Artificial Food Dye + CL GAC Allergy... Help!

[luxlvr]

So… my DS has some issues that require a GAC. We loved it and it really helped with the limited amount of time he is able to spend in the parks each day (maybe 3 hours at a time MAX). That being said I have two questions:

1. We had a pretty terrible experience when we visited WDW last time. DS was 4 years old and we have always modified the world around him. Knowing he was going to have some troubles in the parks we got the GAC. It was great for getting him on and off the limited rides he could do, but it also required that the bight green card that screams "I'm DIFFERENT!" be held up to his little face each and every time. One time a CM actually said, "Is you Special Needs child here?" My jaw dropped! Never have we referred to him as "Special Needs" even though he does fit in that category. How do we navigate these GACs without drawing attention to my overly sensitive little man?!? Can I have my IPO at WDL get the GAC for us in any quicker way than the Guest Relations section in the parks (can we do it at the hotel? have it set up and ready for when they need him for the pic?)

2. He is HIGHLY allergic to artificial food dye (Red Dye, Blue Dye, Carmel color, etc) As you can imagine this is in everything… I mean everything… even tooth paste. It is a crazy thing to try to avoid while navigating everyday life… forget the parks. My question is, does anyone know of a better way than sitting down to the table and waiting to speak to the chef at restaurants? Can I call ahead and do this? Last time we were made to wait about 5 - 20 min before each meal?!? With three little ones this was crazy. My DS finally said to his brother "I'm sorry I have allergies and make you wait to eat all the time!"

3. One time a chef said that there were no colors in anything at the restaurant (O'Hana) and he was completely safe. It shocked me. I thought that all of the baked goods came from the bakery off site. But, with fear gripping me I let that happy little 4 year old be free and eat until his heart was content. After our meal no sooner than we hit the monorail, did the symptoms start and we were in full blow allergy mode! We got it under control, but I was fuming! I felt like that chef was so irresponsible!!

All in all we were pretty disappointed that our beautiful little boy came home from the "happiest place on earth" with questions like "Why did that waiter say my brother gets the normal meal? Am I not normal?" and "What does Special Needs mean? Do I have them?"

We spoke with Disney and they want us to come back and try this all again (but aren't offering us a discount, just some free tickets for a few days… not a huge help). I have been given the recommendation that CL is the way to go to make all of this much easier. Now we are scrimping and saving to make it happen, hoping to find a PIN or discount to make this work. I just can't see spending all of this money only to have this situation repeat itself! Please help!

 

[livndisney]

So… my DS has some issues that require a GAC. We loved it and it really helped with the limited amount of time he is able to spend in the parks each day (maybe 3 hours at a time MAX). That being said I have two questions:

1. We had a pretty terrible experience when we visited WDW last time. DS was 4 years old and we have always modified the world around him. Knowing he was going to have some troubles in the parks we got the GAC. It was great for getting him on and off the limited rides he could do, but it also required that the bight green card that screams "I'm DIFFERENT!" be held up to his little face each and every time. One time a CM actually said, "Is you Special Needs child here?" My jaw dropped! Never have we referred to him as "Special Needs" even though he does fit in that category. How do we navigate these GACs without drawing attention to my overly sensitive little man?!? Can I have my IPO at WDL get the GAC for us in any quicker way than the Guest Relations section in the parks (can we do it at the hotel? have it set up and ready for when they need him for the pic?)

No, the person who needs assistance needs to be present when the card is requested. The card can only be requested at one of the 4 main parks. The card also has to be shown for each attraction several times. You may be able to request your picture be placed on the card (that was offered originally-but have not heard it being done lately) You will need to show the card to request a return time. You will need to show it when you return and then you may have to show it while in line to another CM. You should also know GAC is gone, the new system (that I think you are referring to is DAS. (Pointed out only for clarity-so you are asking for the correct card). As far as the rest of your comment I am not sure I understand what you are looking for. Have you seen assistance given (for those without visible needs) in other parks without a card?(

2. He is HIGHLY allergic to artificial food dye (Red Dye, Blue Dye, Carmel color, etc) As you can imagine this is in everything… I mean everything… even tooth paste. It is a crazy thing to try to avoid while navigating everyday life… forget the parks. My question is, does anyone know of a better way than sitting down to the table and waiting to speak to the chef at restaurants? Can I call ahead and do this? Last time we were made to wait about 5 - 20 min before each meal?!? With three little ones this was crazy. My DS finally said to his brother "I'm sorry I have allergies and make you wait to eat all the time!"
Those will allergies wait, Chefs have to work with other guests and also oversee/cook the special meals. We (those with allergies) greatly outnumber the Chefs. Calling ahead doesn't work-I have tried-DD was still given the wrong food and became quite ill.

3. One time a chef said that there were no colors in anything at the restaurant (O'Hana) and he was completely safe. It shocked me. I thought that all of the baked goods came from the bakery off site. But, with fear gripping me I let that happy little 4 year old be free and eat until his heart was content. After our meal no sooner than we hit the monorail, did the symptoms start and we were in full blow allergy mode! We got it under control, but I was fuming! I felt like that chef was so irresponsible!!

All in all we were pretty disappointed that our beautiful little boy came home from the "happiest place on earth" with questions like "Why did that waiter say my brother gets the normal meal? Am I not normal?" and "What does Special Needs mean? Do I have them?"

We spoke with Disney and they want us to come back and try this all again (but aren't offering us a discount, just some free tickets for a few days… not a huge help). I have been given the recommendation that CL is the way to go to make all of this much easier. Now we are scrimping and saving to make it happen, hoping to find a PIN or discount to make this work. I just can't see spending all of this money only to have this situation repeat itself! Please help!

Comments in blue.

 

[Toffeewoffy]

Unless your son has the kind of problems that prevent him waiting in line, he will not get a DAS card. If he does get one, they will take his photo and print out a special card with it on, and it looks like an appointment card.

We notice a lot of brighly coloured food in the US (which we just don't have over here) and we had to ban DD from the fruit punches after a few days as she was bouncing off the walls! I don't know what you had at 'Ohanas, but we never saw anything with colour added!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'd highly recommend you read the sticky at the top of this forum regarding the DAS card which has replaced the GAC. There are some notable differences and the sticky is the most comprehensive explanation I've seen.

 

[clanmcculloch]

If his problem is only that he can't spend a long time in the parks then I HIGHLY suggest you check out a touring plan service. My DD16 can only spend a few hours in a park on any given day and can only go to parks 2 days in a row before we have to take a break day where we stay at our resort all day. Our most recent trip we did get a DAS for her due to the underlying issue behind the difficulty with staying in the parks as that issue also causes problems in lines, but we never even ended up using it. Using a good touring plan along with FP+ we never waited in lines more than a few minutes (well, Soarin' was I think 15 minutes with the FP but that'll happen with a DAS as well) and we didn't have to deal with running to an attraction to get a return time and then leave and come back like we would have with the DAS. I got the DAS as a backup in case things went wrong with the touring plan but using the touring plan coupled with FP worked better than if I had have relied on the DAS. The DAS is for issues waiting in line so that you wait elsewhere. If the return time for the attraction is 2 hours then your return time will be in 1 hour 50 minutes and you can't get another return time until that one's done so if your time in the park is limited then you REALLY want a solid touring plan as the DAS won't get you on those headliners when you've got such a limited amount of park time.

As to CL being the best way to go, it really depends on which resort. I've had amazing experience at the Polynesian and I'm excited to give GF a try but I haven't heard great things from other resorts.

 

[luxlvr]

Thank you clanmcculloch!!! That was huge help! I read the sticky through and through and I just didn't think it was answering my questions enough. Sorry if I didn't read it well enough though… I'll go back now.
Thank you!

Off to read about a touring plan!

 

[mistysue]

I suggest you start doing research into some of the common food products found at Disney. This is going to do you much more good than staying CL will. If you contact special diets they can help you find out brands of products that are used. Then you can look up specific things- like a pancake mix, the pizza dough, types of juice, the breading for fish, etc. and find items that you are comfortable with. It may help to pick places you want to eat and ask about items at those places so you can narrow down which places seem to have the most variety for you. If the "regular" brands of items are not safe, there may be some special allergy brands that may be free of the colors. It might help to check out the lists of special allergy foods- such as the gluten free list, the nut free list, the egg and dairy lists just to see if those items will work out better and to know which places are likely to stock items.
If you have a "safe list" in mind, it may take a lot of stress out of meals as you may be able to cross items off your list even if the chef doesn't realize the issue.

No matter how much you prepare, you are going to end up waiting at each meal. Yes, it's frustrating but imagine how many orders they would mix up if they tried to arrange everything in advance. We've learned that we like table service meals for allergies, as the counter service seems to end up taking nearly as long by the time we order and the table service has a better chance of stocking a good meal option. If you pick locations carefully TS doesn't cost much more than CS does.

As to his insecurities, I don't know your specific child so this may not work for you but we have been very direct with explaining to our kids that their needs are different than other people. By the time he was 4 (now 5) my son was able to explain to people that if they gave him the wrong food it would make him sick and he knew to be careful even if they were outraged he wouldn't take their cookie. At this point he is no longer shy about it and when people ask strange questions he is no longer upset by it he has had to figure out some people just don't get it. We also taught our other kids that it is all of our responsibility as his family to help keep him safe no matter what that requires which seems to take pressure off of him. His older sister has cognitive delays, we were out recently and she directly commented to him that it's ok if she can't have a snack if we all have to wait until he can get something safe. This a girl who otherwise generally has the patience of a preschooler so it seems to have worked out well to make it into a family struggle that we are all in together. I know for a long time we really couldn't explain our daughter's issues to her because she found being singled out upsetting, she recently got to a point where she started to understand that she is different. Once she got there it was easy to give her a sense of pride in working through her own differences. If your son can handle that sort of conversation it may make it much easier for him to deal with mean people (or just awkward ones) if he understands why he is being singled out. It has made "what is wrong with you?" much easier for both of my kids to deal with. I hope this comes across and trying to help, not nagging. I am not trying to brag or anything I just have noticed that my children have greatly benefited from a direct approach. Their peers with similar obstacles seem much less informed and seemingly insecure as a result. If this information doesn't apply to your son please don't think I am judging you for that, but I hope you can find a way to help him not feel bad for being himself.

 

[clanmcculloch]

We're direct about DD16's issues as well as self-advocating just like mistysue. One thing we've made a point of explaining is that every single person on the face of the earth has struggles to deal with in life and that DD16's issues just have a name. We also make a point of stressing how her difficulties also come with some major strengths. She is very proud of her diagnosis and of being different. We really embrace our weirdness in our house. I think that's really helped a lot with her self-image regarding her differences. It also makes her not at all self-conscious about accommodations for the areas she struggles with.

DD13 did this past trip feel like people were probably looking at her funny when she would get up out of her wheelchair to walk (she has a chronic condition which causes a lot of pain if she walks long distances but she has to walk some or else she's in a lot of pain so she alternated walking with using the chair). She didn't actually see anybody give her looks but she "felt" very self-conscious anyway. She understood that it was what she needed though and we had discussions about the fact that SHE knows she's not doing anything wrong and the fact that she will never see any of these people again so who cares if they choose to make themselves miserable by questioning what other people are doing rather than focusing on their own family; it's their problem, not hers.

My favourite site for touring plans is http://www.easywdw.com/. In addition to the blog portion of the site, the forums are unbelievably helpful for assistance in building your own customized itinerary and touring plans. What I like about this site is that it not only helps you build a touring plan that makes sense for you but it also teaches you about touring so that you can make changes on the fly if needed.

 

[luxlvr]

I suggest you start doing research into some of the common food products found at Disney. This is going to do you much more good than staying CL will. If you contact special diets they can help you find out brands of products that are used. Then you can look up specific things- like a pancake mix, the pizza dough, types of juice, the breading for fish, etc. and find items that you are comfortable with. It may help to pick places you want to eat and ask about items at those places so you can narrow down which places seem to have the most variety for you. If the "regular" brands of items are not safe, there may be some special allergy brands that may be free of the colors. It might help to check out the lists of special allergy foods- such as the gluten free list, the nut free list, the egg and dairy lists just to see if those items will work out better and to know which places are likely to stock items.
If you have a "safe list" in mind, it may take a lot of stress out of meals as you may be able to cross items off your list even if the chef doesn't realize the issue.

No matter how much you prepare, you are going to end up waiting at each meal. Yes, it's frustrating but imagine how many orders they would mix up if they tried to arrange everything in advance. We've learned that we like table service meals for allergies, as the counter service seems to end up taking nearly as long by the time we order and the table service has a better chance of stocking a good meal option. If you pick locations carefully TS doesn't cost much more than CS does.

As to his insecurities, I don't know your specific child so this may not work for you but we have been very direct with explaining to our kids that their needs are different than other people. By the time he was 4 (now 5) my son was able to explain to people that if they gave him the wrong food it would make him sick and he knew to be careful even if they were outraged he wouldn't take their cookie. At this point he is no longer shy about it and when people ask strange questions he is no longer upset by it he has had to figure out some people just don't get it. We also taught our other kids that it is all of our responsibility as his family to help keep him safe no matter what that requires which seems to take pressure off of him. His older sister has cognitive delays, we were out recently and she directly commented to him that it's ok if she can't have a snack if we all have to wait until he can get something safe. This a girl who otherwise generally has the patience of a preschooler so it seems to have worked out well to make it into a family struggle that we are all in together. I know for a long time we really couldn't explain our daughter's issues to her because she found being singled out upsetting, she recently got to a point where she started to understand that she is different. Once she got there it was easy to give her a sense of pride in working through her own differences. If your son can handle that sort of conversation it may make it much easier for him to deal with mean people (or just awkward ones) if he understands why he is being singled out. It has made "what is wrong with you?" much easier for both of my kids to deal with. I hope this comes across and trying to help, not nagging. I am not trying to brag or anything I just have noticed that my children have greatly benefited from a direct approach. Their peers with similar obstacles seem much less informed and seemingly insecure as a result. If this information doesn't apply to your son please don't think I am judging you for that, but I hope you can find a way to help him not feel bad for being himself.

I am in tears reading your amazingly thoughtful response. I struggle with this every day and wanted Disney World to be a place where he was just happy and safe. I feel like I may have been a bit naive on this. Thank you!! I guess my next step is to re evaluate the CL thing and move onto common foods. Thank you again!

 

[luxlvr]

We're direct about DD16's issues as well as self-advocating just like mistysue. One thing we've made a point of explaining is that every single person on the face of the earth has struggles to deal with in life and that DD16's issues just have a name. We also make a point of stressing how her difficulties also come with some major strengths. She is very proud of her diagnosis and of being different. We really embrace our weirdness in our house. I think that's really helped a lot with her self-image regarding her differences. It also makes her not at all self-conscious about accommodations for the areas she struggles with.

DD13 did this past trip feel like people were probably looking at her funny when she would get up out of her wheelchair to walk (she has a chronic condition which causes a lot of pain if she walks long distances but she has to walk some or else she's in a lot of pain so she alternated walking with using the chair). She didn't actually see anybody give her looks but she "felt" very self-conscious anyway. She understood that it was what she needed though and we had discussions about the fact that SHE knows she's not doing anything wrong and the fact that she will never see any of these people again so who cares if they choose to make themselves miserable by questioning what other people are doing rather than focusing on their own family; it's their problem, not hers.

My favourite site for touring plans is. In addition to the blog portion of the site, the forums are unbelievably helpful for assistance in building your own customized itinerary and touring plans. What I like about this site is that it not only helps you build a touring plan that makes sense for you but it also teaches you about touring so that you can make changes on the fly if needed.

I am just in awe over how helpful you all are. It's so nice to feel like I'm not completely out of my mind and navigating these waters has been done before. Thank you!

 

[MadameMim]

My daughter (just turned 7) does not tolerate food dyes either. At best it makes her *insanely* hyper, at worst she ends up with migraines and vomiting (the later being the case with red #40, specifically).

Last year was our first trip to WDW since pinpointing the "allergy". For the most part her real meals were not a problem. Things like chicken breast nuggets and fries seemed fine, I avoided hot dogs because the excess preservatives can be an issue for her (we only use Applegate at home), didn't let her have any of Disney's pickles or any yellow cheese, including the mac & cheese. Most deserts were out because of the crappy sprinkles they dump on everything, but I brought our own treats for her to have so she didn't feel left out. It is still really, really, hard to have to tell her "no" when she wants something I suspect/know to have dye. We are usually very indulgent at Disney and let the kids have anything they want, and it sucks for her to not get something her brothers can have. We will go out of our way to get her things we know she'll like and are likely safe - like a cinnamon roll or brownie. Last trip she cried for a candy apple and it broke my heart!

She drank milk or water, or I'd order water and mix in powdered drink mixes I brought with me (from Whole Foods) so she could have a safe "fun drink".

There were a couple times I suspected something had to be contaminated because she would be exceptionally crazy and impatient…but it is Disney and it works out okay for us if her behavior is off the charts a bit. Not okay for normal life, but not a huge deal on vacation. The worst fall out comes when her extreme exuberance rubs our (autistic) son the wrong way…that's a recipe for disaster.

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

Have you thought about staying in a vacation villa at one of the DVC properties or the Ft. wilderness cabins? The one bedroom and higher rooms have a full kitchen. The rates are the same as staying in a club level room. You could cook breakfast and dinner in the room and bring sandwiches to the park for lunch.