Celiac and Picky Eater! Help

[disneymomnj]

Our DD5 was just diagnosed with celiac. I am just getting educated as to what she can and cannot eat. We (me, DH, DD7 and DD5) are booked for the WL from 8/26 - 9/3, with the DDP. All our dining reservations were made months ago. But, now . . . I'm not sure where we should eat. On top of this, she is a picky eater, who on our last visit to Disney ate chicken strips or macaroni and cheese (both off limits now) at almost every TS or CS meal. She does love steak, which is on the kids' menu at Concourse and Le Cellier, both of which are already in our plans.

Any advise regarding what other restaurants have menu items, or will make special items, to accomodate her?

Thanks is advance.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

This link may help you:

http://allearsnet.com/din/guestceliac.htm

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

disneymomnj , my son was diagnosed with Celiac over 30 years ago. The good news is that there is a lot more stuff available now than there used to be.

I remember reading the thread about Celiac and I know that will give you much needed info and if you call ahead to some of the TS restaurants I bet they will arrange something. It might help if you tell them things that your little one does like to eat t oo.

I kept a food diary and found out that he could eat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream and such and that was a big help but some cannot. I must have done something right since he is currently 6'5 and thriving.

Best Wishes, Slightly Goofy

 

[disneymomnj]

Thank you for the advice. Looking at that website, it seems as if it might not be as tough as I thought. Thanks.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest going to the "disABILITIES!" Forum. Dietary situations are a very common topic over there and there is not as much traffic as on this forum.

 

[JJClemson]

Hi! My best friend/ maid-of-honor has celiac. She was very nervous about coming down to WDW for the week of my wedding b/c whenever she travels, she usually gets sick. My sales manager told me they would provide gluten-free food at my wedding and even some gluten-free cake for her She also said when making ADRs, be sure to inform the CM that she has celiac. She is a picky eater as well. She will not eat fish, fruits, or veggies (very unhealthy for a 24 yr old w/ celiac ) and my sales manager told me to inform the CMs about this and they will accomodate her. HTH, best of luck with your daughter!

 

[Ella's Mom]

My mom has celiac and she is wanting to come to Disney with us sometime. Please post about your WDW dining experiences when you get back. I'd love to read about them. Have a great trip.

 

[dawnball]

Where are you planning on eating now? I went in September of 05 and again May of 06 with 3-4 people eating GF. One of them was my toddler, who ate a lot of macaroni and cheese in may.

Almost every TS location can make GF macaroni and cheese. They keep Amy's rice macaroni and cheese in the freezer. It isn't great, but it's not bad either. You can get GF chicken nuggets at a few locations, but the hassle involved in pre-ordering them wasn't worth it to me. I suggest that you avoid buffets, because it's just too easy for people to cross-contaminate dishes on the buffet. Other than that, and a disasterous experience at Pecos Bill's - we haven't ever had a problem traveling GF.

With respect to the reviews on allearsnet about gluten free - I've found that calling in advance and having "gluten free - celiac" noted as a special dietary requirement on your ADRs really does help a lot. However - I stayed at Pop Century and found that the chefs bent over backwards to accomodate a gluten free diet. They had gluten free donuts a couple of days (they dissappeared fast), waffles, pancakes, mac and cheese, they cooked chicken and vegetables to order and could tell me what parts of the daily specials were gluten free.

However - the trick for counter service is that you have to ask to speak to a chef or a manager (who will usually just fetch the chef). Most people working the counter haven't ever heard of gluten free. The chef can tell you if they have mac and cheese in the freezer, or gluten free buns, or a dedicated fryer or whatever.

I always email Theresa Joiner (Theresa.Joiner@disney.com) before each trip and mention to her the places I'm planning to eat (CS and TS) and any special requests or questions I have. She has information sheets she sends out and she has an internal form that she will circulate to your TS locations with your ADR information and any special requests.

Note that Mouse Gears (and somewhere in the MK, but I forget where) carry gluten free brownies on the shelf (this spring they were with the diet/healthy snacks). The brownies are.. well. they're gluten free brownies, but we managed to finish one between the 3 of us.