Day 4:
Epcot --
Sunshine Seasons: DH and I loved our non-GF meals here! I took everyone's recommendation on the strawberry shortcake (which I never usually eat) and it was SO good! Allergy-wise, this was also a good pick. The girls had the roast chicken kids meal with the drumstick and they had grapes and carrots again. They liked this meal and it was already okay for them so we didn't have to wait for special food.
Just a side note...this last weekend of Food and Wine made the World Showcase totally unbearable. I was excited to finally experience the festival but after my first encounters with loud, obnoxious drunk people and the crowd, we bailed on Epcot and headed to the Magic Kingdom! There were these guys on the ride in Mexico and as we passed the restaurant they stood in the boat and started screaming and cursing at people in the restaurant -- nothing was done to them and we had the lovely treat of riding the Maelstrom with them also. They were more subdued there...I was hoping the alcohol and boat made them seasick
MK
Pecos Bill -- I decided to try to make it easy on the cast members and not specify it was an allergy meal and just get hamburger kids meals with no bun but when she put it on the ticket it was listed below our drinks and other items so the burgers came out with buns
When I told them the manager took over and got us burgers with no buns. I think they had applesauce and grapes here and french meadow bakery chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They love those cookies!
Day 5:
Boma Breakfast! -- I was so excited for Boma and it didn't disappoint. We were originally paying for this out of pocket but we cancelled Le Cellier (I cancelled it last trip and this trip too...it made sense but I swear I will eat there someday and get my cheese soup!) so we used TS credits -- not the best use of our credits from a $$$ standpoint but we were very satisfied. The Chef came out and spoke to us immediately (we were the first seating at 7:30 am); he gave me a tour of buffet to review what was safe and then also made the girls their personal requests: ham omelettes and pancakes
The pancakes were huge and he brought them their own little bowls of syrup. They were thrilled and left stuffed.
Earl of Sandwich
We went to EofS twice and the girls had the same meal both times. I had e-mailed them prior to our trip and received a reply email to contact them before our trip to discuss options. However, both our trips there ended up being totally unplanned as we weren't sure if we were going to get there, so I didn't get to make arrangements in advance. Both times we went (once lunch and once in a rainstorm on our last night around 8:00) the place was packed and I was nervous about how it was going to go. The best thing they do is they always have staff working the line to see if anyone has questions. I told them I had allergy questions and they got a manager -- the first time I had help instantly and the second visit it took a few minutes (I had also asked for the ingredients on the tomato soup so they checked that - it had milk in it
). The turkey used in the kids turkey and cheese sandwich was safe so they had turkey over lettuce, tomato and cucumbers. My kids don't like dressing, so I didn't bother to see if they had any that were safe. They had the small fruit salad with their meal. They both liked it and they gave them a pretty large serving. On the first visit the only issue was they sliced the cucumber long ways in very thin strips and my oldest was not thrilled with it
On the second visit they were in rounds like she is used to having
OHANA!!!!!!!!!
We were thisclose to cancelling this ADR because the kids were tired but I am SO glad we didn't. I loved Ohana on our prior visit before the kids foods were limited and I knew that Chef TJ was here and how wonderful he is, so I was confident they would have a great meal. Of course we walked in and dh goes, "Oh. I remember THIS place."
That made me nervous...it was also packed and we were 40 minutes early for our ADR. When I checked in at the podium I told the CM about the food allergies and she said, "Yep, we have them noted and Chef TJ is here so you are in for a treat" and she high-fived me
We were seated within 5 minutes, so the night started off on the right foot and it just got better from there! There are no words for the awesomeness that is Chef TJ. He made the girls their own skewers...Grace had pork and beef and Becca had shrimp and pork...with sticky rice and an amazing sauce, broccoli and fried rice noodles, which they LOVED. Grace said they tasted like "amazing styrofoam" -- not sure what is so amazing about styrofoam or when she ate it before but she loved it
We did have a little scare here when Becca choked on her food but she was more scared than anything else and she was putting so much in her mouth because it tasted so good! She opted out of the parade and festivities but Grace did them and got her a lei. We waited a bit for their dessert (as I inhaled the bread pudding for us) but it was SO worth it. Chef TJ made the tower with brownies and ice cream and bananas...this is the one picture I have of food (and Chef TJ!):
At the beginning of dinner dh asked me why I kept talking about Chef TJ like he was some sort of celebrity and after the meal was over he told me "I get it now"...that is high praise coming from him
Day 6
Cosmic Rays
The kids wanted a hot dog and they only had hot dogs as adult meals so I got myself a kids meal with the sides they wanted and then ordered the adult hot dog with no bun. For the places where I ordered no bun, based on the info I received from Special Dining they do have gf buns available but my girls usually don't eat them at home so I didn't bother ordering them. They split the hot dog and I got the kids chicken salad with no chicken and they each made it into a little side salad.
Chef Mickey's
Chef Todd was really nice and took me on a tour of the buffet. I was surprised by how much they were able to eat from the buffet here (although Grace was quick to note that it was mostly meat that they could have). We were the first dinner seating so there hadn't been any cross contamination concerns but he did tell me that if there was anything I was concerned about, he could get me "clean" dishes of it. Aside from what we had from the buffet, he also got the girls gluten free rolls and made them broccoli since the buffet cooked veggies were off limits). My main concern with Chef Mickeys was that they would feel left out with the make your own sundae since their friends could get all the toppings and idiot me left our safe toppings back at the room. But they were very happy with their vanilla and chocolate tofutti over a brownie with fresh strawberries
The only issue was the server accidentally called in for one dessert but Cheff Todd realized the mistake when he got to the table and had the second one out very quickly after that.
Day 7
Electric Umbrella
This was one of those grouchy lunches where you pick somewhere to eat because everyone is hungry and tired and not based on what they have on the menu. This was not a highlight of the trip
Based on the number of allergen free chicken tenders at our other CS meal and the little food the girls were eating and that we only had three CS credits left, I decided they could split a meal. Well, they gave us two chicken tenders
The girls were really disappointed to only have one and I had no desire to sit and wait for more. I had some snacks packed so they didn't starve but they loved that chicken.
I made up for it by getting them a kaki gori in Japan...they loved it
However, their friends got pretzels in Germany and we did have a brief meltdown about them not being able to have pretzels (have to admit they've been a bit spoiled since the
Disney Cruise and don't understand that things can just be made to magically appear from the kitchen for them like they did on the boat!). I did tell them I'd figure out how to make some now that we're home
This was the night we skipped Le Cellier to see the opening night of the Osborne Lights...they were so worth missing my cheese soup again
We ended up getting Earl of Sandwich on the way back to AKL.
Day 8
Crystal Palace
OMG, this place was pure heavenly carb overload for me...puffed french toast and breakfast lasagna were even better than I imagined they would be! And the girls loved it here also because they brought them FOUR kinnikinnick glazed donuts! If you aren't familiar with these...they are nearly $8 for 6 donuts so I usually only let them have one at a time. So it was a treat to fill up on them
They also made them Van's waffles -- I was worried they would be bummed not to have Mickey waffles but they didn't care because the Disney chefs make the Van's ones much fluffier than I can ever get them in our toaster
They also had fruit and hard boiled eggs and sausage from the buffet, so they were stuffed! It was a great last Disney meal.
PS -- Got to the airport and we had a quick "meal" at the airport...their meal consisted of a fruit cup supplemented with some almonds and a french meadow brownie I saved because there was NOTHING they could eat there...talk about being reminded that we weren't in Disney anymore
It was a great trip and as I tell everyone, Disney is the only place I can go without anything packed and know they will eat fine and be treated like princesses
Let me know if you have any questions
This is my one big Disney must-have. Hopefully, I will discover some fabulous GF/CF/SF item there that will become my new must-have!
