Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2014/12/01/downtown-disneydisney-springs-update-milestone-first/" target="_blank"><b>12/1/14: Downtown Disney/Disney Springs Update + Milestone First!</b></a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That's great that you were the first guest in the parking structure and that they tried to make it into a special moment. It's also kind of interesting, since it looks like arrived later in the day The food truck park looks nice. Is that the first all-new area to open? I know they've been working in that area for a long time
Originally Posted By dagobert Disney Springs will be a huge improvement to the current Downtown Disney. The food truck park looks interesting. Is that something common in the US? I've never seen such a concept over here.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Great story and pictures! I spent a lot of time at Pleasure Island when it was first opened, and it's difficult for me to understand what I'm seeing in this current set of pictures -- just because it looks so different. Should be a nice improvement. Food trucks is a cute idea.
Originally Posted By leemac If ever there was a case that the Press & Pub team are too big it is this - what a crazy waste of time and resources to herald the opening of a parking lot.
Originally Posted By leemac <<The food truck park looks interesting. Is that something common in the US? I've never seen such a concept over here.>> It is a growing phenomenon. Thankfully hygiene standards for F&B are much higher in Europe which makes food trucks very difficult to operate. Most cities in the U.S. have pretty relaxed regulations on food trucks and I'm sure most adhere to the levels of prep standard that you would expect in a restaurant but that won't be everyone.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Not in San Francisco. The food truck permitting process here is fairly rigorous.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo What's cool about the food trucks is what they're offering. From the Disney Food blog: "The cuisine of each food truck reflects that of a Disney Park, with Superstar Catering representing Hollywood Studios, and Namaste Cafe for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. World Showcase of Flavors bring tastes from Epcot’s annual International Food & Wine Festival to Disney guests year round, while Fantasy Fare features dishes from “Magic Kingdoms Around the World,” most notably the Hand-dipped Corn Dogs in honor of Disneyland." <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/11/30/food-truck-park-now-open-in-downtown-disneys-west-side/">http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/...st-side/</a> More info at the link
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt That is cool, but I don't know... the whole set up looks too corporate and "Disney" to me. Even the trucks are all the same model. It makes wonder if the vendors are operated by Disney or outside entities.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Not in San Francisco. The food truck permitting process here is fairly rigorous.>> Not surprised - although I think a $15 minimum wage is more likely to impact the business plan of food trucks than the permitting!
Originally Posted By leemac <<That is cool, but I don't know... the whole set up looks too corporate and "Disney" to me. Even the trucks are all the same model. It makes wonder if the vendors are operated by Disney or outside entities.>> It is operated by F&B. And it sure is bland. Exactly what you expect from a corporate trying to be "on-trend".
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^Yah, I don't think I like the Disney-run food trucks. If I want overpriced mediocre theme park food, I'll go to one of the theme parks nearby. If I'm in DTD, I'm going to want something different It looks like there are non-Disney options in the food truck park, but I assume they go through some sort of screening process, so I doubt there will be a lot of variety. Isn't the fun of a food truck that you can get different food in the same place each day? Wouldn't the food truck park promote the exact opposite of that, especially if it's anchored by the Disney trucks?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt <<That is cool, but I don't know... the whole set up looks too corporate and "Disney" to me. Even the trucks are all the same model. It makes wonder if the vendors are operated by Disney or outside entities.>> "It is operated by F&B" Haha... I knew it. It lacks any pretense of an authentic food truck market.
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I think food trucks started as a construction-worker thing right? I've seen here in Atlanta for a long time - Mexican workers will build subdivision neighborhoods, and their wives would bring up food trucks to serve lunches. Maybe they've been around longer, but I think construction was their original use-case.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I think food trucks started as a construction-worker thing right?<<< Since you are mentioning that, I have seen the food trucks in the tv show "Home Improvement". I know it's just a tv show, but I guess you have a valid point.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros In most of the country I think that food trucks were mostly associated with construction sites, but bigger cities like New York have always had various street vendors for hot dogs, gyros, and other quick and easy items (colloquially known as street meat or a roach coach). In recent years they've shifted more to high-end food and have made their way into smaller communities There are even a few shows about them on the Food Network. In the summers, they do the Great Food Truck Race, which follows multiple teams in a cross-country competition to various cities of all sizes, eliminating the lowest revenue earning truck each week. It's really interesting to see what works in each location, and how teams who try to play to the locals often end up doing poorly. It's a really fickle business
Originally Posted By magic0214 Tampa recently had the World's Largest Food Truck Rally and it was amazing. Food Trucks constantly have the best food (Disney ones no included) and this idea is great if they ONLY cycle out local food trucks, not their own.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt While food truck have been around for ages, the idea of gourmet food trucks is a relatively new development that started in hipster foodie places like NY, Seattle and SF.
