Children with Severe Food Allergies - have you let them stay at one of the kid's club

[JELBoggio]

Hi there,

My DS (4) has severe food allergies (tree nuts) as well as asthma. We are unsure about letting him stay at the Poly's Neverland Club while DH and I have our anniversary dinner at Citrico's. My DD (6) will be with him at the Neverland Club, but knowing that there is a food buffet, I am a little concerned about him eating something that is contaminated with tree nuts.

Has anyone left their child with food allergies at one of the resort's kids clubs? How did it go? I'm really torn. I think he would love the club, and DH and I would like to celebrate our 10 year anniversary alone, but not at the risk of an anaphylatic shock. Maybe I just answered my own question once I put my thoughts down...

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know if they have any food at the Neverland Club, but I would also be concerned about the posibility of nuts since your children are pretty young. Maybe someone who has used that kid's club can help you out.

As an alternative, have you thought instead of getting an in-room sitter?
There are 2 companies, Fairy Godmothers and Kid's Night Out.
That way, you would have more control.

 

[BriNJ]

We did recently. DS is severely allergic to tree nuts. When I spoke with dining to make the reservation, they assured me that it would work. When I spoke with the castmembers working there, they assured me that there were no nuts allowed in the bldg and that the food would be safe. Someone is trained for the epi-pen and all know what to watch for. I decided to take the risk and DS (6) and DD (4) went to the club. They ate dinner there (DS said that there was no bakery items, just choc pudding for dessert and no peanut butter etc). No problems and they loved every minute of it. Both wore a bright red bracelet with the allergy warning (provided by the club).

I think you have to do whatever makes you comfortable. And Im not sure if I would've sent DS there if he was 4, as a 4yr old doesn't have enough experience to handle a problem if there is one. At 6, DS can read, can speak up and is more than loud enough about problems. He's also very aware of the allergy and will choose not to eat instead of taking a risk. But according to our allergist, most kids are not able to be independent at 4 or even 6 or 8. It depends on the child.

I hope this helps, let me know if I can answer any questions!
Bri

 

[Selket]

My son (age 4) also has severe food allergies but we haven't yet been to WDW since he was old enough for a kid's club. He is diabetic too so not sure if they could handle that condition as well.

If you can get the search feature to work (it always times out on me!) there was a thread on one of the trip planning forums about this awhile back. I wish I could recall more of the discussion but perhaps the satisfaction with the care depended on which club the kids were in. It seems like the Poly club was one of the better ones for kids with allergies. Perhaps try to find that thread

 

[zillow]

Haven't done this yet but I plan to though my DD now 7 has severe allergies to tree nuts, peanuts and shellfish. It's good to hear that they are Epi-pen trained as I had heard previously (I thought regarding the pirate cruise) that the CMs were not allowed to administer it. I would definitely give my daughter this opportunity; however, I might play it extra cautious and be in the same building - I think that the GF also has a club. We love Artist Point and will probably eat there and let our kids stay at the Cubs Den.

Good luck.

 

[DVCDawn]

I have been too nervous to allow my two DDs (6 and 3) to eat dinner and stay in one of the kids clubs, so I would love to hear of any more positive or negative experiences people have had with them as they relate to food allergies. I will say, however, that last summer we took a Disney Cruise and the children spent some time in the kids clubs there. The CMs were very on top of the situation (I had pre-registered the children online and made mention of their allergies on the reservation forms) and prepared for us. They were quick to point out which activities (like baking chocolate chip cookies) were not safe for them. In addition, they were happy to take my set of EpiPens and Benadryl when we dropped them off. That said, we NEVER brought them there at mealtime.

To the OP -- if you feel at all uneasy about having the children eat at a kids club (which I completely understand), perhaps you could feed the children early, drop them at the club after the other children have finished eating and have a late dinner alone with you DH.

Let us know what happens,
DVCDawn

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I don't have an food-allergic child, but I'm the special educator at an inclusive preschool and one of the things I do is make allergy aware plans for children. A couple of thoughts came to mind that might make this a safer choice:

1) I'd probably want to get there early enough that I could escort my child through the buffet and help them choose their meal.

2) Isn't there a children's club at the Grand Floridian? If it were me I'd feel safer having them at the same hotel where I was dining.

and

3) I have seen special stickers and Tshirts that indicate that a child has severe food allergies. I would probably put something like that on my child. If my child wasn't comfortable with that I'd probably make up some kind of a sheet with a photo of my child and make sure that every staff member sees the sheet before I left my child.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[WantToGoNow]

My DS4 doesn’t have food allergies but is allergic to Latex. We carry Benadryl Fastmelts and an Epi Pen Jr. with him at all times and he wears a medical alert bracelet. Although he knows he must not touch latex items, sometimes it gets too tempting and I’ll start noticing the signs of a reaction – red eyes and ears, instant hives on his hands, etc. I’m just a little uncomfortable leaving him places where I’m not going to be close by unless I know the person taking care of him is aware of how serious an allergic reaction can be. I left him at the YMCA daycare a few weeks ago and when I gave them the EpiPen, you would have thought I had 2 heads the way they looked at me. Two weeks ago they gave stickers out at daycare and he stuck it on his cheek on the way out. I didn’t even think about it. We were at Wendy’s eating (about 15 minutes later) and I noticed the white’s of his eyes were red and his ears looked like someone had twisted them. Then I looked at his hands and noticed the hives. It took me several minutes to click that the glue on the sticker was the problem. I pulled it off and his cheek was purple underneath. I gave him a Benadryl and the symptoms started going away shortly – I had the EpiPen ready. If it took me that long to figure it out, should I really expect someone not familiar with Latex allergies to pick up on everything that he can’t touch – and the list is long.

I’m even nervous about allowing him to play at some areas at WDW – I don’t know if the surface of the squirt fountains and the playgrounds like I Honey I Shrunk the Kids and the new Pooh playground will bother him.