dining at Disney with a fructose intolerance

[WebmasterLeah]

Since our last trip to the World, our 9yo son was diagnosed with lactose intolerance and fructose intolerance. I'm not super concerned about the lactose, because he can take Lactaid pills when he eats dairy if he needs to. But, am I going to find fructose in everything? The main ways fructose is listed is as high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, honey, molasses, brown sugar, or soribitol.

We're planning to ask for the ingredient binder at quick service and talk to a chef at table service, just wondered if anyone had personal experience with this type of dietary restriction.

Specific items I'm curious about -
Is pure maple syrup available?
Mickey waffles
chicken nuggets
hamburger buns
Mickey ice cream bars

 

[theduhaimes]

My DS9 was diagnosed with a fructose intolerance about 2 years ago. We traveled to WDW shortly after that in December 2013. I was a nervous wreck about having to eat all our meals in a restaurant for 9 nights. We actually had a great experience. At TS we always had the chef come to our table and he was able to tell us what was "safe" for my son. At QS, I read the binder. I quickly realized that the ingredients in many items seemed to be the same no matter where we ate them. He was able to eat chicken fingers (adult) and fries everywhere we went. He was also able to have a cheeseburger if we brought our own roll. We did struggle to find drinks other than water but he settled on the low calorie minute maid lemonade. I also did bring along some snacks and portable food items just in case (I had everything I needed to make pbj sandwiches for him in our room and this was my back up plan). Snacks were tough because he wanted what his siblings had and they were often not "safe" items (I made sure to have his favorite snacks with me). Please PM if you have any questions.
EDIT: Just wanted to add not sure about Mickey Waffles and ice cream bars because DS does not like them.

 

[WebmasterLeah]

Thanks for the reply! We're doing the dining plan, but will often have PBJ for our son as well. He would eat that for every meal if we let him anyway. Glad to know about the chicken fingers and fries, as that is probably what he would choose at a quick service restaurant.

 

[sleepingbean]

I would say your best bet is to review menus of places before you go (Allears menus is good) and decide what is most likely that your son can eat at each location so that when you get there, you can let the Chef know what you're interested in, ask if it can be done without the list of ingredients to avoid. And if there is something that isn't on the menu that you think they can make, just ask (for example, if you wanted white rice or noodles, and all they had was whole grain, but that was irritating to the fructose intolerance, just ask. If they can accommodate, they will. ) If you find the standard desserts have poor ingredients for your needs, consider looking at the EnjoyLifeFood desserts and see if those are better options, as most restaurants have access to them. If any place can do it, it's Disney!

 

[FMMUM]

we're 20 days and counting to our 1st trip! Unfortunately our son is a fructose malabsorber too and I'm not really finding much help anywhere of what he can eat - chicken and fries is not very inspiring. In the UK he can eat loads of things and even sweet products are fine as most are made with sugar which in moderation is ok. However HFCS is not ok for him and I understand it is in everything in the USA/Disney, even bread! How did you find your trip, did you find things for your son (ours will be 9 while we are there - any tips you can give would be fantastic. I will try and take some things with me but this is not very practical, flying.

 

[RevRuss]

My DW has multiple allergies and have found the chefs extremely helpful. Even to the point of not serving a desert made in the same area. Most chefs come out to get specific details.

 

[WebmasterLeah]

we're 20 days and counting to our 1st trip! Unfortunately our son is a fructose malabsorber too and I'm not really finding much help anywhere of what he can eat - chicken and fries is not very inspiring. In the UK he can eat loads of things and even sweet products are fine as most are made with sugar which in moderation is ok. However HFCS is not ok for him and I understand it is in everything in the USA/Disney, even bread! How did you find your trip, did you find things for your son (ours will be 9 while we are there - any tips you can give would be fantastic. I will try and take some things with me but this is not very practical, flying.

Our son had great luck at the table service restaurants, because a chef will come out and give recommendations of safe items. They were all very accommodating and were willing to make dishes based on his tastes. The EnjoyLife cookies are safe and very good. He had those for dessert several times, sometimes served with ice cream on top. One chef even sent a few packs of cookies with us so we'd have safe snacks in the park.
All quick-service restaurants have an ingredient binder that you can look at to verify ingredients in your chosen foods. I don't remember what all he ate, but he didn't have any problems finding foods that were safe. I do know he didn't try any burgers, so I can't speak for the ingredients in the buns. However for him, he's normally able to eat buns/bread made with molasses and still be fine (it's normally far enough down on the ingredient list that there's not much there).

 

[theduhaimes]

If you are coming from the UK, I would warn you to watch out for condiments, bread products and beverages (soda and juice) here in the US. I often travel with my own condiments and bread/rolls when we go out to eat. Even most brands of pancake syrup have HFCS. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

 

[WebmasterLeah]

We did find that several of the Disney restaurants (maybe all?) used Simply Heinz ketchup, which is fructose free. We did a character breakfast at Crystal Palace and they had pure maple syrup on hand that our son could use with his Mickey waffle (also fine!). You'll just have to ask the servers and they should be able to get that syrup for you. I do know that he ate a Mickey bar at one point, so I think those are fine too.

 

[FMMUM]

Thanks everyone. It's reassuring just to know some sweet food is ok - Mickey bar, waffles with real maple syrup, real life cookies and ice cream should see him through I feel a lot more confident now, the power of the internet is a wonderful thing! I was going to bring our own ketchup but will now leave it behind - not sure UK bread will travel that well, can anyone recommend a fructose free bread that is sold in the supermarkets - he tolerates wheat so we don't need gluten free just fructose free? As we have 9 days in an apartment we can self cater.

 

[WebmasterLeah]

Brownberry brand makes at least one wheat bread that is safe. It's a major brand, so should be able to be found at any grocery store. If you can't find something, you can always get a loaf of sandwich bread from the grocery store bakery. It's normally made with regular sugar and without the addition of molasses or honey.
About the ketchup, I wish I could remember specifically which restaurants we saw it in (it was in the dippable packets, not the kind you pour into the little white cups). My son doesn't really like ketchup, so after noticing it was the same brand we used at home, I didn't pay much more attention. But, if you need to buy ketchup once here, that kind can easily be found at the grocery too.

 

[theduhaimes]

We found that the resort we stayed at (POR) had the packets of simply Heinz with no HFCS so I just grabbed a few n took them with me into the park. I was unsure of what kind was in the dispenser.