4/16: Value 1; Service 0

[Al Lutz]

Kevin reviews Animal Kingdom's new Picnic offerings, discuss them here...

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney...

[MarkTwain]

What a great idea from Disney! Animal Kingdom is the perfect park for a picnic, with all of its natural ("natural") beauty. It just sounds like it wasn't executed very well.

[flynnibus]

The 2hr built in wait is just a disaster for this service. People will want to get food near the time they are hungry, not make reservations for a pickup. Especially if the food is made off-site... it makes no sense why they couldn't do this with a 'order #' system.

The prices and # of options seems great, but the logistics sound miserable. Hopefully this is just temp (by why launch a service that isn't ready???) but it really sounds like Disney knows how to take a cute concept and ruin it

[Pretzel]

Regarding the allowance of outside into the park affecting inside park food prices:

I would imagine it might actually have a positive influence on inside park prices. If park restaurants are no longer competitive, people will not eat there. In theory, at least.

In practice, I don't think it's working - Disneyland just introduced a $36 BBQ and it's mostly empty, so for these market forces to work *someone* at Disney has to be paying attention.

[aimster]

Sorry to hear about the not so great experience.

But... ZOMG, the turkey sammich that's from EPCOT! I love that chipotle mayo! (FYI, Panera Bread makes a very similar sandwich).

[dsnylndmom]

Let's hope that the pick up process will change dramatically. That's just ridiculous.

We have a large group going in June, 6 families, and were looking into this idea to get together for a group lunch. I hope the logistics of pick up are worked out by then.

[DisneyPrincess4590]

These are the exact same sandwiches that are sold that Beastly Bazaar. They are made by outdoor foods.

[aduecey]

LOL @ the depressing pic of people gathered around the picnic tables!

They all look so miserable! Don't they realize they're at the happiest place on earth?

I certainly hope there are more inviting areas to enjoy your picnic at. In that shot it looks more to be the equivalent of grabbing a bite to eat at a convenience store than going on a picnic.

[OTownGuy]

They all look so miserable! Don't they realize they're at the happiest place on earth?

nah, since they are DAK they are probably wondering where all the "rides" are IE Where is a non themed ride i can go on that goes over 30mph and requires no thinking. They are probably thinking "whats up w/ all this themeing!"

[Disneyaholik]

Ok this is going to sound mean but really? That sounded like whining. I mean Disneyland had TONS of issues on their first opening week. Many that we knew about and I am sure tons that we didn't. I really think it's unfair to judge so harshly so quickly. Besides that what did you expect for that price? I also would like to say from my food service prospective that just because there is a sticker on it doesn't mean that it's not freshly made. We used to have to sticker EVERYTHING even if it was juice or a sandwich. Everyone is so mad about everything that's changing at the parks and I seriously think people need to lighten up. Just my two cents.

[aduecey]

Originally Posted by OTownGuy

IE Where is a non themed ride i can go on that goes over 30mph

What ride is that? And what park is it in? I've heard a couple of comments on this ride here over the past couple days but I can't figure out what you guys are talking about. You'll have to excuse my ignorance on the subject, i'm a west coaster.

[MarkTwain]

Originally Posted by OTownGuy

They all look so miserable! Don't they realize they're at the happiest place on earth?

nah, since they are DAK they are probably wondering where all the "rides" are IE Where is a non themed ride i can go on that goes over 30mph and requires no thinking. They are probably thinking "whats up w/ all this themeing!"

These people must not know where Dino-Rama is..

[Disneykin Kid]

Kevin, good article and analysis, I think it's especially appreciated by budget conscious people, who nowadays are probably most everyone. You should review more restaurants and other offerings.

[Mikado]

The thought that concerns me a bit, which Kevin touched on, is just where to sit once you finally have your picnic bag. If the 'designated' picnic areas are occupied by non-dining guests (or otherwise inadequate/inconveniently located, etc.), I'd expect the picnic people to gravitate to tables intended for other Animal Kingdom dining facilities - particularly those with outdoor seating, such as Flame Tree BBQ. You don't want to run people off from those picnic tables (only used for picnics from about 11 to 4 anyway) nor from the restaurant seating, but both restaurant diners and picnic holders need tables to sit at, not just a bench or something.

[disdad70]

Kevin:

This is another great, informative article. I've been hearing about this new offer but you have provided the most in depth coverage to date.

I think the pickup location and process should be an easy fix. The food sounds better than average and the portions seem to be more than adequate. My first mental comparison is KFC, someone else also referenced Panera. Based on my recent experience with those two establishments I think the price point is better than anything else that WDW has attempted recently.

I would prefer that they move the entire operation over to Dinoland since there really is nothing comparable on that end of the park and there is certainly some wide open spaces over there to offer a designated picnic dining area. Does Disney really want people schlepping food all over the park anyway? Especially on a hot summer afternoon.

I'd also be interested to see how many people would attempt to take this entire meal (or leftovers) back to their resort with them. To my knowledge, no Disney Resort offers a similar meal deal. It would probably be a good idea for Disney to offer it in at least the value resort foodcourts as a further test.