Dining with GERD

[Allybaster]

Hi, everybody! My spouse and I are having a trip to WDW in March for my birthday! Unfortunately my spouse has been diagnosed with a severe acid reflux problem and I think dining will be difficult for us. He hasn't been formally diagnosed with GERD, but I've been cooking according to GERD guidelines and it's helped. Basically no red meat, carbonation, excess fats, citrus, onions, garlic, full fat dairy, tomatoes, and alcohol. Right now we're in the beginning stages of diagnosis where we have a temporary strict diet to see if he can heal, but we'll probably never get back to normal (which is probably for the best).

Any tips for eating at Disney? The only reservation we have that we can't break is my birthday dinner at The Hoop Dee Doo Review, where I'm hoping he'll either be ok to eat things that day or we can get accommodations. He'll probably have alcohol, just no carbonation so no beer or soda mixers. We're staying at The Boardwalk Inn, if that helps.

 

[AnneK]

IBS sufferer here, it's best to figure out what you can safely eat before attempting dining out unless you're willing to accept the consequences. For me it's dairy, red onions and basically sugar/carbs. So I stick to lean meats/fish and veggies. Most sit down places can accommodate special dietary requests easily, they're used to it on a daily basis.

I also always eat breakfast at the room (we order groceries via Garden Grocer), and I eat small meals throughout the day so I don't overwhelm my stomach. This combined with drinking lots of water (NEVER alcohol) keeps my system happy.

 

[siren0119]

Disney is awesome about accommodating dietary needs. When you book your reservations, on the "Confirm" page there is a place to add special requests. You can be pretty detailed about what he can't have, and many times the chef from the restaurant will either contact you ahead of time or come out when you arrive to verify what the needs are and offer a couple of specific dishes. Even Hoop Dee Doo can make accommodations for him! Just communicate ahead of time and you'll be all set

 

[gap2368]

Since you have a few things he can not have you might want to write the list down on some 3x5 card and hens them to the person taking your order ( quick service of sit down) and let them have the list so they can help you find something that works for your DH.