Diabetic info

[Frogdad]

Are sugar free treats avaible in the parks and resorts, we will be staying at the AS. Is there a way to find out diabetic exchanges for meals?

 

[Talking Hands]

Yes there are a few sugar free treats but be aware that these are usually high in fat. Better plan is to carb count and just use normal stuff. Due to being allergic to nutrasweet I have had to learn how to incorporate foods with sugar into my diet as a treat through carb counting. My Hb1Ac is 6.1 so I am doing something correctly.
You are not geing to get diabetic exchanges on meals. Carb amounts you can probably get and figure it from there. 15g carb per bread exchange. Carb counting is the way to go.

 

[tink2dw]

With all the walking and excitement it more likely you will have diabetic lows than highs. Your normal schedule will be al fouled up, so test much more often to see where you are!!and take Glycerine Tablets with you to fastly bring up low bloodsugar levels!

 

[Eeyore1954]

Great advice here. Definitely take glucose tablets to the parks. I discovered that all the excitement and walking combined with watching everything I ate resulted in several lows -- usually in the mid- to late-afternoon. Very important to keep something on hand to counteract that.

I had a tough time with all the treats around. What helped me is making sure my DW kept all (!) the money so I'd have to ask for $ to buy something.

By watching/counting carbs, I was able to enjoy a few treats during our vacation, but these were carefully planned into my diet.

 

[ReneeQ]

I think all the theme parks also have fresh fruit stands.

 

[SueM in MN]

you are right, Renee. All the parks do have fruit stands. At the counter service restaurants, you can also usually substitute grapes or some other fruit for french fries.

 

[tink2dw]

Oh,I forgot to add that the First Aide Stations can really be helpful,I forgot to add syringes to my kit,thats night we're going to go to Fantazmic,at dinner I realized my mistake.
I ask our Server if the Aide Station would have a syringe,she didn't know but instantly went to call them. And to my relief they did have syringes!! and even wanted to know if I needed insulin!
My Dh went over to the First Aide Station to get the syringe for me.

At the end of our trip I was worried about carrying used syringes back onto the airplane. So,I ask at the Aide Stationif it was possible to leave the used syringes in their Sharps container,the answer was yes! All I had to do was sign a sheet of paper for them.

The Aide Workers were sooooo nice and sooooo helpful!!

 

[ReneeQ]

SueM, that reminds me, one time I got raw baby carrots instead of fries, too.

 

[cupcake]

If you ask ahead of time, they will provide a special dessert for you that fits in with whatever dietary restrictions you have. We celebrated our 10th anniversary at the California Grille at the Contemporary, and the chef actually created a wonderful special dessert just for us with sugar free crisps, berries, and whipped cream (my dh called in advance, and they had several conversations with him to try to create something nice just for us). We got sugar free cheesecake and sugar free ice cream & fruit elsewhere, we said I was diabetic when we made our reservations. The Disney Cruise tried, although they weren't as good across the board ( several desserts with bananas, which may as well have sugar they are so carby). It was a real treat having dessert! I would make reservations and ask for whatever you need; they have been uniformly very nice to us (goes for Disneyland as well). I am type 2 and take oral meds, btw.

Cupcake

 

[SueM in MN]

SueM, that reminds me, one time I got raw baby carrots instead of fries, too.

I had forgotten that, but now that you mentioned it, we also had carrots several times.

When you look at the park maps, you will see a
red apple icon by some of the restaurants. That's to signify the ones that serve some vegetarian and/or healthy alternatives. There are quite a few of them and they are the most likely places to find fresh fruits/vegetables.

 

[Lou-Ann]

I am also a type II diabetic. Just wanted to tell you that Starring Rolls in MGM has sugar free treats and that each park has one place with sugar free/fat free ice cream as does Beaches and Cream. I have found most of the restaurants to go out of their way to try to meet my needs. Does anyone know if they routinely carry sugar free syrup for breakfast? We have not done breakfast at Disney.

 

[Talking Hands]

Yes but be aware it is nutrasweet based. I have to bring all my own sugar free stuff because Disney's is all nutrasweet based. But Disney did provide me with a free refrigerator so I could store my sodas after I explained that I cannot use nutrasweet in any form and that is all that Coke has for diet drinks.