Hello Friends.....
I got back from an 11 day stay in Disney using the Deluxe Dining Plan. (Moderators, I am going to post here for my allergy friends and in the reviews for regular diners, if you feel it is necessary to delete or move, please feel free)
I wanted to give some advice and share some perspective on dining with a dairy free allergy. First, I did not note/mark my reservations with the allergy. I am MORE allergic to the antibiotics used to treat the cows and milks rather than a true allergy. I can judge with some cheeses or amount of say dressing used, or sometimes at a buffet I will just eat a plain salad and veggies if I am going to react or not so therefore I felt the choice was mine....well, boy did I get several well meant lectures. However, I am 40 years old and it is MY choice. Some of the chefs were downright rude, telling me that I HAD TO mark my reservations if I had an allergy when I booked the reservation. Understandably, they want to cover their butts, but it is my body.
The Chefs or places that went out of their way to make not only the food correct but special for me (not that I asked either) was Chef Julie at Ohana for breakfast, Carlos (the manager) at Captain Cooks, Chef Rob at Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch and Chef TJ at 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
Chef Julie at Ohana Breakfast went out of her way to make sure I had the exact same breakfast my family had (minus the sweet bread and butter) with waffles included. She came out twice to see if I would like anything else, which I thought was very kind.
Chef Rob at Liberty Tree Tavern made me my ONLY serving the whole trip of mashed potatoes AND gravy. He said to me he had Toffuti Ice Cream and I said "Ooooh with Root Beer I could make a float", he was nice enough to make me my own delicious ICE COLD FLOAT in a to go cup!
Carlos, the manager at Captain Cooks ALWAYS made sure when he saw me or my husband come in that he rushed around the counter to take the order. He found the Tapioca bread when NO ONE else could and was a true gentleman.
Chef TJ and 1900 Park Fare walked the whole entire buffet with me and if I saw something I liked that I couldnt have, he came out with a dairy free version for me. He made me some special rice, he steamed a delicious Red Bliss potato for me, made me special salad with Oil and Vinegar and made me a desert that was 1/2 a pineapple, marshmallows, fruit, dairy free brownies in a dairy free dark chocolate sauce.
NOW FOR THE BAD: The Chef at the Whispering Canyon Cafe couldnt make me mashed potatoes cause "Well, that is going to take 45 minutes and you will get your food in 15." -What planet if you cut the potatoes bite size and boil takes 45 minutes? AND AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER and we didn't have our food!
Chef at Prime Time Cafe, everything I chose was "No" in his Austrian accent. To my request of potatoes "No potatoes for you!!" Reminiscent of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld! The special green beans were a salt lick and they had no dessert offerings AT ALL for me.
The Chef at Chef Mickeys, either he didnt know his ingredients or flat out LIED to me. I asked him what was safe and if he wanted to walk to line to me, but he said he had to get back to cooking. "Told me" what was safe, so I had peel and eat shrimp, a sausage and rice dish (which he claimed was dairy free and safe-however the same dish at 1900 Park Fare TJ told me they used a lot of butter in it ), steak, ham, salad, a piece of bread (which he claimed was dairy free and safe), and he brought out a cup cake (which he claimed was dairy free and safe)-an hour later I was in a full reaction and my stomach was ON FIRE ALLLLL NIGHT.
Chef or wait staff at Cinderella's Royal Table couldnt get mine or anyone else's at my table correct. I had my app sent back cause it was the wrong one then my dinner came out smothered in cheese. I asked for the dairy free one to be brought out. The next dish was I swear THE SAME DISH just flipped over because all the cheese was now on the bottom! I had to demand that my whole dinner be recooked along with my husband's Beef Tenderloin not be cooked so well as it was extreemly well done, like shoe leather!
Good Points: You can find lots of Dairy/Gluten Free dessert choices at the counter services like French Meadow Brownies or Enjoy Life Cookies. Lots of the counter services were truly accomidating and more knowdlegeable than the Chef as far as what they were capable in offering me dairy free wise. The Manager at Restaurantosaurus was great at knowing exactly what was needed to modify a salad for me, as opposed to the Chef at Kona Cafe who kept giving me "Well, its made with butter, but not that much." As far as getting soy milk for coffee, different story. I would have to get a box of Silk Milk and plead with the cashier to not charge me another snack so I could have milk in my coffee of tea as most places STILL dont have dairy free for coffee/or milk.
Hope I wasnt too boring and you enjoyed my dairy free review....any questions please feel free
I got back from an 11 day stay in Disney using the Deluxe Dining Plan. (Moderators, I am going to post here for my allergy friends and in the reviews for regular diners, if you feel it is necessary to delete or move, please feel free)
I wanted to give some advice and share some perspective on dining with a dairy free allergy. First, I did not note/mark my reservations with the allergy. I am MORE allergic to the antibiotics used to treat the cows and milks rather than a true allergy. I can judge with some cheeses or amount of say dressing used, or sometimes at a buffet I will just eat a plain salad and veggies if I am going to react or not so therefore I felt the choice was mine....well, boy did I get several well meant lectures. However, I am 40 years old and it is MY choice. Some of the chefs were downright rude, telling me that I HAD TO mark my reservations if I had an allergy when I booked the reservation. Understandably, they want to cover their butts, but it is my body.
The Chefs or places that went out of their way to make not only the food correct but special for me (not that I asked either) was Chef Julie at Ohana for breakfast, Carlos (the manager) at Captain Cooks, Chef Rob at Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch and Chef TJ at 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
Chef Julie at Ohana Breakfast went out of her way to make sure I had the exact same breakfast my family had (minus the sweet bread and butter) with waffles included. She came out twice to see if I would like anything else, which I thought was very kind.
Chef Rob at Liberty Tree Tavern made me my ONLY serving the whole trip of mashed potatoes AND gravy. He said to me he had Toffuti Ice Cream and I said "Ooooh with Root Beer I could make a float", he was nice enough to make me my own delicious ICE COLD FLOAT in a to go cup!
Carlos, the manager at Captain Cooks ALWAYS made sure when he saw me or my husband come in that he rushed around the counter to take the order. He found the Tapioca bread when NO ONE else could and was a true gentleman.
Chef TJ and 1900 Park Fare walked the whole entire buffet with me and if I saw something I liked that I couldnt have, he came out with a dairy free version for me. He made me some special rice, he steamed a delicious Red Bliss potato for me, made me special salad with Oil and Vinegar and made me a desert that was 1/2 a pineapple, marshmallows, fruit, dairy free brownies in a dairy free dark chocolate sauce.
NOW FOR THE BAD: The Chef at the Whispering Canyon Cafe couldnt make me mashed potatoes cause "Well, that is going to take 45 minutes and you will get your food in 15." -What planet if you cut the potatoes bite size and boil takes 45 minutes? AND AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER and we didn't have our food!
Chef at Prime Time Cafe, everything I chose was "No" in his Austrian accent. To my request of potatoes "No potatoes for you!!" Reminiscent of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld! The special green beans were a salt lick and they had no dessert offerings AT ALL for me.
The Chef at Chef Mickeys, either he didnt know his ingredients or flat out LIED to me. I asked him what was safe and if he wanted to walk to line to me, but he said he had to get back to cooking. "Told me" what was safe, so I had peel and eat shrimp, a sausage and rice dish (which he claimed was dairy free and safe-however the same dish at 1900 Park Fare TJ told me they used a lot of butter in it ), steak, ham, salad, a piece of bread (which he claimed was dairy free and safe), and he brought out a cup cake (which he claimed was dairy free and safe)-an hour later I was in a full reaction and my stomach was ON FIRE ALLLLL NIGHT.
Chef or wait staff at Cinderella's Royal Table couldnt get mine or anyone else's at my table correct. I had my app sent back cause it was the wrong one then my dinner came out smothered in cheese. I asked for the dairy free one to be brought out. The next dish was I swear THE SAME DISH just flipped over because all the cheese was now on the bottom! I had to demand that my whole dinner be recooked along with my husband's Beef Tenderloin not be cooked so well as it was extreemly well done, like shoe leather!
Good Points: You can find lots of Dairy/Gluten Free dessert choices at the counter services like French Meadow Brownies or Enjoy Life Cookies. Lots of the counter services were truly accomidating and more knowdlegeable than the Chef as far as what they were capable in offering me dairy free wise. The Manager at Restaurantosaurus was great at knowing exactly what was needed to modify a salad for me, as opposed to the Chef at Kona Cafe who kept giving me "Well, its made with butter, but not that much." As far as getting soy milk for coffee, different story. I would have to get a box of Silk Milk and plead with the cashier to not charge me another snack so I could have milk in my coffee of tea as most places STILL dont have dairy free for coffee/or milk.
Hope I wasnt too boring and you enjoyed my dairy free review....any questions please feel free
