allergic to nuts, dairy and eggs

[martih]

Help - where do I begin? Any place without a waiter served restaurant we can go for my grandson in the Parks?
Marti

 

[SueM in MN]

While you are waiting for replies, check out the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board (or you can follow the link in my signature to go directly to that thread).
In post #3 of that thread, there are links to past threads about food allergies. There are also contact phone numbers and emails for WDW that can help you with planning.

 

[rrkman]

Our youngest son has a milk/egg allergy (and is supposed to avoid other common allergens as well until he is tested again at 2 yrs old...he'll be 2 in November)....and we took him to WDW last December. We were very worried about how we would do with it down there but after reading other people's experiences and talking to Brenda Bennet, we were atleast comfortable enough to give it a shot. Let me tell you, the 'disney operated' restaurants were absolutely great with this....especially the full service places and buffets. Most of the counter service places were great as well but you need to be a little more careful because in some places they let you decide what he/she can have based on the 'ingredient book' and then make it separately to avoid cross contamination....hope that made sense.

I also want to point out why Disney operated was in bold...I hope I have it right as to which places are run by disney. There are certain restaurants on the property that are not disney owned. The 2 that we went to were Pepper Market and Raglan Road. These 2 were by far the worst with the allergies and many would say unacceptable but we really tried to be careful and pay close attention to what they were doing. I won't get into details but from our experience, we won't be visiting these places on any of our future trips....allergies or not.

In all of the 'disney' table service and buffet restaurants, the chef came to the table and discussed all the options and certainly gave us the feeling that they went above and beyond what was expected/necessary...many times they even had items that weren't on the menu that they could get and make for us. In the counter service restaurants, usually the manager met with us and went through the ingredient book (it is just a binder that has all the allergen information for every item that they serve). In most cases they were very helpful, but in some instances they seemed hesitant to make a suggestion and made me think that they were covering their own butts by making us 'choose' what we fed our son...if that makes sense.

Overall, our experience was way better than we could have asked for and because of that, we decided that disney is the best place for us until (hopefully) he outgrows the allergies....but, we will try to stick to 'disney' restaurants from now on.

Also, maybe this will make you feel more comfortable...Disney is a very lucrative business. I'm sure one of the reasons they are so successful is because it seems that they really do try to make it a great experience for all....I feel their reputation is very important to them. But also, they have a lot to lose. Just think if they messed up with someone...in this lawsuit happy world we live in, it is probably safe to assume that the family would sue disney for millions of dollars and because it is disney and they certainly have the money, they would stand to lose a lot.

Again, I hope all of this makes sense and as long as you talk to them, you really shouldn't have a problem in the disney restaurants.

Also, to answer your question....Ms. Bennet sent us a document that listed information on different snacks and counter service meals and were they are available...for example, here is one line from that document...

Gourmet Beef Franks - John Morell Foodservice - Black Label – All beef no fillers
** Now contain dairy. Hot dog Rolls - Interstate Brands If topped, also contains sesame seeds or cornmeal. Contains wheat, milk and soybeans.

I would also suggest that you be very careful with tips from other people on what is/isn't safe for your grandchild. Items and ingredients change all the time so even though the 'all beef' hot dogs were safe last december, we are certainly going to go through the entire process again prior to our trip so that we are using the most current information.

Good luck.