Autism, Sensory & Egg Allergy ?'s

[DizNee Luver]

Hi everyone!!
I'm a mom of twin 2 yr old girls: One was just diagnosed PDD-NOS & is cognatively a 6-8mth old. She is 100% g-tube fed. Her twin has not been diagnosed at this point, but has some major sensory issues & cognatively about a 15-18mth old. She eats orally, but very little (and usually yogurt or applesauce).

So we took them to DL last April for a very short trip & it was tiring to say the least. This summer, we are looking at going on a 2 week trip to Anaheim. So I guess what I'm looking for is tips, advice from others that have done this. We will have 5 adult age people & 2 young kiddos as well as the twins. I figure this will give us people to take turns back at the motel to not over-stress the twins.

My other issue is the twins turn 3 in May, which means they are no longer free. Does anyone know if I HAVE to pay for a character meal for them??? The one won't be eating at all & the other would be happy with a few bites from our plates? Is there someone at DL in guest services, disability help or Disney Dining that could assist us with this??? Paying $25 for a child that wouldn't even begin to eat enough to justify the cost (or not at all) is a bit scary on the pocketbook.

We also are dealing with an egg allergy on our oral eater. Is there a list of foods to avoid at the parks/restaurants, etc to make sure we don't accidentally give her something with eggs in it???

Thanx for any help, suggestions, tips, etc you share with me!!! Just starting to plan for a trip 6 months out is already stressing me out!!!

 

[heatherfeather24]

Hi --

I'm sorry that I can't be any help on the autism/sensory front, but hopefully I can help with food allergies. We have taken DS (3) to DL several times since he has been diagnosed with life-threatening milk and egg allergies. While there is no list available outside of DL of allergens contained in different foods, you can contact Chef Chris ahead of time at 714-781-3569 or chris.justesen@disney.com if you have specific questions. Once at the resort, we found that most of the counter service restaurants and all of the table service restaurants that we visited were fantastic abount accommodating our needs.

At TS restaurants, we noted DS's food allergies on the reservation and also informed our waitstaff after we were seated. In every instance, the chef came out from the kitchen to discuss how they could accommodate DS (dairy and egg free pancakes at Goofy's Kitchen and Eggless spaghetti at Blue Bayou were a couple of examples). We paid for DS at each restaurant because he is a HUGE eater, but I imagine that Chef Chris could answer your questions about your specific situation.

Counter Service locations all had books that contained lists of ingredients in each item. The level of assistance you received at these locations seemed pretty dependent on the mood of the cast member taking your order. That said, we were able to find DS something that he could eat almost everywhere we went. I also seem to remember that applesauce cups were readily available as a side option -- and, thus, I bet they would be available for individual purchase.

One last idea -- although DL states that they don't allow you to bring in outside food, we regularly have done so for DS and have not had any trouble. We've brought DS a sandwich, fruit and/or applesauce cup, soy yogurt, etc. and have never had so much as a second look from the CMs -- it probably helps that he's always eating these items while sitting with two paying adults.

In any event, I hope this helps somewhat. You might also want to post this over on the DL board -- they were very helpful to us before both of our trips.

Good luck and have fun!!
HF24

 

[DizNee Luver]

Thank you so much for the info!!! Also, thanks for giving me a specific person to contact with our situation!! Hopefully the chef will be able to answer some of our questions regarding the meals & knowing there are ingredient lists at all the restaurants, that relieves a lot of worry about accidentally giving her something that has eggs in it.

 

[DizNee Luver]

*+*+*+BUMP+*+*+*

Still looking for tips & advice regarding autistic/sensory sensitive children at DL. We will be away from home for 2 weeks & are very concerned on how this will affect the girls.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
(will be away from computer most of today, as one of the twins is having a sedated MRI...but will check back this evening)