Allergies Help

[Mamu]

Grandson was just diagnosed with allergies egg, peanuts, dust and cat. So far these seem to be the worst. He breaks out in hives.

I'm so careful what I feed him, make all his food. This will be our first trip traveling with him where we're not doing the cooking. Should I contact the restaurants ahead of time to see how the food is prepared and what in it? Everything seems to contain egg.

The other day he broke out in hives all over his arms and legs, beat my brains out trying to figure out what he ate. (DH say I don't have a brain and what little I have I sit on) Come to find out it wasn't food, about a hour after treating the hives I saw the featherduster on the table and remembered his brother was dusting him with it. Discarded all dust collectors.

I also have allergies, but not to food, mold spores, pollen and dust. After years of traveling to Florida and always getting sick I finally realized it was mold spores causing my sickness.

What do you do when traveling with food allergies?

 

[twokids0204]

Grandson was just diagnosed with allergies egg, peanuts, dust and cat. So far these seem to be the worst. He breaks out in hives.

I'm so careful what I feed him, make all his food. This will be our first trip traveling with him where we're not doing the cooking. Should I contact the restaurants ahead of time to see how the food is prepared and what in it? Everything seems to contain egg.

The other day he broke out in hives all over his arms and legs, beat my brains out trying to figure out what he ate. (DH say I don't have a brain and what little I have I sit on) Come to find out it wasn't food, about a hour after treating the hives I saw the featherduster on the table and remembered his brother was dusting him with it. Discarded all dust collectors.

I also have allergies, but not to food, mold spores, pollen and dust. After years of traveling to Florida and always getting sick I finally realized it was mold spores causing my sickness.

What do you do when traveling with food allergies?

Contact the restaurants ahead of time, and have them note it on your ADR as a special dietary request.

 

[Giants72]

I know how bad allergies can be, my kids had it really bad and it dominated our lives. I don't know what to do about food allergies, but for mold, pollen and all that other stuff-Allegra worked great for my kids. It is our miracle drug. We had tried everythig else and started the kids on shots, but then we found Allegra and life is normal again. I try to tell everyone about this, so they can try it and hopefully don't have to go through what we went through.

 

[J Le]

Grandson was just diagnosed with allergies egg, peanuts, dust and cat. So far these seem to be the worst. He breaks out in hives.

I'm so careful what I feed him, make all his food. This will be our first trip traveling with him where we're not doing the cooking. Should I contact the restaurants ahead of time to see how the food is prepared and what in it? Everything seems to contain egg.

The other day he broke out in hives all over his arms and legs, beat my brains out trying to figure out what he ate. (DH say I don't have a brain and what little I have I sit on) Come to find out it wasn't food, about a hour after treating the hives I saw the featherduster on the table and remembered his brother was dusting him with it. Discarded all dust collectors.

I also have allergies, but not to food, mold spores, pollen and dust. After years of traveling to Florida and always getting sick I finally realized it was mold spores causing my sickness.

What do you do when traveling with food allergies?

I'm allergic to corn and WDW is the only place I feel comfortable eating in the restaurants. I found LOTS of useful info on the disABILITIES board. Also check out http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/special-dietary-requests/. In the four trips I've taken since this allergy developed (I got it as an adult) I've never had a bad incident. That's not to say I didn't have to pay attention. I need to carefully read ALL of the ingredients on non-TS foods. With TS, they know about my allergy and I almost always speak with a chef and they do their best to adjust the meal I want to eat. There are some great stories on allears.net.

Now if you're not going to WDW (gasp!) its a different story. I do eat out, but I only order food I know is okay and after explaining the allergy and how serious it is. Most of the time, I call the restaurant ahead of time and ask if its okay to bring my own food (and offer to pay for an entrée). 99% of the time they have no issues and do not ask me to pay for anything. Wherever we stay, I get a fridge (and a microwave if possible) and shop at markets along the way.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

Contact the restaurants ahead of time, and have them note it on your ADR as a special dietary request.

And don't forget to tell the hostess and/or waitress at each restaurant. The chef should them come out & talk to you about what DGS can & cannot have based on their knowledge of the dishes.

 

[LilyWDW]

Please go to the DISabilities forum. That is the place to look at when it comes to food allergies. We have a lot of wonderful posters there with a lot of great advice!

 

[sherabby]

My son has multiple food allergies. Dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shell fish. He outgrew wheat and eggs. His fish allergy is so severe that he cannot be in a room when it is being fried. He reacts to both touch and smell. We have NEVER had any issues in our 4 trips to Disney with him. Disney chefs are AWESOME and they will go out of their way to keep him safe! Do note it on your reservations and make sure to speak with a chef. If you go to a buffet and you don't feel that he will be safe you can ask the chef to prepare something special for him. We did this alot at breakfast and you may need to as well due to the egg allergy. They use Vann's waffles in some restaurants and some will make special gluten, dairy and egg free mickey waffles! My son't had his first milkshake at Disney!
If you eat at counter service before you order ask to speak to either a chef or a manager to keep him safe. His order will take a lot longer at counter service so do plan some extra time. We're going Deluxe dining this August and doing only table service meals. My son gets more excited about the dining because he gets to eat like a normal kid and gets dessert too! They have Divvies so do ask if they are available...even at the counter service locations.

 

[Gipperland]

Disney is outstanding when it comes to allergies! My son also has food allergies, fruit, fruit juice, many dyes and flavorings, tree nuts, on and on it goes. He has so many that feeding him is always a challenge. I travel with Benadrly and an epi-pen in my bag. At disney, if it is noted that there are allergies the chef will come out and speak to you. They will ALWAYS make you "safe food". Last year we went to the dessert party at the MK. The manager brought out all the recipes so I could check the ingredients of everything he ate. They made him is very own platter of "safe food". Just ask and never hesitate to talk to the chef or manager. When safe food isn't available, Disney will always get something that is. Only once did we ever have a problem subsituting food in our many Disney adventures. Good luck. You will have a great time

 

[squirrel]

Head over to the DisAbilities Board. You will find an e-mail address for Special Diets. Contact them and have an ADR form sent to you via e-mail and also a list of counter service locations that can do dietary requests (not all locations have the special buns, etc.).

The chef should come out at each restaurant and talk about the allergies and what he/she can make for your son. If you are at a buffet, the chef will take you through it and show you what is safe/unsafe.

Hope you have a great trip. My niece loves going to WDW as she can eat just about anything she wants.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the disABILITIES! board.

 

[hildarumpole]

You don't need to contact each restaurant yourself. When you make ADRs, have the allergies noted. Also email specialdiets@disneyworld.com. They'll email you a form to fill out with your ADRs and allergies. They forward that info to the restaurants. Disney does a fantastic job at managing food allergies. If you plan on eating at restaurants outside WDW, you should contact them to find out what kind of accomodations they can make. It would be much simpler to stick with Disney restaurants if you can. They actually know what they're doing, unlike a lot of restaurants we've encoutered in the real world.

 

[pudge the fish]

And if you are stying on site at WDW there is a special cleaning they can do for the room.
We have had friends who had to have this done by housekeeping as their children had horrible allergies to dust and danders.
it was very helpful to them and the kids had no issues on their trip!