WDW2012
Michelle
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2011
- Messages
- 229
Hello and 
to my first attempt at a dining report. Our family traveled to Universal/Disney in August. We stayed on-site at Universal and for the first time in a long time, off-site at Disney. We were not on any dining plans (thus the “not free” portion of my title 
) so if I have the cost of our meal I’ll try to put it in. Our group consisted of me, DH, DS (11), DD (8), Grandma (my mom – age withheld 
) and my cousin (33) (DC). We had a bit of a dining challenge this time around apart from the usual peanut allergy for my DD. Last February my son was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. It has been a journey so far and we’re thankful that he does not experience many of the typical Crohn’s symptoms. We’re in the process of getting him on track and healthy while we figure out the future/medication. Our nutritionist has suggested that my son avoid gluten, dairy and corn. Needless to say my son was a little worried about traveling with such a restricted diet! Thankfully we had no issues with food, although I did not remember to take pics of every meal 
.
Our first three days were spent at Universal/Portofino Bay Hotel.
We stopped at Margaritaville for lunch. As part of my son’s restricted diet, he avoids corn and all corn related products like corn syrup/high fructose corn syrup. Do you have any idea how much corn syrup/HFCS is in food??? Um, yeah, a lot! At home we can avoid it by doing things like making our own BBQ sauce or buying brands without it, but when we are out it is not so easy. I asked what kind of BBQ sauce they used at Margaritaville and it was Sweet Baby Rays. The server said he’d check the ingredients but I told him not to bother, I already know the first ingredient is HFCS
Margaritaville does have a pretty decent gluten free menu that could easily be adapted to avoid corn/dairy. After being up since the crack of dawn and traveling, DS was hangry and wanted a burger:
He wanted it on lettuce although I can’t honestly remember if they offered any gluten free bread/buns. I asked them to just put lettuce leaves with the burger but they got it wrong and put shredded lettuce. No worries, he was fine and enjoyed it the way it was. The fries were gluten free and according to DS were great! Our only complaint was that there was nothing to dip his fries in. He prefers BBQ sauce over ketchup but neither one was corn free.
DD and I split the crispy coconut shrimp and I got a side salad (no pic of the salad). I’m not a huge fan of coconut but these were really good.
DC got the Fried Chicken Cobb Salad but subbed the fried chicken for grilled chicken.
I’m pretty sure DH got the Key West Fish Sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries.
I can’t find a pic of Grandma’s meal but she either got the same thing as DH or a maybe a burger. Either way we all enjoyed our meal here and then headed out to enjoy some rides! Our total (for the 4 of us (Grandma and DC were paying their own way) was about $65.
We originally had reservations at Mythos for dinner but cancelled them to go back and enjoy the hotel after nearly melting from the heat and then getting soaked on the water rides. We stopped at Sal’s Market at Portofino Bay. I neglected to take any pictures but I do remember that they did have gluten free pizza crust…but it had corn in it and there weren't really any dairy free cheese options so I’m pretty sure that DS had a salad with chicken in it and most likely some fruit. DH and I split the BBQ Chicken Pizza which was really good and DD had the Margherita pizza. We helped her with that and enjoyed it. I can’t remember what Grandma and DC had but I do know that the meal was good enough to satisfy these Italian New Yorkers who are pretty snobby about their Italian food ;-) The total for the 4 of us (again Grandma & DC paid their own way) was $60.29.
to my first attempt at a dining report. Our family traveled to Universal/Disney in August. We stayed on-site at Universal and for the first time in a long time, off-site at Disney. We were not on any dining plans (thus the “not free” portion of my title ) so if I have the cost of our meal I’ll try to put it in. Our group consisted of me, DH, DS (11), DD (8), Grandma (my mom – age withheld ) and my cousin (33) (DC). We had a bit of a dining challenge this time around apart from the usual peanut allergy for my DD. Last February my son was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. It has been a journey so far and we’re thankful that he does not experience many of the typical Crohn’s symptoms. We’re in the process of getting him on track and healthy while we figure out the future/medication. Our nutritionist has suggested that my son avoid gluten, dairy and corn. Needless to say my son was a little worried about traveling with such a restricted diet! Thankfully we had no issues with food, although I did not remember to take pics of every meal .Our first three days were spent at Universal/Portofino Bay Hotel.
We stopped at Margaritaville for lunch. As part of my son’s restricted diet, he avoids corn and all corn related products like corn syrup/high fructose corn syrup. Do you have any idea how much corn syrup/HFCS is in food??? Um, yeah, a lot! At home we can avoid it by doing things like making our own BBQ sauce or buying brands without it, but when we are out it is not so easy. I asked what kind of BBQ sauce they used at Margaritaville and it was Sweet Baby Rays. The server said he’d check the ingredients but I told him not to bother, I already know the first ingredient is HFCS
Margaritaville does have a pretty decent gluten free menu that could easily be adapted to avoid corn/dairy. After being up since the crack of dawn and traveling, DS was hangry and wanted a burger: 
He wanted it on lettuce although I can’t honestly remember if they offered any gluten free bread/buns. I asked them to just put lettuce leaves with the burger but they got it wrong and put shredded lettuce. No worries, he was fine and enjoyed it the way it was. The fries were gluten free and according to DS were great! Our only complaint was that there was nothing to dip his fries in. He prefers BBQ sauce over ketchup but neither one was corn free.
DD and I split the crispy coconut shrimp and I got a side salad (no pic of the salad). I’m not a huge fan of coconut but these were really good.
DC got the Fried Chicken Cobb Salad but subbed the fried chicken for grilled chicken.
I’m pretty sure DH got the Key West Fish Sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries.
I can’t find a pic of Grandma’s meal but she either got the same thing as DH or a maybe a burger. Either way we all enjoyed our meal here and then headed out to enjoy some rides! Our total (for the 4 of us (Grandma and DC were paying their own way) was about $65.
We originally had reservations at Mythos for dinner but cancelled them to go back and enjoy the hotel after nearly melting from the heat and then getting soaked on the water rides. We stopped at Sal’s Market at Portofino Bay. I neglected to take any pictures but I do remember that they did have gluten free pizza crust…but it had corn in it and there weren't really any dairy free cheese options so I’m pretty sure that DS had a salad with chicken in it and most likely some fruit. DH and I split the BBQ Chicken Pizza which was really good and DD had the Margherita pizza. We helped her with that and enjoyed it. I can’t remember what Grandma and DC had but I do know that the meal was good enough to satisfy these Italian New Yorkers who are pretty snobby about their Italian food ;-) The total for the 4 of us (again Grandma & DC paid their own way) was $60.29.
They did bring him more carrots when they realized he didn’t eat asparagus. 
And the salad vs. a pizza - no fun! But obviously better than getting sick!
! 
but that did include some drinks too 
