Dinning plan with allergies

[babygirlamg]

For those with kids with food allergies , have you done the dinning plan and which one , counter service places make me a little nervous so I was thinking of the deluxe so we can have a sit down lunch and sit down dinner. My daughter has a severe milk and peanut allergy and intolerance to seafood. I have been to Disney many times with my oldest child but she has no allergies , so going with allergies is brand new to me. Any advice would be great

 

[cmwade77]

Disney is really good with allergies, even at CS, but you will always get the best results at TS, as the chef can make modifications based on particular needs.

 

[mistysue]

I have never gone with only milk/peanut/seafood but CS doesnt go well for us. That said, you might want to spend some time crunching numbers. The CS at resorts has worked out well for us (except BC marketplace) but we tend to do most lunch and dinner parks at TS. Deluxe wastes money for most groups. There isnt a dining plan that has 2 TS per day, and breakfast is usually the best meal to pay OOP so it might actually take effort to get a good deal out of a dining plan. We have come out the best the years we paid OOP unless we got free dining staying at a value.

 

[lam21575]

We did the dining plan just a few weeks ago w my DD4 who has celiac disease (so gluten free) and had no issues finding the typical "kid" friendly foods that she could eat. I did a lot of research ( this board was so helpful!) before we left so I had a good list at every park where I knew people had good experience w allergy accommodations. Also, email wdw special diets and they will send a bunch of info for your specific allergies. They sent me a list of all the places in wdw that had certain gf foods, which of course was super helpful when deciding where to eat, especially the ADRs. Several CS places in each park and several resorts have dedicated fryers for fries and make chx tenders that are GF, nut free and I'm positive dairy free...they were so delicious too! Hope that helps!

 

[mistysue]

The catch with the difference between a single allergy and multiple is that they plan for allergies in categories. Gluten is its own category so everywhere easily accommodates gluten free. Milk, peanut and seafood are 3 sepatate categories, so the specific allergy foods for each grouping contradict and dont overlap often. It leaves you at the mercy of the manager to modify foods, which is iffy with CS.
For example, our favorite place for multiple allergies has been Columbia Harbor house. The last time we went the manager refused to serve my son because the new allergy menu has a printed fish/shellfish warning. Prior to that, we ate the allergy tenders there twice that same week. Some managers would have served us because he always eats there, this one started going on about the potential for airborn contamination and how even if we were ok with it he was not.

 

[mistysue]

Sorry, my phone duplicated the post.

 

[Ariel on Land]

Just got back with DD who has milk and soy allergies. First off, I just want to say I wish ALL restaurants were Disney restaurants when it comes to food allergies. I was SUPER impressed! We ate at CP, Coral Reef, Akershus, 50sPTC, and Chef Mickeys for TS and each one the Chef was able to give us ample options for DD. THere was also typically a standard menu item on the adult menu that we could order that she could share (she's just barely 2). We ate at a few CS places and there too, I was able to speak with a chef about her food. CHH and Sunshine Seasons both were able to very easily accomodate her. I was seriously surprised how many menu items they had that were just typically prepared allergy free-- it made things very easy. We did bring her own food a lot too, especially for CS meals- we'd bring her a sandwich or sandwich meat and then supplement with fresh fruit or applesauce or whatever, but we never ate anywhere that she couldn't get something. (granted, we didn't go to pizza planet either.... so that might have caused a hiccup, but everywhere we did go, we were very pleased!) In fact, it was so easy to feed her, I'm taking her back for a mom and DD trip next year. It was just so nice. As it is now, the only fast food place I can take her is Chick fil A, so traveling and eating out is such a pain. I felt I was in heaven eating at Disney!!

 

[pellegirl]

This is our first trip to Disney dealing with a dairy allergy. DD was diagnosed a couple months ago (at age 7 - a little late but now a lot of things makes sense) and I was worried about how we were going to navigate the dining plan with the allergy. In reading other people's posts and being in contact with Disney themselves my concerns are gone. Make sure if you have any ADR's that you make a note in the reservation that there are allergies and which ones. I think you can do that at the time you make the reservations or call at any time to have it added, which is what I did. The CM actually also transferred me to another person dealing with dining and she went over the processes we would should expect. At TS let the server know and the chef should come out and discuss what they can eat. At CS there should be a black book available (from what other people have posted) for you to look at and you can also talk to the person in charge there. You can email Disney's Special Diets department and get a list of all the options for eating there with an allergy. We have the Dessert party scheduled and they specifically told me to email them about a month before we get there with our reservation number so they could have some dairy free desserts specifically prepared for our daughter on the menu that night. There are a couple threads about eating with allergies at Disney so hopefully you will find them helpful. Good luck!

 

[kiwi2013]

We were at Disney this past Sept with peanut-treenut-and shellfish allergies and it went fantastic. Most counter services had the chef come out and take my order and my order would then be delivered most times either on a different color tray or by a manager. Pizzafari in AK told me about their use of almonds in the kitchen so I made the decision not to order there. Table service was exceptional everywhere as was service at our Disney resort.
Overall super experience!!!

 

[monorailsilver]

My son has no severe dairy allergy as well as a peanut, tree nut and egg white allergy.

We did to do the dining plan and only ate at 2 sit downs.

That was his 3rd trip.

I did ship breakfast partially to save some money but more so to save time in the am. I got a microwave for our room and he was able to eat oatmeal (he was on an oatmeal kick over the summer).

His favorite food was the shrimp from chef mickeys as well as the kids chicken nuggets/tenders. The dole whip that he proudly made at the poly a few times and the chicken strips/nuggets from Captain Cooks. He ate those often!

He had pizza from pizzafari and pizza planet. And even a cheese less one from a place I can't think of but downtown Disney and there are 2 restaurants and we ate at the more casual one...shoot....can't think of it!

Some places took longer then others but I expected that. Some gave us a beeper/pager so that all our meals came out together-pizza planet and again a brain fart the burger place in frontier land....ahhhhh.....

I also brought snacks from home for all of us.

Oh and when I went to the chef at captain cooks she asked if he could have any desserts one day and I said no since he is doesn't like mist cookies and cakes the only think in the case was the Oreo but it was in a cupcake. He opened a brand new package and said to ask more them the next time I order. And the dole whip sample she gave him was a HUGE sample! He was quite happy with the pineapple version.

Also on a side note, please carry your epipen/Benadryl at all times. We were having dinner one night at Captain Cooks and this family was by us. Mom, dad and a 1-2 year old. I sensed panic in the moms voice as she was talking to a nearby person who was not related to her and she mentioned how her son had a bunch of food allergies. She said that they were going home that day and they PACKED the Benadryl and epipen in their checked bags. I gave her my Benadryl for her son. She didn't want to take it but hello he needed it. I had more in my room and went back to get it. Actually I had 2 single dose ones so I gave her both.