Dairy Allergy experiences - 2014 only

[DVCkidsMOM]

We used to love WDW dining and allergies did not change that - until now. Last week, those of us with food restrictions thought it was just OK - good for a few dishes but mostly the same options repeated over and over. The days of a chef making an allergy meal off-menu seem to be gone. I don't want to debate what is or is not reasonable, but if you have dined at WDW with a dairy allergy in your party sometime this year, please share any special experiences so we know where to find them. (I've read many DF dining posts raving about DF whipped cream on strawberries and other special-made dishes that wowed, but we haven't been able to find anything similar recently.)
We found almost everywhere offering the same multi-allergy bun/bread/crust and the same multi-allergy frozen dessert and/or packaged cookies/brownie. If you have had a bread or dessert different from the multi-allergy standard this year, please let us know what and where. Also if there was an entree or breakfast or side-dish that seemed special or unique to a certain location, please let us know.

What we found (mostly info from these boards that we confirmed by ordering ourselves) that was DF but seemed special are listed below.
Papadam - cracker type bread used under kefta burger and as "bread service" at Sanaa
Tapioca Pudding at Sanaa
DF fried chicken at 50's Prime Time, but only DF sides offered were fries and greens
DF mashed potatoes and gravy at Liberty Tree Tavern
multi-allergy cake in a tiny cup (about 3 Tablespoons) at the SWW VIP fireworks dessert party - I do not know if they would have brought another but I should have asked
DF, GF, etc. beignets at Sassagoula Floatworks at POFQ

TIA - I really look forward to finding more options. We need variety so DD and I don't feel left out of the food fun -PLEASE

 

[Mum23]

They have just started bringing in So De coconut milk ice-cream. Baby cakes makes vegan desserts. They have Enjoy life products throughout the parks. Some places carry Earth Balance soy free "butter".

I think one thing to consider is that they offer a lot of things that are Top 8 free because that would cover 90% of the allergens people have. They only have limited space to stock things so covering more with less is often a way to cover the masses.

 

[mistysue]

They have just started bringing in So De coconut milk ice-cream.

Seriously? Where?
I am not doubting you- that would just be amazing compared to the rice dream! All my DS gets for dessert is rice dream as he's allergic to enjoy life products. (and everything on the standard dessert menus)

 

[stackyallred]

They have just started bringing in So De coconut milk ice-cream. Baby cakes makes vegan desserts. They have Enjoy life products throughout the parks. Some places carry Earth Balance soy free "butter". I think one thing to consider is that they offer a lot of things that are Top 8 free because that would cover 90% of the allergens people have. They only have limited space to stock things so covering more with less is often a way to cover the masses.

When did you see the SO coconut ice cream? I would be so excited to see this at WDW!

 

[Mum23]

There is a WDW super allergy Mom who was meeting last week and presented some things to them. They have agreed to start carrying it and the chefs are able to order it now from "the list". She mentioned calling special diets to request it where you will be dining as it is new and just getting into the parks. I'm pretty sure she mentioned Whispering Canyons?

Found this (where it is being stocked now from her report):

Hollywood Brown Derby
Coral Reef
50's Primetime

 

[stackyallred]

There is a WDW super allergy Mom who was meeting last week and presented some things to them. They have agreed to start carrying it and the chefs are able to order it now from "the list". She mentioned calling special diets to request it where you will be dining as it is new and just getting into the parks. I'm pretty sure she mentioned Whispering Canyons?

Found this (where it is being stocked now from her report):

Hollywood Brown Derby
Coral Reef
50's Primetime

That is great! Thanks for sharing that info! I am grain, dairy and soy free so coconut is my only "ice cream." I don't eat treats much but at WDW, it'd it be nice to have some options for dessert since we are on the meal plan.

 

[Mum23]

Gluten, dairy, egg, peanut and tree nut here. DS can at least do EL stuff. We aren't soy anymore but we do avoid it as much as we can. I get it!!! lol

 

[funkydelia]

Dairy and soy free here too for my daughter who will be 6 when we make the trip from Scotland.

Slightly concerned about variety as we are on the DDP for 2 whole weeks!

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

I think it partly, if not mostly, depends on what you are used to. We don't eat out very often; so when we do, we expect something special. Also, as a homemaker (whoever invented the term 'stay-at-home-mom' had NO clue), I prepare the vast majority of our meals ensuring that there is variety during the week and that it is all safe for us. So, for us, being limited to the same few desserts over and over is frustrating. Likewise, being limited to one or two entrees only and/or having to repeat entrees during the week is frustrating.
For folks who eat out regularly or who don't bake or who repeat meals during the week anyhow, there is likely no disappointment.
Obviously, you want to review menus to provide the most enjoyment for your family. The glitch is that there will be items on the menu that you think would be perfectly acceptable or adaptable that are not. For our next trip (which is already booked and mostly paid) we will bring some ingredients or treats for ourselves and adjust our expectations to avoid disappointment.

 

[geek+nerd]

I have more than 10 foods I need to avoid, dairy among them. I have found that chefs in restaurants at resorts tend to be more creative than chefs at restaurants in the parks. I have had really good experiences at Sanaa at AKL, the Grand Floridian Cafe, and Maya Grill at Coronado Springs. This is in reference to entrees; I rarely get dessert at restaurants.

 

[Mum23]

It's vacation and I (personally) am not worried about variety. All I want is SAFE meals that will keep my kid fed. Nothing more. Would variety be nice? Sure but we eat our SO rarely that GOING OUT even once a day for a week is going to be amazing for DS. I don't care if *all* he gets are EL cookies and SoDe ice-cream, he doesn't get that every day here at home so it's a score for him.

I get every family is different but in the general scope of things, I just want my kid fed safely. Anything above and beyond that is the cherry on top of the SoDe

 

[clanmcculloch]

My experience has been that what seems to have changed is that in the past few years there are many more allergy products available so the need to prepare specialized dishes for people has diminished. We've got laundry lists of allergies among my family so we do get meals customized because many of the premade allergy foods aren't safe for at least one person in my family but we are getting a lot more meals where not much has to be done to alter the meals to be safe. Desserts have NEVER had much variety so unless I'm searching out places that have something different or we've ordered something special (something we pay extra for just like anybody who orders a cake) then we typically have the dairy free ice creams with Enjoy Life cookies for desserts. A few places have in-house made sorbets that are really good (ex. HBD, LeCellier, Tony's) and a few have in-house made allergy brownies though I haven't tried them (ex. CP) and then of course there's the famous Chef TJ desserts but most places just have the same things as everybody else. It takes planning to find the places that do have something different. We got some amazing cupcakes (at least that's what they called them; they were decadent) at Jiko in February but they were something custom ordered ahead of time and boy were they decadent. The pastry chef at AK can do some really good stuff if you pre-order something there.

We've always had a very limited selection of options at park QS meals. I've always made a point of going to places that have things like rotisserie chicken and ribs as an alternative to the same allergy buns and chicken tenders everywhere, though those chicken tenders are amazing. We also always eat at Sunshine Seasons because they have SO many options for different kinds of meals. Desserts at just about every park QS location is allergy cookies. Park QS is and always has been very limited in selection

I have NEVER had a dairy free whipped cream in all of my trips to WDW. I haven't been reading dining reviews here lately but in the past when I was I never saw that. Where did you read about that being available? I don't think I saw that from any of WDW allergy bloggers I follow.

 

[Talking Hands]

Last time I was there was in April for my anniversary. Am allergic to dairy, mango, cashews, shellfish, aspartame and very sensitive to sorbital as well as being diabetic. I was able to find very few desserts I could have. Was able to get a great breakfast at Sunshine Seasons. The only thing that was unsafe was the potatoes so they substituted extra bacon . All Star Sports was wonderful with all the meals they provided except one. It was the one that I didn't speak directly with the chef but with a manager.
Casey's was great but I hated the hot dog roll. Crumbled all over and was very dry.
AK went to the BBQ place. They were able to easily accommodate my needs. Studios was the most difficult to find acceptable food but I have a friend that works there and he was able to hook me up with safe food.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

...A few places have in-house made sorbets that are really good (ex. HBD, LeCellier, Tony's) and a few have in-house made allergy brownies though I haven't tried them (ex. CP) and then of course there's the famous Chef TJ desserts but most places just have the same things as everybody else. It takes planning to find the places that do have something different. We got some amazing cupcakes (at least that's what they called them; they were decadent) at Jiko in February but they were something custom ordered ahead of time and boy were they decadent. The pastry chef at AK can do some really good stuff if you pre-order something there.
...

I have NEVER had a dairy free whipped cream in all of my trips to WDW. I haven't been reading dining reviews here lately but in the past when I was I never saw that. Where did you read about that being available? I don't think I saw that from any of WDW allergy bloggers I follow.

Thanks for the tips on where there are in-house sorbets. I'd love a list of locations and flavors. We'd also like to know where the in-house brownies are. Where is this Chef TJ? I called AKL (weeks in advance) to order (and pay extra for) a special anniversary cake and was told that they can't do that at AKL and I could only call BabyCakes to have one sent. How did you get through to the AKL chef? (I would have loved that for my anniversary!)
I read someone's allergy review of Crystal Palace where their DD was brought an allergy Mickey waffle with strawberries and DF cream. I was going to book CP specifically for this, but my latest list of allergy options (sent to me by Disney) lists only the frozen Van's waffles there now.

Any additional information of where to find in-house treats/breads or (pay-extra) special order options? I'm wanting to book (and pay for) locations with these options.

 

[clanmcculloch]

We were staying at AKL and had plans for quite a few meals at the different restaurants at the resort so Special Diets put me in touch with some chefs. One of them was the pastry chef. I didn't realize that you couldn't typically order through their in-house pastry chef. That seems weird to me. I remember one year ordering a Babycakes cake to be delivered at our meal at Captain's Grille when we were staying at YC and the chef I was working with told me I could have ordered through him instead of Babycakes. On the dining board there's a thread about custom cakes and in it there are phone numbers for ordering at some of the resorts. Did you try that number? If you can't get anything that way then I'm not sure how to do it. As I said, we were staying there and I had 4 ADRs around the resort plus plans to eat at Mara several times and with all of our allergies the chefs wanted to make sure we were covered. I've always found that when I'm staying at a resort and eating several meals there, chefs do seem to do little extras that I would never expect and don't generally experience elsewhere.

The sorbets can change from day to day. Tony's has had green apple on numerous occasions. As far as I know, they're the only ones who do green apple. My kids thought it was too sour but I really liked it. At home I'm the only one who eats the green apples so them not liking it is a reflection on their personal tastes, not the sorbet. I think at HBD when we eat there a couple years ago they had a berry mixture sorbet but I may be remembering wrong. As I said, they make different ones on different days. My 16yo loves when they have mango, but you really can't predict what they'll have on any given day.

Do NOT count on Mickey waffles at Crystal Palace. I've only read of one person who's been able to get that and I have no idea how it happened because everybody else seems to have had the same experience of Van's frozen waffles there. Some chefs will make Mickey pancakes there, but not waffles. They do make an in-house allergy brownie that's supposed to be really good. I've considered giving CP another try just so my daughter who's also allergic to eggs (therefore can't eat the gluten free brownies or cookies other than the Enjoy Life ones) can have a brownie. I had a bad experience at CP so I'm having trouble doing it. On one hand eating somewhere just for a brownie does seem a little silly, but on the other hand, when desserts are so limited (they're much more limited when you add in egg allergy on top of gluten and milk), you go where you can get something different.

Chef TJ works at 1900 Park Fare. A regular on this board posted recently that he's back on supper (he had moved to breakfast for a while) and I think she said he works Sunday to Thursday. If you're not familiar with him, he's famous in allergy and vegan message boards because he does these beautiful works of art for special needs meals. You should have seen the looks we got from other tables when he carried out our desserts. I thought the salad was more spectacular but boy did my daughter go nuts over the dessert. I'd show you a picture but I lost my camera on the way home the trip where we ate there.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

Thanks for the tips ClanMcC.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

There is a citrus shrimp salad at Tomorrowland Terrace (when it's open) that sounds nice - anyone know if it is or can be DF?
Same question about egg-rolls, Sesame Chicken Salad, Orange Chicken, and Vegetable Curry at Lotus Blossom? (None of the fried rice, orange chicken etc Chinese food recipes I googled have milk or butter, but at Yak&Yeti everything except sweet and sour sauce on plain chicken and steamed rice had butter or milk. Why was there whey in beef and broccoli?!)
Anywhere else that you did not expect dairy but found it lurking (like that location serving mayonnaise with added whey - don't remember which place shocked me with that one. )

 

[DCDisney]

Crystal Palace is very hit or miss. It seems like there is one chef who when he is on duty bakes the special brownies and does waffles? I had far less options there on this years trip than every before. The only sweet I was offered was EL cookies which I can't have. Other years there have been at least 3 options from the regular offerings that they would just bring me from the back. Everywhere seemed to have sorbets this year but I was unable to get good clarity on cross contam so I did not choose to eat them. It was pretty disappointing this year that they really only seemed to be carrying enjoy life where other years there were at least 2 allergy options that had different ingredients. I also did not like that some chefs subbed allergy items without telling me. Like at LTT they told me the regular stuffing was safe and then came back and said no which surprised me because it had never been safe before but when they brought it out my plate had stuffing and it was gluten free but I hadnt checked ingredients so I was pretty sure it wasn't safe for me as most of the gluten free items have bean or fruit ingreds I can't have and chefs don't seem to notice. They also gave me allergy safe mashed potatoes without telling me and I was worried they had rice or soy milk neither of which I can have, Chefs seem to ignore much of what you say now and just assume allergy safe products are fine for all None of this happened on previous trips and it was a daily thing on this years trip that I was brought food that was 100% not safe or that I was pretty certain was not safe but I'm well educated. Frankly Universal and Sea World both did far better this year which was shocking.