Food Allergy Experience

[olan719]

Hi everyone! We just returned from our trip and I thought I'd report on our experiences dining with food allergies, especially since I was always appreciative of other posts like these while I was planning our trip.

Let me just say, I was so blown away by the service to accomodate people with food allergies. My DD, age 5, has a tree nut allergy, and for now, we treat her twin sister the same. I had noted this on the form from Special Diets and everything was already on the computer. Most of the servers mentioned the allergy to me first. All of the restaurants sent a chef out, and all were very nice and did not seem put out at all by having to come to our table. We also never had to wait very long for them to come by our table. They would go over the menu with us, let us know if the bread was okay or not, and tell us about dessert options. This was the first time we have ever let DD eat desserts in a restaurant.

Places we dined were Crystal Palace, 50s Primetime Cafe, Le Cellier, Rainforest Cafe....but the absolute best were the Polynesian restuarants, Ohana and Kona Cafe. Chef TJ was not there that night, but Chef Julie was at Ohana and she was amazing. She made the girls a special dessert - an ice cream cookie. And Kona Cafe has a separate griddle that is nut free - it was the first time my kids have been able to eat pancakes and French Toast away from home because of nut contamination risk. I'm telling you I almost shed a tear!! I'd vacation at Disney simply for this reduced worry about eating out.

Anyway, just wanted to share my awesome experience with everyone. I know many people have much more complicated allergies and intolerances, but I think Disney really did a great job for us. Best of luck to everyone!

 

[HETRICKL]

Thanks for the update. We are going in 3 weeks and my DD8 also has tree nut allergies. Can I ask what your experiences were at any counter service and/or snacks you found to be safe?

I've usually stayed to the table service myself and have been pleased. It's the counter service - mainly the buns and deep fryers that I've shyed away from.

I'd love to hear any of your experiences at counter services and what foods/snacks you tried.

Thanks!

 

[turkeymama]

I can't comment specifically on the tree nut allergies, but DD9 has a dairy allergy. CS and snacks can be a bit trickier. Our strategy for CS was to always eat at non-peak times. For example, if we did a CS lunch, we would try to be in line no later than 11:00 a.m. This meant that we didn't usually have a long line of people waiting impatiently behind us. I made the mistake of eating during peak meal times twice and the rude comments from unaware people behind us was more than I could stand. So that is my tip to share. Do your CS meals during "off" times.

Other than that, we have always been so impressed with how well Disney handles food allergies. I've always said that DD gets to eat like a normal kid when she's at Disney. It's wonderful.

 

[Mary976]

I would ask for a manager at the CS places. Also, if you want to eat at a peak time, you can still stop in off peak to speak to the manager and figure things out.

To the OP-glad to hear it went so well for you!

Mary

 

[chell]

Glad you had such a great experience!!! They do such a great job.

Did you get an allergy surcharge? There is a thread on the Restaurant Board about them adding a fee for dealing with allergy meals. That was the first I had seen of it.

I'm excited for our trip and hope they can give me some great tasting food that I've been missing!

 

[LaraK]

When we've gone to Disney in the past, when my son could still eat out (he's now so restricted he can not eat anything out), the CS also sent someone out to talk to us because he had "different" allergies than the "normal" ones. They were great.

I haven't traveled since we got so restricted (quite honestly, I don't think we can travel anymore) so I can't say for the more extensive allergies.

 

[Schmeck]

I thought that there were notebooks with the ingredients listed in them for CS? All you have to do is ask for the book, and step out of line until you are ready to order, right?

 

[chell]

I thought that there were notebooks with the ingredients listed in them for CS? All you have to do is ask for the book, and step out of line until you are ready to order, right?

They do have the notebooks but they suggest you talk to the manager as well.

 

[turkeymama]

I thought that there were notebooks with the ingredients listed in them for CS? All you have to do is ask for the book, and step out of line until you are ready to order, right?

The notebooks are there. This is why I suggested going during non-peak times. We had to stand in line to get the notebook, then we had to stand in line to order, then we had to stand there and wait until the manager came over to "approve" our order since DD wasn't ordering a typical kids' meal.

 

[olan719]

Glad you had such a great experience!!! They do such a great job.

Did you get an allergy surcharge? There is a thread on the Restaurant Board about them adding a fee for dealing with allergy meals. That was the first I had seen of it.

I'm excited for our trip and hope they can give me some great tasting food that I've been missing!

There was no allergy surcharge. I had heard mention of this before our trip, but it was never encountered while we were there. Good luck with your trip!

 

[olan719]

Thanks for the update. We are going in 3 weeks and my DD8 also has tree nut allergies. Can I ask what your experiences were at any counter service and/or snacks you found to be safe?

I've usually stayed to the table service myself and have been pleased. It's the counter service - mainly the buns and deep fryers that I've shyed away from.

I'd love to hear any of your experiences at counter services and what foods/snacks you tried.

Thanks!

Truthfully, we brought most of our own snacks in the parks. I did allow the girls to have Mickey ice cream bars. Coconut oils are not a problem for us, and I felt comfortable reading the Nestle packaging myself. It seems I read that some people in the past thought maybe these were "unsafe" due to "processed with" info, but I felt fine with my decision. I think they also had some popcorn. The info I received from Special Diets ahead of time was great in helping me know about buns, meats, etc. before hitting counter services. It is a good idea to look at their books/see the manager if you still have concerns. If we were not eating TS, we stuck with hot dogs, burgers, chicken nuggets and no desserts at counter service. My DDs are not allergic to peanuts, which does help free up more choices for us, especially with "processed with" labels. I also shied away from counter service places where nuts were served - no bakery, no ice cream places, etc. Hope this is helpful.