Callalily6
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2004
- Messages
- 682
I thought I would post this since it caught me by surprise...in a bad way. I just returned from a 10-night stay and faced a new and unexpected hardship on this most recent trip... one that we never foresaw as an issue having had complete faith in WDW.
We were on the DDP for 5 nights and then on our own for food for 5 nights.
I am on a strict low fat diet due to medical reasons. If someone feeds me a some butter by mistake, I'll end up in the emergency room. So its serious, not vanity. Before our trip, I was advised by guest services that it would not be an issue and that WDW was used to accommodating dietary restrictions - we simply needed to speak with the chef at each restaurant when we arrived to eat. This was confirmed by Disney prior to the trip.
We quickly found that nearly every restaurant (counter or table service) was unequipped and unprepared to provide a low fat meal. I believe that they were perfectly trained to deal with an allergy - but not this simple medical restriction.
Some chefs had no suggestion for what would be appropriate or possible. Some inadvertently used high-fat ingredients even after we spoke - which was incredibly painful. Some staff, I believe, heard "low-fat" and treated the request as a frivolous fad diet and not the serious medical requirement that it is. That wasnt cool. They started telling me about their "healthy" menu suggestions and I had to tell them again.
In short, I ate dry salad (often having to pick off cheese, bacon, and other high fat items) and sorbet for almost 10 days straight. When I couldnt stand it anymore, I ate reduced fat wheat thins in my room.
I know you all might be as stunned as I was, that's why I posted it here. If you have a dietary restriction that is something OTHER than a food allergy, expect to have issues. I had to tell them very low fat, no cheese, no bacon, no dressing, no mayo, no alfredo, no cream...etc. You get the point. If I didnt spell it out, they might feed it to me. Then a couple of places did feed it to me anyway. I ordered a sandwich at a counter service place and I asked for it plain - no cheese, mayo, or nothing with fat. I got it back smothered in cheese and bacon. Bacon? Bacon wasnt even supposed to be on it. Come on! At least I could see it. Its very scary having to depend on other people not to make a mistake.
Ironically, I have found that eating at fast food places is easier during the 2nd 1/2 of the trip. I can look at their menu and check the fat content of the item and decide if I can eat it. Fat content is broken down. Only certain menu items at Disney counter service restaurants have this detailed menu, and then it may be broken down into content of EACH item, NOT the entree as a whole.
There is a book at all the counter service locations that have itemized details. Some books have more info than others. Like I said, the books seem to be aimed at those with food allergies more so than other dietary restrictions.
I didnt use all my DDP credits b/c of this. And the amount of anxiety it caused was, well, it was a lot.
One cast member went out of his way to make me something during our trip. When we explained my dietary restriction to him and asked what he suggested, the 1st thing he said is has anyone else been able to accommodate you? He wanted to know what the heck I was eating. I told him salad and sorbet. He made me a grilled chicken sandwich that wasnt on the menu. He used non fat cooking spray instead of lard, and made it himself. That part was good. If every chef was like that, there wouldnt have been a problem.
One other thing I noticed is that regular items that are typically low fat are NOT low fat at Disney. Example - rice crispy treats. They have 1g of fat in them if you buy them in the box. Disney's has 4g. Cookies have over 13g and everything else was triple the normal fat content as well. I didnt expect that either. And a lot of the foods were pre-made, so they couldnt make me some low fat either.
Anyway, I hope this info helps someone else. At least be prepared for it and have your reduced fat wheat thins ready.
We were on the DDP for 5 nights and then on our own for food for 5 nights.
I am on a strict low fat diet due to medical reasons. If someone feeds me a some butter by mistake, I'll end up in the emergency room. So its serious, not vanity. Before our trip, I was advised by guest services that it would not be an issue and that WDW was used to accommodating dietary restrictions - we simply needed to speak with the chef at each restaurant when we arrived to eat. This was confirmed by Disney prior to the trip.
We quickly found that nearly every restaurant (counter or table service) was unequipped and unprepared to provide a low fat meal. I believe that they were perfectly trained to deal with an allergy - but not this simple medical restriction.
Some chefs had no suggestion for what would be appropriate or possible. Some inadvertently used high-fat ingredients even after we spoke - which was incredibly painful. Some staff, I believe, heard "low-fat" and treated the request as a frivolous fad diet and not the serious medical requirement that it is. That wasnt cool. They started telling me about their "healthy" menu suggestions and I had to tell them again.
In short, I ate dry salad (often having to pick off cheese, bacon, and other high fat items) and sorbet for almost 10 days straight. When I couldnt stand it anymore, I ate reduced fat wheat thins in my room.
I know you all might be as stunned as I was, that's why I posted it here. If you have a dietary restriction that is something OTHER than a food allergy, expect to have issues. I had to tell them very low fat, no cheese, no bacon, no dressing, no mayo, no alfredo, no cream...etc. You get the point. If I didnt spell it out, they might feed it to me. Then a couple of places did feed it to me anyway. I ordered a sandwich at a counter service place and I asked for it plain - no cheese, mayo, or nothing with fat. I got it back smothered in cheese and bacon. Bacon? Bacon wasnt even supposed to be on it. Come on! At least I could see it. Its very scary having to depend on other people not to make a mistake.
Ironically, I have found that eating at fast food places is easier during the 2nd 1/2 of the trip. I can look at their menu and check the fat content of the item and decide if I can eat it. Fat content is broken down. Only certain menu items at Disney counter service restaurants have this detailed menu, and then it may be broken down into content of EACH item, NOT the entree as a whole.
There is a book at all the counter service locations that have itemized details. Some books have more info than others. Like I said, the books seem to be aimed at those with food allergies more so than other dietary restrictions.
I didnt use all my DDP credits b/c of this. And the amount of anxiety it caused was, well, it was a lot.
One cast member went out of his way to make me something during our trip. When we explained my dietary restriction to him and asked what he suggested, the 1st thing he said is has anyone else been able to accommodate you? He wanted to know what the heck I was eating. I told him salad and sorbet. He made me a grilled chicken sandwich that wasnt on the menu. He used non fat cooking spray instead of lard, and made it himself. That part was good. If every chef was like that, there wouldnt have been a problem.
One other thing I noticed is that regular items that are typically low fat are NOT low fat at Disney. Example - rice crispy treats. They have 1g of fat in them if you buy them in the box. Disney's has 4g. Cookies have over 13g and everything else was triple the normal fat content as well. I didnt expect that either. And a lot of the foods were pre-made, so they couldnt make me some low fat either.
Anyway, I hope this info helps someone else. At least be prepared for it and have your reduced fat wheat thins ready.
