Eat Food on My Head
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (124681)
Gainesville, Florida
May 2, 2025 2:50pm CST
One of the theme parks at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is EPCOT, a theme park known for it's seasonal festivals full of fantastic food and drinks, and of course the world famous "drinking around the world" beer/wine crawls.
With so many festivals geared towards food and drink, you would think that Disney would provide adequate seating and/or tables to eat and drink at. Nope. But one thing they do provide more than enough of is trash cans. And they are immaculately clean. So, over the years, people jokingly started referring to the trash cans as "the finest dining tables in Epcot," since so many people would set their food and drinks on them while at the park.
When I came across the shirt I am wearing in the photo, I knew I had to have it. Nowhere on it does it mention Disney, Epcot, or Mickey Mouse, yet I knew immediately what it was referring to. And so did everybody else. As soon as I walked into the theme park, I was getting compliments left and right from all the other guests.
So, of course, I had to pose with my shirt doing what everybody does at Epcot...using a trash can as a table!
This photo was taken at the Flower and Garden Festival, and I was enjoying some avocado toast, shrimp and grits, fried cinnamon roll bites, a cereal shake, and a coffee blonde ale.
Would you eat off the top of a trash can at a theme park if you had no other options?
For the record, three important things:
1. The few tables that are scattered around the theme park are always occupied and/or dirty.
2. Disney's janitorial staff cleans/sanitizes the trash cans about 3,417 times a day (but why they don't clean the tables that frequently is beyond me).
3. Disney has recognized the issue with lack of seating and tables and has been working around the clock for the past several years adding more benches, seating, umbrellas and tables, so it is slowly getting better.
14 people like this
11 responses
@snowy22315 (191268)
• United States
2 May
Hey, a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do!
4 people like this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
2 May
And I'm not the only one. Literally, every trash can in the park is used as a table top for eating/drinking. It's quite comical, actually.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (191676)
• United States
3 May
I'm glad Disney is addressing the lack of tables on which to eat their expensive food!!!! Great shirt.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 May
@LindaOHio We really enjoy going. And the food samplings they offer are usually very delicious. It's pretty cool to taste delicacies from other countries.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (191676)
• United States
4 May
@moffittjc Interesting. It would be fun to taste foods from all over the world.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (20638)
• United States
13 May
I would if that is the only option. You won't have to walk far to put your trash away.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 May
I have never had an issue eating off of the trash cans at Disney. They are so clean, that they're probably healthier to eat off of than the actual dining tables. Plus, like you said, you don't have to walk far to throw away all your trash. It's a win-win all around.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (46805)
• Staten Island, New York
4 May
Does the trash can not smell? I wouldn’t want to be eating next to it if it smelled.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 May
No, they are probably the cleanest things in Disney. The custodial staff empty the garbage cans and clean/sanitize them non-stop throughout the day.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 May
@lovebuglena One of the interesting things about Disney, nothing ever smells bad there. In fact, to ensure that it always smells good in their theme parks, they pump scents into the air on various rides, near certain shopping areas, and by food places. For example, on Main Street at Magic Kingdom, there is a bakery shop. Disney pumps a scent of freshly baked cookies all up and down Main Street so that the smell makes you want to go inside the bakery and buy something.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (46805)
• Staten Island, New York
6 May
@moffittjc Oh, that's great! Hopefully that never changes.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 May
I've eaten food in worse places.
Once, I flew out to Austin, TX, and then hopped on a charter bus to go see the Florida Gators play the Texas A&M Aggies in a big SEC football game in College Station, 2 hours away. There was heavy drinking involved, and I was pretty much toast on the trip back to Austin. The bus stopped at a Subway on the way back so everyone could get food, and I bought a foot-long sub. Well, sitting back on the bus as we were back on the road, I opened the sub from the wrapper and then dropped it. It fell onto the floor of the bus and came apart with the toppings and meat all over the floor of the bus. I was so drunk I just scooped everything back together from the floor, piled it all back into the bun, and ate the sub. I didn't care. And I didn't die. So, eating off of a clean trash can at Disney is not the worst thing I could do, or have done. LOL
1 person likes this
@porwest (101238)
• United States
3 May
@moffittjc lol. Yeesh. That made my stomach turn just thinking about it. But I guess sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But man, I can't even imagine how filthy that floor might have been. Luckily you didn't carry your sandwich into a bathroom. Had you have done the same thing had it happened there...even if you were three sheets to the wind and hungry?
1 person likes this
@porwest (101238)
• United States
4 May
@moffittjc I can only imagine. I did pest control for college dorms, frat houses, and landlords who rented for college students.
It was a nightmare nearly every place I went into. lol
1 person likes this
@a_jerobon (2317)
• Eldoret, Kenya
19 May
Using trash cans as table tops is so ironic but worth the fun, I am just glad they provide them immaculately clean. Your tshirt was a delightful addition to the joke
.
.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 May
If I didn't know they clean them so frequently, I wouldn't risk eating off of the trash cans. But the staff at Disney World are constantly cleaning and sanitizing them. So I know they are safe to eat off of.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (164244)
• United States
3 May
If I knew that there was no place to sit and eat I would bring a picnic blanket.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 May
I try to carry as little as possible when I go to theme parks, so a picnic blanket might not be something I would consider, but it’s not a bad idea.
@FourWalls (75822)
• United States
3 May
Maybe in the future you’ll be issued a rolling trash can when you walk in the park. 
That is hilarious.
That is hilarious.
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
2 May
Their trash cans are probably the cleanest and most sanitary things in the theme park.
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (86120)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
2 May
Nope I would look for a small grassy space and sit down to eat,
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124681)
• Gainesville, Florida
2 May
There are plenty of those spaces around the theme park. But, if you are on the move to get from one attraction or ride to another, sometimes it's easier just to keep walking and stop occasionally at a trash can "dining table" to grab a quick bite to eat.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (356386)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 May
Well, that's a bit different but as long as they're clean, why not? Your meal sounds delicious.
