Counter Service and Food Allergies

[KSDisneyDad]

I have a co-worker visiting WDW this coming June. She has made most of her ADR's and noted her son's severe milk allergy on each reservation. She said in the past, this worked well for their family.

Her problem now is that they would like to eat at a few Counter Service restaurants as well. She said last time, the people at the register had no clue what ingredients were in the dishes so she decided to call WDW ahead of time and get a list of ingredients. They told her that they don't have an ingredient lists for counter service resturants, but they do have a listing of resturants that offer alternatives to common allergies.

Does anyone here know if she can get a list of ingredients for most of the CS restaurants? In particular, Animal Kingdom and the water parks.

TIA!

 

[Princess Sleepy]

I need to know this too. My DNieces both have milk and egg allergies. It would be nice to do some CS in addition to our ADRs.

 

[clanmcculloch]

She needs to contact the Special Diets department. They'll send her some attachments with detailed lists of what milk free foods can be found where. I personally create a spreadsheet of what foods can be found at which locations so that when we're hungry we can just go to a location and know that what safe foods we have to choose from.

Special Diets DOES have lists of foods and what common allergens they contain (or don't contain). I personally hate the format of the attachments but they do contain all of the information. I just take the time to compile the info into a format that works for me.

 

[THEJOEL]

Not sure if this helps BUT when we ate at Flame Tree BBQ in AK on our trip the Mom ahead of me noted what I think was a wheat allergy. The manager (I think.) came out and talked to her about the options for her kiddos.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Not sure if this helps BUT when we ate at Flame Tree BBQ in AK on our trip the Mom ahead of me noted what I think was a wheat allergy. The manager (I think.) came out and talked to her about the options for her kiddos.

Yup, a manager will always come out for somebody with an allergy. They'll come with a huge 3 ring binder containing every food they carry and the ingredients and allergens for each. I hate using this book. After waiting in line, I dislike then waiting for the manager, then wading through this book, then waiting a long time for my food to be prepared. I much prefer to speed up the process by knowing what is safe ahead of time. I ask the first CM I can find where I should go to order allergy safe food. They get a manager for me who comes out with a book and we discuss what we want to order. The manager brings us to a cashier (we intentionally eat at off times so there's never a line when we're there because when there is a line, we have to go through the line then wait for the manager to come out which holds up the entire line behind us and adds more time to our wait) and tells the cashier what to ring up. We then are given a buzzer or are told where to go sit and we wait for our food. It generally takes a good 10 minutes at least (sometimes longer, especially if they have to bake the fries for our kids since I think fries take 20 minutes to bake) for our food since it has to be cooked fresh. The more you can streamline the process, the better off you are.

 

[DCDisney]

The special diets department will email you some information about product ingredients BUT it all has big disclaimers that they change suppliers and you MUST check ingredients at each location. QS locations that serve meals will have binders with all ingredients. They don't all have extra foods though so if the child wants a hot dog and the only kind they carry has dairy there's nothing they can do. Each park has 1-2 locations that carry allergy safe foods. Especially for the water parks they are probably going to need to stick to that location. Many of the carts and kiosks don't have allergy info and they will have to radio a manager to find ingredients which can take awhile. If they want things to be as easy and fast as possible then sticking to locations that stock allergy safe foods is best. Most of the resorts also stock allergy safe foods too but their supply can be spotty. I ate at POR a few times and had great experiences and then on our next trip they were out of EVERYTHING allergy safe they normally stock. Another guest who was eating there every night was really upset because the only option her poor kid had was pasta and marinara for 5 nights in a row. I ended up with pasta with olive oil and garlic

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Thanks everyone! Disney did email her a list of Counter Service Restaurants that would help those with allergies and had some "allergy safe" foods available. It was not a comprehensive list as someone eluded to in an earlier post. For example, there were only two listed at Epcot and two at AK. There were 4 at the Studios and about 5 at MK. Unfortunately, there were none listed for the water parks so she plans to pack a lunch for her son that day. They are staying in a condo off-site so will be able to work around the food allergy issue more easily for days like that.

I will pass along the info about contacting the Special Diets Department.

 

[720L]

My dd has a tree nut allergy and all we eat is counter service. We've always told the cashier and they give us a 3ring binder of ingredients and we talk to the chef.

 

[mountdew1]

Definitely contact Special Diets. It may not be a comprehensive list of every item at the CS locations, but a listing of known safe foods. Some items will use ingredients from multiple vendors, so they may not know up front if they are all safe or not.

Check out http://glutenfreedairyfreewdw.blogspot.com/ for a decent blog on what they found to eat at the world.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Always, Always, ALWAYS ask to speak to the head chef/cook at each place you go. They are the only ones who will know what is in the food they are serving.

TS and CS places alike, ask to speak to someone and they should be able to find something you can eat.

Having the paperwork prepared ahead of time for the TS places isn't a failsafe. Make sure to double check with your server to see the chef!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Please don't mistake my suggestion to know what's available ahead of time as saying that you don't need to speak with a manager or chef. You absolutely do 100% of the time since things do change frequently (I've encountered this myself). It just saves a LOT of headaches and time to know ahead of time what is available.

As to the lists sent by Special Diets, they do in fact contain lists of what safe foods are available at what locations. The email attachments are very cumbersome and frustrating to sift through, but the info is in there. It just takes time to sort through it and put the info into a format that's more usable.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

How Allergy Substitutions are Handled at QS Eateries . . .
1) Guest declares an allergy.
2) The cashier hits a special button on the cash register.
3) The manager or "coordinator" comes out with the ring binder.
4) They go over the section that relates to that allergy.
5) The guest selects their choice of food(s), not the manager.
6) The manager either cooks it himself or "walks" it through the kitchen.
7) The processing-by-hand can take an extra 10-20 minutes.
8) There are no special mixing or cooking, like in a TS eatery.

9) There are substitutions that can equal elimination of the allergy.
10) There are also micro-waveable choices like chicken nuggets
. . . no nuts, gluten, allergic oils, etc
. . . just take from freezer and microwave
. . . they come out like microwaving chicken at home
. . . dull, white and bland looking
. . . but, with enough seasoning, they almost taste chickeny


NOTE:
No fast food eatery has a chef.
Let alone a chef or cook attending to allergies.
It is the manager's responsibility.
They sometimes pass it off to the Coordinator (quasi-supervisor).
If substitutions are not in the book, there are none available.

 

[clanmcculloch]

How Allergy Substitutions are Handled at QS Eateries . . .
1) Guest declares an allergy.
2) The cashier hits a special button on the cash register.
3) The manager or "coordinator" comes out with the ring binder.
4) They go over the section that relates to that allergy.
5) The guest selects their choice of food(s), not the manager.
6) The manager either cooks it himself or "walks" it through the kitchen.
7) The processing-by-hand can take an extra 10-20 minutes.
8) There are no special mixing or cooking, like in a TS eatery.

9) There are substitutions that can equal elimination of the allergy.
10) There are also micro-waveable choices like chicken nuggets
. . . no nuts, gluten, allergic oils, etc
. . . just take from freezer and microwave
. . . they come out like microwaving chicken at home
. . . dull, white and bland looking
. . . but, with enough seasoning, they almost taste chickeny


NOTE:
No fast food eatery has a chef.
Let alone a chef or cook attending to allergies.
It is the manager's responsibility.
They sometimes pass it off to the Coordinator (quasi-supervisor).
If substitutions are not in the book, there are none available.

Sorry RustyScupper, you've made a couple mistakes. It doesn't happen often, but it's happened here.

The allergy chicken tenders are generally cooked in an oven and not a microwave, though if there is a dedicated allergy fryer then they'll be deep fried. They are not dull, they have golden brown breading and are anything but bland; they're quite tasty.

CS locations at resorts as well as Sunshine Seasons do have chefs. I've spoken with them many times. The chefs at Sunshine Seasons does not have any ingredients that have not been previously prepped and therefore can not make a special allergy safe meal unless it's using ingredients that are already there, but there is most definitely a chef.