Disney and the SCD diet

mmouse50

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
My nephew has been recetnly diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and is currently doing the ramicade treatments not with much success though. He is going to try the SCD diet - Specific Carbohydrate Diet, to see if that helps. Has anyone ever gone to Disney on this diet - I am planning a trip and we using do the Deluxe Dining meal plan so that we can eat at the upscale restaurants. I was wondering if anyone has experience this SCD at Disney and do the chefs even know what it is?
 
There is information for contacting Disney regarding special diets in post 3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread.
That diet is very complicated, in terms of what is allowed or not allowed. It's also not a common diet, so I would expect the Disney chefs to not know much about it.
What I would suggest doing is ask to speke to the chef at each restaurant. You will need to be specific in terms of what is allowed or should not be used to avoid any misunderstanding.
 
I'm glad Sue has some knowledge of this diet as I'm totally clueless here. I just wanted to wish you a magical trip for your nephew. I know he has a painful diagnosis which is probably difficult to deal with, at best. Is he a child or adult? Is he a picky eater or will he be able to find options within the restrictions of this diet? Do you have a list of restrictions and inclusions that you can share with the chefs? Sue has the best suggestion which is to contact the chefs at each restaurant for which you have an ADR in advance to see if he can be accommodated.---Kathy
 
I just know very basic. It is a diet used by some people with autism, ulcerative colitis or Crohns.
It is complicated to follow, so not a lot of people stay on it.
 
I've read the book but I'm not a 100% follower of it. DD13 and I have issues with carbs that are different than what the diet would allow but I do use some of the info from the diet to help with decisions for myself as well as my DH who has T2 diabetes. I have followed complicated dietary restrictions. My answer to your question will be based on this. Again, I have not actually followed SCD in real life or at WDW.

CS is going to be difficult. Extremely difficult. I don't know if there really are sides that are SCD compliant and I'm pretty sure there aren't any desserts. You'll have to get info from Special Diets about entrees such as roasted chicken or grilled salmon to find out what they're marinated in/dusted with before cooking. I would make an effort to stick with TS meals.

I know you'll have a lot of snack credits but I'd carry snacks for him rather than trying to find snacks in the parks. I don't even know that there are any SCD compliant fruits available in the parks. Your resort may be able to order in something that you can pick up from them using snack credits. This is something you'll need to discuss with Special Diets. It may take a few emails, but insist on more info/contact than the generic form emails and attachments. IMO SCD falls under the category of a special diet that they list as requiring more info. They should put you in contact with a chef at your resort who can work with you regarding what can be ordered in for you.

TS meals will have some options for entrees but I'm not positive what beyond meats they'll have for you. I wouldn't count on there being any salad dressings available for even a plain lettuce wedge unless they maybe have some red wine vinegar to go with oil. (is RWV safe? I'm pretty sure balsamic isn't but it's been a while since I looked at the details.) Many of the TS restaurants will have some vegetables that are SCD compliant and for the most part chefs can prepare these plain or with salt & pepper or maybe even cooked up with a bit of bacon if you're allowing a bit of bacon. Even if you speak ahead of time with chefs at restaurants though, don't count on them ordering in anything special to the restaurants. Over the past couple of years I've found that while chefs may say they'll try to get stuff/do stuff for us, they don't. I look over menus to see if there are options that look easy to modify to be safe for us and don't book if I don't see much. If they have ingredients then they will customize a dish for you. They do have to have the ingredients though so again, look over menus. Unfortunately, even at TS locations I wouldn't count on desserts.

Wait, I can't remember, are there any cheeses that are SCD compliant? I know milk has to be specially treated but aged cheeses may be ok. Anywhere that has cheeses should be willing to provide him with some for a dessert alternative.

Also, if I'm remembering correctly, melons are safe, aren't they? You can get cut up honeydew and cantaloupe at a variety of places including fruit carts in the parks. You'll also find whole apples. I can't recall if all apples are safe or not. At least green ones are, aren't they?

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
 
I too have crohns and am on the SCDiet. It's an amazing diet and will cure crohns or remove the symptoms so much you will never believe you ever had the disease. You will know within a month if it will work. In my case, I knew in a week. Mind you, if you cheat, it won't work. :)

Disney is amazing. I went to

http://www.austinscdfriends.com/articles/article/3691416/94645.htm

and printed out a card on photo paper, or you can laminate it if you want, to carry and show at restaurants. At the sit down restaurants the server would take the card to the chef. Usually he came to the table to talk to us about the restrictions. At the counterservice, I showed the card and the chef there would make sure we were taken care of. Even though it is quite a restrictive diet, I can honestly say I only had one problem, and it was taken care of (in a manner of speaking).

For any ADR, let them know ahead of time. I found very often the chefs were quite creative, making salad dressings I could eat, making lovely fruit cups for dessert, and accomodating me to a wonderful extreme. It was such a pleasure to be able to eat out and not have any worries.


http://www.scd.org/4faq/abbrevfoodlist.pdf

is nother great site to print cards from.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top