Gluten Free and CL

[LBAK]

Does anyone know if Club Level has gluten free foods out. Do I need to ask ahead or can I ask when I get there? This is the first time I'm heading down since I was diagnosed and I'm not sure how to navigate this.
Thanks!

 

[clanmcculloch]

The gluten free offerings won't be sitting out. You'll have to ask each and every time you want the gluten free goodies.

That being said, from the reviews I've read, each resort seems to have different levels of gluten free offerings. I've only tried CL at the Polynesian resort and I have nothing but amazing things to say about them. The chefs actually gave me enough stuff to bring to my room for me and my kids so that we didn't have to keep asking over and over for things up in the lounge and when they'd see me they'd see me they'd make a point of checking to see if we were well stocked or needed more stuff. They really did take great care of us. I should also mention that we're free of a heck of a lot more stuff than just gluten and they did an amazing job of taking care of us.

IPO had me pretty freaked out before our first CL stay. When I asked IPO about what would be available, they sent me a link to Garden Grocer and told me that I'd be better off ordering my own food as they couldn't guarantee our safety in the lounge. The chefs AT the resort on the other hand were unbelievably helpful. They prepared safe versions of the evening food for us (for instance on sushi night she made safe stuff for us including a set of rolls without any of our allergens plus tuna poke using San-J gluten free tamari). There arrangements made for us to have safe breakfasts as well.

I did always notify Special Diets about our CL stay and asked them to notify the CL chefs but of our 3 CL stays, they've only been notified ahead of time once. When they weren't notified, they didn't have as many options available for us when we arrived but by the end of the day they loaded us up.

What resort will you be staying at? Maybe people with experience at the particular resort where you'll be staying can chime in with feedback about that resort.

 

[Elitravelor]

Oh, great question! We will be staying CL at the Beach Club this summer and DD is gluten free. We have previously stayed CL at the Poly, Beach Club and Boardwalk but DD was not diagnosed yet. She did use Lactaid at the Boardwalk and they were awesome about getting her that and her favorite juice--cranberry. Honestly, the Boardwalk CL was incredible. The food there was amazing and the staff was top notch.

We plan to send a note to the Beach Club explaining her needs as well as special diets. Yes, I have to get on that! Just finished school this week so I am free to do more for our trip!

 

[Elitravelor]

Well we spoke to a CM today about our upcoming stay with our 16 year old DD who is gluten free. Disappointing conversation. She said there would be no cereal,no donuts and very limited selection of muffins which had to be ordered ahead from a third party supplier. She wanted us to tell her how many to order and if we thought our daughter would eat one a day. There would be no crackers, pretzels etc. there would also be no cookies since the only ones she could order would be chocolate chip or brownies(our daughter does not like chocolate). When we asked about Babycakes, she said she could not get anything from that bakery. ( even though their products are in the shop downstairs) She told us to contact Babycakes ourselves. We did do that and they were very helpful.

We asked if we could ship products ahead of time and she said the club couldn't help with that just that we could ship it to our name to the BC.

Finally, she did say she would have the chef from the yacht club contact us if we would like. However, she did tell us that sending the Special Diet Sheet ahead of time was not that useful as we needed to tell each restaurant when we entered about DD's gluten allergy.

Oh well....we still have time to figure this out as we are there in July/August.

 

[LBAK]

Here is my AKL update:

"Dumela! L***,
Great to hear you are getting excited. Our concierge foods team can advise you as to gluten contents on or offerings. However, if they do not have items to take care of you we can arrange for private dining to deliver comparable items to your room at no charge. Most locations at Walt Disney World keep gluten free items available now due the an increase in cases of Celiac. Just talk to our club level team at check in.
At your service,"

I will have my car with me this trip so just to make sure I will have snacks just in case.

 

[Elitravelor]

Wow that AKL update is so different from our conversation with the Beach Club! Your update is more in line with what I thought would happen....strange. Perhaps it was just that person??

LBAK---is that response what you received in an e-mail?

 

[clanmcculloch]

Elitravelor, Did you speak with an actual chef or was it a CM from IPO? My experience at Poly was that IPO was completely useless and freaked me out the way the CM freaked you out. IPO actually sent me a link to Garden Grocer and suggested I order groceries for ourselves. The chefs on the other hand were WONDERFUL once we got there. Push to speak with a chef if that's not who you spoke with.

There wasn't any cereal at Poly either. They just don't carry gluten free cereal at WDW. The chefs did make sure that there was safe and yummy food for us. We didn't necessarily get to choose the snack foods but the chefs arranged for snack foods based on conversations with us so they were things that our kids enjoyed. There were safe options for the continental breakfast as well but I suspect that each resort has their own options for what they offer.

 

[Elitravelor]

We spoke to a CM ( CIP) from the Beach Club Concierge Staff. She made us feel very sad. She just kept going on and on about how there could not be gluten free choices for our daughter in the club lounge because that was impossible for them to do. We tried to be clear that we were not worried about cross contamination as our daughter has not had real problems with that. We were just hoping for a few items so she could be with the rest of our extended family and have some things to eat. No big amount or unreasonable items.... She even said when she ordered Lactaid she would need a specific amount to be requested.

I have no problem bringing food items since that is what we always do now. I just thought with reading all the gluten free threads it would be different at Disney. Also, the products from Babycakes look so incredible! DH and DS said they will run over there anytime for her to get things.

DD is not a big breakfast eater...fruit and a gluten free bar will be fine.

The Chef will be calling us so we will see. I am sure it will be worked out. Disney has always been our magic place!!

 

[LBAK]

Elitravelor- It was indeed a response to an email I shot them a couple of days ago. I wonder why there isn't a blanket policy for all CL? My friend who also has Celiac just got back from WL and she approached them at check in and they said to call down about 20 minutes before they planned to be in the lounge for breakfast and they'd have something for her. She said they couldn't be more accomodating.

 

[Elitravelor]

Funny but today we received another e-mail from a different CM from the BC Club and she sounded much more positive. We had sent a thank you for the information about the plan to have a chef contact us and she wrote back saying "our chefs are wonderful with the dietary needs" . She just said to be sure to remind everyone upon check-in! She also knew that Babycakes products were being sold to the market at the BC.

Sounds fine....it will be nice to speak to a chef.

We will just be so happy to have a trip to Disney where our DD will not be in pain and dealing with belly issues! It had became a part of life...but not any more!

 

[LBAK]

We will just be so happy to have a trip to Disney where our DD will not be in pain and dealing with belly issues! It had became a part of life...but not any more!

I hope she has the best trip ever!

 

[Elitravelor]

Thank you!! We are all so excited.

 

[Minnie]

We stayed at the YC a couple of weeks ago and I was very disappointed compared to the fantastic thing I'd read on the Dis.

First two days I had nothing from the lounge but Diet Coke. Finally on the 3rd day I actually rec'd something for breakfast - muffins. And a couple of evenings I had dinner - called private dining. Never once was I offered a snack even after I asked if anything was available was told a flat no. And no one mentioned options available around the area either....

I'd go in prepared to do for yourself - u can call the BW Bakery and order muffins, cupcakes, roles. They have different things available each day. Also Kuzinas is fantastic - pizza window will make GF as well.