Originally Posted By tashajilek <a href="http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/disney-world-blunders-anti-obesity-exhibit-194902369.html" target="_blank">http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blog...369.html</a> I cant believe Disney would promte this seeing as you can buy excess amounts of junk food everywhere in the park.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Interesting. While other reviews I've seen have said that they will need to rework parts of it for logistical reasons (namely, nobody wanted to do the dance), this is the first I've heard of people being 'outraged' by it. While there is more to obesity than just eating too much and not being active enough, there's really only so much that people should expect out of a 5-10 minute theme park experience. And with the purpose of the exhibit to empower people to lose weight, it's counterintuitive to remind them that their genetics may make it more difficult. Given that Disney's official statements make no reference to an apology for the 'outrage' (which, again, I've never heard of before reading this article), I suspect that they're closing it to retool the games to make for a better experience.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA It gets particularly touchy when Calie Stenic says to the crowd "okay, all the fatties stand over here"
Originally Posted By tashajilek I was standing in line for sum of all thrills and looking at some of the posters around the unopened exhibit. It was kind of weird seeing posters of a obese tinkerbell everywhere. My husband and i both thought it would be a odd exhibit and nothing we would be interested in seeing. From the looks of the video it seemed a lot of people were actually having fun.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper tasha...can't you buy healthy food in the park too? I don't begrudge the availability of "junk food"...unless it is the only option. Much of the problem with obesity rests with making good choices...or parents making good choices for their children. McDonald's isn't bad. Going to McDonald's 5 nights a week for dinner is bad. Having a Mickey Ice Cream isn't bad. Having three of them a day with no fruits or vegetables is bad. If anyone can pull off a teaching moment for children in a fun manner...it should be Disney. So, maybe they just need to massage this idea a little bit.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "tasha...can't you buy healthy food in the park too? I don't begrudge the availability of "junk food"...unless it is the only option." Of course you can buy some healthy food but not as available as junk foods. I cant think of one healthy food item you can buy in the Candy shops and bakeries. Yes i agree the biggest issue is parents should be teaching their children better habits. I took my nieces and nephews outs for dinner a while ago and i was shocked when the 5 year old boy wanted a salad. Kids should start eating healthy young.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Why would anyone be going into a candy shop or bakery looking for healthy food? I think when folks are on vacation they know they are going to be eating a little less healthy than otherwise. But, I'm very impressed with the variety both inside the parks and in the resorts with regard to food availability. I think you can make a case that you really used to have to hunt down some healthy alternatives if you really wanted them...but that isn't the case anymore. But you are right, healthy eating habits begin early. We are very careful of my 9 year old drinking soda. In fact, I think it is safe to say he has never had an entire can/drink of soda in his life. He thinks he wants it..but we give it to him so infrequently that when he does drink it he takes about 5 sips and then we throw most of it away. So, looking at his entire diet (which includes seafood, veggies and fruits) I don't really have a problem splurging on a little junk food while we are at Disney, at a sporting event, etc. I guess back on point...I don't know why Disney or anyone else (McDonald's and other chains) can't promote healthy eating while concurrently offering up some less than healthy food choices.
Originally Posted By Manfried Wow, I didn't even get a chance to get over to EPCOT to see the exhibit. Okay my old age makes me slower.
Originally Posted By mele I think there's a difference between promoting healthy choices and fat-shaming. Showing how gross and lazy fat people are isn't really the way to get people to change their habits...shame rarely helps. Plus, if you really want to delve into it, it could be argued that showing people being fat, gross and lazy could lead to less compassion towards them and more bullying. (Skinny people, apparently, don't eat junk food and aren't lazy.) At least, that's what some people are saying about the exhibit.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>But, I'm very impressed with the variety both inside the parks and in the resorts with regard to food availability.<< Me too. As I posted in my trip report, when I was in WDW in early January for the Marathon Weekend, we ate non-stop, in order to fuel for the races. And since we were racing, we didn't want to eat junk food at all. While I thought that this was going to be a big issue (being more intimately familiar with DLR, I knew it would have been an issue there), it really wasn't a problem at all. Even with 11 meals over the course of 2 days (yes, you read that right), there was always something different, yet healthy and tasty, to try. It was also surprising that the lines at these locations weren't terrible (with the exception of the pasta station at the hotel food court the night before the Half), since I expected our fellow runners to have the same ideas; I guess that means that there are just that many different places that offer good options. While DLR has several different styles of food, most of it is not particularly healthy. They also suffer from having a couple basic restuarant concepts (burgers, Mexican, hot dogs, etc) that are repeated throughout both parks, making the overall options rather limited for the number of venues. I was pleasantly surprised in WDW to remember just how many different eating locations there are, with so many different menus. Yes, you can get a burger or pizza in every park, but there are also a lot of really great unique places that give you a lot of options. That's one HUGE advantage from WDW's destination status (where visistors are often on property for a week or more with no other options) compared to DL (where most visitors are only there for a couple days, and can easily leave the resort).
Originally Posted By tashajilek "I think there's a difference between promoting healthy choices and fat-shaming. Showing how gross and lazy fat people are isn't really the way to get people to change their habits...shame rarely helps. Plus, if you really want to delve into it, it could be argued that showing people being fat, gross and lazy could lead to less compassion towards them and more bullying. (Skinny people, apparently, don't eat junk food and aren't lazy.) At least, that's what some people are saying about the exhibit. " I agree Mele. Its funny how people still think that "skinny" is better and more acceptable. There should be no problem promoting healthy habits for the sake of being healthy and not being a fat slob.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Where is Blue Cross in all this? They are the sponsors, and I would assume they offered the expertise in designing the exhibit. It sounds like the "experts" are in disagreement, and Disney is caught in the middle.
