Gluten, dairy, yeast, carrageenan (and a few more) free: a dining review

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Hi everyone,

I have not seen any detailed WDW dining report that included yeast as an allergen, so I thought I would contribute one! We just returned last Tuesday from 8 days in WDW. DD (2) has various food allergies and after months of research I finally convinced myself we could eat at some of the restaurants on property. I listed all of the allergens when I emailed Special Diets but I only received a form letter and a link to the gluten and dairy free pre-packed items at WDW restaurants. I tried contacting them again in regards to the other allergens, but I received the same email again.

We were not able to eat every meal at WDW, they did not offer enough variety. I did bring a 52 quart cooler filled with “safe” foods such as homemade cookies, cupcakes, applesauce, muffins and ‘bread’ to our hotel to supplement DD’s diet. Yes, this stayed frozen during the 1,000 mile road trip from NJ in our Coleman Xtreme Cooler! I did not see any evidence from my emails with Special Diets that led me to believe they could provide any snacks for DD (other than fresh fruit) so we either had to bring the foods or make them while we were on vacation. I wanted this to be a vacation for everybody, so that was not an option! Everyday we packed a small cooler/lunch bag with enough food for DD just in case the restaurants could not safely provide a meal.

DD cannot eat the following foods: gluten, dairy, yeast, mushrooms, carrageenan (found in most almond, rice and soy milk), quinoa, buckwheat, oats, artificial colors, pineapple and mango


*For those who aren’t familiar with a yeast allergy, we find this more complicated than the gluten and dairy allergies. DD has to avoid the following foods- anything fermented, soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, ketchup, mushrooms, stock, broth, commercially dried fruits and vegetables, commercially canned or cooked fruits or vegetables due to the possibility that a small amount of food may have spoiled while waiting to be processed, over-ripe fruits

She only has one symptom of exposure- gastrointestinal distress (I’m trying to put it delicately!)

I was not able to take pictures of the food-sorry! We ate (or tried to eat) at the following locations:

Biergarten (lunch)
ABC Commissary (lunch)
Landscape of Flavors (dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Pecos Bill’s (dinner)
Chef Mickey’s (breakfast)
Tusker House (lunch)
Garden Kiosk (Animal Kingdom allergy kiosk) (snack)
Earl of Sandwich (dinner)
Crystal Palace (lunch)
1900 Park Fare (dinner)
Cape May Café (breakfast)

Biergarten (lunch)
The chef was fantastic! I had low expectations that DD was able to eat here due to the German fascination with vinegar. I was given a tour of the buffet and the chef told me DD could have the veal bratwurst, roasted chicken, pork roast, cod (he would prepare it without the cream sauce), applesauce, fruit compote and vegetable medley (he would prepare it without the mushrooms). He asked if DD had enough choices and offered to prepare something off the menu if I did not think she would be satisfied. I knew DD would be happy with the choices so he did not have to make anything extra. The chef offered me Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookies, but I knew they were off-limits due to the buckwheat flour. I was suspicious of the bratwurst, but the chef brought out the label and it did not contain any allergens. Overall, this was a great meal and a great start to our vacation! This was our only day at EPOCT, or else we would have eaten here again and again.

ABC Commissary (lunch)
I know this location can get busy, so we were there waiting when the doors opened. The manager let us know that DD could have the allergy free chicken tenders (which is what we knew from our emails from Special Diets) and they could safely prepare the French fries. She also told us if DD wanted fish instead, the salmon that normally comes with the Asian chicken salad would also be free of her allergens and she could make a salmon and fries platter. We chose the chicken tenders for her. We waited about 15 minutes for the food and the manager brought it directly to our table for us. The chicken was very good as were the fries.

Landscape of Flavors (dinner- Art of Animation)
The manager here did not seem to understand DD’s allergies, which was frustrating. We explained her allergies and were told that we could have the 100% beef burger patter and they could safely make the fries. We waited 25 minutes for a plain hamburger patty and fries only to have it come out on a gluten free bun that contained yeast. When I told the manager about the error with the bun, she said, “But it’s gluten free”. I explained the problem and she still did not seem to understand why DD couldn’t have the bun (she was hung upon the fact it was a gluten free bun). I asked if it would take another 25 minutes for the patty and she said she would make it in just a few minutes. She came back out in 2 minutes with the plain hamburger patty and apologized. She told us we could have an extra side since we did not get the bun and we chose the apple slices. DD wolfed down the burger and fries, so I guess they were good!

Crystal Palace (breakfast)
We have been to Crystal Palace on several occasions before with our older daughter (who does not have allergies) and this has been our favorite Disney breakfast. That changed with this trip and I don’t think we will book a breakfast here anytime soon. The chef was not in a great mood to begin with. He took me through the buffet and told me that DD could have the fruit, hardboiled eggs and breakfast potatoes. When I asked about waffles, he told me they had Van’s frozen waffles for those with allergies, that it was ‘easier’ than using a gluten free waffle mix. DD can’t have them since they contain pineapple juice. She couldn’t have the scrambled eggs since they have dairy and she couldn’t have an omelet since the ‘egg mix’ (ew) that they use has yellow food dye. The chef told me they would have to make scrambled eggs from fresh cracked eggs, and they keep a few on hand for those with allergies. He did not offer to make anything else. So DD started with a plate of fruit and potatoes. DD spit out the potatoes. When I tried them they were very peppery and I was not able to eat more than a few. We waited and waited for the eggs. We asked our waitress (who was very apologetic) to check on the eggs for us. Thirty minutes after they were ordered, the scrambled eggs came out. They were good, but that was too long to wait for eggs. This buffet had very few options for DD and we were disappointed overall. We considered canceling our lunch reservation we had at Crystal Palace later in the week.

Pecos Bill’s (dinner)
The cashier’s walkie talkie was broken and she was unable to communicate with the kitchen that she needed a manager. She did not want to leave her station to get a manager and instead looked over at the counter waiting to make eye contact with someone who could help. I asked if I should go to the counter and ask for a manager, but she told me no. She finally took that as a hint that she had to get off of her chair and do it herself. After hearing about DD’s allergies, the manager let us know DD could have the hamburger patty and fries. He also told us she could have the applesauce (which I knew she could not have commercially prepared applesauce). However, the cashier let the manager know they did not even have applesauce, they only had the apple slices. He gave us a beeper and told us we could pick up our entire order (6 dinners) by the fireplace when the beeper went off. The order was ready in less than 10 minutes and the manager helped my husband walk the order to the table. DD enjoyed the burger, fries and apple slices.

Chef Mickey’s (breakfast)
After our less than stellar breakfast at Crystal Palace, we were worried about another buffet breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised. The chef told us they had Mickey waffles DD could have and he would make scrambled eggs to go with them. He told us DD could only have the fruit on the buffet. In about 5 minutes a huge plate of Mickey waffles and scrambled eggs with a cup of pure maple syrup was brought to the table. DD was in heaven! She gobbled them up. We left very happy

Tusker House (lunch)
There were 10 of us who ate here for lunch and I don’t think any of us were thrilled about the food. We ate here about 4 years ago and all really enjoyed it. I walked around the buffet with the chef and he asked if DD was allergic to dairy ‘like cheese and milk or dairy like eggs’. Ummmm- what? Eggs are not dairy. They are often kept in or near the dairy section at grocery stores but they do not come from a cow and are not dairy. That scared me right off the bat. DD could have the roast beef and pork (without the sauce) from the buffet as well as the plain white rice and vegetable medley. The chef did not offer to make anything. He did talk for awhile about how he wished there were more options for those with food allergies. His wife had been recently diagnosed as gluten intolerant and she found it difficult to eat out. This chef appeared powerless and acted more like one of the managers at the quick service locations instead of a chef at a restaurant. The beef was extremely tough and DD was not able to chew it. In fact, none of the adults came close to finishing their beef. The vegetable medley was overcooked and watery, I tried a bite and wouldn’t eat any more. DD did not like it. She wound up eating a sandwich and cookies we brought for her.

Garden Kiosk (snack)
I was hopeful there might be something here for DD, but the only thing she could have was a banana. She had just eaten a banana so we were out of luck. They did have packs of chocolate mini Babycakes cupcakes. DD can have the cupcakes but not the frosting. They were so small and if I had to cut the top off to get rid of the frosting there would barely be anything left to justify the cost so we passed on those.

Earl of Sandwich
No high hopes going into this place either, but this is DH’s favorite place to eat in Downtown Disney. I thought maybe DD could have the chicken from one of the gluten free salads but when we asked we were told that the chicken contained a flavoring agent that had dairy in it. So we got DD a banana and water and gave her a sandwich and muffin we brought with us.

Crystal Palace (lunch)
We were scared to come here, but DD loves Pooh so we kept our reservation even after our not so pleasant breakfast experience. I’m glad we did- the chef (a different one) was wonderful. He told us DD could have the allergy free chicken tenders and fruit. He asked if DD wanted 3 or 4 chicken tenders. He also asked what else DD normally likes to eat and I told him her favorite thing to eat are potatoes. He offered give her boiled new potatoes (which DD loves) and steamed broccoli. He told me he had 2 kinds of fresh sorbet for DD- raspberry and granny smith apple. I’ll say it again, the chef was wonderful! He brought out the food after about ten minutes on a special Mickey shaped plate. The sorbet came out a little after DD finished her meal. We were all glad that the Crystal Palace redeemed itself, since we love the atmosphere and the characters.

1900 Park Fare (dinner)
The chef (Laura or Lauren?) was great. Instead of showing me the buffet, she asked what DD liked to eat. I told her that she liked grilled chicken, potatoes and carrots. The food was brought to the table in less than 10 minutes. We found one item on the buffet DD could have- homemade potato chips which we all devoured. The chef came back and checked on DD often. She was disappointed she couldn’t find anything for DD for dessert so she offered to make a few fresh fruit purees and we said that would be good. Apparently, she wasn’t satisfied with that and went looking at Citrico’s and found coconut ‘ice cream’ that DD could have. We all left very happy.

Cape May Café (breakfast)
Although the chef was brisk and not very personable, he came prepared. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the chef to come to our table but when he did, he was prepared with his own list of the allergens we listed on our reservation and a huge plate of allergen approved Mickey waffles with maple syrup. He also told us he had donuts for DD! DD also had fruit from the buffet. The ‘donuts’ were great. They had the texture of a quick bread but you could see they were baked in a donut pan. DD left very happy and full!

 

[DCDisney]

Thanks for the detailed reviews. I could swear I've had those same chef's at Tusker and CP. We are trying CP again but skipping Tusker this next trip. I hate how hard it is to get actual eggs nothing else added for breakfast. I'm allergic to all legumes and most of the bagged eggs have them. I usually ask for fried eggs from the chef just to be safe when they don't inspire confidence

 

[davebon23]

Thanks for the reviews. It's good to here with her list of allergies that your DD had some meals that she enjoyed. When you have a good chef the experience is wonderful. When you have the not so good chefs that can't be bothered its such a shame. You spend a lot of money going there, the least they can do is be courteous. Especially for the little ones. I'm glad you were able to have a good time for the most part.