Dairy allergy

[smec73]

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My oldest DD has a dairy allergy. These are the dining reservations I have made, what would be some desserts she would be able to have; CRT lunch, Akshers dinner. We are also having breakfast at 1900 and Ohana. Will they have pancakes etc she can have? It has been noted on out reservations, but I feel like I am going in blind.

 

[geek+nerd]

She will be well taken care of. I am dairy free along with a bunch of other stuff, and I ate very well on our last trip. I would imagine she could have pancakes. There are also allergen free Mickey waffles that the chef can make for her. The chef or a manager will come out and talk to your party before each meal to discuss your daughter's options.

When we had dinner at 'Ohana, the chef went downstairs to Captain Cook's and got me a pineapple dole whip for dessert

 

[happymommy]

My son also has a dairy (and egg) allergy. They are wonderful at Disney for food allergies! They're also very careful to avoid cross contamination as well.

He has usually gotten soy or rice dream dairy free ice cream or sorbet (he loves that stuff).

 

[spacecanada]

Depending on your comfort level, the frozen desserts may not be safe due to unlabelled cross contamination by the manufacturer. I know most of the sorbets, Rice Dream, and Tofutti aren't safe for us, but we also deal with other allergies and react to very minute traces of allergens. Disney is great at working with you to determine what will be safe for your DD.

We've had a lot of Enjoy Life cookies and fruit for dessert at the WDW restaurants. The chefs have made us some fun creations too: tarts, fruit-cookie-kebabs, cake, banana split (sans frozen dessert but filled with other yummy things), etc. If your DD has any special requests, note them on your reservation(s) and, with enough notice, the chefs may surprise her. Babycakes (in Downtown Disney) should be safe for dairy allergies (check them out), and some of their items can be ordered through WDW restaurants, by advanced request. Otherwise, we've found (prepackaged) safe cookies at the bakery, some food courts, and some hotels. The food court inside the Land pavillion (Epcot) has an incredible selection of allergy-friendly treats. They now have an allergy-friendly snack kiosk in Animal Kingdom park as well. Otherwise, you may be surprised at how many mainstream snacks will be safe. All food locations will have ingredient lists for you to check.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Depending on your comfort level, the frozen desserts may not be safe due to unlabelled cross contamination by the manufacturer. I know most of the sorbets, Rice Dream, and Tofutti aren't safe for us, but we also deal with other allergies and react to very minute traces of allergens. Disney is great at working with you to determine what will be safe for your DD.

Tofutti does not have any risk of milk allergen cross contamination. http://www.tofutti.com/nodairy/

At WDW, the sorbets are typically made in machines that never make anything other than vegan sorbets and when talking with chefs they only use simple syrup (cane sugar), fruit and water. You can ask the chef at the location about potential cross contamination risks. My experience with chefs has been that they're pretty good about answering questions. With the rare one that isn't I just don't order things that I find questionable.

 

[clanmcculloch]

My oldest DD has a dairy allergy. These are the dining reservations I have made, what would be some desserts she would be able to have; CRT lunch, Akshers dinner. We are also having breakfast at 1900 and Ohana. Will they have pancakes etc she can have? It has been noted on out reservations, but I feel like I am going in blind.

Last I heard, Chef TJ is working breakfast at 1900 Park Fare so she's in for a real treat there. Keep in mind that breakfasts don't typically have dessert. At 'Ohana nobody else will be served dessert. She'll be given safe alternatives of almost everything that everybody else is served including Mickey waffles. I think the only thing they can't do milk free at 'Ohana breakfast is their signature breads and the dipping sauce for the fruit.

I'm not sure if there are dairy free brownies or not (the gluten free ones have milk) but they should have Enjoy Life cookies at the other restaurants. I would think that Akhershus and CRT would have similar desserts. It's been several years since we ate at these last 2 so I'm not sure what items they have on hand these days but back several years ago they were doing sundaes (using Tofutti ice cream) with whatever allergy safe baked goods they had and some chocolate syrup and Mickey sprinkles. Actually, last time we were there Akershus also had a sorbet as an option.

You didn't ask, but I'd like you to be aware that the popcorn at the carts all over the parks are safe for those with milk allergies. I believe the giant pretzels are too but I'd confirm that one. Most QS locations have Enjoy Life cookies, the ice cream parlours have Tofutti ice cream, and at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot they have Enjoy Life chocolate bars.

 

[spacecanada]

Tofutti does not have any risk of milk allergen cross contamination. http://www.tofutti.com/nodairy/

Good to know! Excellent link. As I said, we deal with other allergies too, and I couldn't remember if Tofutti was off our list due to dairy and/or nuts; but I see they make nutty-flavoured desserts, so that must be it.

Awesome to hear about the sorbets being made on dairy-free equipment now. They haven't always been that way. In 2012 we were told the sorbet was not safe for us. Hopefully they keep it nut-free and peanut-free too. I love hearing about changes that add safe options for people with allergies, as opposed to so many things that introduce new allergens to their products and make them unsafe.

The Disney chefs are really great, aren't they?

 

[clanmcculloch]

I wonder if maybe it was coconut in the sorbet machine or some other food that made the sorbet machines unsafe for you in the past? Chefs have told me for a couple years that the sorbet machines don't have milk in them and I can't imagine what kind of nut ingredient besides coconut (which isn't a nut except in the mind of the FDA but that's a different discussion) but because of the FDA's ruling some err on the side of caution when it comes to coconut. We've also got some fruit allergies but the degree of allergy can tolerate that level of cross contamination so we're fine as long as these fruits aren't actual ingredients in the sorbet.

Note that we have only had sorbet at a few places. Maybe they're not all the same. Definitely ask at each location when discussing with a chef.

 

[Pumpkin meme]

dairy free sorbet is awesome, but not so much day after day on a 10 day trip... and theres only so much fruit salad one can have as well without it getting a tad blah......

so now i just eat what i want and dose up on lacteze....

 

[mistysue]

so now i just eat what i want and dose up on lacteze....

Great, but not generally an option for most people with a dairy allergy.

 

[SueM in MN]

Good to know! Excellent link. As I said, we deal with other allergies too, and I couldn't remember if Tofutti was off our list due to dairy and/or nuts; but I see they make nutty-flavoured desserts, so that must be it.

Awesome to hear about the sorbets being made on dairy-free equipment now. They haven't always been that way. In 2012 we were told the sorbet was not safe for us. Hopefully they keep it nut-free and peanut-free too. I love hearing about changes that add safe options for people with allergies, as opposed to so many things that introduce new allergens to their products and make them unsafe.

The Disney chefs are really great, aren't they?

We were traveling in October/November with a member of our party with dairy, egg, peanut/treenut, seafood, fish allergy.
He got sorbet offered quote often.

 

[lillykat]

My DD was allergic to several things...milk, chocolate, oranges, strawberries and shellfish. We just recently just retested her and shd has outgrown all except the shellfish, and her non food allergies. She ate very well last year. POR food court made her a cheeseless pizza that she said was great. She got sorbet at most restaurants. One place gave her a vanilla cupcake that was dairy free. We ate at CRT, Akershsus, sci fi and garden grill, as well as many qs locations. Sci fi made her a dairy free shake! She was so excited. We are a bit different in that by this trip she was able to eat very limited items that milk was baked into. But we didn't need to most times bc they offered excellent alternatives.

We are planning another trip for this spring and will have to do some research as we just food challanged DD and found while no longer allergic she is severely lactose intolerant. As in severe croup 30 mins after having tried a small amount of non lactose dairy.

 

[Pumpkin meme]

Great, but not generally an option for most people with a dairy allergy.

yeah, Im just lucky it isnt an allergy teamed up with other things, one thing is bad enough......

BTW :they do great pancakes that are dairy free, just chat to the chef and he'll come up with something you'll like.

I also found that the case not only at WDW but DLR and Aulani..(Aulani dairy free pancakes were THE BEST!)

 

[clanmcculloch]

dairy free sorbet is awesome, but not so much day after day on a 10 day trip... and theres only so much fruit salad one can have as well without it getting a tad blah......

so now i just eat what i want and dose up on lacteze....

Lactose enzyme supplements only work for people who are lactose intolerant and even then those with severe lactose intolerance will style have some symptoms with these kinds of enzymes. For those with an actually allergy, we generally react to the protein casein and no amount of enzyme will break down the protein meaning enzymes do nothing and we still react.

There are plenty of milk free dessert options besides fruit and sorbet. Next time you go to WDW, ask chefs for suggestions and for CS locations take the time to review the milk allergy list before you head down so you know what products are available.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

We are planning another trip for this spring and will have to do some research as we just food challanged DD and found while no longer allergic she is severely lactose intolerant. As in severe croup 30 mins after having tried a small amount of non lactose dairy.

Have you tested to see if she can tolerate lactose with taking lactaid tablets or similar? It may be worth checking before your trip since that would open up many more options for her.

 

[lillykat]

Have you tested to see if she can tolerate lactose with taking lactaid tablets or similar? It may be worth checking before your trip since that would open up many more options for her.

No I heard they weren't ok for kids. Honestly we are only in the beginning of reintroducing everything. She had been allergic previously. We only food challenged her 2weeks ago. I am nervous about trying until we speak with her ped. She is fine with lactaid and lactose free milk and sour cream. But my mom gave her a piece of cake with a tiny bit of whipped cream and 30 mins later she was saying her throat felt tight and got extremely croupy sounding ( got better with steam and then tummy pain), we know she is not allergic anymore. Negative blood and prick -and does fine with lactose free products. But she sounded bad so now I am nervous to try the pills. We are so thankful to be able to work chocolate and oranges back in it seems lessor evil to just avoid lactose products (she has been ok with items baked with milk in limited quantities for the past year). We still have to food challenge strawberries. She is 6.5 so I don't want to rush it and make her miserable. We aren't going until May but she was so uncomfortable I do want to try but nervous about it.

 

[KalamityJane]

She's lactose intolerant due to being off of dairy for an extended time. She can build her tolerance back up, but I would suggest doing it very slowly, and not jump in with both feet like I did the results were not pretty. I can do dairy fine now.

Also, harder cheeses (even cheddar) have very little lactose, if any, because of the way they are processed, I found it was easier to start there and build up. I had an MSPI kid that I was nursing, which was why I was off of dairy/soy and some other things. My girl did grow out of it.

 

[lillykat]

She's lactose intolerant due to being off of dairy for an extended time. She can build her tolerance back up, but I would suggest doing it very slowly, and not jump in with both feet like I did the results were not pretty. I can do dairy fine now. Also, harder cheeses (even cheddar) have very little lactose, if any, because of the way they are processed, I found it was easier to start there and build up. I had an MSPI kid that I was nursing, which was why I was off of dairy/soy and some other things. My girl did grow out of it.

Well she was actually lactose intolerant we "think" before we discovered her allergy (unknown if she was really minorly allergic or lactose intolerant). She could only tolerate small amounts with much tummy trouble. Peds said tummy and reflux were lactose not allergy so they didn't test her. We only discovered the actual milk allergy after she broke out in hives at 3 and was finally tested for everything. Even her allergist was surprised bc her symptoms were lactose intolerant less like an allergy. Severe tummy issues, cough, burning (reflux). Allergist wanted her to start with the lactose free bc he suspects she has been lactose intolerant all along on top of the allergy. Said she might remain lactose intolerant or outgrow it eventually. He did say if she was fine on the lactose free products we could try the regular but that didn't go well. With the holidays haven't gotten to speak with her ped. Before the allergy she hated pizza, and we avoided dairy so it was a non issue bc she got her calcium from other sources ( she was sensory too so when younger didn't like very cold things so ice cream was out....she has outgrown most of that and wants to expand so I am trying to figure it all out. We found green valley products and organic valley makes lactose free milk the she has been ok with the past two week. Scared to try cheese since I haven't found a real lactose free one.

As it is she seems to have an allergy to pool chemicals and so if she wants to swim we have to keep her on allergen 2x a day. Which becomes an issue bc she also gets motion sickness and needs Dramamine. Last trip I tried just giving her Benadryl when she swam but bad mommy didn't give it enough and she ended full body rash and unable to swim after day 3 of our trip :-(

Both girls forced me to cut dairy out of my diet for a year but I was okay working it back in. They both had severe colic and reflux. I could eat things baked but no fresh dairy...cheese, yogurt, milk etc. Soy was never an issue for us so I didn't have to cut it out.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Have you tested to see if she can tolerate lactose with taking lactaid tablets or similar? It may be worth checking before your trip since that would open up many more options for her.

I am sever lactose intolerant and use the Dairy Ease or similar chewables just fine. There are too many special treats to enjoy if you can tolerate using them. I love my Dole Whip, but I am not going to have dairy earlier that day; then using the chews works fine.

Work with it before you leave, find the tolerated, as your needs, per dose recommendation. Various brands are different.
Disney band cruising I do not miss out on favorites or stress over hidden lactose. Did you know it can be found in hotdogs and many Disney college of knowledge ears items as fillers?

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Have you tested to see if she can tolerate lactose with taking lactaid tablets or similar? It may be worth checking before your trip since that would open up many more options for her.

Yes, this!

I am sever lactose intolerant and use the Dairy Ease or similar chewables just fine. There are too many special treats to enjoy if you can tolerate using them. I love my Dole Whip, but I am not going to have dairy earlier that day; then using the chews works fine.

Work with it before you leave, find the tolerated, as your needs, per dose recommendation. Various brands are different.
Disney band cruising I do not miss out on favorites or stress over hidden lactose. Did you know it can be found in hotdogs and many Disney college of knowledge ears items as fillers?