Stupid Guest Tricks

When guests check out of WDW hotels and leave unused or unopened dry foods (cereal, chips, breakfast bars, etc.), does Disney donate these to local charities or food pantries?

We visit the World twice a year and we often make a Publix run on our first day. We eat and drink almost everything that we buy, but on occasion, we end up with leftover items. We take what we can with us, but in some cases, we end up leaving behind small items like what I described above. I'd feel much better about leaving things we can't take with us if I knew that someone was benefiting from them.

(Now, I certainly wouldn't expect half-used milk or juice or perishable items to be donated, but I'm referring to non-perishables.)

Thanks!

goofyjoe wrote:When guests check out of WDW hotels and leave unused or unopened dry foods (cereal, chips, breakfast bars, etc.), does Disney donate these to local charities or food pantries?

No, but not because we don't want to. We can't.

Disney used to work with Second Harvest until we outgrew them. "Disney Harvest" now redirects a whole lot of food to area shelters on a daily basis.

What's the difference? Chain of custody. We know the food prepared by our kitchens is safe, after all we serve it to our guests. But we don't know what mysterious things might have happened to that box of Fruit Loops between factory and hotel room, and Legal isn't going to let us find out the hard way.

Yes, it does seem a waste, but the risk of trouble far outweighs the value of such food items, which are actually not all that common.

Welcome to the litigious world of the 21st century!

Zazu wrote:Welcome to the litigious world of the 21st century!

Thanks, Zazu! Figured you'd have the answer. I appreciate your insights.

It's unfortunate that they won't donate anything that we leave behind, though we rarely leave things. Though, given the commercials we always see when we're in Orlando, there are more than enough attorneys to take such a case. (Wonder how big the "sue Disney" cottage industry is in O-town.)

I just did a quick check of the Embarq 2009 Central Florida/Orlando Yellow Pages. 22% of the 1469 pages are taken up in three categories:

114 Pages - Attorneys
109 Pages - Hotels
103 Pages - Restaurants

Cheshire Figment wrote:I just did a quick check of the Embarq 2009 Central Florida/Orlando Yellow Pages. 22% of the 1469 pages are taken up in three categories:

114 Pages - Attorneys
109 Pages - Hotels
103 Pages - Restaurants

Looks like a waste of a third of a tree.

Cheshire Figment wrote:I just did a quick check of the Embarq 2009 Central Florida/Orlando Yellow Pages. 22% of the 1469 pages are taken up in three categories:

114 Pages - Attorneys
109 Pages - Hotels
103 Pages - Restaurants

Reminds me of the joke (partially and poorly told by Robin Williams in Hook) about the three reasons laboratories have started using lawyers instead of rats for their experiments: (1) There are more lawyers than rats; (2) The scientists don't get as emotionally attached to the lawyers; and my favorite, (3) There are some things rats just won't do!

I usually add on that the labs have had to stop using lawyers after all. Seems that the results they were getting weren't transferable to humans. :D:

How typical. The lawyers 'always' have the best lawyer jokes. :D: