We just returned from our 5 night Disney Wonder cruise out of Miami over the Easter Weekend. I am GF for about a year now and had heard that Disney had a great reputation for food allergies.
We spent a couple of days at BLT before driving down to Miami. Bay Lake may now be my favorite DVC resort
. Wilderness Lodge has held that title for several years now. Great pool, even better rooms (we had a one-room for our family of 4). Location and connections were typical Disney awesome. The fact that we could walk to MK was icing on the cake!
Spent the first day at MK, lost my sunglasses on Space Mountain! Park was packed as it was Easter week, but fun none-the-less. The new FantasyLand "Under the Sea" ride was well done. Mickey's Philharmagic is still a favorite for all of us, no matter how many times we've seen it.
We made our reservations on-line months in advance and had listed my gluten allergy. Our first dinner was at O'hana, a past favorite! The chef came out and spoke to me, prepared a separate set of vegetables, wings, etc, and the waitress knew which meats I could and could not eat. Dessert was ice cream - not the bananas foster that my wife and kids had. Okay, I cheated and tried some (knowing that my allergy is not severe)...yes I had stomach pain that evening! Only complaint was the GF buns were dry but okay.
Back to MK after dinner for a few more hours. Saw the light parade, Cinderella's castle light show
and finally the fireworks! Excellent as usual.
Second day we spent poolside at BLT for the first half of the day. Jumped on the bus for Downtown Disney after lunch. Got a pair of sunglasses and found a GF bakery. Excellent banana chocolate chip bread! Lemon poppyseed was good too, according to my son. After a few more hours at the Lego and Disney stores, we hopped on the bus for the Swan and Dolphin.
Dinner was at IlMulino at the Swan. Choice was easy, as they had seafood risotto and it was Good Friday. Everyone else's food was good as well. No dessert for me...the rest split a giant ice cream filled cookie.
Up early the next morning to start our drive to Miami and onto the CRUISE!!!
If you've been on Disney cruises and sailed from Port Canaveral...don't be shocked at Miami, it's more like a commercial port than a cruise port. Not very Disney-esque. I'd give Port Canaveral a 5 star rating (out of 5) and Miami maybe 1.5 stars. But once on the Wonder, who cares about the port any more!!!
Cruise was excellent! Entertainment was excellent! My wife and I saw "Oz - the great and powerful" and my son and I saw "The Avengers"
:. The two cabaret shows were both funny and entertaining (a magic show and physical comedy). The main shows were mostly repeats, so we skipped them (it's our 6th cruise). My wife and daughter went to the Golden Mickeys though, they love the Hollywood theme. We chose this cruise because it only stopped at Cozumel and Castaway
. Both were great.
Each meal had numerous options, even for me. On the first night, the head server and waitress both spoke to me about my restrictions. Lunch buffets had plenty of options. Breakfast was limited to eggs and fruit (see below). Dinner was a joy...the plan was for each night to show me the menu for the next night and they would specially prepare my selection GF!!! They could make about 75% of the menu. Excellent!!! Beyond my expectations!!!
But alas, some nitpicking: same complaint as at WDW - the dinner bread was dry and tasteless...same shape as Ohana, but Ohana's tasted better. If these were burger buns, I think they'd be rather good, but not as dinner rolls. GF waffles were okay at best, GF pancakes need serious work (Hodgkin's Mill or some other box would be much better). No GF cereals available.
Would I go back again??? In a heartbeat...in fact we booked 2014 while on board! I hope Disney reads these comments, as my minor complaints could turn into major successes and positive points in the future with very little work. Thanks Disney.
We spent a couple of days at BLT before driving down to Miami. Bay Lake may now be my favorite DVC resort
. Wilderness Lodge has held that title for several years now. Great pool, even better rooms (we had a one-room for our family of 4). Location and connections were typical Disney awesome. The fact that we could walk to MK was icing on the cake!Spent the first day at MK, lost my sunglasses on Space Mountain! Park was packed as it was Easter week, but fun none-the-less. The new FantasyLand "Under the Sea" ride was well done. Mickey's Philharmagic is still a favorite for all of us, no matter how many times we've seen it.
We made our reservations on-line months in advance and had listed my gluten allergy. Our first dinner was at O'hana, a past favorite! The chef came out and spoke to me, prepared a separate set of vegetables, wings, etc, and the waitress knew which meats I could and could not eat. Dessert was ice cream - not the bananas foster that my wife and kids had. Okay, I cheated and tried some (knowing that my allergy is not severe)...yes I had stomach pain that evening! Only complaint was the GF buns were dry but okay.
Back to MK after dinner for a few more hours. Saw the light parade, Cinderella's castle light show
and finally the fireworks! Excellent as usual.Second day we spent poolside at BLT for the first half of the day. Jumped on the bus for Downtown Disney after lunch. Got a pair of sunglasses and found a GF bakery. Excellent banana chocolate chip bread! Lemon poppyseed was good too, according to my son. After a few more hours at the Lego and Disney stores, we hopped on the bus for the Swan and Dolphin.
Dinner was at IlMulino at the Swan. Choice was easy, as they had seafood risotto and it was Good Friday. Everyone else's food was good as well. No dessert for me...the rest split a giant ice cream filled cookie.
Up early the next morning to start our drive to Miami and onto the CRUISE!!!
If you've been on Disney cruises and sailed from Port Canaveral...don't be shocked at Miami, it's more like a commercial port than a cruise port. Not very Disney-esque. I'd give Port Canaveral a 5 star rating (out of 5) and Miami maybe 1.5 stars. But once on the Wonder, who cares about the port any more!!!Cruise was excellent! Entertainment was excellent! My wife and I saw "Oz - the great and powerful" and my son and I saw "The Avengers"
:. The two cabaret shows were both funny and entertaining (a magic show and physical comedy). The main shows were mostly repeats, so we skipped them (it's our 6th cruise). My wife and daughter went to the Golden Mickeys though, they love the Hollywood theme. We chose this cruise because it only stopped at Cozumel and Castaway. Both were great.Each meal had numerous options, even for me. On the first night, the head server and waitress both spoke to me about my restrictions. Lunch buffets had plenty of options. Breakfast was limited to eggs and fruit (see below). Dinner was a joy...the plan was for each night to show me the menu for the next night and they would specially prepare my selection GF!!! They could make about 75% of the menu. Excellent!!! Beyond my expectations!!!
But alas, some nitpicking: same complaint as at WDW - the dinner bread was dry and tasteless...same shape as Ohana, but Ohana's tasted better. If these were burger buns, I think they'd be rather good, but not as dinner rolls. GF waffles were okay at best, GF pancakes need serious work (Hodgkin's Mill or some other box would be much better). No GF cereals available.
Would I go back again??? In a heartbeat...in fact we booked 2014 while on board! I hope Disney reads these comments, as my minor complaints could turn into major successes and positive points in the future with very little work. Thanks Disney.
