Food allergies at Poly Club

[clanmcculloch]

We just upgrade the last few nights of our August trip to Poly CL. We spend a lot of time at our resort because DD12 has Asperger Syndrome and can only handle a few hours per day at parks. We're hoping to take advantage of the lounge offerings but both girls have plenty of food allergies.

I sent an email to both Special Diets and the Poly Club Itinerary folks letting them know of our allergies. Here's the response I received from the Poly.

Aloha!

Thank you for contacting our office.
We will let our lounge cast members aware of your daughters' allergies.
We cannot guarantee that there will not be any cross contamination with the different foods.
We would recommend ordering items through Garden Grocer to have delivered to the resort to have in your room (for example, we have soy milk on hand but we do not have To avoid contact with any items they may be allergic to and to have their own snacks at their disposal. www.gardengrocer.com
Please contact us if you have any further questions or requests.
Mahalo,

We are placing at GG order for the first portion of our trip anyway so it's no big deal to order a bit more for this portion. We'll have dining credits from the first portion of our stay and we always use up our snack credits on allergy safe snacks. I also understand that we'll be buying some food at Captain Cooks in addition to what we eat in the lounge.

So what I'm wondering is about others' experiences with food allergies at Poly CL. Did they get some allergy safe foods for you at all? I realize that this is a generic response. I'm trying to set my expectations realistically. For anybody who has stayed CL here with food allergies, should we expect to be able to get any food here?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[Schmeck]

Are they saying they can't guarantee cross-contamination because they set out all the food buffet style? Could you ask them to keep some food out back for you until you get to the lounge? Have you tried calling the concierge phone number?

People with food allergies have been successful getting safe food at the buffets in the parks, so I would think you'd be able to get the same service at the resort, unless the food isn't made there.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I think I need to call rather than email to be sure but I suspect they're saying that foods laid out will likely have cross contamination issues. In no way are they offering to accomodate or help us even with something as simple as packaged allergy safe foods beyond the soy milk (one of my kids can't even use soy milk and needs rice milk).

I know at buffets that they've been amazing and chefs will gladly get food for my girls from the back due to cross contamination fears on the buffet. I just don't know if the chefs at the CL lounge will do the same or not. I just don't know what to expect. For instance I know that one night they serve wings in the lounge and they sound like they're the exact same ones served at Kona but I'm not sure if we can get wings without sauce cooked in an allergy safe way even though most likely they are from Kona (at Kona I would think it's possible; we'll be eating at Kona earlier in the week and I'm sure DD9 will be ordering them then). I just don't know what they're willing to do at Poly for club guests in the lounge. I'm hoping to hear other people's experiences since club level is new to me. The email certainly doesn't give me a warm fuzzy about willingness to do anything to help. With our amazing experiences at restaurants and the Poly CL reputation for pampering guests, the email really took me by surprise. I just really need to be able to set my expectations appropriately and I started off setting my expectations to the level of help we've received in restaurants and even food courts, ones at resorts being best.

 

[dclfun]

I've never stayed CL at the Poly but at AKL CL you can have what's set out only, and nothing was able to be cooked otherwise to accommodate special dietary needs. I can understand this. I would imagine a huge challenge if there were multiple guests with multiple needs and no way of knowing if/when they might show up in the lounge. They probably have no way of keeping foods hot either other than on the buffet line.---Kathy

 

[snorris49]

I don't have experience at the Poly Club Level, but I do have at the WL one. We just stayed there in February. I am GF/CF, so I'm not sure of your DD's food allergies, so I will speak to the ones I have so you can get an idea of what I had available. I was told ahead of time that they would have muffins and fruit for breakfast. I asked about donuts (I know AKL had the Kinnickick donuts--those are good!) but they said they couldn't possibly get them. They also said if I wanted certain foods or the Earth Balance butter, that I would need to buy them myself. In any event, the breakfast offering for me consisted of muffins (first day was blueberry and I have a hard time digesting they can irritate my crohn's for some reason--so I asked for some other type), which meant I ended up with chocolate muffins all week (yikes, they were like brownies...talk about sugar rush in the am!). The snack available to me was the French Meadow brownies (can you say MORE sugar!? ). I would have to ask a staff member, and they went to the back fridge to get them. As far as evening offerings, again--only FM brownies for the dessert portion and for the appetizers I basically had to have the staff call downstairs to see what was safe for me to eat. The soups were always a no-go, but I was able to eat scallops with bacon (those were good), chicken skewers, hummus and veggies. Overall the choices weren't great and there was definitely not a big push to make anything extra or special for me. I understand where they are coming from to a degree, but I also believe in the WDW service and that they could have been a little more accommodating. However, that being said--I've heard different things about different Club Levels with special diets and very different experiences. One thing to consider is that the Poly has Chef TJ working there--and he is AMAZING with food allergies. So, at the very least you'd be able to know what's in the food.

Sorry I don't have first-hand experience with the Poly, but I hope my experience from WL does. I also have pics on my blog of the food, if you wanted to see those.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[clanmcculloch]

DD12 can't even eat any of the Kinnikinnick or French Meadows stuff unfortunately because in addition to GFCF she's also yeast free (not a yeast overgrowth; she gets hives when she eats anything with any type of yeast which is in the donuts; we miss Kinnikinnick) and egg free (in the muffins).

DD9 does love Kinnikinnick and French Meadows products and is also happy with Divvies cookies (she can eat gluten but not milk or certain nuts though for peanuts we don't worry about cross contamination, only no obvious peanuts).

I have 2 ADRs at 'Ohana during our stay (one breakfast, one dinner) and I'm hoping to meet Chef TJ during at least one of our ADRs. These ADRs are during the first part of our stay when we're still at POFQ (yeah, my timing makes no sense). I'm super excited about finally eating there.

Well, our stay is only 3 nights. We decided to upgrade these few nights to give it a try and see how it goes. If we find it frustrating then we'll know not to stay longer in CL in the future. At least we will still have access to some amazing dining options. I guess I'm still hoping that they'll at least have some packaged foods that they can grab for DD9 and I'm still kind of holding out some hope that they may be willing to call down to the kitchen and prepare something very simple for my girls though the latter I'm not holding my breath on. I do understand, I really do. I think Disney has set a very high level of service and accomodation and I've got my head stuck at that level and I'm expecting it everywhere when that likely isn't realistic.

I'll report back after our trip.

I'd still love to hear more experiences. I'll check out your blog snorris49.

 

[minniebeth]

Definately talk with them directly, but our experience at Poly CL was that my DD could not eat much of the food. But she has a peanut and tree nut allergy, so it may be different.

I just think they get a limited amount of items and aren't equipped to have a variety of food to accomodate all the different allergies? Also, in the evenings, they have the chef preparing the food, but for the rest of the day, they have Poly concierge CMs putting the food out. They were good about bringing packaging out and letting us read labels and getting us items separately to avoid cross-contamination, but there wasn't much that was really ok. (Other than things like fruit, etc.)

If you give them advanced notice, I would hope they could get some things in to accomodate your family.

Captain Cooks, and 'Ohana on the other hand, were and are always FABULOUS with dealing with food allergies and are not only accomodating, but go so above and beyond to make it special for you.

Kona is ok, but eh, not so much like CC and 'Ohana.

With some preparation and making contacts, Disney is awesome with food accomodations which is why we frequent them, it makes such a difference in our world!
Best wishes for a wonderful time~

 

[snorris49]

We decided to upgrade these few nights to give it a try and see how it goes. If we find it frustrating then we'll know not to stay longer in CL in the future.

That's exactly what I thought. For me, personally, I don't think I'd do it again. I just have come to love and enjoy the restaurants and the accommodation there, so I had a hard time adjusting to the WL Club Level accommodations for me. However, I do know each one is different, and I sure hope the Poly can help out. I hope that with the additional avoidance of yeast, maybe they will be able to offer more. I do know the muffins they had at WL were made, not pre-done (I was expecting the Kinnickick ones)--though there's always a risk of cross contamination. (I didn't experience that). I think, as others have mentioned, that I would call the Poly directly. I think you will get a better response that way, and some peace of mind.

Definitely keep us posted and let us know how it turns out!
I hope you are able to meet Chef TJ if you do Ohana! He is beyond amazing! I cannot say enough good things about my experience with him...best meal ever!

 

[clanmcculloch]

OMG those brownies they made for you look AMAZING!!!!

I got an email from Special Diets (not Brenda; I guess they have more people working there now) saying that they forwarded my info to the Polynesian so I'll give them a week and then call myself if I haven't heard from them by then. I figure Special Diets contacts chefs rather than planning people so I'm hoping that the chefs will be more helpful. It's really always been the chefs that have been wonderful so I wonder if that's some of the issue.

After looking at your blog entry on Ohana, I'm wondering if I should lie and say I have allergies too? LOL No, I won't do that but I definitey know my kids will be HAPPY!

 

[Gigi22]

DH has a peanut and tree nut allergy. We haven't stayed at the Poly CL, but are booked there for our next WDW trip. We stayed at the GF CL a couple of times.

As I recall, the GF CL buffet suffered from the usual cross-contamination issues at buffets. As DH says, "it was not that good." We never saw any staff, except people who were just putting things out on the buffet or clearing up tables. No chefs anywhere.

If something on the buffet looked mucky, we assumed it might have gotten nuts in it somehow. We were still able to get a modest continental breakfast and pre-dinner snacks (relying heavily on cheese, crackers and veggies), but we never counted on using CL offerings instead of a meal.

 

[snorris49]

OMG those brownies they made for you look AMAZING!!!!

Oh yeah those were GOOD! I almost forgot...they were great and just about put me into sugar shock...but in a good way!

I got an email from Special Diets (not Brenda; I guess they have more people working there now)

I heard Brenda wasn't working there anymore! I keep getting responses from someone named Lee. I do miss Brenda; she was awesome!

After looking at your blog entry on Ohana, I'm wondering if I should lie and say I have allergies too? LOL No, I won't do that but I definitey know my kids will be HAPPY!

That's what my step-dad said too when we were there at dinner!! He couldn't believe all the food and how nice chef T.J. was (man, I wish I'd gotten a picture with him!). We all kept saying what a great experience it was there...and yes, my family helped me out with the tower of chocolate and brownies and cotton candy!

Ok, now you're making me hungry...I'm ready for Disney now...85 more days!!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

As I recall, the GF CL buffet suffered from the usual cross-contamination issues at buffets. As DH says, "it was not that good." We never saw any staff, except people who were just putting things out on the buffet or clearing up tables. No chefs anywhere.

They do not prepare any of the food at a Concierge Lounge.

For example, at Contemporary they get the CL food from the California Grill.

I would imagine that for the Poly they would get the food at the common kitchen for Kona and 'Ohana.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I just returned from club Poly and happened to meet the chef there. I was under the impression that the food is not from there but rather from the "main kitchen" and they all share...That being said, the concierge staff for club is really a well oiled machine, and I would suggest calling them direct and discussing your concerns, I would be very very surprised if they did not try to help at least coordinate your childs allergy needs with the cooking staff/chef. I totally understand your concerns and really hope it works out for you, I think it will!
The offerings they had there were very good!

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[snorris49]

The food at the WL was from the main kitchen downstairs because they would have to call down there to ask about the ingredients. Word of warning, it is right around main dinner time, so I had to wait a bit each time because the chefs weren't as readily available, unless they came upstairs to the lounge for some reason.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Excellent points all around! Thank you everybody!!

From what I understand, they start putting out the evening food at 5:00, right? If I head over there a bit early, do you think that would be a good time to ask to speak to a chef? I do like to try to beat the dinner rush and even our ADRs I try to set for 4:30/5:00 so we're not in the thick of the rush when chefs are super busy (CS meals we try to do the same).

Actually knowing that the food is cooked in a common resort kitchen is an encouraging thing rather than discouraging since at least that means they've got some of their regular chefs working on the food so they'll be very knowledgeable. At least I know I can be confident that I'll be able to get some straight answers.

What we'll likely do (assuming they're willing/able to help us) is run in to speak with the chefs then have DH take the girls to the pool while I wait (with a drink of course LOL). I'm used to having to wait a lot longer for our food and IMO it should be expected (I'm always shocked when it DOESN'T take much longer).

 

[hildarumpole]

I don't have experience with Poly CL, but we stayed at BC CL last month. Two of my kids are peanut, tree nut, and shellfish allergic. I notified Special Diets when I made ADRs that we were staying CL. They took care of forwarding the info to BC. Two days before our trip, a BC IPO called to confirm our info and arrival. I asked her about how allergies are handled in the lounge. She told me they have an ingredient binder in the lounge. The next day, the CL manager called to talk about the allergies. He told me I had to call the Private Dining (room service) chef when we arrived. At BC, Private Dining handles the CL lounge. On arrival day, I called the Private Dining Chef. He was vague and somewhat clueless. There is no ingredient binder. He claimed there were no peanut or tree nut products served in the lounge. He must have forgotten about the pb&j cups served every night and the peanut butter mouse that was available several nights during the dessert period. Additionally, pesto, salads with nuts, and nut-filled breakfast breads were on hand most days. He also said the only shellfish they served was crabmeat ragoon every 3 nights. Oops again. They also served scallops and lobster salad on the days they didn't have the ragoon. The only thing he cautioned us against were the breakfast and dessert pastries, since they're made off-site in a bakery where nuts are used. Most people with pn/tn allergies are aware of problem. The lounge CMs weren't really helpful. They just replenish food and clear dishes. The kids were happy to eat cereal and fruit for breakfast. In the evening, they ate cheese, crackers, crudites, ranch dip, and apple slices. I didn't feel comfortable with them trying any of the hot food, because of cross-contamination concerns with the shellfish items. If I were an adult with food allergies, I probably wouldn't bother with CL. The kids didn't really care and mostly liked getting drinks and having the breakfast. I made a suggestion that an ingredient list be provided upon request to CL guests. The food offerings are fairly limited and rotate over several days, so it shouldn't be that hard to do. I didn't expect them to make anything special, but had hoped they at least had a basic comprehension of food allergies to make it easier for us to navigate our choices. We also chose not to order room service, because of concerns about the chef's lack of knowledge. Disney chefs generally do a terrific job at managing food allergies, but there's room for improvement at the CL.

 

[KristenHoneymooner]

Based on the replies of people who've stayed club level with children who have food allergies, it really looks like they do not provide any kind of special help for them at all.

I know club level adds a ton to the expense of the trip... is it really worth it given that they do not appear to provide the special services you will need? We were upgraded to club level at the GF on our honeymoon, and while it was kind of neat, I would have valued the added features/food at, perhaps, $10 per day (and I know it actually costs a lot more than that). You could spend the money you save to order specific room service meals instead of having access to lounge food.

 

[dclfun]

Excellent points all around! Thank you everybody!!

From what I understand, they start putting out the evening food at 5:00, right? If I head over there a bit early, do you think that would be a good time to ask to speak to a chef? I do like to try to beat the dinner rush and even our ADRs I try to set for 4:30/5:00 so we're not in the thick of the rush when chefs are super busy (CS meals we try to do the same).

Actually knowing that the food is cooked in a common resort kitchen is an encouraging thing rather than discouraging since at least that means they've got some of their regular chefs working on the food so they'll be very knowledgeable. At least I know I can be confident that I'll be able to get some straight answers.

What we'll likely do (assuming they're willing/able to help us) is run in to speak with the chefs then have DH take the girls to the pool while I wait (with a drink of course LOL). I'm used to having to wait a lot longer for our food and IMO it should be expected (I'm always shocked when it DOESN'T take much longer).

Again, we've only stayed at BW and AK CL, but there was no chef to speak with. The foods come from the kitchen but are mass-produced and they would not make anything special. I understood as we weren't actually paying specifically for the food and if there were multiple guests with food allergies I can imagine a time constraint if they had to make special things for all guests staying CL. We were given the ingredient binder which was at the CM desk but there can be cross-contamination. You should be able to get some pre-packaged foods but as to what's prepared and on the buffet, probably not. I hope you have better luck but I wouldn't count on it.---Kathy