Food allergy at USF/IOA? Forget it!

[livndisney]

Disney policy doesn't sound different from USF's.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...estServicesSpecialDietaryDetailPage&bhcp=1#ak

They still want you to call in advance, do not have specific allergen free foods at all locations, and do not guarantee that there is no cross contamination.

Call the Disney's Dining Reservation Center at 407-WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463†.
Indicate to the Cast Member at Disney's Dining Reservation Center your special dietary requests.
Know that your special dietary request will be noted by the Cast Member on your reservation.
Write down the dining location phone number(s) that the Cast Member provides you, as well as your reservation number and the day and time of your reservation.
Contact your dining location at least 72 hours in advance to discuss your special dietary request with the chef, manager or food and beverage representative.
Please feel welcome to speak to the chef or manager on duty when you arrive at your dining location.

The Walt Disney World® Company will use reasonable efforts to prevent the introduction of the allergen of concern into the food through close attention during our sourcing, preparation and handling processes. However, it is ultimately always up the Guest to use his or her individual discretion to make an informed choice regarding whether to order any particular items, since Walt Disney World® Company cannot guarantee that allergens may not have been introduced during another stage of the food chain process, or even inadvertently, by us.

Food Allergies and Intolerances
All Walt Disney World® Resort Table Service Restaurants that accept reservations can accommodate most food allergies and food intolerances (such as gluten or wheat, shellfish, soy, lactose or milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, or eggs) if requested at least 72 hours in advance by calling (407) 939-3463†.

If you have multiple allergies, please contact one of our representatives before you finalize your trip to Walt Disney World® Resort to discuss your allergies, as we cannot guarantee we will be able to meet your requests. Please note we do not have separate kitchens to prepare allergen free items or separate dining areas for Guests with allergies to dine.

Yes living with allergies, there are no guarantees.
But actually there is more to Disney's allergen policy. You can email Special Diets at WDW to get lists of what foods are served where (even brands which makes a huge difference). Each counter service location has a binder with ingredients at the cashier.

As locals we rarely "call in advance", as we have a good idea what is served where at WDW. We do more counter service than table service. We do not have that same knowledge at Universal. So far we have been unable to get similar information from Universal. I have asked at Universal about ingredients and was told they had no idea. Guest Services sent us to First Aid to ask. It became like "who's on first". (This is not to bash Universal-just trying to clarify the differences).

 

[Rip]

If you would have contacted the resort in advance you would have found that the park will bend over backwards to accommodate you. There have even been reports here of the chefs at the restaurants personally calling the visitor to arrange special dining for the guest in need. Stopping at guest services at the front of the park would have helped as well. Universal doesn't deal with the quantity of people that WDW does and so its availability of specialty foods is done on a personal level.

We took a friend of my daughter with us in July who has about every allergy known (shellfish, soy, nuts, gluten, etc.). We had absolutely zero issues, and they bent over backwards to help us out - and we didn't call in advance.

 

[Rip]

Honestly, it sounds like the OP probably was less than polite and therefore got a different reaction than most of us have gotten. Like I said, we had zero issues and this is a kid that requires whomever he's with to have two epi-pens at all times, he's severely allergic to a lot of different foods.

 

[PixieintheCity]

This is what I came up with in a google search:

Thank you for contacting Universal Orlando®.
It was a pleasure speaking to you via telephone. As we discussed, we offer a variety of fresh, delicious food for our guests to enjoy. For the convenience of our guests with special dietary needs, we have chefs in residence at each of our full-service restaurants (Lombard’s Seafood Grille and Finnegan’s Bar & Grill in Universal Studios Florida®, and Mythos Restaurant® and Confisco Grille® in Universal’s Islands of Adventure®) who can create meals customized to suit individual tastes and needs. In addition, the managers at any of our quick-service restaurants can assist with specific menu questions to help you select appropriate items during your visit.

For the convenience of our guests with gluten allergies, Monsters Café in Universal Studios Florida®, and the Thunder Falls Terrace in Islands of Adventure®, offer the following gluten-free options: roasted chicken; smoked chicken; smoked ribs; smoked turkey legs; roasted potatoes with onions, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper; roasted corn; baked potatoes; french fries cooked in canola oil; and salads.

In addition, our full-service restaurants serve gluten-free pasta, and food carts throughout the parks serve apples, oranges, grapes, watermelon slices. The lemon slush drinks and turkey legs available throughout the parks are also gluten-free.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to call us at (407) 224-4233, option nine (9).

Has anyone with gluten intolerance AND a dairy allergy eaten at either Monster's Cafe or Thunder Falls Terrace? I'm wondering if their chicken, potatos, corn, baked potatos, and/or french fries are dairy free in addition to gluten free. I emailed and called UO and I'm still waiting for a reply.

Thanks.

 

[Trinitys Ghost]

I don't have an answer to your question Pixie, but I hope someone is able to chime in.

My experience (with mild gluten intolerance, and rest of immediate family has it too) with both US and Disney is that table service restaurants are on the ball and are aware and capable of providing meals to those with allergies and intolerances. The chefs come out, provide solutions to our needs and takes the order. With counter service, it is hit or miss. Had a miss at Disney recently (Flaming Tree BBQ) when our cashier rolled his eyes and lectured us that next time we should ask for a manager first before getting in line. Ah, but we had planned to ask a manager - our question was when in the process should we do so. We learned, and will take that advice into consideration for the future.

I've learned that not every CS is knowledgable (at both parks, US and WDW). If they aren't, I ask for a manager. If they don't know, I feel it's a good opportunity for me to educate them, so they learn and look into it further. That shouldn't have to be the case, but heck, if someone doesn't know, why not teach them? Especially if their food and/or prep is going to affect your health or someone else's.

 

[Magpie]

I must take a moment to report the HORRIBLE manner in which allergies to food are treated at USF and IOA. The food folks at these parks really need to learn something from the folks at Disney about this issue.

We had both gluten and dairy allergies in our group. Finding a satisfactory counter service meal was a joke. The counter service folks were polite, but very unknowledgeable ("what's gluten?"). They had no ingredient lists handy. And, each time we wanted to eat - it took 15 minutes of finding someone with the proper knowledge before we could make any purchase. Gluten allergies were limited to one item - usually a plain salad with grilled chicken.

Consider this, too: The all you can eat deal is worthless with food allergies -- because the choices are so limited. For example, the child in our group with a dairy allergy had zero options available to her. That's just absurd in my opinion.

We won't be back to Universal or IOA for a long time because of this issue.

By way of comparison: ANY food service at Disney has a policy for food allergies. The cashier gets a manager (who arrives in seconds). The manager is armed with an organized notebook of all ingredients in every food product they serve at the location. Most locations also had a quick reference guide, too. Our dairy-free child was able to choose from lots of options (i.e. hot dog on a dairy free roll - instead of regular roll). Tofutti ice cream instead of dairy ice cream. Etc. She felt "normal" -- as opposed to isolated at USF/IOA. Moreover, her parents were able to enjoy the day and relax knowing her food needs were covered. IOA/USF became stressful for all not knowing when or if food decent could be found. (Thank goodness for Sweet Tomatoes nearby!)

You should write this up in a letter and send it to the Management at Universal. This is exactly the sort of customer feedback they need to know, so that they can make changes in the future.

I grew up with extensive food allergies, including dairy, corn, wheat, egg and citrus, so I understand your frustration. When we wanted to drive down to the southern US one year, my mother wrote to ALL the fast food places she could think of to ask which foods would be safe for us to order.

McDonalds won the prize for complete uselessness. All they sent us was a form letter and a copy of their nutritional information - and not even any ingredients! My mother was really ticked, especially since I owned stock in McDonalds at the time (we sold it later to pay for my schooling).

Sambos (a southern fast food chain) on the other hand, wrote me a friendly personal letter and put together a complete menu of foods that would be safe for me to eat. They also included coupons and a map of every one of their locations. Sambos rocked!

However, nothing's set in stone. McDonalds has improved considerably in the last 25 years and I'm sure my mother's irritable letter of complaint helped that process along (even if just in a small way).

So, don't just complain on this board! Write to Universal! You might be helping the next kid with allergies.

 

[Trinitys Ghost]

I agree with you Magpie. If the OP can specify the day and time they experienced this issue US may be able to whittle that information down to the person who talked to them. I'd love to see this person get educated more on what the real information is, rather than just spout out to the next guest "no, we cannot help you."

 

[JenM]

I was talking to my cousin about this recently - two of her kids have Celiac's, and they didn't have a good experience with Universal. She did email guest services regarding the food allergies before their trip, and received a reply from the head chef of the park as to what is safe and what is not so they would be good when they got to the parks.

They got to the parks and were told the exact opposite. For instance, they were told the french fries were gluten-free. They double-checked before ordering to make sure, and were suddenly told they were supposed to call in the morning to make sure the fries were cooked in a different fryer. My cousin had the email they were sent with her and showed it to them - it didn't say anything about that, other than that the fries were safe and at no point in the email were they ever told they had to call ahead in the morning. Apparently that happened all over the park.

They did plan ahead before their trip - and they just got told something completely different when they got there. They loved the park, but they weren't happy with how the allergy situation was handled at all.

 

[cinderella73]

This conversation has gotten a bit heated and their have been some harsh comments made. I just want to say that I have also had negative experiences trying to plan my trip to Universal. So much I just canceled it.

I stayed before when my kids were babies before we knew of the allergies. We stayed 2 weeks at a time. We enjoyed it. Going back had some negative experiences with how food allergies were handled but it wasnt a long trip.

Tried to give it another chance and plan a 10 day trip. I have no problems doing my homework. I decided to make some calls and see what I could do. You get used it it. Its no big deal. But I can tell you the runaround I got ! It was just insane. I was given number after number as the person I got always knew nothing and had to transer me to someone else. In the end I felt like no one knew what they were doing and I had no confidence in them at all.

They did agree to have a chef speak with us in certain locations , quick service was not so clear . We wanted a fresh comforter in our room as they sometimes leave the nuts on the bed ( as part of the Lowes program according to the resort manager) . I was sent around and around the hotel for a simple request and eventually got a housekeeper on the phone that didnt understand english.

As I said I always had enjoyed the US/IOA parks and resorts . But they really need to get their game on if they ever want me back.

I would like to see a up to date ingredients list in binders so I know what is in the food I am eating or feeding my family.

I cant see paying all that money to stay and visit in place where I have to leave the parks to eat offsite or bring in my own cooler .

The parks might be fun but their system is disorganized . And when it comes to food allergies its just scary. So unfortunately we have decided not to go.

 

[dzd]

FOOD ALLERGYS

One of the many reasons Disney cost ten times as much a Disney. Got it.