Dining with peanut allergy

[gurnage]

Hi - I am a first time poster and can't figure out where I can search this forum so forgive me as I'm sure this has been discussed before. Any tips on dining when just walking around the park and what places to avoid? We have reservations at Rose & Crown and I will talk to the chef there but as far as counter service - any warnings or tips to a family with a newly diagnosed peanut allergy? Thanks so much.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Hi and Welcome to the Dis.. I am not sure if we have a dining with allergies area on the Dis, but I would certainly call Disney dining and make sure I got a list from them on where you can eat that peanuts are not part of what they do...

We have this on the Dis:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/tips_for_touring/allergies.htm

 

[MinnieMom]

We had this issue two years ago when we took ds to WDW for his first trip. Fortunately he has outgrown most of his allergies, but everyone at WDW was so wonderful about working with us I was amazed!

I contacted a CM named Brenda Bennett before we went and she emailed me information on all the CS places in each park and even at the resorts that had "safe" foods for DS. Whenever we ate anywhere (CS or TS) we let them know about his allergies and they made sure to keep his meals separate so there would be no cross contamination. Most TS places made him his own special meals! It was great . . . made him feel like a prince!

I can't find Brenda's contact info, but maybe if you google the name it will come up - or just call Disney Dining and see if they can give it to you.

 

[RllngRckBrw]

I would definitely call Disney ahead of time and let them be aware of your allergy and ask for a list or assistance with regards to the CS spots. It appears you already have ressies for at least Rose and Crown. I would call and let them know ahead of your arrival so that if there are any extra preperations they need to do in the kitchen they are ready to do so. We found this out the hard way as I have a brother in law that has an issue with mushrooms and they had to close an entire grill and clean it at most resturants we were at. They were more than accomodating but I immagine it would have helped if they had advance notice.

 

[gigi1313]

we've navigated the World w/a peanut/tree nut allergy many many times and it's fairly easy... first and foremost, avoid baked goods... they are all produced in a factory that shares equipment... second, ask ask ask! every CS has a book w/allergens listed for each and every item/ingredient... they can look it up for you no problem... third, call ahead to the TS restaurants you will be dining at, then tell the cm when you check in, tell your server, and ask to meet w/a chef... most desserts will be off limits, but the chefs will be able to make something safe... last but not least, look for Divvies products where snacks are sold as they are nut free (and a few other allergen free) products of the highest quality and quite enjoyable and really made ds' day when he was finally able to have caramel corn to rival his sister's cracker jacks!


enjoy

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest going to the disABILITIES Forum and look at Post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs. There is a large section in that post dealing with special dietary needs, as well as many related links. You can get directly to the disABILITIES FAQs by following the link in my signature.

This is a very common topic of discussion in the disABILITIES Forum.

 

[newtodis]

I was also going to suggest the DISabbilities board here on the DIS. They're amazing!! There's a grea contact to email listed on there. I emailed and received a list of different foods my DS4 (who's allergic to peanuts, shellfish, garlic, trees, grass, weeds, animals, anything else you can think of!) could and could not eat while he was there. They also attached a form to the email for me to fill out and return that listed all of our ressies on it. Since we're going in both Sept and Dec, I was able to put the information for both trips on one form.

On our trip in Feb (1st trip and much less prepared than now), we did not have a problem at all. We always asked and someone came out right away. I remember specifically at Chef Mickey's, they brought him out his own plate of Mickey waffles because they were near something with peanuts on the buffett. He thought this was VERY cool! The staff did a wonderful job. On our upcoming trips, we're doing custom cakes as we're celebrating birthdays and on both orders they were able to include something for DS4 with the allergies which is great.

Another thing that helps is that I take snacks in our park bag. If I know we're going to pick up a cupcake, cookie or another possible snack he might not be able to have, I've always got something right there that he can have. On the rare occassion he doesn't want it, I give him his options of what's there (usually something like whole fruit or juice) and he's always happy with his choice. He does understand a little bit and will tell people he's allergic. If he sees someone with peanut (like last week when we attended a baseball game and the people in front of us were throwing peanut shells on the ground), he has no fear about approaching them and telling them it will make him sick (he tapped the people in front of us on the shoulder and told them to pick up their mess since the trash doesn't go on the ground and it could make him sick!) Most people are accomidating (the guy picked up what he could and apologized). If they're not, I will certainly step in and ask that they not take the health of my son in their hands. I also carry his epi-pen and benadryl with me everywhere just in case he gets into anything that someone's touched or anything.

We did not have any problem on our last Disney trip and do not anticipate having one in the future.

HTH a little bit! Have a great trip!!