Celiac and universal-how friendly?

[glencoe]

My DS-20 years old has Celiac. We have been spoiled at Disney so accommodating...how is universal? Do we have a lot of work ahead of us? Should we make reservations at all restaurants/find out which ones accommodate? Should we just bring a soft cooler with us everyday full of food, which we have not had to have done in years.....

Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!!

 

[cruisingtwins]

I don't know about regular days. But they made me throw away my snacks on horror nights. I had not done any research on the food there so I ended up being hungry all night. I was not impressed.

 

[schumigirl]

My DS-20 years old has Celiac. We have been spoiled at Disney so accommodating...how is universal? Do we have a lot of work ahead of us? Should we make reservations at all restaurants/find out which ones accommodate? Should we just bring a soft cooler with us everyday full of food, which we have not had to have done in years.....

Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!!

You can bring in a soft sided cooler with any food and drinks, long as there's no glass in there you're good to go.

If you contact Universal Orlando direct, you'll find them to be extremely helpful. I've only heard of them being just as good as Disney at accommodating any food intolerances and allergies.

There is a number on the Universal website to contact them direct. My friends experience was excellent, they were called back and the head chef went through lists of places they wanted to eat in and go through what they could have at those places.

I don't have life threatening allergies, but any restaurant we have gone to I explain what they are and sometimes the chef will come out to clarify something, but usually staff are excellent at being informed. We never make reservations either, just eat where we want to.

I would contact Universal directly and speak to the experts.

 

[snoopboop]

My friend, with whom I have travelled to Uni many times, has had EXCELLENT experiences eating gluten-free at Universal. No need for reservations or advance notice. Many restaurants have their GF options noted on their menus, as well.

 

[snoopboop]

^^^ I should say that I don't mean to tell you that you shouldn't contact Uni in advance if you'd like more details from them... But in my experience, there has never been a need to notify a particular restaurant in advance that we were coming... and if I recall correctly, my friend was able to find options to fit her needs at every table-service restaurant that we tried.

 

[macraven]

UO website states guests with dietary/special needs can bring in their needed foods into the park

Rent a day locker and store it there
You can open it as many times you want during the day

 

[Chelley00]

Gluten free is actually pretty easy. (I'm gluten free plus egg/peanut/tomato) and universal has really stepped up their allergy protocols. I have really good luck at Three Broomsticks, Leaky Cauldron and Thunder Falls Terrace for "counter service". Avoid anything near Seuss Landing. The options were limited. All the restaurants and snack carts have allergy binders.

Citywalk has Mararitaville and Hard Rock and both had lots of options.

 

[LemonNeko]

We found it reasonable for gluten free. Burgers and fries were available at any of the counter service locations. Now if you are vegetarian and gluten free, it sucks.

 

[glencoe]

We found it reasonable for gluten free. Burgers and fries were available at any of the counter service locations. Now if you are vegetarian and gluten free, it sucks.

Do they have GF BUNS and were the fries from a designated fryer? Thanks!

 

[figmentfan423]

We found it reasonable for gluten free. Burgers and fries were available at any of the counter service locations. Now if you are vegetarian and gluten free, it sucks.

How bad is it? It looked like most of the sit down places had a few options. We'll have a car is it worth going elsewhere to eat? THNX

 

[LemonNeko]

Do they have GF BUNS and were the fries from a designated fryer? Thanks!

Any place we asked had dedicated fryers so that seems pretty common.

How bad is it? It looked like most of the sit down places had a few options. We'll have a car is it worth going elsewhere to eat? THNX

If you go out to City Walk I think the selection would be better but we had small kids with us so taking the time to go out and come back in was too much of a hassle.

 

[macraven]

maybe these links from the UO website can help you...


Food Allergies Or Intolerances? No Problem.

At Universal Orlando Resort®, we know it can be a challenge to dine out when you or someone you’re with has food allergies and/or intolerances. That’s why we offer a number of dining locations throughout Universal’s Islands of Adventure®, Universal Studios Florida®, Universal CityWalk®and our four on-site hotels where our chefs and culinary staff can accommodate your dietary needs related to:

• Common Food Allergies
• Phenylketonuria (PKU)
• Metabolic Disorders
• A single guest with multiple allergies/intolerances or multiple guests with allergies/intolerances within the same party

Guests with dietary requests associated with the list above or those with venue-specific questions not answered here should use the “Contact Us” link below to communicate with dining locations within Universal’s Islands of Adventure®, Universal Studios Florida® or Universal CityWalk® at least 14 days prior to arrival. Our dining locations will do their best to accommodate guests with food allergies or intolerances but cannot guarantee that they will be able to meet all requests.

If you aren’t able to research dining options ahead of time, don’t worry. You can ask to speak to a chef or manager at any restaurant within Universal Orlando® Resort, or at any of our on-site hotels once you’re here. Let them know which guest in your party has a food allergy or intolerance, and what the allergy/intolerance is. Our culinary staff will make every effort to prevent that allergen from coming in contact with any part of that guest’s meal.

It should be noted, however, that Universal Orlando does not have separate food preparation facilities in which to prepare allergen-free foods. There is occasionally the chance that allergens may have been introduced to one or more ingredients before they reached the kitchens at Universal Orlando—and, on other rare occasions—even inadvertently as the food was being prepared.

How to Plan Ahead
Dining Reservations
Contact Us


and

Guests with dietary requests associated with the list above or those with venue-specific questions not answered here should use the “Contact Us” link below to communicate with dining locations within Universal’s Islands of Adventure®, Universal Studios Florida® or Universal CityWalk® at least 14 days prior to arrival. Please allow 48 hours for a response.

Vice President, Executive Chef Steve Jayson, CEC

Chef Steve Jayson has been the Universal Executive Chef for 25+ years. He is an award-winning chef who, since high school, has known his calling was in the culinary field. Among his awards are the 2000 American Culinary Federation National Chef of the Year and in 2006 he was inducted into the Orlando Dining Hall of Fame. Universal’s success in offering a variety of high quality dining experiences does not come without a talented and dedicated staff. Our resort’s park and restaurant chefs have at least fifteen years of experience in the culinary field.

Contact us for dietary requests