Diabetic diets

[KyCruisinSusan]

Do the WDW restaurants have special diets/meals available for children with diabetes? My next door neighbors 6yr old grandson is a brittle diabetic and he will be visiting the "World" for the first time this summer and they were asking us some questions about this since we are frequent visitors at WDW.

If they can't get ADR's for sit down meals will they be able to find foods that he can eat within his diet at counter service locations?

Should they plan on taking nutritious snacks with them for emergencies?

Any advice will be helpful.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

I would bring snacks along just to make sure you have them.

All Disney sit down restaurants can accomodate dietary needs provided you let them know what they can do for you. You can call ahead and speak to the chef at the restaurants to have something set up in advance (if they are making reservations). Also at the time of booking the ADR make sure that they mention it to the CM so that it can be added to the reservation as a heads up as well. If it is a sit down restaurant they are even pretty good about last minute requests, generally as long as they have it and can make it for you they will.

As far as quick service, most of them have options on the menu to accomodate dietary needs as well, but they are not as easily adjusted, you would be just trying to find something on the menu that you can have.

 

[Juliah]

You might want to post over on the disABILITIES board, as well. I know there are often discussions about this very subject.

 

[Selket]

My 4 yr old son is a type 1 diabetic - he has been since he was 26 months old. We were at WDW twice last year (2005) and I agree with the previous poster who said to mention the diabetes if you are making ADR's. The chef will come out and talk to you if you wish and can also sometimes prepare things a bit differently (with less sugar, a sugar substitute, etc. - some folks are sensitive to the substitutes so not everything works for everyone of course).

As for getting snacks and so forth I'll say that we usually try to let William eat as normally as possible and cover the carbs with insulin. I don't know if the grandparents or parents are taking the child to WDW but they'd need to know, of course, how to give insulin and a carb to insulin ratio. So we don't usually seek out the sugar free items. However they do have a sugar-free strawberry fruit bar at some ice cream carts in the MK (we found it in Tomorrowland - was hard to find!). Sugar-free drinks were hard to find, except diet coke which isn't good for a kid. We either brought our own in (Kool-aid Jammers 10 are koolaid pack drinks that are about 2-3 carbs each - sugar-free koolaid in there). You can also buy this powdered stuff that you pour into a bottle of water and it makes a koolaid - no carbs. That is easy to tote around and the grocery or a store like Target should have it.

You can also bring in your own snacks - things he likes - I generally keep a small case with snacks in it. Also take some glucose tabs or juice boxes - some folks find they go LOW in the heat and exercise and can eat MORE food. But that isn't always the case. You have to be prepared though.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions!

 

[Chloesmom]

My daughter is diabetic and she is on 2 doses of insulin a day. She must eat carbs to match her insulin so eating is a big issue with us.. what can she eat.. when can we eat, etc. We had no trouble in Disney last year. The chefs were great and did everythign they could. We ate at counter service places as well and we just did things like get a burger with no bun so she could eat the fries, etc. She was on this huge cheese kick then and cheese alone was hard to find. I ended up carrying a small cooler with some cheese cubes in it along with those great Jammers and a regular juice as well for low sugar times. Do make sure that you tell the person when you check in that you have a diabetic with you. This will speed you along and get you a seat quicker so that you can eat. My daughter almost passed out because a 10 minute wait tunred into 40 minutes and I had not told them she was diabetic when I checked in.. lesson learned..

 

[jennifer293]

I am a newly diagnosed diabetic and have been worried about the menu selections as well. It looks like I will be making some phone calls!! I was getting rather sad about the snacks so I am glad there are some places that have sugar free snacks!!!

 

[Caren]

I am a newly diagnosed diabetic and have been worried about the menu selections as well. It looks like I will be making some phone calls!! I was getting rather sad about the snacks so I am glad there are some places that have sugar free snacks!!!

Sugar free doesn't mean that it's good for the blood sugar! Bagels and some of those fruit cups can be very bad even though they're technically sugar free. I have a bit of a problem finding things I can eat in the fast-food areas, especially at breakfast which tends to be a carb fest unless you order a whole meal. WDW is definitely a place that pushes candy/ice cream/muffins/rice krispie treats, etc. and you have to be on guard at all times. Bring snacks!

 

[BCV23]

We've visited WDW probably 30 times since our son was diagnosed with type 1 when he was six. He has wide swings in his glucose too and WDW seems to be harder for him in the hotter months.

We are a fan of table service meals also. I do think there are many more healthy choices in the counter service restaurants than there used to be. But with an Advanced Reservation, you can keep on schedule and not be tempted to do one more thing before you eat.

Bring snacks both fast acting and not. Carry his glucagon case. Keep him hydrated and allow for afternoon breaks. Our son also has Down Syndrome and some other health issues but he really does get fatigued at WDW.

We don't ask for the chef as we feel confident picking meals for him. But do bring a carb counting book if he is on that regimen. Our first trip after he switched to counting carbs, I did talk to a few chefs but quickly realized they do not have a carb count so for us there is no point in bothering them. We also do not order special sugar free desserts which are available if you call ahead but as Caren said, sugar free doesn't translate to carb free or good for a diabetic.

He will get so much extra exercise at WDW, be prepared to adjust his insulin ratio, give extra snacks and watch for lows.

If you run into an emergency, don't hesitate to ask for help from a CM.

Most of all, I hope his whole family has a ball!