Get rid of McDonald's in the Parks

[MickeyTigg]

I don't like this agitating tone... :lookaroun :lookaroun :lookaroun

Yeah..don't let facts stand in the way of an illogical argument.

 

[TinkerBelle8878]

First off let me say that I do like McDonald's fries. They are pretty yummy.

BUT, it just seems out of place in WDW to be presented in the way they are. Everyone knows that Edy's is a supplier of their ice cream and that Coca-Cola is their beverages (if they don't bring them over to the former Ice Station Cool 'Club Cool' thing) but its never a coca-cola stand only serving coca-cola. Or a seperate Edy's ice cream kiosk only serving Edy's with a big sign.

Its always labeled but never so in your face as the McDonalds stuff is.

And yes there is a problem with obesity and fast food, McDonald's being one of the biggest offenders. So it is a bit strange in light of the whole severing ties thing that they're still a presence in the parks because of this reason.

Now if the McDonald's Kiosks were serving fruit dippers or whatnot, then it might not be as bad but we all know that isn't going to happen

I think that maybe 'French Fries brough to you by McDonalds' would go over better than McDonald's french fries at WDW.

 

[Horizons78]

Now if I were to try and look at it from a business standpoint. The opinions of the consumers would be my #1 concern, not the money, because without the positive opinions of the consumers.. you will not have any money.

If you opinions were your #1 concern you might quickly be bankrupt. Consumers express their opinion with their dollar. They may express their thoughts with their words, but they show their true nature with their spending. As long as the fry stands are making money they will stay. Opinions have nothing to do with the equation at all.

And don't give me that crap that Disney needs corporate sponsorships to maintain attractions. If corporate sponsorships help cover the costs of attraction maintenance, then why do ticket prices keep going up?

They call it inflation. Furthermore, Disney has a documentable history of letting certain attractions go or close when sponsorship is lost. The key to understanding this is that the issue is not whether the Disney company could afford to operate an attraction without sponshorship - rather it comes down to whether they want to or not. In some cases they have kept an attraction going, in other cases they have let them go.

If you are offended by me being so frank about people's weight, consider this: How would you feel, if you raised your child KNOWING they had a 65% better chance of getting type 2 diabetes? Well, if your child is obese, then you are doing so. Diabetes is not something to be naive about. People struggle with it, and die from it, every day in this country. The lap bar won't come all the way to your lap, because of your stomach? Take a hint. This is not just discrimination against fat people, this is a national wake up call to those who are satisified with their unhealthiness. Your medical problems due to your obesity cost us tax dollars.
I agree with Granny. Get rid of McDonald's in the parks.

You asked how I would feel about my children having a higher percentage when it comes to them getting type 2 diabetes.

I will teach them to know better than to live a life with no personal responsibilty. If we have a 65% larger anything in this country it is a 65% larger amount of people who feel that they should not be held accountable for the choices they make. There will always be people who are pre-disposed to weight problems but there are many more who simply make poor choices and then are surprised somehow by the result. Too much of almost anything in this life turns into a negative. But rather than make edicts about companies and fat grams and calories, people need to make smarter choices and excercise on a regular basis. Chicago recently passed a law stating that foie gras can no longer legally be served as the lawmakers felt that the farming of ducks and geese was cruel and inhumane. Fine. Now though, the same council that waged that war wants to ban soda sales and they point to the "detrimental" health effects of the consumption of soda.

Personally, I don't need a group of councilman or any other group starting to make decisions for me as to what I can and cannot consume when it comes to food based on their opinion of what is good for me. But, if people as a majority do not use personal responsiblity when making their choices, then ludicrous ideas such as this become reasonable to enough people so that changes are considered.

I don't blame the companies - I call on the consumers. Again, the way we spend our money dictates the rise and fall of commercial empires.


Lastly, regarding anyone that would push the boundary on making derogatory remarks connected with nationality - This isn't the place for it and it isnt tolerated by the moderators or the owner of this site. Just a friendly reminder.

 

[SpenceMan01]

I just refuse to go in there.

Hm. I thought I was the only one... :lookaroun

McDonalds is not one of the reasons America is fat. Nor is any other fast food restaurant the reason. People make themselves fat. Nobody is forcing people to eat their food.

Agreed, though someone could make the argument that McD's is enabling people to make bad decisions. I just think people need to be responsible for their decisions and not lay blame on others.

I'm surprised (unless I missed a post) that nobody has brought up the fact that, like Coke, McD's products are supplied to the parks FREE. That gives a HUGE financial incentive to Disney for offering it: pure profit.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Why ban McDonalds are you a member of the Campbell clan?

 

[jefmblrd]

I would just rather not see McDonalds in WDW; it's a matter of personal preference that's all.

 

[Scooter]

Disney allows McDonalds to have fry stands in WDW for two reason.
1) People LIKE them.
2) They're very lucrative.
While I'm not a big McDonalds fan myself, I think their fries are WAY superior to the greasy, soggy, limp fries that Disney sells in their Restuarants.
As a Disney stockholder, I'm all for Disney making money.

If you don't like them walk past them as I do.

I, personally get sick of seeing COKE signs all over the park.
At least the McDonalds ( barring the McD's in Downtown Disney)are a little Discreet.

 

[pinkrose]

I go to WDW to get some things that I can't get at home. It doesn't bother me to see the fries, I just don't get any. If someone wants to get fries, IMO go for it, to each his own.

Same here

 

[erasure fan1]

I have no problem with McD’s in the parks. As long as they don’t put up a huge restaurant with a Mc playplace then I don’t care. As for getting rid of them because the food makes you fat, Last time I checked just about every food place in Disney sells food that can make you fat. So McD’s fries make you more fat then the regular Fries sold all over Disney? What people should complain about is that the fries cost like 5 bucks!:lol:
As long as corporate sponsorship is done in a tasteful manner I don’t care. And if I do care, its like what a lot of people have said, I just DON’T go, Disney has a lot to see, do, eat… no one should concern themselves with something they don’t like, get over it and move on to something you do like, it’s a big place.

 

[MickeyTigg]

I would just rather not see McDonalds in WDW; it's a matter of personal preference that's all.

I'd rather not see arcades or VMK eating up valuable Main Street real estate...but I vote by not going there. I don't frequent the McD fry shops (though my son works at one)...but they really don't bother me.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

If you don't want to eat the McDonald's fries, then don't. But there are plenty of people (and I am not one of them) who want to eat them. Not a biggie, IMO.

 

[crazygirley]

Then, I gather you don't drink Coke at home or eat Edy's Ice Cream or use Kodak film, or....

:lookaroun

Exactly! And nobody if forcing the McDonalds fries down anyone's throat. Some people like McDonalds fries... so let THEM buy them. If YOU don't like them, don't buy them. There are other food options available. But I don't see why McDonalds as one of the options is that much of a problem?:veryconfu

 

[Testtrack321]

Now, McD's isn't food I do very often (ususaly for breakfast when I'm going somewhere on the run.) I'd be angry that McD's was taking over the parks, BUT......

a.) food at the parks isn't great to being with. We're not replacing 4 star resturaunts with fry carts.
b.) there aren't many, I can only think of three places throught the WDW parks to buy such fries.
c.) these places are out of the way and are taking up places where nothing was before, or where nothing was for many years
d.) picky kids eat food their used to. Hence why Amiercan Adventure hasn't changed from the typical theme park food to something more AMERICAN.

Keep the carts, I don't care (in fact french fries before the last showing of Fantasmic is good), but lets worry about things that matter, like, oh, poor maintainance, bad attractions, and rude CMs, m'kay?

I think we should get rid of the McDonalds in the parks for a reason having nothing to do with money or corporate sponsorship:

America is already the fattest country in the world, McDonald's is one of major reasons for this. I am aware that it is peoples choice of what food they want to eat, but when you are at WDW, just like anywhere else, you can choose to make smart decisions rather than awful ones. (A medium McDonalds fry has 380 calories, 20g of fat, and 5g of trans fat. Which means you're getting 30%, on average, of your total fat value from ONE ITEM.) It's great fat people want us to feel sorry for them and stop calling them fat, but I will stop calling people fat when they put down the damned french fries. Cheap food is almost always the unhealthiest, (thus the reason mcdonalds is so successful and also a major contributor to the obesity epidemic). If you are offended by me being so frank about people's weight, consider this: How would you feel, if you raised your child KNOWING they had a 65% better chance of getting type 2 diabetes? Well, if your child is obese, then you are doing so. Diabetes is not something to be naive about. People struggle with it, and die from it, every day in this country. The lap bar won't come all the way to your lap, because of your stomach? Take a hint. This is not just discrimination against fat people, this is a national wake up call to those who are satisified with their unhealthiness. Your medical problems due to your obesity cost us tax dollars.

I agree with Granny. Get rid of McDonald's in the parks.

Right right, so I eat McD's and other "fast food" places rarely, and this extra heft is from that? Uh, no. Reason why Americans are fat is our addiction to sedentary activities and bad portion control, which every resturaunt is guilty of.

 

[dvitali]

One thing I like to point out that you should complain to McDonald headquarter or your local MCDonald if you want a menu change. In Asia McDonald sell Rice instead of fries,Chicken drumstick instead of Nuggets. Soybean or Veggie burger instead of hamburger. Heck they even sold Spaghetti with tomato sauce. And their Big Mac come with the old paper ring around the middle to hold it in place like it used to do. But Disney is for all of us even if we differ to agree on the value of it being in the park from select few who oppion differ from other.

 

[crazygirley]

Right right, so I eat McD's and other "fast food" places rarely, and this extra heft is from that? Uh, no. Reason why Americans are fat is our addiction to sedentary activities and bad portion control, which every resturaunt is guilty of.

True.

McDonalds does sell it's fair share of unhealthy food... but it also does sell salads... and the last time I checked, a salad with no dressing is pretty much fat free. Goes back to the whole, nobody is shoving the greasy fry or trans fatty Big Mac down your throat... YOU are, not McDonalds. It's always McDonalds problem... not the fact that some Americans have no self control.

Disney World also offers it's own fair share of unhealthy food... including McDonalds fries. They also sell salads and other healthier alternatives. Bottom line, don't visit an American theme park and expect to find too many healthy options.

 

[crazygirley]

And one more question...

Is it just McDonalds fries that are the problem, or are the Disney fries also a problem?

In that case, I guess we need to get rid of them... and the burgers, and chicken strips, and Dole Whips, and Mickey Premium Bars, and all of the other foods we start threads on about how wonderful they are, but which are also equally unhealthy.

 

[dvitali]

Question: From what company do Disney get their Chicken and Turkey Legs From? I hope it not from Perdue that also supply Kentucky Fried Chicken. I hate to have the Animals abuse Protector start complaining about Disney buying chicken being abuse in small cages.

 

[IcicleM]

Yes, I would say that a lot of restaurants are guilty of portion control, because if you go to Cheesecake Factory, you better be ordering only one thing, because they give you enormous proportions. Sometimes, UNO's does as well. I'm not sure why. I don't think it's at all because they WANT their customers to get fat, but because they want to fill them up. With McDonald's, I just recently noticed - when I got McDonald's from a 24-Hour Drive-Through window - that all the nutrition information is on the side, and they don't hide anything about it. It tells how much fat and sodium are contained in the fries, and I didn't care.

I grew up on McDonalds, and, growing up, I was able to associate which place I wanted to go to because of the toys that were in the Happy Meal. Disney made a deal with McDonalds a long time ago, and it just happens that I associate McDonald's with Disney (because of that reason)

As for the fries, and the fat value of it, and blah blah blah, I'm not fat, and neither are my friends who are beautiful people with a healthy weight, who go to the mall almost every other day, and get a "small coke and a medium fry" Do you know why? Because there actually are responsible Americans out there who take the liberty to take it in their own hands and make sure they are healthy, they work out, and they are strict when it comes to their own meal portions.

Most likely, you're going to gain more weight going to a Cheesecake Factory every other night for Dinner, than you are when you go to McDonald's because most restaurants out there not only not have a visible place where you can see the nutritional value of all their items, but their portions will always be that certain size. Whenever my friend orders even a SALAD at Champps, it's always big, and too much to eat. With McDonald's, they give you actual size choices.

All in all, this is my point: Just because McDonald's are IN the parks, does not mean they will DEFINETELY cause any kind of harm to anyone. Sure, it might make you feel uncomfortable knowing that McDonald's is there because the Media gives you a percentage of fat people in the country compared to the percentage of fat people in other countries, or because you might see more McDonald's than you would a more healthier place, like Wendy's (not kidding here, their new Sandwiches are the best things I've ever tasted, made of real EVERYTHING, and eating only one will fill me up), or because when you hear "bad food" or "bad for you" you immedietely think McDonald's because of the history it's had, or because they made an independant documentary on how one guy, after eating McDonalds for a week, became very very sick.

This same thing is done with many other subjects in America that can go either way, like gun control, birth control, rights, or WHATEVER you can think of that can have two sides. You are only being fed the absolute negative aspects.

Did you know, that at one point, even though crime had gone down 15%, the media still portrayed it as going UP? It's because, for whatever reason, the media thinks that Americans need to be afraid of guns, of violence, of getting fat, of even their own children! When you watch the news, most of it is on how fat America is, how violent Americans are, and how the war is going in Iraq. ARE WE BEING FED ANY OTHER KIND OF INFORMATION?! Because of this, Americans DO become afraid, paranoid, and they worry, and talk about these things because IT'S THE ONLY THING ON THE NEWS. The moment they stop complaining about them, and stop actually observing and finding out the truth for themselves, they will change. Until then, I'm afraid you're going to have people who don't care about their health, who don't care if they go and get greasy foods in excess, and hurt themselves.

For you, all I can say is if you want to be healthy, if you want your children to be healthy, if you want your own dignity to be preserved, then gain the knowledge to know what's healthy and what's not, what's best to be taken in small amounts, and what is good enough to be eaten every day, and as long as you know that, then you yourself will be fine. The same goes with guns, or anything else that may be a danger to you, or people around you. If EVERY SINGLE PERSON stops COMPLAINING, and starts learning, you'll find a whole lot less fat people, a whole lot less violence, and a whole lot less of these posts around message boards, where people just want to see who else out there doesn't quite understand why people do the things they do.

I know that this post may have had good intentions, but really, all you were doing was complaining about something that's been discussed already, and both sides have shared their opinions, and the best thing you can do, whenever you want to post about something like the fat in McDonald's foods, is think "Well gosh, I'm pretty sure at least one or two other people has dicussed this, and I know McDonald's has been in the parks for a while... I guess the best thing for me to do is know how much or how little I should give my kids when it comes to fast food."

One little box of fries is not going to kill your kids. I know that me, personally, even though I'm 17 (gasp) I can actually make the decision on my own to know how much I should have, and how much I can take. I know that doing push ups and sit ups in my room every night actually counts as a work out and has made a significant change on my body in the past few years. If you know that, Ganny, or anyone else out there, then making a post like this (complaining about McDonald's in the parks) shouldn't matter. You shouldn't even feel the need to INFORM anyone that they should take fast food in small portions, because no one will care, and no one will listen until they figure it out for themselves.

It's the reason that so many people try day in and day out to follow a diet that won't help them. Unfortunetely, these Diets are also created (gasp) to make money. It's what some of those corporations do best; They make money in whatever way they can. For McDonald's, making greasy bad-for-you foods that taste good is the way they did it. For Disney, they did it in so many ways, I can't even list them all. These two companies fused together, no one can do anything about it, so let's not complain, and let's just know for ourselves (meaning personally, meaning no one else needs to be involved, meaning try as hard as you can not to post it on a Message Board) what we can do to make ourselves healthier by possibly spending less on a Gym and working out at home, by spending less every single day on a food product that we know will get us sick and fat, and possibly even spending less time worrying about it, and focusing on more things like educating ourselves and our kids that eating those foods all the time isn't a good idea. Maybe then they won't grow up to be fat, or know that it's okay to eat A LOT of food. Maybe then they'll actually know they have a parent who cares for THEM, and not that they're AROUND a place that just SO HAPPENS to sell greasy fries.

I garuntee that Turkey Leg has more fat in it and that Popcorn has more sodium in it, than those fries

 

[8<:-)]

Yes, I would say that a lot of restaurants are guilty of portion control, because if you go to Cheesecake Factory, you better be ordering only one thing, because they give you enormous proportions. Sometimes, UNO's does as well. I'm not sure why. I don't think it's at all because they WANT their customers to get fat, but because they want to fill them up. With McDonald's, I just recentyl noticed, when I got McDonald's from a 24-Hour Drive-Through window, that all the nutrition information is on the side, and they don't hide anything about it. It tells hot much fat and sodium are contained in the fries, and I didn't care.

I grew up on McDonalds, and growing up, I was able to associate which place I wanted to go to because of the toys I wanted in the Happy Meal. Disney made a deal with McDonalds a long time ago, and it just happens that I associate McDonald's with Disney (because of that reason)

As for the fries, and the fat value of it, and blah blah blah, I'm not fat, and neither are my friends who are beautiful people with a healthy weight, who go to the mall almost every other day, and get a "small coke and a medium fry" Do you know why? Because there actually are responsible Americans out there who take the liberty to take it in their own hands and make sure they are healthy, they work out, or they restrict their portions.

Most likely, you're going to gain more weight going to a Cheesecake Factor every other night for Dinner, than you are when you go to McDonalds because most restaurants out there not only not have a visible place where you can see the nutritional value of all their items, but their portions will always be that certain size. Whenever my friend orders even a SALAD at Champps, it's always big, and too much to eat.

All in all, this is my point: Just because McDonalds are IN the parks, does not mean they will DEFINETELY cause any kind of harm to anyone. Sure, it might make you feel uncomfortable knowing that McDonalds is there because the Media gives you a percentage of fat people in the country compared to the percentage of fat people in other countries, or because you might see more McDonalds than you would a more healthier place, like Wendy's (not kidding here, their new Sandwiches are the best things I've ever tasted, made of real EVERYTHING, and eating only one will fill me up), or because when you hear "bad food" or "bad for you" you immedietely think McDonald's because of the history it's had, or because they made an independant documentary on how one guy, after eating McDonalds for a week, became very very sick.

This same thing is done with many other subjects in America that can go either way, like gun control, birth control, rights, or WHATEVER you can think of that can have two sides. You are only being fed the absolute negative aspects.

Did you know, that at one point, even though crime had gone down 15%, the media still portrayed it as going UP? It's because, for whatever reason, the media thinks that Americans need to be afraid of guns, of violence, of getting fat, of even their children! Because of this, Americans DO become afraid, a paranoid, and worry and talk about these things because they think their an issue. The moment they stop complaining about them, and stop actually observing and finding out the truth for themselves, they will change. Until then, I'm afraid you're going to have people who don't care about their health, who don't care if they go and get greasy foods in excess, and hurt themselves.

For you, all I can say is if you want to be healthy, if you want your children to be healthy, if you want your own dignity to be preserved, then gain the knowledge to know what's healthy and what's not, what's best to be taken in small amounts, and what is good enough to be eaten every day, and as long as you know that, then you yourself will be fine. The same goes with guns, or anything else that may be a danger to you, or people around you. If EVERY SINGLE PERSON stops COMPLAINING, and starts learning, you'll find a whole lot less fat people, a whole lot less violence, and a whole lot less of these posts around message boards, where people just want to see who else out there doesn't quite understand why people do the things they do.

I know that this post may have had good intentions, but really, all you were doing was complaining about something that's been discussed already, and both sides have shared their opinions, and the best thing you can do, whenever you want to post about something like the fat in McDonald's foods, is think "Well gosh, I'm pretty sure at least one or two other people has dicussed this, and I know McDonald's has been in the parks for a while... I guess the best thing for me to do is know how much or how little I should give my kids when it comes to fast foods"

One little box of fries is not going to kill your kids. I know that me, personally, even though I'm 17 (gasp) I can actually make the decision on my own to know how much I should have, and how much I can take. If you know that, Ganny, or anyone else out there, then making a post like this shouldn't matter. You shouldn't even feel the need to INFORM anyone that they should take fast food in small portions, because no one will care, and no one will listen until they figure it out for themselves.

It's the reason that so many people try day in and day out to follow a diet that won't help them. Unfortunetely, these Diets are also created (gasp) make money. It's what some of those corporations do best; They make money in whatever way they can. For McDonald's, making greasy bad-for-you foods that taste good is the way they did it. For Disney, they did it in so many ways, I can't even list them all. These two companies fused together, no one can do anything about it, so let's not complain, and let's just know for ourselves (meaning personally, meaning no one else needs to be involved, meaning try as hard as you can not to post it on a Message Board) what we can do to make ourselves healthier by possibly spending less on a Gym and working out at home, by spending less every single day on a food product that we know will get us sick and fat, and possibly even spending less time worrying about it, and focusing on more things like educating ourselves and our kids that eating those foods all the time isn't a good idea. Maybe then they won't grow up to be fat, or know that it's okay to eat A LOT of food. Maybe then they'll actually know they have a parent who cares for THEM, and not that they're AROUND a place that just SO HAPPENS to sell greasy fries.

I garuntee that Turkey Leg has more fat in it and that Popcorn has more sodium in it, than those fries

Everyone got all that?.....

 

[JustinTheClaw]

Obesity is getting ridiculous in America but it's not the fast food places who are at fault. People have to take responsibility for their own actions including what they eat. At Disney parks there are enough food choices that they're not stuffing McDonalds down your throat, so I don't see a problem with just having a McDonalds stand there.

Not to get off topic here, but I'd just like to contribute an "amen" in response to this paragraph.