Food allergies? - specifically preservatives?

[lillykat]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this. We are trying to figure out where we can take DD#1 - we had been thinking about a cruise but have some concerns. I heard disney is great with food allergies but I'm hoping some people here can talk about their experiences.

DD#1 woke up one morning covered head to toe in hives and a swollen face. We removed almost all of her foods and went very basic, no preservatives, no dyes, etc. She eats fresh steamed veggies, fruits, plain chicken drumsticks, plain steak, and now a little pasta with soy margerine or oil and garlic, and soy milk and soy yogurt. They blood tested her and she was negative but her allergist isn't convinced that we didn't get false negatives (since she has hives on and off and environment allergies we have to hold off doing the RAST test). He does think it is most likely a food preservative but we have been told by a few doctors there is no real way to test for it.

Would they be able to accommodate her at disney or is the only way that people with preservative allergies etc go is to stay with a kitchen and prepare all her meals there?

Can anyone talk to me about their experiences?

 

[livndisney]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this. We are trying to figure out where we can take DD#1 - we had been thinking about a cruise but have some concerns. I heard disney is great with food allergies but I'm hoping some people here can talk about their experiences.

DD#1 woke up one morning covered head to toe in hives and a swollen face. We removed almost all of her foods and went very basic, no preservatives, no dyes, etc. She eats fresh steamed veggies, fruits, plain chicken drumsticks, plain steak, and now a little pasta with soy margerine or oil and garlic, and soy milk and soy yogurt. They blood tested her and she was negative but her allergist isn't convinced that we didn't get false negatives (since she has hives on and off and environment allergies we have to hold off doing the RAST test). He does think it is most likely a food preservative but we have been told by a few doctors there is no real way to test for it.

Would they be able to accommodate her at disney or is the only way that people with preservative allergies etc go is to stay with a kitchen and prepare all her meals there?

Can anyone talk to me about their experiences?

You can find soy milk(Silk) at quite a lot of counter and table service places in WDW. Fruit is also readily available from grab and goes and fruit carts throughout the parks and resorts. Many counter services also sell fruit cups(bought one yesterday in Epcot that contained, honeydew, grapes and canteloupe). Chef's at table services can prepare plain chicken and rice.

 

[lillykat]

You can find soy milk(Silk) at quite a lot of counter and table service places in WDW. Fruit is also readily available from grab and goes and fruit carts throughout the parks and resorts. Many counter services also sell fruit cups(bought one yesterday in Epcot that contained, honeydew, grapes and canteloupe). Chef's at table services can prepare plain chicken and rice.

That is great to hear!! I knew that they had plain fruit but I wasn't sure about the soy or the plain food requests. Can they do plain chicken and fruit at CS or just TS locations?

DD has been 2 times before but this is a recent issue - so I have never had to deal with it before. DH is allergic to crab but that has never been an issue for us so all of this is very new to us.

 

[livndisney]

That is great to hear!! I knew that they had plain fruit but I wasn't sure about the soy or the plain food requests. Can they do plain chicken and fruit at CS or just TS locations?

DD has been 2 times before but this is a recent issue - so I have never had to deal with it before. DH is allergic to crab but that has never been an issue for us so all of this is very new to us.

Counter service may be more limited. Sunshine seasons in Epcot did plain chicken for us(because they had chicken there), but I would not expect Liberty Inn to be able to do it since their chicken is breaded. Since most counter service places do have breaded chicken, you may want to look at the menus on Allearsnet.com to get an idea what is served. You may also want to contact Special Diets.

I would expect most resort food courts to be able to do plain chicken if given notice (speak to a chef when you check in).

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree that counter service is likely to have much more limited options. They basically have available only what is on their menu.
The counter service tends to have just the fresh fruit that is on their menu for kids meals - so you will find small prepacked bags of grapes or baby carrots.
In addition to the Grab and Go that livndisney mentioned, some of the food stands also have fresh fruit - mostly oranges, bananas and apples.

You can find contact information for Special Diets in post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. It is located near the top of this board or you can follow the link in my signature.

 

[AllergyFreeMouse]

If you're considering a Disney Cruise, I would call Disney Cruise Vacations at 1-800-951-3532 and get very specific about your concerns. They should be able to connect you with someone who can detail the procedures for handling non-specific allergies, like preservatives. I'm sure they could accommodate something like that at WDW, but I'm not sure about what they do on a ship. And it's very difficult to get life-threatening emergency care on a ship.

Make sure you are very comfortable with their responses and push for clarify if anything is vague.

Then, I would call them again 2 weeks prior to make sure they have made plans for your preparations. Finally, at check-in, ask again about the preparations.