Dining Plan and food allergies

[goin2themouse]

Do any of you have Dining Plan experience with food allergies? Does it generally seem worthwhile (price & time-wise) to do the plan, or is this something that would really limit my options? My allergies are (severe) peanut and shellfish and (moderate) soy, pea and rice. I am also supposed to avoid fish due to risk of cross-contamination.

Thanks.

 

[100acrewoodsfan]

I would absolutely use the dining plan! I have a wheat and dairy allergy and my husband has a shellfish allergy and we had the deluxe dining plan last year. We ate at a TS meal 2 times a day and never had a problem. I listed our allergies on our ADRs and reminded the wait staff when we were seated. At every meal the chef came out and talked to us and went over the menu. We were able to mix and match the sides to meet our needs.

I would recommend looking at the menus ahead of time and find places where it looks like there are a few options you can eat. Usually we agreed that the meals made specially to address our allergies were better than the pre-designed meals.

At the counter service locations you can ask for a book that list the meals and their ingredients.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[mechurchlady]

In FAQs is the address to write to and the chefs will accomodate your special dietary needs. These adjustments will not affect your dining plan usually. They can make special meals that avoid cross contamination and tell you what is not safe. Write them early and check the menus.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

Beache & Cream is an ice cream parlor that has been asked about at least twice in the past year. If you are highly allergic to a food then you have to be careful there. They have a lot of food with nuts and peanuts as well as sloppy guests and CMs who drop the nuts/peanuts on counters, work area, and even some guests will touch the nuts and then furniture for example.

In theory they can make a nut free meal and you could eat safely but make sure you wipe down anything you are going to touch such as tables. Most table restaurants are excellent at providing safe and allergen free meals. I can think of only two that are red flagged in my mind. There are people with allergies who say they never get sick at Beaches and Cream but there are those like myself wit allergies who would not risk eating there if we had a nut allergies.

I have celiac and get very sick at any cross contamination so that is why my concern about all them nuts. WDW is renown for its ability to meet the dietary needs of guests.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningdetail.cfm?restaurant.ID=9

 

[BeckyScott]

DS is allergic to gluten, dairy, egg, apple-pineapple-blueberry, onion, cocoa.

He ate better at Disney than he does at home.

 

[DVCDawn]

Our last trip was the first one we took using the DDP. Because my DD is severely allergic to peanuts and tree nuts I was always hesitant to use the meal plan. I figured it would be more limiting and she would have to miss out on desserts, since they seem to be the hardest to find safe substitutes.

Long story short, I was pleasantly surprised by the flexibility of Disney. I have been to WDW many times with my food allergic child and been more than pleased about the seriousness with which food allergies are dealt with and with the way Disney chefs will often go above and beyond for my DD (making special desserts, etc.) However, I had my doubts that they would be as willing to go the extra mile with the restrictions of the dining plan. I was wrong.

As I'm sure you've read on related threads, planning ahead is the key. For all sit-down meals, I was sure to make ADR's at places we had already been to or to places where I'd reviewed the menu and found there were more than one option for DD to choose from. At restaurants with no safe dessert, I called ahead and requested either an Itzakadoozie or a Mickey Bar (which were nut-free on our last trip, but not the previous ones) for my DDs meal-plan included dessert. This worked like a charm. In fact, my other DD started to get a little jealous of her sister's desserts. Now that was a first!

As far as the counter service places went, if something on the children's menu was not safe for my daughter, I spoke to the location's manager and appropriate substitutions were made. For example, at the the seasonally open El Pirata y El Perico, the dessert that came with the kid's lunch was a Haagen-Dazs bar that had a chocolate almond coating which my DD clearly couldn't eat. I spoke with the manager and explained my situation. In the course of the conversation I mentioned that the chocolate pudding served at Pecos Bills next door was safe. So, the manager said she could have that and he'd bring it right to our table.

In terms of the DDP saving time, that's a decision you'll have to make based on your family. No question, having one sit-down meal a day is definitely time consuming. And since the advent of the dining plan, you need to make your ADR's 3 months in advance. There will be no spontaneous dinner plans on this vacation. But if you're hesitating because of the food allergies -- don't. In my experience, how Disney handles food allergies is no different for guests on the meal plan and guests who are not.

Have a great trip!

DVCDawn

 

[goin2themouse]

Thank you for all of your input. One other question: I've read that the restaurants contact you three days in advance to discuss your food allergies; however, I'd really prefer to decide ahead of time which restaurants would offer the best selection for me, along with meet the rest of my family's tastes, before I make my ADRs. Are there allergen menus listed anywhere online? I've searched but been unable to find them.

Thanks again!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

It would be very unusual for the restaurant to contact you in advance. The normal procedure is for a chef to come out and disscuss the possibilities with you at the location. If the location is a buffet the chef will walk you through the line pointing out what is or is not safe. If there is a possible problem with cross-contamination they will make the food specifically for you.

And there is no "allergy menu" as such for any restaurant.

 

[Selket]

There are places to find the menus online - here at the DIS I think and at allearsnet.com. I usually go through the menu and rule out some places that might be difficult to get a safe meal. Some people report that the Epcot restaurants are more hit and miss. Some are great and some might not be (we have eaten at Le Cellier, Biergarten, the French one downstairs, the one in Britian and Teppan Edo with great success).

Last time I made ADR's they asked if I wanted a phone number to call someone and discuss the allergies. Not sure if they still do this - seems like there is now a central office that deals with food allergies and dining. I do suggest that you seek out a phone number to call and discuss things ahead of time. Calling too far in advance will probably not yield good results. Much will depend on the chef you actually get the day you are eating there - no matter who you talk to or what is discussed. I have gotten conflicting info from different chefs on different occasions too as to what was safe (for peanut/tree nut) and what was not. I had one chef tell me the chocolate chips were from "X" and were safe - and I know from experience that I've never seen safe choc. chips from that company - I really doubted him and he was like "oh well...don't eat it then!" Okie dokie! All of our issues were with "may contains" and he has never had a reaction. I'm just saying that you have to still be on guard. Desserts are often our most difficult issue - with the choices being limited (severely limited sometimes).

The dining plan is probably worth it as you might want to eat more sit-down meals so you can have the attention from the chefs.

 

[Tosie]

We always get the dining plan and my dd is allergic to milk, peanuts and tree nuts. The chefs are WONDERFUL (she had the best pancakes EVER at Boma)and we've never had a problem.

Disney is the one place in the world (the real one, not the Disney one) outside of my own kitchen where I feel she can eat safely.

If you contact Disney (I can't remember the name of the new department - I know it was posted here recently) they can send you current lists of ingredients in certain foods throughout the parks (buns, burgers, hot dogs, etc.)

 

[goin2themouse]

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful feedback. This forum is a great resource that I'll be sure to share with other food allergy families!