DS with peanut/nut allergy, please help

[KYmommy]

DH, DS (5 yr. old) and myself will be in WDW in June. DS is severly allergic to peanuts and nuts. We carry the epi-pen and have to check with waiter/chef about anything he eats. It is very serious.
Does anyone else have this situation? Where are you most comfortable taking your loved one to eat? Any other tips?
I am very excited about taking my family to WDW, but am always concerned with food!!
Any help would be great. Thanks.
Kris

 

[Cass]

Hi there... I dont have the answer to your question.. but I wanted to ask you about the epi pen... have you ever had to use it? and if has a reaction to something, will the epi pen put everything right or will he still need to get to a hospital?

It must be very stressful living with this severe allergy

I hope you have a wonderful family vacation at Disney.

 

[KYmommy]

Thank goodness we have been very, very blessed and have not had to use the epipen (yet, hopefully never). He can not have any peanut/nuts, products, oils, products processed in or near, etc.
Yes, if the epipen is used, then off to the hospital quickly. It is a life-threating allergy.
Im glad you asked. You never know when you might meet someone with this allergy.

 

[NCDisneyMom]

My ds also has a life-threatening peanut/tree nut allergy. Disney is wonderful about it! Make sure, when you make a Priority Seating, that you have the CM make a note of it. At buffets, I've had chefs walk the buffet with me to show me what was safe, and what might not be safe. They've even offered to make a fresh batch of whatever my son wants, and give it to him straight from the kitchen, just in case I was worried about cross-contamination. At full-service restaurants, I make sure they know about the allergy so they can prepare his food in a separate area if need be.

Even at the counter-service restaurants, I've had very good encounters with the managers when I've asked them about their nut products. They all seem VERY aware of the nature of these allergies which, as I'm sure you know, cannot always be said of many local restaurants.

We've now had 2 very successful trips to WDW with our son since his diagnosis. Feel free to ask (or PM) any questions!!

Diana

 

[mrFDNY]

use caution some foods are fried with peanut oils also if you ever have to use the pen and i hope you never do, ds must must go to hosp eppi is a very powerful drug and can have some side effects also sometimes doe'snt last a long time and the reaction can come back. good luck. sending pixie dust your way i have a lot of exprience with this feel free to contact me with any questions any time

 

[CamColt]

My 8 yo DS has a peanut allergy. We have taken quite a few trips to WDW since we found out and have never had a problem. Disney Chefs and even waitstaff, go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to this, so much so that I barely think about it anymore. We usually dont note it on our PS, but just mention it when we arrive for our. Luckily DS is not adventurous and mostly sticks to kids meals, which for the most part are fine for him.
With a little precaution, you will be able to have a gret trip, and some wonderful meals. Enjoy!

 

[lovethattink]

Our ds has a severe latex allergy and carries an epi-pen as well. When we go to WDW, I usually call the sit down restaurants before our trip, (he cannot eat bananas or kiwi because of cross allergenicity.) Disney does not use latex gloves, so we've been ok that way. As for epi-pen use, if you have to use it, the drug lasts long enough to get you to the hospital. DS was hospitalized for 4 days from a latex balloon, oxygen and steroids were used those days to help him breath.

 

[KYmommy]

Thank you to everyone that has replied to my message about DS. Of course, I always worry, but you all have made me feel better.

Someone mentioned peanut oil at restaurants. We know that we need to be careful, but do some restaurants at WDW use peanut oil? That will be my first question when making a PS, but if you already know of some, I will scratch them off my list.

I am new at writing in the message boards and this may be a silly question, but... some of you mentioned that if I have another question I could contact you, how do I do that?

Thanks again for your help. It's nice to know we are not alone!! Of course, I wish all of us didn't have this problem.

Thanks for the pixie dust!!!

Any other ideas out there anyone? Thanks!! Kris

 

[ducklite]

use caution some foods are fried with peanut oils also if you ever have to use the pen and i hope you never do, ds must must go to hosp eppi is a very powerful drug and can have some side effects also sometimes doe'snt last a long time and the reaction can come back. good luck. sending pixie dust your way i have a lot of exprience with this feel free to contact me with any questions any time

Except for Jiko, the California Grill, V&A's, and possibly BOMA, you are absolutely incorrect with this statement.

WDW restaurants except as mentioned above use CANOLA OIL for frying and food prep.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

As someone with a severe tree nut and moderate peanut allergy, let me first put you at ease by telling you I've eaten HUNDREDS of meals at WDW, and never had a problem.

Your son is one of thousands of guests every year with this type of allergy, and WDW is extraordinarily good about accomodating.

I would avoid Boma, this restuarant seems to use a LOT of nuts.

Tell every server you need to speak to teh chef as soon as you sit down. Be very specific about letting them know cross contamination is an issue. (With me it's an issue with tree nuts, but not peanuts.)

For desserts, remind them of the allergy and ask that a fresh utensil be used to cut/serve portions where applicable. At buffest make sure desserts are brought from the kitchen to avoid cross contamination.

The chef's are very good at creating something "off the menu" where need be, as long as they have the ingrediants.

If your son has a contact allergy, you might want to bring some Clorox wipes to wipe the table, chair arms, etc. before being seated.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Anne

 

[KYmommy]

Thanks Ducklite. You mentioned Jiko, California Grill and V&A's? Do they use peanut oil?

Thanks

 

[Brina]

My ds has allergies, and the staff at Disney are wonderful and very informed compared to other places we have been. I especially recommend the character breakfast at Crystal Palace. The chef cam to our table and went over everything ds could and coudn't eat then made up a fresh batch of pancakes just for him. We had not problems at any of the disney resturants. The counter service people were not always as well informed about the ingredients in what they are serving. I am told that you can get some of that info ahead of your trip by calling.

You mentioned Jiko, California Grill and V&A's? Do they use peanut oil?

I would think the only reason for highlighting these resturants is because they are more gourmet in nature, with ever changing menues, therefore there is not way to say, "they always use canola oil". The chefs are being more creative and therefore there is a wider range of ingredients, which may include peanuts. I still found them to be very good about working with my son's allergies.


Brina

 

[NCDisneyMom]

Except for Jiko, the California Grill, V&A's, and possibly BOMA, you are absolutely incorrect with this statement.

WDW restaurants except as mentioned above use CANOLA OIL for frying and food prep.

Anne

I was also told, quite some time ago, that any of the restaurants that serve oriental food use Peanut Oil...this is old information, though, so I don't know if that may have changed. We generally avoid all oriental food (in general), because most of them either do use peanut oil and/or have many peanuts/tree nuts in their menus, and they don't thoroughly clean things like woks between preparing meals (this is a general statement, and I'm sure some do). Thus, we avoid these restaurants at WDW, too.

We considered eating at Kona on our last trip, but decided against it due to the amount of nuts on their menu. I know some people have eaten there with no problems, but it put me out of my comfort zone. I'm sure the chefs would have prepared something safe, but all those nut products being in the area made me uncomfortable. In fact, I know someone who has no history of food allergies (this is an adult), who had an allergic reaction after eating there, and even went to Celebration hospital that evening. Maybe a coincidence, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Diana

 

[Kaycee]

Hi KYMommy, welcome to the DIS Boards!

If you would like to contact someone who has responded to your question for more information, just click on that person's name in their post. A menu will appear, and one of the options is to send a private message to that person.

Does the KY in your name stand for Kentucky? If it does, I'm in Lexington. I'm always excited to see other Kentuckians here on the Boards.

 

[gigi1313]

my son was dx'd w/a tree nut/peanut allergy just a few weeks ago... talk about scary!

it seems that wdw is going to be the only vacation destination for us because they do such a great job (from what i've read here on the dis boards) of accommodating those w/food allergies... thanks to all who have posted your experiences!

chinese is my son's fave cuisine... but since his dx i've been scared to death to even consider allowing him to eat it... i was teasing dh that we may have to go to wdw just so ds can get some chinese food safely!

 

[Julia M]

My brother also has a severe allergy ( he has had numerous hospitalizations following reactions) and WDW was great in accomodating us.

By using common sense in your interactions with WDW (noting the allergy on a PS if you make one, asking questions), you will find they are great.

Julia

 

[jeancbpugh]

if has a reaction to something, will the epi pen put everything right or will he still need to get to a hospital?

An epi-pen contains epinephrine which is adrenaline. It helps keep the allergic person alive until they get to the hospital. It doesn't stop the immune system's reaction.

We are just back from a week at WDW with our DS who has a peanut allergy and a watermelon allergy. Disney is the best place to go if you have a food allergy! That said, it isn't perfectly peanut free. You'll see a lot of peanuts around (Smucker's uncrustables are fairly common, as are bags of peanuts in hotel fast food shops, etc.) And I couldn't find any boxed candies or cookies to take home that weren't "may contain peanuts".

Our son rarely ate desserts this trip because all the chefs were concerned about possible cross contamination in the bakeries. While I did call each restaurant 7 days before our priority seating and talked to the chef, there wasn't any special preparations made for him. They were very busy while we were there (Christmas time), so no offers were made to make special dishes in the kitchen, as they have done for us in the past. The chefs just told us what to avoid. If your heart (and your son's tastebuds!) are set on having dessert, you may want to special order safe things before you go. We found having a bag of treats (tootsie rolls and rolos) worked for our son.

Disney official policy allows those with medical conditions such as food allergy to bring their own food into the parks. Noone has ever questioned our epis, either. We called Nestle on our cell phone from a cart at MGM and were comfortable enough with their cleaning procedures that DS ate a Mickey bar.


This trip we ate at:
Chef Mickey's
Kona Cafe (3x)
Cosmic Ray's
Casey's
Flying Fish
Olivia's

We also ate at Electric Umbrella, but they were CLUELESS about food allergy. I can't recommend you go there.

If you are new to peanut allergy, there are two very good sites to go to for information: www.foodallergy.org which is the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (the people who helped sponsor the new food labelling law in the U.S.) and also www.peanutallergy.com (which has a Travel board with very good Disney restaurant tips).

Good luck! Message me if you want to talk.

 

[jeancbpugh]

chinese is my son's fave cuisine... but since his dx i've been scared to death to even consider allowing him to eat it... i was teasing dh that we may have to go to wdw just so ds can get some chinese food safely!

Can you get safe chinese food at WDW? Has anyone here tried? We generally eat our dinners at the resorts rather than the parks, especially World Showcase, so I don't know. A year and a half ago I talked to someone in Epcot's main food management office. At that time, they recommended we skip the restaurants in the China and Japan pavilions.

We love chinese food but haven't had it in restaurants for years. I took out a few cookbooks from the library and started experimenting. Now we only eat chinese style food at home.

 

[liznboys]

Hi! My 3 yr old is PA (and we avoid all nuts and shellfish as well), and our trip this Feb. will be the first time we've dealt with his allergy in WDW. I posted a thread in the fall asking about this, check it out: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=679592

We had planned to eat at 'Ohana and Boma, but decided not to due to cross-contamination risks. We also wanted to let him have a Mickey ice cream bar, but will avoid those as well.

I'm confident though that all will go well and there will be plenty of foods for him to choose from. I can let you know how our trip goes with regards to this if you'd like.

 

[NCDisneyMom]

Can you get safe chinese food at WDW? Has anyone here tried? We generally eat our dinners at the resorts rather than the parks, especially World Showcase, so I don't know. A year and a half ago I talked to someone in Epcot's main food management office. At that time, they recommended we skip the restaurants in the China and Japan pavilions.

Hi Jean!

We were told the same thing about those restaurants...probably around the same time you were. I was told that they do use peanut oil, due to their high boiling point (or something like that)? Things may have changed, but I urge anyone who is thinking about eating there to check first.

Diana