Diabetes and park CS restaurants

[GCM]

This fall my family will be going to DW with another family on the Quick Service Free Dining. This will be their first trip and one of their members, middle-age man, has diet-controlled diabetes. I am trying to educate myself on what options are available to him. I would love to hear what everyone's favorite CS meal for a diabetic is at each park. We are staying at Pop and I feel finding something he can eat will be pretty easy there. I am just curious as to what CS are not as compatible with a diabetic and which ones are. Any input appreciated!

Thanks!!!!!

 

[akcire]

This fall my family will be going to DW with another family on the Quick Service Free Dining. This will be their first trip and one of their members, middle-age man, has diet-controlled diabetes. I am trying to educate myself on what options are available to him. I would love to hear what everyone's favorite CS meal for a diabetic is at each park. We are staying at Pop and I feel finding something he can eat will be pretty easy there. I am just curious as to what CS are not as compatible with a diabetic and which ones are. Any input appreciated!

Thanks!!!!!

If he avoids french fries (potaotes in general) and bread (pizza too) he should be okay. Chinese is sort of a nightmare too, but I don't think you will be missing much since the Chinese place in Epcot is less than edible.

If I have to eat CS I just either eat a salad, or get a chicken sandwich and then throw away 1/2 or all the bread. You can order a sandwich alone without fries. There are places you can get baked chicken platters. The new Mexico resturant had some tacos I ate that were tasty. I threw away the tacos.

The problem with the dining plans is they all include dessert items, and the desserts have ridiculous amounts of carbs. You can ask at most places and they will swap the kids grapes for desserts.

That said, if the person is strictly diet controlled--he will have a good idea of what will work for him. Depending on his "normal" activity level he may be able to eat anything, due to the large amount of daily walking. He should just bring his meter and test often.

I would probably upgrade to the regular dining plan so one sit down meal with quality protein is available daily or just ditch the dining plan all together. We will use it occassionally when it is free (then I don't care about skipping all the desserts and beverages (my endocrinologist is anti-pop, so I am on water only)) but it would never be worth it for me to pay.

You may also want to suggest he pack some high protein low carb snacks (nuts) they are hard to find in the parks. You can find fresh fruit, but often it is only bananas and oranges--better than a cupcake, but not the greatest if your sugar is high.

 

[BearcatsFan]

Good info from PP. I would also add Columbia Harbor House as an option. I am a type II diabetic. They have a tuna sandwich on whole grain bread that is fabulous; however, someone in line behind me got the tuna wrapped up in a lettuce leaf as a wrap - I will probably use this option myself on our upcoming trip.

We stayed at POP - they were great about leaving potatoes off the plate, giving a small portion of oatmeal rather than the heaping bowl-ful, etc.

Best advice for CS is just to speak up and tell them he has diabetes. They won't have nutritional information - just ingredient information - and he should be able to make a fairly good decision based on that.

I also agree with packing nuts. I made my own trail mix last time that worked well for me - high ratio of walnuts and almonds with a few raisins sprinkled in for variety. Packed this in snack bags in 1/4 cup increments and I was good to go.

I am also packing protein shakes this time - Muscle Milk Light are the ones I use - and I plan to ask for a cup of ice since they will be warm from carrying them around.

As far as testing goes, I would go to the First Aid station whenever it was close. It gave me a much-needed break from the heat, I got to sit down in a cool environment, and I knew everything was clean. Got some band-aids there for the rub spots on my toes, too!

HTH

 

[GCM]

Thank you both for the information!!! It sounds like eating in the parks can be very compatible with diabetes and am so grateful about the advice on the protein snacks such as nuts. I will copy this information to keep on hand.

Once again, thanks!!!

 

[buffettgirl]

I would almost bet that your friend knows what he can and can't eat. The worst thing - turning into the food police around him. Even if you have the absolute best intentions in the world it's his diabetes. He will know what he can and can't eat because each person with diabetes handles their disease a little differently. If he asks for help, then offer it but I wouldn't worry much. Maybe just provide him with the rundown of some menus without offering suggestions of what he can and can't eat. Disney does not provide carb or nutritional content on their food so the following tools will be helpful to him if he's not used to eating out much:


A calorie King book or the Calorie King app for your phone http://www.calorieking.com/
if you do have a phone, we like the "Calorie Counter" app from Fat Secret. We use that about 90% of the time http://www.fatsecret.com/

 

[GCM]

I would almost bet that your friend knows what he can and can't eat. The worst thing - turning into the food police around him. Even if you have the absolute best intentions in the world it's his diabetes. He will know what he can and can't eat because each person with diabetes handles their disease a little differently. If he asks for help, then offer it but I wouldn't worry much. Maybe just provide him with the rundown of some menus without offering suggestions of what he can and can't eat. Disney does not provide carb or nutritional content on their food so the following tools will be helpful to him if he's not used to eating out much:


A calorie King book or the Calorie King app for your phone http://www.calorieking.com/
if you do have a phone, we like the "Calorie Counter" app from Fat Secret. We use that about 90% of the time http://www.fatsecret.com/

Very good point! I really don't intend to police him. I was just afraid that some restaurants would not have options he could eat and then my family would say something like let's eat at so-and-so, only to get there and the place have nothing he could eat. Then, knowing him, he wouldn't say a thing and just eat whatever was available and I would be none the wiser. This way, my family and I can avoid recommending those places. We have been before and aren't very picky about what/where we eat.

 

[buffettgirl]

Very good point! I really don't intend to police him. I was just afraid that some restaurants would not have options he could eat and then my family would say something like let's eat at so-and-so, only to get there and the place have nothing he could eat. Then, knowing him, he wouldn't say a thing and just eat whatever was available and I would be none the wiser. This way, my family and I can avoid recommending those places. We have been before and aren't very picky about what/where we eat.

There will be something he can eat everywhere. I would link him up with the sample menus listed here, but knowing that they are just samples and that the full selection will be a lot greater.

And you are a good friend for wanting to do the right thing by him. Most of the PWD (people with diabetes) and the parents of the PWD are so used to people yelling "You can't eat that!! HERE have this giant banana! it's fruit!" And..let me tell you, that gets old. Fast. lol. But you're a good friend for worrying.

 

[BearcatsFan]

There will be something he can eat everywhere. I would link him up with the sample menus listed here, but knowing that they are just samples and that the full selection will be a lot greater.

And you are a good friend for wanting to do the right thing by him. Most of the PWD (people with diabetes) and the parents of the PWD are so used to people yelling "You can't eat that!! HERE have this giant banana! it's fruit!" And..let me tell you, that gets old. Fast. lol. But you're a good friend for worrying.

(bolding mine) I SO LOVE THIS! Very true! The food police drive me insane!

I agree that you are a great friend, OP. Much better than my "friends" and family who make lasagna for dinner with Cheesecake Factory for dessert and then get angry because I can't eat any of it!

 

[buffettgirl]

(bolding mine) I SO LOVE THIS! Very true! The food police drive me insane!

I agree that you are a great friend, OP. Much better than my "friends" and family who make lasagna for dinner with Cheesecake Factory for dessert and then get angry because I can't eat any of it!

as the parent of a kid with type 1 it's a bit different because he can eat anything with the proper insulin. What happens to us (him) is that people practically jump over the table to try to grab the cupcake (or whatever offending food they "think" he's eating) out of his hand. he's young, so he gets so embarrassed by it. It's bad when it's another kid (because yes, kids already think they know everything about diabetes ) but it's really bad when it's an adult. who I've told. a million times. sigh.

So no, no food police. Everyone handles things a little differently, and even among type 2s and type 1s there are some variations as well.

But what is good is having people around you who want to know what to do and want to help and then LISTEN to what they say. So I love it when we go to a friends house and they save the package labels of their food for us to check or they look up the nutrition info before hand for us. Or they'll call ahead and say "hey, I know you've said it's fine, but I just want to double check that it's still ok that if he comes over that he can get something from the ice cream truck" Those friends are hard to come by.

 

[Talking Hands]

I would not worry about an adult with diabetes who controls it with diet. He will know what he needs.

 

[MK2010]

This will be our first trip to Disney with a diabetic too. My DD 10 was just diagnosed this past December.I'm a tad antsy since I don't know how all the walking, heat, etc. will affect her blood sugar. But she's great. she's been diagnosed for four months now and she already knows what she can eat, when she feels low, etc. although, I did wake up from a nightmare last month 'cause I dreamed we got to the gate and they wouldn't let us in because of her needles. Lol. I don't think we'll have a problem! Thanks for this thread. I was wondering if they had the nutritional info at the restaurants. We'll use our Calorie King app. PTL for those people who made that!

 

[buffettgirl]

This will be our first trip to Disney with a diabetic too. My DD 10 was just diagnosed this past December.I'm a tad antsy since I don't know how all the walking, heat, etc. will affect her blood sugar. But she's great. she's been diagnosed for four months now and she already knows what she can eat, when she feels low, etc. although, I did wake up from a nightmare last month 'cause I dreamed we got to the gate and they wouldn't let us in because of her needles. Lol. I don't think we'll have a problem! Thanks for this thread. I was wondering if they had the nutritional info at the restaurants. We'll use our Calorie King app. PTL for those people who made that!

If you want to start a new thread for "kids with type1" we can probably give you more specific info. I don't want to hijack the OP's thread. The heat and walking BG issues are happily helped along by a nice cold mickey ice cream bar. perfct combo of fat and carbs. We use longer lines as resting spots and we carry a lot of granola bars or cheese/pb crackers and a whole large tub of glucose tabs.

 

[GCM]

There will be something he can eat everywhere. I would link him up with the sample menus listed here, but knowing that they are just samples and that the full selection will be a lot greater.

And you are a good friend for wanting to do the right thing by him. Most of the PWD (people with diabetes) and the parents of the PWD are so used to people yelling "You can't eat that!! HERE have this giant banana! it's fruit!" And..let me tell you, that gets old. Fast. lol. But you're a good friend for worrying.

Thank you for the kind words! I just want them to have fun. They have never gone on vacation in over 20 years of marriage and have wanted to go to DW for years, but just couldn't afford to. I just don't want to do something that could potentially ruin it for them or seriously hurt him.

 

[GCM]

Kind of off topic, but this has been very educational for me. I hope I have never came across as policing my friend. I really don't think I have, or hope not. I have asked what he can eat and try to have items on hand for him. They do avoid pasta and bread unless it is wheat. But he never makes a big deal out of it.

I had a very dear friend in high school who was diagnosed with type 1 and had to take insulin shots. I used to feel so sorry for her because she wasn't supposed to have the items that all of us were eating without thinking twice. I then tried to see what she would bring and do the same. Her being young and not wanting to be "different" she would play it off and say it was fine for her to eat what we had, but then ended up hospitalized a few times and eventually had sores on her feet that wouldn't heal. I knew that wasn't good. People (self included) take for granted health and freedom from food restrictions, be it diabetes, allergies, etc... I truly admire each of you on this forum for the support you give each other and the advice you have given me. This truly is a great bunch of people!

 

[buffettgirl]

Kind of off topic, but this has been very educational for me. I hope I have never came across as policing my friend. I really don't think I have, or hope not. I have asked what he can eat and try to have items on hand for him. They do avoid pasta and bread unless it is wheat. But he never makes a big deal out of it.

I had a very dear friend in high school who was diagnosed with type 1 and had to take insulin shots. I used to feel so sorry for her because she wasn't supposed to have the items that all of us were eating without thinking twice. I then tried to see what she would bring and do the same. Her being young and not wanting to be "different" she would play it off and say it was fine for her to eat what we had, but then ended up hospitalized a few times and eventually had sores on her feet that wouldn't heal. I knew that wasn't good. People (self included) take for granted health and freedom from food restrictions, be it diabetes, allergies, etc... I truly admire each of you on this forum for the support you give each other and the advice you have given me. This truly is a great bunch of people!

Well, to put your mind at ease a little, most kids with type 1 now can eat everything that every other kid eats. We have faster insulins now (and insulin pumps that most kids wear) that can more closely mimic the way a functioning pancreas responds to food: So food in, insulin response. It's, in lots of ways, a ton easier than having to limit foods like people with type 2 have to do. THAT is hard.

Good luck! I hope they have a great trip!

 

[PatsMom]

I haven't been able to control my Type II with diet for years. So I am on a bunch of medications. But I still follow the same type diet as most using it for control. Generally it involves counting carbs and getting the appropriate 2 to 3 carb choices per meal. And the carbs should be "good" carbs. As someone mentioned, Columbia Harbor house has a tuna sandwich on some awesome multi-grain bread. That would be a good carb or at least that is what I've been taught. A white bread hamburger bun would be a bad carb!

This doesn't mean you can never eat a bad carb in my opinion. It just means you limit them. Getting rid of carbs altogether will send my blood glucose through the ceiling. My body will just keep manufacturing it.

I have eaten at almost every counter service at Disney. I can find something to eat anywhere. I don't do the meal plans. Dessert just isn't that great at the counter service restaurants. If I want to splurge on some "bad" carbs, point me to the bakery in France at Epcot, not the pre-made desserts at the counter service restaurants!

Your friend probably knows very well what he can and cannot eat. And I have to agree with what others have said - nothing will drive a PWD nuts like someone who acts like the food police. My husband used to do it years ago - "should you be eating that?" etc. Drove me crazy! You are a good friend to be concerned though.

Disney will not give out carb counts. So you have to estimate based on what the meal is. Your friend probably has lots of experience doing that. I have not found it helpful to ask about ingredients - most tend to just offer you the sugar free dessert which typically has more carbs than the regular dessert and contains artificial sweeteners which can cause some real intestinal problems!

Hope you have a great trip!