Any experience with Universal and Food Allergies

[HETRICKL]

Does anyone have any experience with eating either counter or table service at Universal that they can share.

I'm thinking it might be easier just to pack and bring it in, but for two meals, I thought I'd at least give it a try if someone knows.

THanks.

 

[CarrieR]

We went for a day last year and opted to just carry food in. I went with easy things like granola bars and trail mix; we ate breakfast on the way in and a late dinner on the way out. We weren't able to get a clear answer about gloves (my bestie is severely allergic to latex) and there were almost no vegetarian options so we decided it would be easier. Not sure what their policy is on carrying in food - mine was in my purse/backpack - but I was prepared to fight with the special diets card if necessary.

We are so spoiled by Disney... any other theme park, we just carry in.

I know that's not exactly what you were asking but I thought I'd share our experience.

 

[snorris49]

I've not had very good luck, personally, at Universal. I've eaten in the IoA at Three Broomsticks in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which was probably my best experience of all the places I've been. I was able to have the roasted chicken platter which was quite good. I still ended up sick that day, so it's hard to say if it was this restaurant or the CityWalk meal.

Richter Burger Bar in the Studios side, and I had a pretty typical experience for a non-Disney owned fast food. They sort of were like, oh so you'll get sick if you eat a bun right? I ended up with a bunless sandwich and fries which they said were fried in a dedicated fryer (wasn't so sure I believed them). I was violently sick later but I also ate at another restaurant in CityWalk that night, so I'm not sure which one I was sick from--my guess would be this one. My own fault because I didn't plan ahead and hadn't eaten most of the day, but still.

I've been to Margaritaville & Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in City Walk. Margaritaville was actually good in that they had a GF menu and the staff seemed to be willing to work on things--but again as mentioned above both times I ate 2 meals at Universal despite looking for GF menus and such ahead of time, I was still sick. Bubba Gump is a never ever ever (did I mention ever?!) again! Horrible. They were terrible with allergies--I found them to be very unfriendly and the manager was very "put out" about it. Our waitress even traded us out for another table because she was annoyed with us. This night I was probably the sickest I had been in a long time after eating somewhere. Blech.

Overall, after getting really sick a few times, I've opted to drive to Disney to eat first and then go back to Disney on the way home (I live about 1 1/2 hours from WDW) and then I will guarantee I won't get violently ill. For me, it hasn't been worth it, but there might be someone out there who has some good tips and experiences.

I agree with PP that I've been wayyyyyy too spoiled by Disney!

 

[EvangelineG]

We had a fantastic experience with Universal and allergies! You can contact Universal customer service ahead of time and they will put you in touch with a chef who can help you plan where to eat on your trip and answer any questions. We had no problem getting allergy specific info about Butterbeer and other items before our trip.

We had a fantastic experience at the Three Broomsticks, and ate there several times during our visit. You let the host know that you have allergies and they direct you to their "allergy specialist" for ordering (last year it was Pam and she was great! Thanks Pam!). Other recommendations (by Chef Bob Burdick last year) for allergy safe food in the parks are Lombard's Landing, Finnegan's, Confiscos and Mythos. These are TS locations where a chef should be able to make a meal appropriate to your needs.

We did find the snack selections available for our sons' allergy list to be very limited, and will be carrying our own snacks with us on our upcoming trip. Things available were chips, fruit, slushies and turkey legs.

Have fun!

 

[HETRICKL]

We had a fantastic experience with Universal and allergies! You can contact Universal customer service ahead of time and they will put you in touch with a chef who can help you plan where to eat on your trip and answer any questions. We had no problem getting allergy specific info about Butterbeer and other items before our trip.

We had a fantastic experience at the Three Broomsticks, and ate there several times during our visit. You let the host know that you have allergies and they direct you to their "allergy specialist" for ordering (last year it was Pam and she was great! Thanks Pam!). Other recommendations (by Chef Bob Burdick last year) for allergy safe food in the parks are Lombard's Landing, Finnegan's, Confiscos and Mythos. These are TS locations where a chef should be able to make a meal appropriate to your needs.

We did find the snack selections available for our sons' allergy list to be very limited, and will be carrying our own snacks with us on our upcoming trip. Things available were chips, fruit, slushies and turkey legs.

Have fun!

Thank you so much for your experience. I did send an email today to their special diet contact on the website, so hopefully I'll get some good information back.

One of my questions was on the Butterbeer. Do you happen to still have the allergy information on that?

We only have 1 day there, so I'm thinking it will be counter service and maybe we can wait until we get back to WDW for a late dinner. If I can't get good counter service info, I'll just carry in for her and at least try and get a snack.

Thanks again.

 

[EvangelineG]

Thank you so much for your experience. I did send an email today to their special diet contact on the website, so hopefully I'll get some good information back.

One of my questions was on the Butterbeer. Do you happen to still have the allergy information on that?

We only have 1 day there, so I'm thinking it will be counter service and maybe we can wait until we get back to WDW for a late dinner. If I can't get good counter service info, I'll just carry in for her and at least try and get a snack.

Thanks again.

The allergy info we had on Butterbeer was specific to my sons' allergy lists. Between the two of them, they are severely allergic to eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, mushrooms, green peas, chick peas, lentils and several other legumes, and the Butterbeer in both frozen and regular form was safe for them. I can't vouch for any other allergies, but I am sure that the special diets contact at Universal can help you.
I hope you have a great experience at Universal like we did! We are going to be back there exactly 2 weeks from today, and I can't wait.

 

[minniebeth]

Without writing a book on this, which I could, I'll give you out very abbreviated version of our allergy experience at Universal this past summer: Universal pales in comparison with food allergies compared to Disney. My DD is severely allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and as hard as that is, thank goodness that's all it is because I couldn't imagine additional allergies with Universal. Overall we were disappointed but again, compared it to Disney.

We ate in a lot of cs places in the parks where we could find items just fine for her. The Butterbeer kiosk was great and on top of it. I wish they would all be that great.

Three Broomsticks like mentioned was good as well.

Finnegan's was our awful experience where they just didn't care, wouldn't bring the chef out and told DD basically nothing was safe for her. Now I know this isn't true but we were in the height of summer where the crowds were unbearable, we just wanted to cool off and eat. She ended up having a burger patty with lettuce.

Royal Pacific (Jake's?) was horrible with accommodating and seemed like they just didn't want to. We left.

Hard Rock Hotel where we stayed was awesome. The pool bar and The Kitchen rocked.

Margaritaville was great too, we ate there several times.

Hard Rock Cafe seemed to address allergies but DD had a reaction after her meal here so I'm assuming there was cross contamination somewhere. Their kitchen is so crazy busy so I'm not sure I would trust her eating there again.

We did ok but the overall attitude that we encountered was that addressing food allergies just isn't that important. The food/restaurant experience at Disney is a special part of the experience for us where we were just eating for fuel at Universal. With the exception of the Hard Rock restaurants I'd say.

 

[snorris49]

The allergy info we had on Butterbeer was specific to my sons' allergy lists. Between the two of them, they are severely allergic to eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, mushrooms, green peas, chick peas, lentils and several other legumes, and the Butterbeer in both frozen and regular form was safe for them. I can't vouch for any other allergies, but I am sure that the special diets contact at Universal can help you.
I hope you have a great experience at Universal like we did! We are going to be back there exactly 2 weeks from today, and I can't wait.

If you have a dairy allergy, Butterbeer has dairy in the topping, and they can't serve it without the topping (or won't, I'm not really sure which). That came directly through Universal's Special Diets. It is gluten free according to their list.

 

[HETRICKL]

I did receive an email from the Chef at Universal today. He did confirm the Butterbeer was safe for us as well.

He also suggested a couple cs places where they had a turkey leg, fruit, slushies and one place where the fryer would be okay for french fries.

He did suggest about 2 table service restaurants in each park and Citywalk that are better with allergies.

We are only there 1-2 days, so I think I'll pack her lunch and hopefully we can wait for dinner until we leave. Otherwise we might try 1 of the table service.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[SammySlythers]

If you have a dairy allergy, Butterbeer has dairy in the topping, and they can't serve it without the topping (or won't, I'm not really sure which). That came directly through Universal's Special Diets. It is gluten free according to their list.

Can't. JK Rowlng has a very specific and detailed contract with Universal on how things can be done in Wizarding World. You have to be served a complete butterbeer, they cannot contractually separate the parts. (It's just cream soda without the foam anyway...)

 

[snorris49]

Can't. JK Rowlng has a very specific and detailed contract with Universal on how things can be done in Wizarding World. You have to be served a complete butterbeer, they cannot contractually separate the parts. (It's just cream soda without the foam anyway...)

Ah, that explains it. I wondered what the big deal was about serving it without the foam topping!