ABD BSM with food allergies

[RedM94]

i am curious if anyone with food allergies has done the ABD BSM. More specifically a peanut allergy. I am most concerned with the meals prior to arriving at Disney Land.

Thank you.

 

[OKW Lover]

I have no first hand experience but ABD is very good at accommodating food restrictions.

 

[sampal24]

We did the ABD BSM in July with my peanut/tree nut allergic daughter and there were no issues with the meals. Three of the six meals, prior to arriving at Disneyland, are at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. I spoke to the executive chef before booking the trip and he assured me they could provide safe meals for her, and they would make something just for her that was not on the buffet if she wanted something else. The lunch at Tam O'Shanter was good for her as was the lunch at Walt Disney Studios. I called ahead to all of the places before booking the trip. It is important for me to feel like they understand the severity of the situation. There is one dinner on your own. We ate at the Cabo Wabo Cantina mexican restaurant in the Hollywood and Highland Center, which is connected to the hotel. However, there is one special surprise you may want to skip. SPOILER ALERT If you don't wish to know about any surprises on this ABD than read no further, but this information is useful for someone traveling with food allergies. On the day you have dinner on your own the group was told to meet at the Ghirardelli ice cream shop for ice cream sundaes. This is a frequent surprise but may not always happen since it is not part of the official itinerary. When I called ahead I found out that the only thing my daughter could have was a sorbet. There was no ice cream that didn't have the possibility of cross contamination. My daughter and I skipped this event and went to see where her favorite band shot a music video, while my wife and other daughter went to the ice cream shop. Everyone was happy, and the next day the guides surprised my daughter with about $15 worth of candy because she could not go to the ice cream shop. The guides took care of us and our special needs like we were part of their family.

 

[OhanaCuz]

I've been on multiple tours and one ABD. Disney is probably the company I trust the most for dealing with my food allergy.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I had the most success when I could deal with the restaurant or restaurant staff directly myself. I had a horrible experience letting the ABd guides deal with restaurants when it came to my allergies. They actually caused me to have 2 major anxiety attacks while on my ABD in Europe over concerns about my allergies. The company we travel with now is fantastic about it. No anxiety attacks at all and we did 15 days in Southeast Asia.

 

[sayhello]

I've been on several ABD's, and we've had folks with some sort of allergy on most of my trips (Celiac's, peanuts, even one person allergic to wine!). The ABD Guides have been FABULOUS about working with the restaurants to get their allergies addressed and taken care of. I have a lot of dietary restrictions (not allergies, but GERD and diabetes related) and they've done wonders for me making sure there's always food I can eat available. Try dealing with someone who can't eat tomatoes or tomato products in Greece!! They were wonderful!

Sayhello

 

[White Rose]

I've been on several ABD's, and we've had folks with some sort of allergy on most of my trips (Celiac's, peanuts, even one person allergic to wine!). The ABD Guides have been FABULOUS about working with the restaurants to get their allergies addressed and taken care of. I have a lot of dietary restrictions (not allergies, but GERD and diabetes related) and they've done wonders for me making sure there's always food I can eat available. Try dealing with someone who can't eat tomatoes or tomato products in Greece!! They were wonderful!

Sayhello

I feel your pain sayhello! I have a sensitivity to tomatoes (and a strong personal dislike) and my hubby has GERD, and also sensitive to tannins/tannic acid so no red wines or black tea products or else he will be violently ill for at least a day!

We had no issues with food.

We are on our way to Germany in a few days and I have confidence we will be fine.

 

[sayhello]

I feel your pain sayhello! I have a sensitivity to tomatoes (and a strong personal dislike) and my hubby has GERD, and also sensitive to tannins/tannic acid so no red wines or black tea products or else he will be violently ill for at least a day!

We had no issues with food.

We are on our way to Germany in a few days and I have confidence we will be fine.

I'm sure you know, just discuss it with the Guides when you get there. They've always been the best. No-one I know has ever had a problem with the food on an ABD. I've always heard they're the best if you have food problems, because they take it quite seriously!

Sayhello

 

[RedM94]

We did the ABD BSM in July with my peanut/tree nut allergic daughter and there were no issues with the meals. Three of the six meals, prior to arriving at Disneyland, are at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. I spoke to the executive chef before booking the trip and he assured me they could provide safe meals for her, and they would make something just for her that was not on the buffet if she wanted something else. The lunch at Tam O'Shanter was good for her as was the lunch at Walt Disney Studios. I called ahead to all of the places before booking the trip. It is important for me to feel like they understand the severity of the situation. There is one dinner on your own. We ate at the Cabo Wabo Cantina mexican restaurant in the Hollywood and Highland Center, which is connected to the hotel. However, there is one special surprise you may want to skip. SPOILER ALERT If you don't wish to know about any surprises on this ABD than read no further, but this information is useful for someone traveling with food allergies. On the day you have dinner on your own the group was told to meet at the Ghirardelli ice cream shop for ice cream sundaes. This is a frequent surprise but may not always happen since it is not part of the official itinerary. When I called ahead I found out that the only thing my daughter could have was a sorbet. There was no ice cream that didn't have the possibility of cross contamination. My daughter and I skipped this event and went to see where her favorite band shot a music video, while my wife and other daughter went to the ice cream shop. Everyone was happy, and the next day the guides surprised my daughter with about $15 worth of candy because she could not go to the ice cream shop. The guides took care of us and our special needs like we were part of their family.

Thank you @sampal24 and everyone else for your replies, much appreciated. I will definitely call Lowes and Tam O'Shanter directly.

 

[SingingMom]

We were in London & Paris with a guest that had SEVERE allergies. The guides were AMAZING. This woman is allergic to anything with vitamin C! She had no problems. The guides followed up with each chef and with her. She was so thrilled with her experience.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

We've done 14 ABDs (and a lot of exotic places, see my signature) and on all but one we had AMAZING guides that took complete care of my husband and son's need not to eat onions or cilantro. BSM should be no problem with meeting food needs! All the guides that run BSM are amazing and we've had most of them on other trip. I say you can't go wrong there <3

 

[k5jm]

I had the most success when I could deal with the restaurant or restaurant staff directly myself. I had a horrible experience letting the ABd guides deal with restaurants when it came to my allergies. They actually caused me to have 2 major anxiety attacks while on my ABD in Europe over concerns about my allergies. The company we travel with now is fantastic about it. No anxiety attacks at all and we did 15 days in Southeast Asia.

Sorry that you had a one off experience. We have had great response from ABD concerning allergies. Anxiety around concerns over ABD is not a direct reflection on how ABD actually handles allergy issues.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Sorry that you had a one off experience. We have had great response from ABD concerning allergies. Anxiety around concerns over ABD is not a direct reflection on how ABD actually handles allergy issues.

Agree 100%

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Sorry that you had a one off experience. We have had great response from ABD concerning allergies. Anxiety around concerns over ABD is not a direct reflection on how ABD actually handles allergy issues.

Unfortunately the lackadaisical attitude of the guide towards the allergy and my concerns happened not once but twice on the trip and it was the official Disney guide that was the issue. When it was left to the local guide to deal with there wasn't a problem but the minute the Disney guide was dealing with it, that's when the issues started. Add to that, the major anxiety/panic attack happened at the final dinner and the guide basically brushed me and my concerns off. Did not leave me with a great impression of Adventures by Disney. Nor did Disney's response when I informed them of the issue and my concerns upon our return.

 

[k5jm]

Unfortunately the lackadaisical attitude of the guide towards the allergy and my concerns happened not once but twice on the trip and it was the official Disney guide that was the issue. When it was left to the local guide to deal with there wasn't a problem but the minute the Disney guide was dealing with it, that's when the issues started. Add to that, the major anxiety/panic attack happened at the final dinner and the guide basically brushed me and my concerns off. Did not leave me with a great impression of Adventures by Disney. Nor did Disney's response when I informed them of the issue and my concerns upon our return.

I am sorry to hear that. I would suggest and voicing your concerns to Adventures By Disney. They take guest experiences very seriously and are always looking for areas to improve in. I would seriously consider reaching back out to them. ABD has always been very responsive to any concerns that I have had.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I am sorry to hear that. I would suggest and voicing your concerns to Adventures By Disney. They take guest experiences very seriously and are always looking for areas to improve in. I would seriously consider reaching back out to them. ABD has always been very responsive to any concerns that I have had.

Unfortunately we did voice our concerns to ABD. We had more concerns than just the food allergy issue and the response we got back was basically "Too Bad, So Sad. Suck it up and deal with it cause we don't care and we're not doing anything about it."

 

[k5jm]

Everyone has a different experience. For me, I would chalk it up to a new experience and move on with life. I, myself, feel that harboring such strong feelings towards a company would make me want to take up the issues with the company. Taking a first level brush off would just encourage me to start emailing or tweeting the higher-ups.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Everyone has a different experience. For me, I would chalk it up to a new experience and move on with life. I, myself, feel that harboring such strong feelings towards a company would make me want to take up the issues with the company. Taking a first level brush off would just encourage me to start emailing or tweeting the higher-ups.

I don't really think nearly ending up in the hospital in Austria due to the actions of the guides can be chalked up to a "new experience".

This response was from the higher ups. I send my letter to the head of ABD and that was the response we got back. We weren't looking for anything, just an acknowledgement that the guides screwed up and that the situation would be rectified moving forward. The response we got back was that if we didn't like it, we could either suck it up or not travel with ABD.

 

[k5jm]

I don't really think nearly ending up in the hospital in Austria due to the actions of the guides can be chalked up to a "new experience".

This response was from the higher ups. I send my letter to the head of ABD and that was the response we got back. We weren't looking for anything, just an acknowledgement that the guides screwed up and that the situation would be rectified moving forward. The response we got back was that if we didn't like it, we could either suck it up or not travel with ABD.

That sounds like a new experience to me. “Direct to the top” rarely ends in an optimal solution.

Just like any business, ABD has the right to refuse service to any customer for any reason.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I'd be curious what exactly ABD said in that letter because I"m guessing they didn't literally tell you to "suck it up". We have a first hand experience with an issue and going to ABD HQ upon return. In Spain, at the resort in Marbella, our room was SO smokey it burned our eyes. We are really sensitive to cigarette smoke, and our guides Michael and Natalia did everything they could to fix the situation. Unfortunately, there were no other rooms open (they were totally sold out) but Michael & Natalia made sure we had an ionizer in there constantly and it *did* fix the problem for the most part. They also arranged to have any clothes laundered after we left if we needed it at no cost (we ended up not needing that). When we got home, we contacted ABD about using Marbella as a stop on the itenerary, not so much about how the guides handled it, and we felt it was completely addressed and ABD went above and beyond to make sure we knew our issue mattered.

We also had an itenerary cancelled because of low numbers, and we had trouble getting an answer from the Vacationista about rebooking and ABD covering the difference in airfare for the new dates. In the end, it wasn't resolved, but the next day we got a call from one of the ABD heads and he said they had reviewed the phone call, saw that nothing was resolved, and he personally saw to it that our questions were answered and they sent along some surprises as a way to apologize.

I'm not sure if it's our attitude, or our patience in reaching someone who could help, or what, but we have always felt like any major issues (which dietary needs are definitley part of!) have been addressed and met or exceeded our expectation for customer service.

Just another little story that spoke VOLUMES about travel with ABD (other group travel may do this as well, but we've only traveled with ABD so I have nothing to compare it to). In China, one of our trip mates (who was a solo traveler) became extrememly ill. The pollution had made it nearly impossible for her to breathe, and then she picked up another sick bug and she was really sick. Some activities she couldn't keep up and the guides made sure to arrange transportation back to the hotel for her. One morning, she woke up with a giant, swollen neck and so the guides called a doctor to the hotel. Doc said she needed to go to the hospital, so one of the guides went with her. Stayed with her all day in the hospital, got her settled, ABD was working behind the scenes to arrange all of her flights back home since she was not staying on the trip and would fly out once she could leave the hospital. The guides were in contact with her and made sure she had everything she needed and was safe and well cared for. I am always afraid of one of our family getting sick in a foreign country, but seeing how the guides and ABD HQ handled this scary situation spoke volumes to me. <3