of food that ends up going in the garbage, and not just because someone told the waiter to take it back.

The BoH staff may get to eat the leftovers, but once the food is cooked, it can't really be saved for very long. Some venues will also have rules about giving away leftovers to people not associated with the company.

 

[LittleBuford]

If you don't like wasted food you should avoid WDW altogether, along with any dinner show, amusement park or other high volume entertainment venue.

This isn't true in my experience. I normally manage everything on my plate at WDW, and I'm not a big eater. Yes, I sometimes leave a little behind, but certainly not the large majority of the meal, which is what we ended up doing at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

This isn't true in my experience. I normally manage everything on my plate at WDW, and I'm not a big eater. Yes, I sometimes leave a little behind, but certainly not the large majority of the meal, which is what we ended up doing at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue.

I'm sure you normally eat what's on your plate, but I'm telling you that you'd be shocked at how much food goes in the garbage at the end of the day at most food service venues.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

When you charge a premium for average food the easiest way to increase the perceived value is to simply serve more of it, even if the customer can't eat that much.

Smaller portions would help with food waste, but would probably not go over well with WDW customers paying 3x McDonald's prices.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm sure you normally eat what's on your plate, but I'm telling you that you'd be shocked at how much food goes in the garbage at the end of the day at most food service venues.

I know that a lot of food goes in the bin regardless of the venue, but at least at other locations, one has a fighting chance of clearing one's plate. The amount they put out the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, however, is deliberately extravagant, and that's what gets to me. Providing excessive quantities of food in the knowledge that much of it is going to get thrown away strikes me as really distasteful (forgive the pun!) in this waste-conscious age.

 

[LittleBuford]

Smaller portions would help with food waste, but would probably not go over well with WDW customers paying 3x McDonald's prices.

Even half the quantity would still look impressive.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Even half the quantity would still look impressive.

I would prefer better quality food with smaller portions for what WDW charges, but that isn't going to happen unfortunately.

 

[LittleBuford]

I would prefer better quality food with smaller portions for what WDW charges, but that isn't going to happen unfortunately.

I'm hopeful things might change, especially as consciousness of waste grows.

I'm going to write to guest services to share my thoughts. I know my email isn't going to make any difference on its own, but it can't hurt.

 

[donaldtoo]

Years ago, when both of our DDs were in HS choir, we worked University of Texas concessions to make money for their choir trips.
We worked everything from football games, basketball, arena football, concerts, etc.
I was always in charge of cookin’ the hot dogs and the Earl Campbell sausages (and there was even Popeyes chicken, made by Popeyes people, in our UT football concession for the first few years). We never threw out any food.
Whatever we felt would be eaten before it went bad, we took home and ate for meals. The rest we left on the cleaned up condiment counters at the end of the shift for whoever wanted it.
At the UT football games, the cheerleader room was adjacent to our concession for the first few years before the stadium was remodeled and expanded. I have never seen ladies that small gobble up that much food...!!!!!

Bottom line, it’s definitely disappointing to think of so much food bein’ wasted, so I hope most of it is goin’ to somebody that would appreciate it, and not bein’ thrown out...!!!

 

[RobWDW1971]

Years ago, when both of our DDs were in HS choir, we worked University of Texas concessions to make money for their choir trips.
We worked everything from football games, basketball, arena football, concerts, etc.
I was always in charge of cookin’ the hot dogs and the Earl Campbell sausages (and there was even Popeyes chicken, made by Popeyes people, in our UT football concession for the first few years). We never threw out any food.
Whatever we felt would be eaten before it went bad, we took home and ate for meals. The rest we left on the cleaned up condiment counters at the end of the shift for whoever wanted it.
At the UT football games, the cheerleader room was adjacent to our concession for the first few years before the stadium was remodeled and expanded. I have never seen ladies that small gobble up that much food...!!!!!

Bottom line, it’s definitely disappointing to think of so much food bein’ wasted, so I hope most of it is goin’ to somebody that would appreciate it, and not bein’ thrown out...!!!

Unfortunately in today’s litigious society, most of it gets thrown out. Companies can’t give prepared food to homeless or charities for fear of being sued for food poisoning so into the trash it goes.

 

[donaldtoo]

Unfortunately in today’s litigious society, most of it gets thrown out. Companies can’t give prepared food to homeless or charities for fear of being sued for food poisoning so into the trash it goes.

It’s funny, at first we started droppin’ the leftovers off at the main homeless shelter in downtown Austin on our way home, but, too many of them were way too aggressive, so we discontinued that for the sake of all our safety, especially our children.
Our DS (our middle child) also always helped us with those concessions, as well.
Just sad, ‘cause we were more than willing to donate, and initially made the effort.
Not gonna’ jeopardize my families safety for that, though. Period.

 

[Vacationeer]

It gets dumped down the dumb waiter into the utilidoor and onto the conveyor over to imagineering. Originally these scraps were planned as part of Indy's new ride structure but when the call for backfill came from TRON, they were immediately rerouted there. Chicken and beans has a great aroma to camouflage sulfur apparently.

 

[MinnieM123]

Unfortunately in today’s litigious society, most of it gets thrown out. Companies can’t give prepared food to homeless or charities for fear of being sued for food poisoning so into the trash it goes.

This may vary from state to state, but my friends in foodservice (not Florida), have told me that patrons may not take home any items from a buffet. It's a Board of Health regulation. Reason is to protect people from potential food poisoning, once the food has left the establishment, (which had proper temperature controls, while at the buffet).

 

[networkpro]

It doesnt take much to find out where all of the uneaten food goes...

Disney Harvest works in partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Second Harvest is a nonprofit organization that provides food to over 500 partner agencies in six counties. Disney Harvest trucks deliver unused food at the end of each day, ensuring that thousands of pounds of food that would otherwise go to waste can be used to feed the hungry. The program regularly supplies enough food to feed approximately 1,000 children per week to Second Harvest, which then distributed the donations to its numerous food bank partners.

The nature of the Disney Harvest donations varies greatly thanks to the wide variety of restaurants at Walt Disney World. On any given day, the donations may include items ranging from pounds of salad fixings to steaks of filet mignon, and everything in between. In the year 2010, Disney Harvest donations to Second Harvest totaled over 360,000 lbs of food.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Every time weve been served at HDD its been a pretty coordinated, well timed service to get through the show. With the sections and number of tables each CM server is responsible for, they seem limited on the amount of time to return to the tables so I'm sure the large quantity put out is to help fill up the diners at the table and cut down on return trips to restock the dishes. Yes it is a lot of food and there is waste.... but if you cut back on portions guests will complain about meager servings for the cost and there will be lots more running work and less time for the servers to clear tables and move on. We do pretty well on emptying our platters and theres 3 of us at a table.

 

[LittleBuford]

It doesnt take much to find out where all of the uneaten food goes...

Disney Harvest works in partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Second Harvest is a nonprofit organization that provides food to over 500 partner agencies in six counties. Disney Harvest trucks deliver unused food at the end of each day, ensuring that thousands of pounds of food that would otherwise go to waste can be used to feed the hungry. The program regularly supplies enough food to feed approximately 1,000 children per week to Second Harvest, which then distributed the donations to its numerous food bank partners.

The nature of the Disney Harvest donations varies greatly thanks to the wide variety of restaurants at Walt Disney World. On any given day, the donations may include items ranging from pounds of salad fixings to steaks of filet mignon, and everything in between. In the year 2010, Disney Harvest donations to Second Harvest totaled over 360,000 lbs of food.

Unused and uneaten are two different things. I can see how food that never leaves the kitchen would be donated, but surely the leftovers from guests' tables cannot be distributed through this programme.

 

[LittleBuford]

Yes it is a lot of food and there is waste.... but if you cut back on portions guests will complain about meager servings for the cost and there will be lots more running work and less time for the servers to clear tables and move on.

I don't agree. First, the portions would still be and look substantial even after being reduced. Second, those guests who possess the appetite to get through it all (and I really think they'd be in the minority) would have no reason to complain if they knew they could ask for seconds. It's worth a try at least, and if guest reactions do prove to be negative, the current portion sizes could easily be reintroduced. I'm hopeful, however, that there are a fair number of people out there who are as dismayed as I am at seeing so much food, and particularly meat, go to waste.

 

[NickPytlinski]

there is also a difference between paying for the food given and food waste.

the ticket prices or dining plan prepayment credits cover the cost of the food given to each person/table so its not a waste in that respect.

However i understand it would be nice for them to send leftovers somewhere. i could imagine in goes into compost buckets for farmers or feed for pigs or other animals as long as its healthy.
not sure on the rules for this tho.

 

[JohnD]

I experienced the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue for the first time yesterday and enjoyed both the show and the food, which was much tastier than I thought it would be. What I didn't enjoy, however, was the amount of uneaten food at the end of it all. My friends and I went with empty stomachs knowing that it was all-you-can-eat, yet we barely managed a fraction of what was put on our table. Though I'm sure the odd party is able to get through it all, those around me were pretty much in the same boat as us. All that food definitely makes for an impressive visual feast, which I suppose is why they do it, but talk about wasteful! Even half the quantity would be sufficient, and those who want more could ask for it. Does anyone know if all the uneaten food is at least repurposed in any way? I'd like to think it's turned into animal feed, but that's probably highly wishful on my part.

I feel the same way about Liberty Tree Tavern dinner. Food is wonderful but the family style dining gives you too much food.