This isn't all going to fit in one picture! ~ Dairy-free Pescatarian Food & Wine Oct. '15

[wellesleyprincess]

Hello Everyone,

I'm trying to relive the wonderfulness that was my October trip a little longer and help out others with dietary needs. Plus my goal is to end this when, I am ready to start planning my trip for next fall.

I have recently developed a dairy allergy and stick to basically vegetarian, but now call myself a pescatarian because I occasionally eat fish.

This was a short trip with me and my Dad but the food photos and reviews are just mine.

Table of contents:

1. AKV-Jambo Villa Breakfast, Snacks, and Benefits
2. Food & Wine Booths & EPCOT Snacks
3. Food Demo at Festival Center
4. Le Cellier Dinner
5. BoG Lunch
6. Sanaa Dinner
7. Boma Breakfast

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm here and following along! I'm usually not big on dining reports (mostly because I can't eat any of that stuff...), but I'm really interested to read all about how Disney handled all of your special dietary needs.

 

[Elevationist]

I'm here, I'm here!

Normally a mostly meatless review isn't my scene, but professionally I'm interested in what options are out there for people with special diets. So bring on the eats, my friend!!

Lately I've turned absolutely AWFUL at keeping up with the threads I following, so don't kill me if I slack!

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Not-Really-A-Review But Kind of A Review: Breakfast, Snacks, and why I will now be sticking to Renting DVC Points​

So to kick things off, this was our first trip renting DVC points. This also meant that it was our first time with a kitchen/kitchenette. This is extremely helpful for any one with special dietary needs. It was also great with our late night arrival (plane landed at 8:30 pm so it was 10 pm by the time we arrived at the hotel). The Mara was packed and running limited service, so instead we bought a bottle of wine and ate in the room.

We flew Southwest and so about half my suitcase was safe food/snacks. We were in a studio so we had a coffee pot, half size fridge (think a big dorm fridge), and microwave. If you're in a 1 bedroom or larger you have a full kitchen. I tend to not be a big breakfast eater or I'll do a buffet and skip lunch/snack for lunch. It's also nice to not have to deal with the food court for allergy meals. While QS chefs are very nice, since it's a special preparation you usually end up with being the awkward one in the group still waiting for your food. By packing breakfast rather than my daily coffee and fruit or kids meal at the food court.

Another note, I didn't pack drinks. I was too worried about it spilling in the suitcase. One of the best "investments" was a bottle of wine from the Gift Shop. Spent $15 and it would have been about $8-10 plus tax and tip for a single glass. This lasted the course of the trip. We also bought a six pack of soda which was over priced but cheaper than buying individual sodas in the food court. In terms of food, the allergy friendly gift shop options are limited, but they did have the new Snacks with Character (aka Enjoy Life repackaged with Mickey & friends on them).

What I know for next time:
When I got back, I discovered a gift basket/grocery shop service that does allergy-friendly baskets. Very reasonable delivery/service fees and willing to work with whatever budget you request. So I'll probably do that rather than the combined suitcase/gift shop effort.

Also, I never found a toaster. I don't know if it's available upon request or not, but I'd want to find out.

Finally, while I don't want to cook a full meal on vacay, I would consider bringing more lunch/dinnerish options like Dr. McDougall's cups or similar. It would have come in handy the first night (I did peanut butter crackers and fruit) and could be nice for the last day or a late night.

TTFN

Next up, F & W Wonderfulness

 

[Smile4Me]

I'd love to know the grocery shop service that is allergy friendly! We are leaving in about a week and I am allergic to dairy, beef and eggs. Can't wait for the rest of your review. Also would love more information about where you rented points from. We are looking to do that on our next trip (a year or two from now).

 

[Vernie822]

We were in a studio @ AKL Kidani and we had a toaster! Great report so far.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Food & Wine and World Showcase Snacks​

Hello again my friends!

With Food and Wine going on. We "skipped" lunch and snacked around the world. I split off from my dad and met up with my friend from college. Between the two of us we have combined allergies to Dairy, Nuts, Peanuts, and Gluten, plus vegetarian tendency. Needless to say we were about to put Disney's special diets to work.

We started with the Vegan Moussaka and white wine at Greece. It was okay and it was one of the few things that I knew I could eat.



The booths were not very well informed about the allergy contents in my experience and of course they cannot modify. As a result the only other booth treats I got were the Riesling flight in Germany


And the Vegan Beef and Sparkling Grapefruit in South Korea



I really missed having Terra (the vegan booth) because it was all dairy free and I was slightly disappointment in the lack of availability of allergy information at a lot of the booths. I will say the demo later made up for that a bit. But more on that later.

What I did find was when got snacks and drinks at the standard World Showcase places the CMs were AMAZING.

In addition to the above, we got dairy-free sorbet in France where they went in the back to get fresh to protect against cross contamination.
Got sake in Japan at the bar and enjoyed the Kawaii exhibit.
Enjoyed a prosecco flight at Tutto Gusto wine cellar (my new happy place).

Overall it was a good experience, but with allergies I would have had pretty much the same experience if food and wine wasn't going on.

So in conclusion BRING BACK TERRA!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm really surprised that they didn't have more options for you at the booths ... and I'm pretty surprised that the booths don't have allergy information available. With the growing awareness of food allergies and special diets, I'm really surprised that Disney doesn't accommodate for that at their biggest food event.

At least the World Showcase CMs were at least living up to Disney's reputation for being great with special diets.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Hello readers! I apologize for the gap in updates, but I'm in the middle of exams. Expect the next two reviews tonight or tomorrow.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Food and Wine Demo​

So I'm not going to get too post in like I wanted, but here's something to keep this baby going.
As much of a let down as the booths were the demo went above and beyond. It was a vegetarian demo and the chef's got swapped and so did the dishes. I had called to find out the dish when I originally booked because of a food allergy. At that time the scheduled dish was supposed to be vegan (so would be fine), but they would note it on the reservation in case it changed. Well it turns out it did change to a cheese ravioli made with chicken broth (so not even technically vegetarian as advertised). When they brought the plates around I let them know I had an allergy which had been noted and couldn't eat it. I was expecting to just be happy with my wine and watching the show, but they brought a dairy-free pasta dishes with similar garnishes that I could eat. It was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.
Below is a pic from the event but I can't find my pic of the dish.

 

[SarahDisney]

I have to say ... I'm really surprised (in a good way) that they provided an alternative dish for you. I'm disappointed that what was supposed to be a vegetarian demo ended up having chicken broth, but it's pretty cool that they accommodated your allergy!