Dining with Food Allergies

[Dis703]

I posted this on the restaurant forum and somebody suggested I post it here.

We will be at Disney in November with our 26 month old who has multiple food allergies. To complicate things he is quite delayed with solids so at 2 he has a very limited amount of foods he can eat. I've heard Disney is great about food accomodations especially with the table service restaurants, but what about counter service places? Can they accomodate for most allergies as well? Are some places better than others in this regard?

He can have wheat, egg and dairy which is awesome, but does not eat any meats so that lessens our options a bit.

I'm also wondering how this will effect our ordering on the dining plan. As I understand it he can eat off our plates for free, but if I have to order something special that isn't exactly part of my entree will I have to pay for that seperately?

Thanks for any advice.

Heather

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

If you click on where it says "disABILTIES" at the top of this page it will take you to the Index. One of the top items is the "disABILTIES FAQ" which will gives lots of useful information. Go to Post #3 and look down the list for "Dietary Restrictions". It is loaded with specific information plus a lot of links related to food allergies and WDW Dining.

Or, if you want an easier route to the FAQs, click on the link in my signature.

Also, there are six threads related to dining on the first page of this forum.

 

[kventventx]

You can e-mail disney direct at "specialdiets at disneyworld.com" and ask your specific questions it may take a few days for them to respond, but they respond with a great deal of really useful information. (they won't let me list and e-mail address in a posting) so hopefully you can figure out the correct e-mail address from what is listed above).

 

[clanmcculloch]

At buffets and other all you can eat restaurants the chef will prepare food for him at no extra cost. At TS restaurants with menus, you may be able to get the chef modify your meal so that a portion of it will be suitable for your son so you don't need to pay for extra food for him but you may have to order him some small thing separately; it really depends on the restaurant, the server, the manager and the phases of the moon unfortunately. If you do have to pay for some small thing then just pay OOP for that item.

At CS locations you'll definitely pay for exactly what you order. Remember that with the dining plan you get a dessert so you can always request apple sauce or yogurt or fruit for him instead of your dessert (you don't say what the actual allergies are but obviously you'd choose something allergy safe). Yes they can accomodate food allergies but each location only has a fixed set of allergy safe foods. Special Diets will send you a bunch of email attachments when you email them about your needs. You'll want to go through these attachments and make note of which foods you can get where so you know when you're in the parks where you can go to get safe foods. Not every CS location will have something safe. The CS location at your resort will have a lot more ability to accomodate as they have a much longer list of alternative ingredients.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Meat is actually relatively easy to avoid in Disney, compared with a lot of restaurants out in 'real-world' America. I'm a vegetarian, so am quite used to hunting down the non-meat options, and can give you plenty of tips on places with good veggie food. Every restaurant in Disney (except for a few of the CS places in the World Showcase) has a meat-free option, but they won't always list it up on the menu. If you ask at the till they'll be able to tell you what they have that's not on the menu.

As for the other allergies, it really depends on what he can and can't have, and where you're eating. If you find that there is nothing he can eat on the regular menu at a CS, you might be able to have something special made up. I suggest you try to hit the restaurant at a quieter time (i.e. not 12-2), as you'll be more likely to get a postitive response.

You might also want to have some 'emergency supplies' with you, just in case you get stuck not being able to find anything for him at a restaurant (you don't want to be trailing from place to place with a hungry 2 year old ). Make sure it's nothing that will spoil too quickly, and if it needs heating, you can either ask whether the restaurant would be able to help, or you can use the microwaves in the baby care centres (there's one in each park, next to first aid).

Good luck and I hope this helps!