Is WDW phoning it in for CS & Snacks because of DDP?

[mjr0483]

Does the DDP stifle creativity?

Stay with me, Touring Plans did a youtube on WDW snack challenge and they brought to the table a cup of vegetarian chili, Mickey Premium Bar, Stuffed Pretzel, Dole Whip, Chocolate covered Pineapple on a stick and Cinnamon roll from Gaston's.

Mind you they all needed to be DDP snack eligible, but is this the best that WDW has to offer for snacks?

I have also watched DIS Unplugged where they rave over DL snacks and counter service. What is the difference? DDP.

How could Disney get it so right in one place and so wrong in another?

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Does the DDP stifle creativity?

Stay with me, Touring Plans did a youtube on WDW snack challenge and they brought to the table a cup of vegetarian chili, Mickey Premium Bar, Stuffed Pretzel, Dole Whip, Chocolate covered Pineapple on a stick and Cinnamon roll from Gaston's.

Mind you they all needed to be DDP snack eligible, but is this the best that WDW has to offer for snacks?

I have also watched DIS Unplugged where they rave over DL snacks and counter service. What is the difference? DDP.

How could Disney get it so right in one place and so wrong in another?

I don't think it stifles creativity so much as that the logistics of ordering and disposing of the immense food waste that is cafeteria food-service for >176 million visitors a year can really limit one's budget. I am sure that DL has enjoyed the benefits of being able to provide better meals, what with Club 33 over there and higher expectations to be matched.

 

[chris benton]

Does the DDP stifle creativity?

Stay with me, Touring Plans did a youtube on WDW snack challenge and they brought to the table a cup of vegetarian chili, Mickey Premium Bar, Stuffed Pretzel, Dole Whip, Chocolate covered Pineapple on a stick and Cinnamon roll from Gaston's.

Mind you they all needed to be DDP snack eligible, but is this the best that WDW has to offer for snacks?

I have also watched DIS Unplugged where they rave over DL snacks and counter service. What is the difference? DDP.

How could Disney get it so right in one place and so wrong in another?

I might be confused here. My first inclination is that you are thinking that the 6 items listed are the only things that are considered snacks on the ddp?

ETA - I think I saw part of the youtube vid you are referring to. That was a tasting of 6 different snack choices at MK, not WDW. There are a lot more snacks than those 6 at MK, and also there are more parks than MK. I think if you want to start a thread of a lack of snacks choices at Magic Kingdom only, you might gain some traction for finding decent items. I think everyone knows that MK is lacking in quality food in general. But to say that in general for all of WDW, is not accurate, and I'm not even a big fan of the food throughout the DIS. If you are looking for snack choices, either in MK only, or in all of WDW there are several such lists. There's even one on this board - takes a long while to load.

 

[Disneylover99]

There is a lot of variety of eligible ddp snack credits throughout DW.

 

[sharonabe]

While the DDPs might be ONE variable in the difference between WDW and DL food quality and choices, I think there is another variable that makes more of a difference: DL is within walking distance of many non-Disney restaurants, so guests are not "forced" to eat at Disney whereas WDW visitors have a much harder time getting off "campus" to find other places to eat. I would love to see the percentage of WDW guests who eat offsite compared to DL. Also, DL has many, many more day guests from the surrounding area than WDW has from Orlando.

 

[mjr0483]

There is a lot of variety of eligible ddp snack credits throughout DW.

Yes there are But the question is, in the Snack smack down. Who wins? WDW or DL? I think DL is more creative with better snacks. And my question is does WDW not offer more and better snacks because of the DDP? Is it economy or the lack of creativity?

 

[mjr0483]

While the DDPs might be ONE variable in the difference between WDW and DL food quality and choices, I think there is another variable that makes more of a difference: DL is within walking distance of many non-Disney restaurants, so guests are not "forced" to eat at Disney whereas WDW visitors have a much harder time getting off "campus" to find other places to eat. I would love to see the percentage of WDW guests who eat offsite compared to DL. Also, DL has many, many more day guests from the surrounding area than WDW has from Orlando.

I for one am not leaving a park to get a snack or lunch. Yet DL exceeds variety and quality over WDW. Just to apples to apples, think MK to DL.

 

[mjr0483]

I might be confused here. My first inclination is that you are thinking that the 6 items listed are the only things that are considered snacks on the ddp?

ETA - I think I saw part of the youtube vid you are referring to. That was a tasting of 6 different snack choices at MK, not WDW. There are a lot more snacks than those 6 at MK, and also there are more parks than MK. I think if you want to start a thread of a lack of snacks choices at Magic Kingdom only, you might gain some traction for finding decent items. I think everyone knows that MK is lacking in quality food in general. But to say that in general for all of WDW, is not accurate, and I'm not even a big fan of the food throughout the DIS. If you are looking for snack choices, either in MK only, or in all of WDW there are several such lists. There's even one on this board - takes a long while to load.

Yes can compare MK to DL and I think DL wins hands down. But I am trying to drill down on why and is it the DDP?

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Does the DDP stifle creativity?

Stay with me, Touring Plans did a youtube on WDW snack challenge and they brought to the table a cup of vegetarian chili, Mickey Premium Bar, Stuffed Pretzel, Dole Whip, Chocolate covered Pineapple on a stick and Cinnamon roll from Gaston's.

Mind you they all needed to be DDP snack eligible, but is this the best that WDW has to offer for snacks?

I have also watched DIS Unplugged where they rave over DL snacks and counter service. What is the difference? DDP.

How could Disney get it so right in one place and so wrong in another?

WDW has wonderful creativity when it comes to snacks at the Epcot special events. I love those booths at F&W and F&G and the Festival of the Arts.

They also have some nice variety at AK. Maybe the Touring Plans snack challenge just chose less creative snacks, but that doesn’t mean creative snacks aren’t available.

I do think the dining plan has affected the food quality and possibly some of the variety, but there is still a lot of variety at WDW.

 

[disparksfan]

DDP may play a part, but I think it's more the visitor makeup. DL is primarily a locals park with some visitors, where WDW is the other way around. When you're trying to get locals to keep coming back, you have to up your game on the things that are easily changeable. Food, especially Insta-worthy snacks, is an easy win for them.

But I think WDW also saves most of their food creativity for the festival booths. No reason to make much effort with the mainstay snacks when there's pretty much year round festivals now.

ETA: Having a captive audience would play a big part as well. You can easily leave DL and grab a bite somewhere else if you want. Where you're looking at probably a good hour just to leave MK, most people aren't going to bother.

 

[JeninBrant]

mjr0483 I have been to DL more than I have been to DW. We are taking our first family trip to DW very soon. What snacks are so unique to DL? I just always thought that my favorites would also be somewhere at DW.

 

[chris benton]

Yes can compare MK to DL and I think DL wins hands down. But I am trying to drill down on why and is it the DDP?

Ok, so is this your question - Do the snack offerings at MK (and only MK) lack creativity vs DL because of the ddp?
I'm not sure if that would make sense that it's because of the dining plan for MK only. Does DL win hands down when compared to Epcot and AK? (Lol - we can leave Hollyweird out of this - I think we know the answer if DL would win vs Hollywood.) There are plenty of snacks on the ddp at EP and AK that are not so ice cream bar or chunk of pineapple-ish)

 

[Allison]

No and no.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I have been to WDW over 40 times in the last 10 years. Just over the past few years, the variety of snacks WDW offers has increased quite substantially. I remember walking through the parks (EP specifically) and literally only being able to find danishes and doughnuts bigger than my head at the food/beverage kiosks. This past trip, we went to a cart in FW and they had fresh fruits, cheeses, vegetables, etc. on offer in addition to the typically carb and sugar-loaded options. I find that the variety and creativity have actually increased. And during the festivals, the variety and creativity increase even more. I'm sure the cost of DDP must factor into what is offered at WDW (portion size, etc.), but there is certainly no lack of variety, IMHO.

 

[mjr0483]

mjr0483 I have been to DL more than I have been to DW. We are taking our first family trip to DW very soon. What snacks are so unique to DL? I just always thought that my favorites would also be somewhere at DW.

This list includes a couple from DCA.

Hand dipped ice cream bars, mickey Macarons, Matterhorn macaroon, homemade candy canes, homemade toffee, tigger tails, peanut butter sandwich at Pooh corner, bengal bbq skewers, mickey beignets, bread cones, chocolate dipped ice cream cone,

 

[Allison]

Cheshire Cat Tails in Magic Kingdom
A variety of caramel treats in Germany
Crepes in France
Macaroons, tarts, creme brulee, beignets, and Napoleons in France
School bread in Norway
Edamame and beef skewers in AK

Just to name a few. Seems pretty similar to what you listed.

 

[Allison]

Take a look at the menus on allears. You will find a wide variety of choices.

 

[Disneylover99]

This list includes a couple from DCA.

Hand dipped ice cream bars, mickey Macarons, Matterhorn macaroon, homemade candy canes, homemade toffee, tigger tails, peanut butter sandwich at Pooh corner, bengal bbq skewers, mickey beignets, bread cones, chocolate dipped ice cream cone,

Thanks for posting some examples. I really have no idea about snacks at DL. The only thing in your list that sounds remotely interesting to me are the skewers, but I'm more of a savoury snacker. So I think for me, DW offers the better snacks.

 

[Sparkly]

Cheshire Cat Tails in Magic Kingdom
A variety of caramel treats in Germany
Crepes in France
Macaroons, tarts, creme brulee, beignets, and Napoleons in France
School bread in Norway
Edamame and beef skewers in AK

Just to name a few. Seems pretty similar to what you listed.

And the carrot cake cookie, peanut butter/butterfinger cupcake, anything from F&W (counts because they're all snack sized portions and 1 snack credit on the DDP ), dole whip with pineapple upside down cake....WDW takes snacks seriously!

 

[mcurran]

Are dL and mk snacks the same? No and I like that they have different things to offer.
Are they comparable? Yes. Those different lists above from dL and mk really do sound quite similar.

Overall argument is fundamentally flawed for two reasons:
1. Is dining plan a part of anything? It’s apples and oranges. If you want to compare snack credit foods fine by there are a ton of non snack credit elagable “snacks” at mk that are creative and delicious. Like Nutella waffle and fruit as an example.
2. DL benifits by only having primarily one park so they can afford to put all of their creativity in one spot. Dw has to spread out among 4 parks (6 if you count water parks and 7 if you include Disney springs) And don’t even get me started on the themed resorts with specialty snacks. DL can concentrate all of their snacks in ~1 park. African, Asian, Pandoran, world showcase, all to name a few specialties that are saved for other non mk parks.

Could they be better? I think disney himself was a believer in continuous improvement and I haven’t seen a review on disboards that didn’t express some opportunity for improvement. But I think it’s all good and some standouts always exist.