Gluten Free in Disney

[bytheblood]

I would like some help and suggestions from others who have Celiac Disease.

I have had the regular pizza many times and I really like it. Since my last visit, I have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. We see on the information from Disney's Dietary group that they have GF pizza. I am guessing it is the Amy's brand. Can anybody comment on how it tastes? Is the crust like cardboard? Might not want to go there if that is the case.

Bigger question: In general - how are the gluten free options at counter service restaurants? We have 9 table meals planned for our stay as well and I am sure those will be fine. It is kinda hard to mess up filet mignon, sea food and chicken. Do you have any places you suggest I stay away from?

Thanks for any help

 

[clanmcculloch]

At resorts we've eaten at, they use Ener-G crusts. In the parks I believe I've read that they're Amy's. Back when we still thought we could eat Ener-G, we were NOT fans of these crusts. We've never been able to eat Amy's so I can't help with that.

 

[bytheblood]

Does anybody else have any experience with Celiac Disease and dining in WDW?

 

[clanmcculloch]

You only last night updated your original post to ask a general gluten free question so people didn't know you wanted that kind of info as well as specifics about the pizzas. One of our regulars over here who has tried the pizzas answered you on the restaurant board already.

Have you read through any of the many dining reviews on this board? There are lots and lots of gluten free options at CS locations. I personally suggest sticking with the places that are listed on the info provided by Special Diets because they tend to have a lot more options at those locations.

We have a lot more restrictions than you do. We stick with the following CS locations in the parks because we know we can get tasty and safe foods at these locations.
MK: Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbour House (I hear Casey's is great as well but we can't do the gluten free buns and DD13 has trouble with most brands of hot dogs)
EP: Sunshine Seasons is a must-do stop every trip. Next trip I'm looking forward to trying tacos in Mexico.
DHS: We usually eat TS here but I hear the pizzas at Pizza Planet are decent and we've gotten the chicken tenders at ABC Commissary.
AK: We usually eat at Tusker House here but I keep telling myself we need to try Flame Tree BBQ.

As to places to stay away from, for the most part we stick with Disney owned restaurants and avoid the non-Disney owned ones though as I said, I'm looking forward to trying tacos in Mexico (there are a few non-Disney places that get great allergy reviews but only a few). One Disney owned place that we will never set foot in again though is Beaches & Cream as they served my milk allergic daughter a regular milkshake after confirming that rice milk was safe for her and they didn't even seem concerned about the mistake.

 

[bytheblood]

You only last night updated your original post to ask a general gluten free question so people didn't know you wanted that kind of info as well as specifics about the pizzas. One of our regulars over here who has tried the pizzas answered you on the restaurant board already.

Actually, I have 2 different posts. One of the restaurants board and one on the DISabilities board. They are worded differently.

Have you read through any of the many dining reviews on this board? There are lots and lots of gluten free options at CS locations. I personally suggest sticking with the places that are listed on the info provided by Special Diets because they tend to have a lot more options at those locations.

We have a lot more restrictions than you do. We stick with the following CS locations in the parks because we know we can get tasty and safe foods at these locations.
MK: Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbour House (I hear Casey's is great as well but we can't do the gluten free buns and DD13 has trouble with most brands of hot dogs)
EP: Sunshine Seasons is a must-do stop every trip. Next trip I'm looking forward to trying tacos in Mexico.
DHS: We usually eat TS here but I hear the pizzas at Pizza Planet are decent and we've gotten the chicken tenders at ABC Commissary.
AK: We usually eat at Tusker House here but I keep telling myself we need to try Flame Tree BBQ.

As to places to stay away from, for the most part we stick with Disney owned restaurants and avoid the non-Disney owned ones though as I said, I'm looking forward to trying tacos in Mexico (there are a few non-Disney places that get great allergy reviews but only a few). One Disney owned place that we will never set foot in again though is Beaches & Cream as they served my milk allergic daughter a regular milkshake after confirming that rice milk was safe for her and they didn't even seem concerned about the mistake.

Sorry to offend by not getting what I needed by using the search function before posting a question on a message board. I tried searching for both Celiac Disease and Gluten Free for about an hour and each time the search hung. I have only just now been back on the Dis, so no, I did not read them. I am able to get them to pull now. Thanks.

 

[itradehilton]

We went in July 2010 and my DS has Celiac so we ate GF alot. The pizza crust at Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom was fine. Mostly my DS had burgers at CS places and they came with the GF bun. Disneyworld is now my sons favorite vacation spot due to all the GF food.

 

[SDSorority]

OP, DH and I are GF. We just got back Saturday. I don't have my camera with me now, but I will post pictures tonight. I can tell you we had some GREAT chefs at the following TS places:

Raglan Road (tied for 2nd best meal of the trip)
Grand Floridian Cafe (tied for 2nd best meal of the trip)
Jiko (they have a GF menu)
La Hacienda de San Angel (BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP!)
Kona (tied for 2nd best meal of the trip)


And we had some horrible chefs at the following TS places:

The Wave (not knowledgable. He asked my DH if he wanted to try a salad dressing that had an allergy food in it, ''just to try it''. Seriously?!)
ESPN Club (rude chef- made us feel like we were really putting him off making him come out of the kitchen. We had the vegetable sandwich on a hard Ener-G bun. Good filling, bad bun)
Chefs de France (this chef was also really rude. He brought us something he 'made up', which was (HONESTLY) 1/2 of a skinned boiled potato, 1/2 of a boiled tomato, boiled green beans, and boiled spinach. No seasoning, nothing. Just plain boiled vegetables.)

 

[clanmcculloch]

I'm not sure why you think I was offended. I was trying to explain
1. Why nobody had responded to your more general question.
2. A great way to get lots of information.
3. Share info.

If I was offended, I wouldn't have shared all sorts of info about what works for us.

SDSorority, interesting about your experience at the Wave. The only time DD13 every got really sick was from the Wave. Luckily she's not anaphylactic to foods but she was throwing up all night. Was it the big white guy with dark hair and mustache, almost a living version of the chef from Lady and the Tramp? That's who served us. He didn't seem to be taking our allergies seriously (he only wrote down a few of the allergies despite a long list saying that he'd remember them) and that should have been a big red flag for us to walk out and not order but we did any she ended up sick. I've since met the wife of one of the other chefs there who knew exactly who I was talking about and didn't seem surprised at what happened. If we ever go back, I plan to find out her husband's schedule so we can be sure he's the one working when we go. I loved the menu and would really like another opportunity to eat there despite that one bad chef.

Chefs de France is our second worst experience, right after the Wave. It seems we've had many similar experiences. DD13 (11 at the time) ended up eating a bunless burger with dressingless salad that was just cut lettuce and I think maybe a tomato wedge. They gave her some fresh fruit for dessert since they had nothing else she could eat (we were on the dining plan so we wanted that dessert we were already over paying for).

 

[SDSorority]

I'm not sure why you think I was offended. I was trying to explain
1. Why nobody had responded to your more general question.
2. A great way to get lots of information.
3. Share info.

If I was offended, I wouldn't have shared all sorts of info about what works for us.

SDSorority, interesting about your experience at the Wave. The only time DD13 every got really sick was from the Wave. Luckily she's not anaphylactic to foods but she was throwing up all night. Was it the big white guy with dark hair and mustache, almost a living version of the chef from Lady and the Tramp? That's who served us. He didn't seem to be taking our allergies seriously (he only wrote down a few of the allergies despite a long list saying that he'd remember them) and that should have been a big red flag for us to walk out and not order but we did any she ended up sick. I've since met the wife of one of the other chefs there who knew exactly who I was talking about and didn't seem surprised at what happened. If we ever go back, I plan to find out her husband's schedule so we can be sure he's the one working when we go. I loved the menu and would really like another opportunity to eat there despite that one bad chef.

Chefs de France is our second worst experience, right after the Wave. It seems we've had many similar experiences. DD13 (11 at the time) ended up eating a bunless burger with dressingless salad that was just cut lettuce and I think maybe a tomato wedge. They gave her some fresh fruit for dessert since they had nothing else she could eat (we were on the dining plan so we wanted that dessert we were already over paying for).

Yep, the chef at The Wave was Chef Dylan. I can't remember if he had a mustache or not, but he did have dark hair, kind of a bigger guy. I can tell you that we'll never go back to either of those restaurants. We had a much better experience at all of the others that it's not even worth us wasting our time again.

I also emailed Disney to see if they can add more GF snacks around the parks. The "Special Diets" info sheet lists that they have GF Enjoy Life bars.... and they just may, but we couldn't FIND them. So either we have to bring a mountain of snacks with us next time...... or maybe Disney will catch on and add more.

 

[clanmcculloch]

The only CS location where I found the chocolate bars was Sunshine Seasons at Epcot. DD13 gets them every time. They only had the ones with the rice crisps though; was it you who said they couldn't eat those ones? I know somebody on this board mentioned that one time. I wonder if resort CS would get them in with advanced notice? Coral Reef has them as well for shaving over ice cream. Chef Kim there has what looks like a zester which he uses exclusively for shaving these chocolate bars over ice cream and he gives the remainder of the bar to you with your ice cream.

 

[SDSorority]

The only CS location where I found the chocolate bars was Sunshine Seasons at Epcot. DD13 gets them every time. They only had the ones with the rice crisps though; was it you who said they couldn't eat those ones? I know somebody on this board mentioned that one time. I wonder if resort CS would get them in with advanced notice? Coral Reef has them as well for shaving over ice cream. Chef Kim there has what looks like a zester which he uses exclusively for shaving these chocolate bars over ice cream and he gives the remainder of the bar to you with your ice cream.

I love the Enjoy Life bars. In fact, I ate one this afternoon for a snack at work . Hey, we got back from Disney on Saturday... I'm having withdraw.

Note to self- add Coral Reef to my dining reservations for my next trip!

 

[KristenFNJ]

It's been a long time since we've had Amy's pizza... it's not our favorite can't give a better description of the taste, and who knows, maybe it's improved? You can probably pick up one close to home and try it before hand, so you'll know whether or not you'll be wasting a meal on your vacation or you'll actually enjoy it!

I'm gathering from your post that you received the list from Special Diets that tells what counter service and carts have gluten free? My list (dated 5.31.11) does indicate that the brand is Amy's. In my opinion, I think there are a lot of g/f options! I love that I know we can eat Mickey ice creams and Dole Whips and popcorn while we're walking around, I'm so grateful they can share that kind of info with us.

As for dining experience, when you tell the cashier at the CS that you're ordering gluten free they get a manager right away. Some people don't like that they won't just take your order if you know that what you're ordering is g/f, but personally I think it's awesome to have the special attention. The manager brings out the binder with all of the nutritional information that is current, you can look through for your peace of mind, and they take the order for your whole party and call it back to a special kitchen, and it gets brought out specially to you. We have been so impressed with how seriously they take allergies and the systems in place to accommodate us.

Food-wise, we found the rotisserie chicken at Cosmic Rays to be really good. And at AK, the Flame Tree BBQ is awesome! Ener-G rolls are not our favorite, so we bring Udi's. There is a Whole Foods in Orlando, you can probably call ahead and make sure they order/have in stock any bread/rolls you may want for the week and carry them with you. (We'll be doing that our next trip in 3 weeks for sure!) I know some groceries deliver to your hotel, dont' know if WF is one of them, but it's worth asking!

 

[meandthemouse]

Hi there! I too am a former "regular eater" who was diagnosed 2 years ago. I had been to Disney numerous times before getting diagnosed. Man I miss those Churros =( Actually the last visit to Disney before getting diagnosed was in Nov. of 2006 with my mom and I was sick as a dog almost the entire time. We now laugh and call it gluten poisoning Rest assured my fellow celiac friend that you are in good hands with Disney. Definately make sure you contact Special Diets through email atleast 2 weeks prior to your trip. They will email you lists of GF foods found throughout the parks! They also answer any questions you may have. Then 2 weeks out call the Special Diets phone number to speak with a rep regarding your ressies (make them if you dont have any already) Table service is wonderful everywhere. The chef came out and spoke to me directly, asked what I like to eat and how they would accomodate me. So nice. Especially after years and years of poking and proding from doctors who didnt know what was wrong with me ( 10 years!! I got diagnosed at 21, 2 weeks after I got back from WDW)


Here was my experience:
Le Cellier- Ener G rolls, Fillet with mashed potatoes and creme brulee for dessert
Coral Reef- Ener G rolls, Mahi Mahi with rice, chocolate wave for dessert
Kona Cafe- Ate there 2x it was that good!! Ener G rolls with honey butter YUM
tuna oscar with tomatoes 1st time, teriaki siriloin 2nd time with mashed and brocolini. Dessert was my all time fave chocolate banana creme brulee
Ohana- breakfast- mickey gf waffles, fresh fruit, potatoes, bacon, sausage

For quick service make stops at flame tree bbq, sunshine seasons, abc commisionary, and backlot express. The quick service in CBR is great too if you visit there. I cant wait to try babycakes in DTD I hear its amazing! So good luck and remember, never be afraid to ask! One last thing, if you're ever in doubt, keep a few GF snacks of your own in your bag. Pretzels, cookies, energy bars are great. When you go though bag check if they ask just mention you have celiac and you'll be fine since visitors with food allergies are allowed to bring food into the park. If you have any other celiac food concerns I am more than happy to help you out. I have tested so many GF foods and have a huge stock pile of faves that I can give you the names of. It is a tricky time finding yummy GF food!

 

[Leota]

I just got home Tues. night. I have more than gluten issues (gluten, egg, dairy & peanut) and I had the best counter service meal at La Cantina San Angel/La Hacienda - whatever they are calling it during the day now. The Chef was great & so was the food!

I'm sorry to hear the negative experiences at the Wave. I have Chef Frank there & he made me the most delicious breakfast of sauteed potatoes, onions & spinach, a nice plate of allergy free bread, olive oil to dip in & some smoked salmon. It really was a fabulous breakfast & he was so wonderful. He gave me his card & said that anytime I was in WDW, to give him a call.

The thing I found most helpful was to really use the info from Special diets in choosing a location. Also, by looking at the menus ahead of time, I was able to identify places which looked to have more options for me than others. When I was able to tell a Chef - "I've looked over your menu & these are the items I think I can eat, can you do XY &Z for me?" Like at the Wave, Frank offered me the usual Van's etc.... but when I said "How about the frittata without the eggs & cheese" he brightened right up & seemed releived that I had an idea he could work with & happy that it wasn't a frozen waffle from a box.

My biggest mistake was the Chef at Flying Fish. I told him my intolerances & a couple things I have to limit & I scared him. Then I told him "I love food, make me anything" and I got very well-prepared, but very bland food. I think it was the "Anything that gives you gas, makes me feel like I have knives slashing thru my guts until I heal more" part that frightened him the most. Don't do that.

Oh, I was also very pleasantly surprised with CS at Leaning Palms in TL. The Chef came out & found he could make me some chicken tenders & french fries & a fruit cup. Later I went back to find some Rice Dream (it was listed as available on the special diets info) and when they didn't have any, the Chef felt so bad, he gave me a free fruit cup & bottle of water.

If you are nice about it & don't go at peak dining times, I think you will find it very easy to eat in WDW. I wish mine was just gluten, then I really could have chowed. As it was, I ate more than I've eaten in a long time, which made my family VERY happy.

 

[dzorn]

If you want good gluten free Mickey Waffles go to Cape May.

Denise in MI

 

[SydneyJoLynn]

Hi there!
Can you believe that there are gluten free chicken strips and fries that are so good that I find excuses to enter the park just to eat at the counter-service location?

Colombia Harbour House -- Gluten Free Chicken Strips.

I work within the park, and I may eat here once or twice a week. The chicken strips are from a wholesaler, so I don't believe you can buy them for home delivery or in a store. But they are absolutely delicious.