Food Allergies & Disney

[Charlotte&Carolina]

I guess I didn't notice as much on our prior trips but this one the difference between which restaurants asked about allergies and took them seriously and those that didn't even bother stood out. Is it because some are Disney owned and other contract? Just curious.

The 5-star treatment: Concourse Steakhouse. They asked at the podium. The chef, Royal, came out to discuss my allergies and go over the menu with me. I wasn't concerned as nothing on the menu they serve is an issue. What I did learn is that they also provide the room service orders - and you guessed it - my taboo food was on there. He was wonderful at helping us and although he was busy when we left we took the time to tell his manager Kate. We also saw him talking with another table before we left - so this is one place I felt took the issue seriously.

Another good one: Garden Grill. Again noted at the podium. The server noted it and we noticed that while he might bring out 2 orders together for other tables our order always came out alone - the only thing on the tray.

Did not ask award: Goes to several. Prime Time Cafe. Liberty Tree Tavern. San Angel Inn. L'Originale Alfredo di Roma.

If anyone else would like to add to the list of the places that really understand and take the time to talk with you about food allergies I sure would like to know where they are so I can try some more places out on our next visit without worries!

 

[KATHINOWA]

On our last visit (2003) we had nothing but good experiences. I'm talking mainly about the character meals. We did quite a few as we had young children with us. My son is allergic to peanuts and the chefs always came out and went over the buffets with us. We went to Crystal Palace, Grand Floridian (1900?? I'm forgetting the rest). I'm completely zoning out but we've had nothing but good experiences.

We've never been to those you listed as never asked.

 

[wdwpirates]

My husband is allergic to seafood w/iodine in it (ie. shrimp, crab, lobster), anthing that turns red when you cook it. He is a cook by trade so food allergies are something that he is very in tune to, both for himself and for others. One restaurant that really sticks out in my mind is 'Ohana. Every time we have dined there the chef has come out to the table to talk to my husband about his allergy. (The hosts always ask about allergies at the check in stand.)

Then the two "chefs" get talking about chef business and chef war stories...one chef even took my husband and I over to the large grills and gave us a tour of the place and explained the whole process of using the grills to him...way over my head...well now I am OT but in a nutshell 'Ohana is a very accomodating restaurant for folks w/ food allergies.

 

[gigi1313]

did you notify the restaurant when you made your adr? if so, then they all should have been pro-active!

we had our best allergy attention at chef mickeys, garden grill and hollywood & vine... but all others deserve high second place... none disregarded it except lecellier, TWICE! after repeatedly telling them that ds had a peanut/treenut allergy, the first time my cheese platter (which i told the server i was sharing w/ds) had a big honkin' pecan on top and the second time (six months later), our server said that officially the pretzel bread was off limits, but his friend has the same allergy and eats it all the time, so ds should be okay... gee, thanks... NOT!

 

[erinch]

My DS has life-threatening allergies to milk products, treenuts and peanuts.

Over many trips the attentiveness has generally been excellent at all WDW owned restaurants, including resorts, with a few less than stellar experiences.

BUT -- the World Showcase restaurants are not owned by Disney, and the servers/managers/chefs may not speak English well. We've been served food which could have been life-ending at San Angel (cheese), Chefs de France (cheesy sauce), Alfredos (Cheese), ....and at Le Cellier, after going to a lot of trouble to get sorbet off season, it came out with a chocolate swirl on the plate and a nut-based cookie stuck in it....and the server had trouble understanding why they had to start completely over.

Since the lighting is dim at the WS restaurants would recommend extreme vigilance. For us, nuts were not nearly the problem that avoiding any contact with any casein contact was.

Marrakesh, last time we were there, had a pre-printed list of foods which were safe for dairy, nut, and gluten (I think). My DS is dairy and nut, but not gluten, so he could have eaten some of the things not on the list. But they wouldn't bring him anything except what was on the list, and weren't interested in customizing the menu.

 

[allisonswonderland]

while you are on this topic I am having a wedding and we are having a gathering the day after at cape may seafood buffet - my cousin has a lot of food allergies including shellfish - unfortunately this was the only place that could accomodate our party size - can they grill her a no seasoning chicken breast on a CLEAN surface there? any experience with them?

 

[liamsaunt]

Traveling last year with my nephew, who has a life-threatening allergy to crustaceans and a less-threatening allergy to egg, we noted on our adrs his issues and at each place his allergy was noted by the server, sometimes the chef came out, etc. Our adrs were at Brown Derby, Coral Reef, and California Grill. (plus Sharks Grill at Sea World). At California Grill, they even made him a special dessert since everything on the menu had egg (it was just an artfully arranged fruit display, but he loved it!)

For this year's trip, we have adrs at the Grand Floridian Tea, California Grill, Brown Derby, Artist Point, Flying Fish and Le Cellier. Because of his allergy to egg, Disney recommended that we not eat CS, as they cannot guarantee egg won't appear in some things even though it is not included on the ingredient list. And of course, chicken strips, fried fish, etc. are out, as are, sadly, Mickey bars.

 

[erinch]

when we ate at Cape May a few years ago, we requested a baked chicken breast and plain baked potato which had never been near any grill spread/margarine/butter etc and they were ready for us. Since DS, at that time, would go into anaphylaxis if he ate even a bite of anything which had touched any surface which had had milk on it, we stayed away from anything which had been grilled.

If they can't guarantee a SEPARATE Clean grill (not one which has just been scraped or wiped down), I'd recommend going the pre-request for baked chicken. IMO, much safer and easier to control.

while you are on this topic I am having a wedding and we are having a gathering the day after at cape may seafood buffet - my cousin has a lot of food allergies including shellfish - unfortunately this was the only place that could accomodate our party size - can they grill her a no seasoning chicken breast on a CLEAN surface there? any experience with them?

 

[ArielsMommy]

I have several food allergies and I have ALWAYS been taken seriously. Even at CS locations. They always provide me with a book that contains all of the ingredients in everything they serve including soft drinks and condiments. We have always had exceptional service at CRT and LTT. The only one that was a little lax was CP, but the chefs behind the counters were very helpful. I do think I have not had a problem because I note the situation on my ressies and I always make sure to call the restaurant 72 hrs before our ressie and speak to the chef. Plus, I mention it again at check-in and to the table staff when we are seated. I think you just need to be as proactive as possible and you should be fine.

 

[Faerie]

I have two odd ones - strawberries and pineapple. Of course I also am lactose intolerant

Of course where is one of my favorite places to eat? 'Ohana. The Chefs there have been WONDERFUL on every visit for me.

I'm trying Hoop de Doo this trip and I know desert is strawberry shortcake, I'm hoping they do as well as 'Ohana.

 

[DaisyD]

We took some friend to a few restaurants this past June. Their DD has severe peanut and seafood allergies. Their DS has milk and egg allergies. At all of our restaurants we were asked at the podium if we had any allergies or special occasions we were celebrating. Once seated, the chef himself came out and talked to my friends about what he could make for them. He then came back out with the personally prepared plate of special food and told them that no one but him touched their food and he wanted to make sure it was safe by bringing it out himself. We ate at LTT, Prime Time, WCC. and Kona. All are Disney owned and were wonderful!

 

[minniebeth]

My DD has peanut AND tree nut allergies:
We will contact Disney before we go, but does anyone know off hand which food are definately OUT because of this? I want to prepare my DD for what she CAN'T eat before we go....
It would be so appreciated!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Has anyone needed to have a special food cooked just for them? My Dad can't eat any seasoning at all, so he usually asks for a piece of fish or a steak to be grilled with a touch of salt and butter or olive oil. Most high quality restaurants are fine with doing that b/c they cook things fresh. I just wondered which restaurants at WDW might find that difficult to do, b/c we would avoid those.

 

[erinch]

In general, you will have no problems at any of the Table Service restaurants. If you note it on your ressie, you can be sure they would be prepared for you.

The buffets, they will work to accommodate you, but he'll have to wait for food, and will have to look at all the stuff he can't eat. oHanas might be a real problem.

Has anyone needed to have a special food cooked just for them? My Dad can't eat any seasoning at all, so he usually asks for a piece of fish or a steak to be grilled with a touch of salt and butter or olive oil. Most high quality restaurants are fine with doing that b/c they cook things fresh. I just wondered which restaurants at WDW might find that difficult to do, b/c we would avoid those.

 

[U2_rocks!]

In general, you will have no problems at any of the Table Service restaurants. If you note it on your ressie, you can be sure they would be prepared for you.

The buffets, they will work to accommodate you, but he'll have to wait for food, and will have to look at all the stuff he can't eat. oHanas might be a real problem.

'Ohana wasn't one that we planned for him, but Boma was. He's used to not being able to eat most of what's on a buffet anyway, so I don't think he will mind. I read an article a while back from someone who was walked through the Boma buffet line by the head chef and told exactly what they could and couldn't have, and he made sure that there was at least a meat and a starch and a veg that was possible, even if he had to cook it separately (I think he made some plain rice). Dad will be able to eat many of the desserts (his only allergy there is chocolate - he can eat all the fruit and cream based ones), and that will make him happy - he and I are both sweet tooths! I hope that the Boma chef will be as accomdating for us - we will definitely note it when we make the ADRs, and I will call the day before each ADR to confirm the allergy issue as well, just in case they want some lead time to prepare plain stuff.

 

[DCDisney]

My DD has peanut AND tree nut allergies:
We will contact Disney before we go, but does anyone know off hand which food are definately OUT because of this? I want to prepare my DD for what she CAN'T eat before we go....
It would be so appreciated!

By far the biggest issue is that any baked goods not cooked in that places specific kitchen are a no due to cross contamination. So essentially no breads of any kind (buns at CS were fine I think), definitely no cookies, miceky krispies (cross contam label on them but no nut ingredients)--this is something you could potentially make at home and bring. Most of the kid desserts were ice cream oriented and I'm not allowed scooped ice cream due to cross contam but perhaps disney keeps a clean container? I would bring some type of crackers for her to nibble when the bread basket comes to the table. At Goofy's candy company I think I found only 1 thing without a cross contam label and it was the fruit gems (like big skittles).

They will always make sure you have something to eat and some type of dessert but I never got any bread except cornbread baked at WCC.



Yvonne

 

[sharibrat]

Can you discuss your allergies when you arrive and order? Or must you call ahead to discuss your allergies?

DH is allergic to all poulty (chicken stock included). Normally he just doesn't order chicken, but we are finding that more and more they use chicken stock to flavor things like mashed potatoes and rice!!

 

[minniebeth]

By far the biggest issue is that any baked goods not cooked in that places specific kitchen are a no due to cross contamination. So essentially no breads of any kind (buns at CS were fine I think), definitely no cookies, miceky krispies (cross contam label on them but no nut ingredients)--this is something you could potentially make at home and bring. Most of the kid desserts were ice cream oriented and I'm not allowed scooped ice cream due to cross contam but perhaps disney keeps a clean container? I would bring some type of crackers for her to nibble when the bread basket comes to the table. At Goofy's candy company I think I found only 1 thing without a cross contam label and it was the fruit gems (like big skittles).

They will always make sure you have something to eat and some type of dessert but I never got any bread except cornbread baked at WCC.



Yvonne

Thanks for the info!

 

[mydogisbo]

What about MSG? Though it is not life-threatening for me, it certainly can cause a lot of unpleasantness. Should I note this on my ADRs or just request say a steak that has not been marninated in anything?

 

[monorailsilver]

My ds is allergic to dairy, peanut & tree nuts, partially to egg (he can eat it cooked in something) & paritally to beef so I avoid it.

We had ADR's at Chef Mickeys (the chef called me at home), Crystal Palace & CRT for breakfast last year.

I told them of his allergies. At CM & CP the chef walked the line of food with me to tell me what he could & couldn't eat. They also made my ds a plate of pasta with butter or gravy (aka sauce) & his own potato & broccoli & they got him Tofutti (or was it rice dream?) at the end of the meal.

At CRT, they brought him out his own plate. He was only 22 months at the time & he had a huge plate of food, mainly bacon!

We also ate at 50's prime time just because we were there & I had no problems there. The chef came over & I told him what he was allergic too & he even got Tofutti for dessert but I think there my ds got either chicken nuggets or a hot dog (can't remember).

The rest of the time we at counter service with out any problems & I just asked for the ingriedients. The girl that sold pretzels in Germany had me go inside to Biergarten (she called ahead) to get the recipe for the pretzels so I could see if it was safe.