Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[xuxa777]

I'm confused by this comment? Obviously, nobody wants to get sick from any sort of shared common spaces (which buffets are most certainly), but with a dangerous virus with a high rate of transmissibility going around, people would understandably be more cautious or concerned about the tongs, pans, utensils and other tools they'd be sharing with other patrons to obtain the food as well as the physical layout of the process of obtaining food (i.e. how much space is between you and other patrons). If these locations remain "serve yourself," people also can understandably be worried about an asymptomatic child touching the food or tongs . This definitely happens at Disney. Just ask a buffet chef. For very, very serious food allergies, chefs ask guests if they can just prepare the food individually for that guest, because of this exact concern (a kid taking the tongs from a cheese-dressed salad and using them to grab other nearby cheese-free food).

As far as I can tell, nobody is raising concerns with food quality but rather the means of obtaining the food. Buffets as they traditionally operate can be problematic in that sense.

The poster replied to/quoted my post about serving it cafeteria style. The general public does not touch any serving utensils that way if served cafeteria style.

 

[Pluginbaby]

I think it’s really encouraging to at least hear some rumblings of things starting to move - rumour or not, at least they’re positive/optimistic rumours for a change!

I am from the UK so whilst we have a reservation for two weeks in September, we’re being quite pessimistic still as to the chances of international travel being allowed (be that UK side or whether the US even allows international arrivals at airports by then).

Be that as it may, seeing some of the things we all love start to come alive again will truly be a lovely thing to see. This is an awful time for everyone and seeing a little bit of optimism and happiness is something that a lot of us need right now.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

The buffets ARE Disney World. If they’re not going to have buffets they might as well not even open. We eat at buffets for every dinner - I have a standing reservation at my local Golden Corral, and while on vacation we eat at buffets for both lunch AND dinner. This move disgusts me. I will be keeping my family far from Disney until they bring back our beloved buffets, which is the most magical part of the trip that surely Walt would want us to enjoy. Maybe Universal will be a better spot to spend our money if they’re going to be sensible and give we the people what we want - which is buffets!

 

[xuxa777]

The buffets ARE Disney World. If they’re not going to have buffets they might as well not even open. We eat at buffets for every dinner - I have a standing reservation at my local Golden Corral, and while on vacation we eat at buffets for both lunch AND dinner. This move disgusts me. I will be keeping my family far from Disney until they bring back our beloved buffets, which is the most magical part of the trip that surely Walt would want us to enjoy. Maybe Universal will be a better spot to spend our money if they’re going to be sensible and give we the people what we want - which is buffets!

So we will put you as a yes for buffets

 

[RWinNOLA]

The buffets ARE Disney World. If they’re not going to have buffets they might as well not even open. We eat at buffets for every dinner - I have a standing reservation at my local Golden Corral, and while on vacation we eat at buffets for both lunch AND dinner. This move disgusts me. I will be keeping my family far from Disney until they bring back our beloved buffets, which is the most magical part of the trip that surely Walt would want us to enjoy. Maybe Universal will be a better spot to spend our money if they’re going to be sensible and give we the people what we want - which is buffets!

With all due respect, I think you are in the minority in saying that the “Buffets are Disney World”.
Disney offers so much and dining is a big part of it but I doubt that many would refuse to go to WDW without buffets.
My family always plans several dining reservations in advance and we always try to get Tusker House which is a buffet. But I would be fine with some altered version of the Tusker House experience if the food was similar (but perhaps limited).
With all the other modifications being discussed, buffers are wayyyyy down on the list for me.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

With all due respect, I think you are in the minority in saying that the “Buffets are Disney World”.
Disney offers so much and dining is a big part of it but I doubt that many would refuse to go to WDW without buffets.
My family always plans several dining reservations in advance and we always try to get Tusker House which is a buffet. But I would be fine with some altered version of the Tusker House experience if the food was similar (but perhaps limited).
With all the other modifications being discussed, buffers are wayyyyy down on the list for me.

I believe the poster saying "buffets are Disney World" had their tongue firmly in their cheek when typing. For those who may not be familiar with the term tongue in cheek, it means they don't really mean it; i.e. they are being sarcastic, joking.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

With all due respect, I think you are in the minority in saying that the “Buffets are Disney World”.
Disney offers so much and dining is a big part of it but I doubt that many would refuse to go to WDW without buffets.
My family always plans several dining reservations in advance and we always try to get Tusker House which is a buffet. But I would be fine with some altered version of the Tusker House experience if the food was similar (but perhaps limited).
With all the other modifications being discussed, buffers are wayyyyy down on the list for me.

Sir/Madam!
With all due respect I believe you are in the minority here! Buffets at Disney World are as American as Apple Pie and Baseball! George Washington didn’t cross the Delaware so that you and I could be brought limited portions of food - no! He braved the icy waters so that you and I could use plastic and metal tongs to load up our own plates with copious amounts of food...any number of plates we want in-fact!

 

[DavidHobart]

I believe the poster saying "buffets are Disney World" had their tongue firmly in their cheek when typing. For those who may not be familiar with the term tongue in cheek, it means they don't really mean it; i.e. they are being sarcastic, joking.

I will only return to Disney World if I can have a buffet, in a pool.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

I believe the poster saying "buffets are Disney World" had their tongue firmly in their cheek when typing. For those who may not be familiar with the term tongue in cheek, it means they don't really mean it; i.e. they are being sarcastic, joking.

So, they are serving tongue in the buffets, now?

 

[Pickle Rick]

I believe the poster saying "buffets are Disney World" had their tongue firmly in their cheek when typing. For those who may not be familiar with the term tongue in cheek, it means they don't really mean it; i.e. they are being sarcastic, joking.

Obviously he's being sarcastic, but I'd argue that character Buffet dining are some of the most popular things at WDW.

 

[andyman8]

I think the post he was responding to was talking about the food quality of a buffet. Food sitting around for a long time certainly is reason to not want to go to a buffet, but not necessarily because of corona.

But yeah, there are plenty of reasons a buffet is problematic if we're concerned about the virus.

The poster replied to/quoted my post about serving it cafeteria style. The general public does not touch any serving utensils that way if served cafeteria style.

Ah gotcha. That's still not by all means the complete solution here, because you're still trying to avoid crowding and chokepoints. Some buffets are better than others with that, but the only real way to guarantee avoiding that is to significantly reduce the capacity of buffet restaurants. I don't know what that does to profitability margins for Disney and at what point it makes sense to operate them.

I'm pretty convinced that we won't see buffets reopen in the first phase of WDW reopening. If you look to the Shanghai Disney model, which I am by no means saying is indicative of how WDW will reopen, you saw them open other restaurants at Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and Disneytown (their version of Disney Springs/DTD) two or three weeks before the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel buffet opened. I'm sorry but I just don't see the lack of buffets as much of a turn-off for the average guests (they probably wouldn't even know they're not operating them beforehand ). Maybe the lack of character dining might have an effect, but I think requirements for face masks, being in spaces even perceived as somewhat crowded, and economic effects from all these closures are far more likely reasons any large sum of people would stay away from WDW.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

Sir/Madam!
With all due respect I believe you are in the minority here! Buffets at Disney World are as American as Apple Pie and Baseball! George Washington didn’t cross the Delaware so that you and I could be brought limited portions of food - no! He braved the icy waters so that you and I could use plastic and metal tongs to load up our own plates with copious amounts of food...any number of plates we want in-fact!

Is it possible to have sarcasm be sarcastic?

it's... Sarception...

 

[gottalovepluto]

Obviously he's being sarcastic, but I'd argue that character Buffet dining are some of the most popular things at WDW.

Both with guests and the Accounting Department

 

[juice0358]

I'm confused by this comment? Obviously, nobody wants to get sick from any sort of shared common spaces (which buffets are most certainly), but with a dangerous virus with a high rate of transmissibility going around, people would understandably be more cautious or concerned about the tongs, pans, utensils and other tools they'd be sharing with other patrons to obtain the food as well as the physical layout of the process of obtaining food (i.e. how much space is between you and other patrons). If these locations remain "serve yourself," people also can understandably be worried about an asymptomatic child touching the food or tongs . This definitely happens at Disney. Just ask a buffet chef. For very, very serious food allergies, chefs ask guests if they can just prepare the food individually for that guest, because of this exact concern over cross-contamination (a kid taking the tongs from a cheese-dressed salad and using them to grab other nearby cheese-free food for example).

As far as I can tell, nobody is raising concerns with food quality but rather the means of obtaining the food. Buffets as they traditionally operate can be problematic in that sense.

XUXA is the board scientist, anything they say is gospel and fact, you can not question them. Their opinion is superior to everyone.

 

[mhautz]

XUXA is the board scientist, anything they say is gospel and fact, you can not question them. Their opinion is superior to everyone.

I hope so. I like the idea of WDW opening soon with minimal restrictions and no danger of getting Covid-19.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

So, they are serving tongue in the buffets, now?

Tomorrow, while scrolling through Instagram stories, a swipe up link with a click bait-y headline... “The STRANGE new must try item heading to WDW buffets in 2020!”

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

Tomorrow, while scrolling through Instagram stories, a swipe up link with a click bait-y headline... “The STRANGE new must try item heading to WDW buffets in 2020!”

I see you follow DFB on insta too

 

[andyman8]

Tomorrow, while scrolling through Instagram stories, a swipe up link with a click bait-y headline... “The STRANGE new must try item heading to WDW buffets in 2020!”

This is a bit off-topic but does anybody remember those two weeks a number of years ago when WDW was selling "animal poop" (chocolate) at Zuri's Sweets in DAK lol? Talk about decedent Disney desserts!

 

[1GoldenSun]

I wouldn't really miss any of the buffets except Boma. I would really miss that, and I doubt they'd maintain the current variety if they went to family style or small plates. What I like most is the ability to take just a tiny taste of many different things. I know buffets are kind of gross but for the ability to take small portions of lots of things according to how good they look to me (rather than ordering something sight unseen) I manage to put it out of my head, much like I do in public swimming pools because to me those are even more disgusting than buffets.

Most of the other buffets at Disney just aren't that special, food-wise. Except maybe Tusker House, but that's just Boma Lite with characters.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I think if they feel it’s helpful to their goals, whether that’s safety or cost, they won’t be afraid to streamline individual restaurant menus as well as more standardized menus across property.

Even in good times most people* didn’t go to Chef Mickeys for the food.

*I said most guys. Chef Mickey foodies don’t come for me.