DDP with allergies

[cmaelltt1]

My sweet 10 year old son has many food allergies in addition to celiacs disease which means no gluten. I know we will need to fill out the special diet forms and for many most meals he will need something special made. But he is 10 and doesn't eat anything fancy or big. Does anyone know if he will still be able to use the DDP? If we go during a free time, I don't mind paying for just his meals. But it would be nice if they were I included.

 

[catne]

we were there last Fall with son & daughter-in-law...she was on very restricted diet including gluten-free, no dairy, and I don't even remember what all. We had free dining, and have to say it was wonderful.

We ate a lot of our counter service meals at the resort and at the larger counter service places like Sunshine Seasons in Epcot. We found at the resorts there were gluten free choices...and that they were able to adapt some of the fresh items for her. Took a little longer to get her food a couple of times but she was able to get enough to eat. And she discover the Mickey Rice Krispie bars were acceptable for her limits...she LOVED being able to get those for dessert (most table service restaurants carry Rice Dream and Tofutti as options for dessert for non-dairy/gluten free)

Have to say the Disney table service restaurants are OUTSTANDING for people with dining limitations. Every place we ate, the chef came out and discussed what her limits were, went over the whole menu telling her what was "safe" as-is on the menu, and also what they could adapt to fit her needs. And also offered something that was not even on the menu, but that they could do. Even the buffets were fabulous...the chef walked her around the entire buffet and pointed out exactly what she could have off the buffet...and again told her what they could make for her immediately. For example, there was a fruit & nut salad at CApe May that really appealed to her but something about it--I think maybe the dressing--was something she could not have. When she expressed disappointment, the chef told her he could make her the same salad and use something safe for the dressing...she was THRILLED. The salad was delivered to the table, artful presentation even...just 5 minutes later. DIL was convinced Disney magic was real, lol. She had spent the previous 6 mos learning how hard it was to find anything safe to eat at restaurants, and here she was at Disney and even at buffets they were happy to cater to her.

Best place in the world to have food allergies

 

[party-of-five]

Best place in the world to have food allergies

I agree with this 100% Disney takes food allergies very seriously.

 

[cey]

I also have many food allergies and had a wonderful experience last year when I stayed at POP! The chefs at the food court were very professional and understanding of food allergies in general. I mentioned that I had food allergies and the CMs instantly explained, I would have to talk to a chef. After a short wait, a chef came out, took notes on my allergies and gave me a light up beeper. I went through the cash with my beeper, they deducted my food credits from my QSDP and when the beeper went off, I returned and picked up my meal. After 14 days, I got to meet all the chefs and everyone without exception was wonderful! Best thing about the holiday, was not worrying whether I would have a reaction to something I ate. Free Disney Dining! Worked so well, that I am returning for another 2 weeks this holiday season! Can't wait!

 

[FreeTime]

My DD has celiac and Disney has in the past, always treated her well, whether on the dining plan or not. I must say, that we were terribly disappointed with our trip a few weeks ago. Several times she tried to order items and was told they were not GF. When I asked the chef how long they had not been GF and was told, always...I became disturbed. So that explains why she was ill when we were just there at the same place 3 weeks before!!!

Empenadas in Mexico - not GF

Mac & Cheese - now only comes in one size, kids size, but they charge you the adult rate (Artist Palette order taker was very helpful..she leaned forward so the chef who was taking my order coundn't hear and kept saying "order a kids meal, order a kids meal") so instead of paying $9 for a plate of M&C we paid $6 and got the same amount + water bottle+yogurt+grapes

Pizza Planet and Pinochios - sometimes will charge the regular meal prize for a pizza, I have been charged up to $18 as well. Also, PP doesn't give you the salad unless you are on the dining plan any longer.

 

[jlr9882]

We stayed at POP last Aug with the DDP. My 5-year-old was treated like a prince everywhere we went. He has over 20 food allergies including most of the top 8. Due to all his allergies he can't eat the kid's meals at most places. No hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken fingers, mac n cheese, pizza, etc They cooked him what he needed and only counted it as a kids credit, and one place didn't take a credit at all because he had to "wait" a little longer. The bbq place at AK and Cosmic's Rays at MK had to go find something at another place for him to eat and brought it to us. Both POP's chef and Cape May's chef called me several times before our trip to make sure they had extra special stuff on hand for him. Cake May made him a rice milk flan.

 

[TorontoGirl]

Agree that Disney is wonderful - go to 1900 Park Fair - not for the characters but for Chef TK!

He was at 'Ohana for a long time and now was promoted to the Grand Floridian and I believe he works at 1900.

At 'Ohana he made me a special meal and dessert that OTHER tables took pictures of and asked if they could have some

I'm allergic to pineapple but DH really wanted to eat there so we did and my deep fried bananas with caramel was the hit of the night!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

We don't do the dining plan but I have to say that Disney is amazing with allergies. We always do many CD and TS during our visits. I'm allergic to all tree nuts, soy, wheat, malt, oats, rosemary, coconut and the list goes on.... The Chef always came out and often they would need to make something for me entirely off menu but it was always amazing!

 

[tjbjrjaj]

So what are the costs for the GF food? Is it cheaper since 4 out of 5 of us are gluten free to get the Dining plan? My husband has done a "cost analysis" by taking a guesstimate of what we would choose at certain restaurants etc and we are only saving $200. But here is the question. Are we going to spend more than the menu prices for Gluten Free food and the DP would actually be cheaper?

 

[mom2of2]

So what are the costs for the GF food? Is it cheaper since 4 out of 5 of us are gluten free to get the Dining plan? My husband has done a "cost analysis" by taking a guesstimate of what we would choose at certain restaurants etc and we are only saving $200. But here is the question. Are we going to spend more than the menu prices for Gluten Free food and the DP would actually be cheaper?

There is no upcharge for gf foods. You pay the menu price and the chef just substitutes gf.

 

[TDC Nala]

He can absolutely use DDP. In some instances there will be food prepared especially for him. In other cases, like with counter service restaurants, special diets will assist you in finding the ones that can accommodate him and avoiding the ones that won't be able to (almost anyplace that has its own kitchen may be able to assist - not so much the kiosks and places that sell pre-made food). No extra cost or anything like that.

 

[beakerz]

DW is GF and dairy free.... she ate better at disney world than she can at any other restaurants (other than being a little done with the tapioca rolls that is the GF replacement for the start of table-service meals everywhere).

Highly recommend the GF fried chicken at 60's prime time.... I got my knuckles wrapped a few times because I kept stealing some of her chicken (it was that good).

 

[clanmcculloch]

DDP with food allergies works fine. In some ways it's better with DDP because when paying OOP there's a bit of an upcharge for the specialty allergy items like allergy chicken tenders (top 8 free and delicious) and allergy pizzas (generally not an option with multiple allergies but actual chefs (in other words at TS restaurants or at resort CS locations can sometimes do things that can't be done elsewhere) but when using dining credits you pay 1 credit regardless of the price so no extra charge. It also takes the sting out paying $2.50 for a package of 2 Enjoy Life cookies since they're just a dessert allotment with your meal.

Even with our laundry list of allergies I can't remember going to a restaurant (CS or TS) where they were able to provide a safe meal for us where they didn't have something we could get for dessert even if was just a bag of chips instead of a more dessert-like food. We do pick and choose where we eat though based on our allergies so that makes a difference. If he can't eat the various allergy desserts that are found in most CS places (OMG cookies & brownies, Enjoy Life cookies) or TS places (Rice Dream or Tofutti ice cream with Enjoy Life cookies or OMG cookies & brownies) then unfortunately those dessert allotments will be wasted.

If you need a non-dairy milk, be aware that the soy milk by Kikkomann contains gluten. Drives me nuts that they switched from Silk but it is what it is. From what I've been reading, more places are now getting Silk almond milk and in the past we were able to get Pacific rice milk at resort CS locations and most TS locations where they serve cereal or milkshakes.

ETA: That 50s PTC fried chicken mentioned by beakerz is AMAZING. If you do want to order that though, pop in earlier in the day to let them know because it can take a long time to make and sometimes chefs will refuse to make it if they aren't given notice. I've also put a note on my Special Diets form but chefs haven't always looked at that before we show up so telling them earlier in the day is advised. Do NOT get the dairy free milkshake there though if you're sensitive. They do not have a dedicated milkshake machine and not all chefs clean it well enough in my experience. We've gotten sick from the milkshakes (at least we assume it's the milkshakes since our symptoms and timeline matched our dairy symptoms and typical timeline).

 

[aberar1]

I also have a son with severe peanut and diary allergies. Good to see there are some options. Thanks for all the advice.