Food Allergies at WDW

[RxforDisney]

OK. The thread further down the page is depressing me, and alot of it is old info from 2001. So, let's start a new Food Allergy thread.

Hi, I am the mother of a wonderful DD (5) and an equally wonderful DS (3) who is anaphylactic to milk, and allergic to eggs and peanut. We had a wonderful experience with WDW in October of 2006. I have posted this report before, but here it is again. I thought it would be a good start for our new positive thread.

We stayed 5 nights on site at Beach Club Villas (full kitchen), with the intent of going to the grocery store and cooking most meals. But, we ended up not cooking once!!!! The only reason we went to the grocery store was to get snacks. All of the chefs were EXTREMELY accomidating everywhere we went, but our favorite had to be Whispering Canyon. It is just a fun place to eat, and my son LOVED the roasted chicken. We got the family style skillet that they put in the middle of the table for everyone to eat out of. But, they brought him his own skillet so his stuff would not touch anything else. And for dessert they went down to the gift shop and brought him an itsakadoozie popcicle. Here are some other places we went:

Table service/room service:
Room Service at the Beach Club – once for lunch when he got chicken, corn, and a fruit bowl. And, the other time we called around midnight and set up a pancake breakfast for 7am the next morning, and they had no problem making him milk free/egg free pancakes on such short notice. And, they brought a HUGE glass of soy milk that we put in the fridge and used again the next morning.
Restaurant Askerhaus Princess Breakfast – (For his sister) This was the least accomidating place. They had stuff for him to eat, but the choices were limited. He ended up mainly eating fruit.
Beaches and Cream – He had a hamburger, fries, and an Tofutti sundae with chocolate syrup and mickey sprinkles.
Chef Mickey’s – The chef made him a grilled chicken breast and mickey shapped pasta with red sauce. He ate fruit off of the food bar, and they made him a chocolate Tofutti creation that looked like Mickey Mouse for dessert!
Cape May Café Character Breakfast – They made him Mickey shapped waffles just like the ones on the bar. He also ate fruit off of the bar.

Counter service:
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café (three times)– He got an adult burger and fries and ate his sister's grapes twice. And, rotisserie chicken once.
Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street – Everyone knew what Tofutti was – WOW!
Tolucas Turkey Legs at MGM

As a general rule counter service places are less accomidating than table service just because they don't have a chef on site or the facilities to cook special things. The best thing to do is contact Brenda Bennett at Magic Kingdom foods, and she can send you a list of safe foods at counter service places in each of the parks. Then you can plan around that.

Brenda Bennett
MAGIC KINGDOM Foods
407-824-5967
brenda.bennett@disney.com

FYI, when we were there in Oct 06, the popcorn was safe, but it took stopping several stands before we were able to get someone to answer our questions sufficiently. These stands are generally where they put the teenagers working at Disney.

 

[Selket]

We've also had positive experiences. We especially have liked Crystal Palace, Cinderella's Castle, Le Cellier and Biergarten.

The only thing that has vexed me was trying to figure out how to look at the binder at the CS places without causing some huge back-up in the line. I find I cannot ask anyone "off to the side" as there is no side to most lines - it just looks like I'd be cutting in. Plus the binder has so much info - with ingredients of all the foods - it seemed overwhelming (especially when people behind you are groaning cause you're trying to read a 400 page binder - LOL!).

Ok...I exaggerate but ... that keeps me going back to ADR's if it is a crowded time of year. My son is also a type 1 diabetic so we like to have things ready for him. I have also been able to make special requests ahead of time (like a hot dog served to him in a restaurant that doesn't usually have them) if I called a few days before we go.

 

[RxforDisney]

My son is also a type 1 diabetic so we like to have things ready for him. I have also been able to make special requests ahead of time (like a hot dog served to him in a restaurant that doesn't usually have them) if I called a few days before we go.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Plan ahead as much as possible. And, when you can't, and things come up spur of the moment, expect it to take a little longer, and expect even a few eye rolls from people who don't understand. There will always be people who don't understand. You just have to remember that you are doing this for the health and wellbeing of yourself or your child, and their misunderstanding shouldn't hinder that.