Gluten Free reviews?

[MommaBarb]

We're planning our second trip to WDW since my DD was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Last year, I just booked our ADRs and trusted Disney to do fine. I've been reading a little more and we're eating at some new restaurants and I'm wondering there is any review of how the GF selections have been.

The one I'm most wondering about is Garden Grill, since it's family style, and I've seen some recent posts that it's not as good as others at dealing with allergies. Also, I'm wondering about dining in the World Showcase. We picked San Angel Inn because my girls will love the atmosphere and Mexican cuisine seems most suited to GF.

Any reviews of the GF offerings at those two places? Should I look for other places to eat in Epcot?

 

[disfan07]

I posted about a very negative experience at garden grill back in June. If gluten free is the only restriction, I would make sure that you are reading reviews that are also only gluten free or at least take the ones with multiple allergies with a grain of salt because the more allergies, the more complicated and more chance of mistakes.

That being said....we were in Disney for a week and the garden grill was our ONLY negative experience. But my allergies are:

Peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, shellfish, wheat, soy, dairy, oats, coconut, sesame, ginger, honey, thyme, broccoli, bananas, raw fruits, raw vegetables.

The chef was just not very friendly. Honestly, I don't think he wanted to make me anything. He just brought me out plain meat and fish and some sauted veggies...,no seasonings at all (not even sat and pepper) I didn't eat very much of it because it was very bland and dry and i didnt feel that great while eating but a couple of hours later I had a delayed reaction which for me is usually a sign of cross contamination.

My mom is allergic to beef, cod, and coconut and she had no problems after her meal, but she is not as sensitive to cross contamination as I am.

If I was just gluten free would the meal have been better....maybe. I don't know. But I was optimistic going in because the past reviews had been so great. But I think because they are so limited in the ingredients they have, it makes things more difficult. But since gluten free is so common, I would be kind of surprise if they couldn't accommodate just that dietary restriction.

But we had amazing service and food (and NO other reactions!) at every other place we ate:
The turf club
Artists palette
1900 park fare
Crystal palace
The plaza
50s prime time
Sci Fi dine in
The wave
Citricos
Cosmic rays
Columbia harbor house
Studio catering company
Sunshine seasons
Contempo cafe
Liberty tree tavern

We didn't go to the Mexican place because of my other allergens but Mexican food IMO is one of the easiest to make gluten free so I would think that would be pretty easy to accommodate but we have no personal experience there so hopefully someone else does

 

[staceycanada]

We have a gluten free son and have had a fantastic experience at all the locations we have eaten at but we have never eaten at Garden Grill, Cinderella's castle or Pepper Market because of either limited gluten free options or bad reviews.

Boma was by far our best gf (and otherwise) restaurant.

This trip there will be three gluten free people so I'm interested in others reviews.

 

[primrosea]

We are a gluten free family of four and Garden Grill is one of our favorites. We have found them to be very accomidating and the food is always fresh, tasty and plentiful. There are a couplechanges they make to the food to assure it is gluten free, like changing the gravy, but overall we find ourselves booking GG over and over.

 

[AlwaysPlanning]

our opinion of Garden Grill is: Poor
Food/chef were less than what is the normal for a Disney experience. We will never repeat this experience and I highly encourage you to make another selection. There are so many wonderful places with fantastic options for GF.

Mexico is not a Disney operated restaurant.Several of the Epcot options are not Disney operated. This is very important to consider.

We DO NOT eat at restaurants the are not Disney operated because they are not safe In our experience over the last 7 years and 15 trips. It is just like being at home! We go to Disney because it is a safe place for us to eat and not get sick. Disney chefs are very different than the "manager" that you get at these non Disney operated locations.

 

[lam21575]

My DD4 has celiacs and we ate at Garden Grill last week. Chef was very pleasant but did not offer to make her whatever she wanted like some places which is fine. He was more than willing to adjust regular menu to accommodate her being GF and luckily DD is not too picky. Brought her gF roll and He made her special plate of the adult menu...beef, turkey/pork (can't remember which it was), potatoes and green beans. We were dining w other non GF kids who were all eating Mac and cheese and they couldn't do that GF so that was hard as she loves it but other than that she was okay w her meal. Dessert wasn't anything special for her...just a enjoy life cookie but she was happy w it.

 

[mistysue]

Its so strange how experiences are so different. Of about 15 reservations we had in advance, garden grill was one of two chefs that called us in advance. (The other being t rex) Chef Steve was very nice. Their kitchen is not as fun as many locations because of yhe family style dining... so they have fewer options especially if you compare to most character meals being buffet.
My DS has many allergies, but he enjoyed Garden grill this trip. I believe they brought him some fish and chicken which is basically always what he wants. The success depends not only on the luck of the day, but what things your daughter likes.
We don't like to get allergy meals in the world showcase but as others said Mexico sounds like a good fit for GF. My daughter is obsessed with Chinese food so we have done 9 dragons successfully. (GF among others) I know a lot of people dont like to go there, but that is also why we've arrived, sat, eaten and departed in under 45 minutes even with an allergy order.

 

[cmwade77]

I think it might be good to remind everyone that if you call the restaurant directly about 48 hours in advance, they will be able to have more options. They certainly should be able to at least do a GF Mac and cheese and decent dessert.

 

[mistysue]

I think it might be good to remind everyone that if you call the restaurant directly about 48 hours in advance, they will be able to have more options. They certainly should be able to at least do a GF Mac and cheese and decent dessert.

I think they are trying to cut down on people contacting the chefs though. I was actually told by special diets in August not to contact them, that if they had questions about my form they would call. They also (within the last year) started getting pickier about even giving people the form. Diet needs are becoming more common. In 2013 I know my son had about 10 places who gave him a real dessert. This year over 14 days mostly two TS/day he had exactly vanilla rice dream and enjoy life brownie cookies. That is with most of these places knowing in advance he was coming.

ETA: if you know how to get their numbers directly that will be helpful if I still cant find anywhere else we can go by next summer. By the end of our trip DS was getting pretty bummed out by the same food and desserts in different settings every day. He is so used to not being able to eat away from home he wouldn't complain though. At least he didn't have any bad reactions this year.

 

[carolinainmymind]

We ate gluten free at garden grill last Saturday night. It is one of our favorites. We found they accommodated changes to the recommended gf option and surprised us with a great dessert. My 6 year old son has been celiac for over 2 years....Disney is the only place we go on vacation mostly bc gf is so easy there.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Curious about GF quick service meals in all the parks. I actually think I need to eat dairy free too just not 100% positive. (I recently.did an elimination diet and after I reducing dairy and non gluten grains I now have some awesome eczema). Off track...sorry. Anyway, do any of you have quick service recommendations? I head to the world Nov 28-Dec 5. I plan on eating breakfast at the resort but lunch and dinner will be in the parks.

 

[cmwade77]

I think they are trying to cut down on people contacting the chefs though. I was actually told by special diets in August not to contact them, that if they had questions about my form they would call. They also (within the last year) started getting pickier about even giving people the form. Diet needs are becoming more common. In 2013 I know my son had about 10 places who gave him a real dessert. This year over 14 days mostly two TS/day he had exactly vanilla rice dream and enjoy life brownie cookies. That is with most of these places knowing in advance he was coming.

ETA: if you know how to get their numbers directly that will be helpful if I still cant find anywhere else we can go by next summer. By the end of our trip DS was getting pretty bummed out by the same food and desserts in different settings every day. He is so used to not being able to eat away from home he wouldn't complain though. At least he didn't have any bad reactions this year.

That doesn't seem to fit in with Disney at all, we have always had them prepare something special, if needed, but admittedly it wasn't GF issues for us, but we've seen plenty do it for those with gluten issues as well. I would definitely ask to speak with a manager if that's all that was offered. Considering how much the food costs and how much they sell it for, they can definitely accommodate dietary restrictions. I would simply not accept something for dessert made by another company at a TS restaurant like that. Can you tell that I am a bit proactive when it comes to things like this? I am nice about it, but I wood find that an acceptable solution for CS locations, not TS locations that have chefs on hand.

We usually just get the phone numbers from our TA. She is very helpful when we book. But I believe there is a thread on the dining board that had most, if not all of the numbers.

 

[cmwade77]

Curious about GF quick service meals in all the parks. I actually think I need to eat dairy free too just not 100% positive. (I recently.did an elimination diet and after I reducing dairy and non gluten grains I now have some awesome eczema). Off track...sorry. Anyway, do any of you have quick service recommendations? I head to the world Nov 28-Dec 5. I plan on eating breakfast at the resort but lunch and dinner will be in the parks.

I don't know for sure about WDW, but at DL, pretty much everywhere, but the corn dog cart has GF options.

 

[mistysue]

That doesn't seem to fit in with Disney at all, we have always had them prepare something special, if needed, but admittedly it wasn't GF issues for us, but we've seen plenty do it for those with gluten issues as well. I would definitely ask to speak with a manager if that's all that was offered. Considering how much the food costs and how much they sell it for, they can definitely accommodate dietary restrictions. I would simply not accept something for dessert made by another company at a TS restaurant like that. Can you tell that I am a bit proactive when it comes to things like this? I am nice about it, but I wood find that an acceptable solution for CS locations, not TS locations that have chefs on hand.

We usually just get the phone numbers from our TA. She is very helpful when we book. But I believe there is a thread on the dining board that had most, if not all of the numbers.

TS locations have always been good about an actual meal. In 2013, for wheat, soy, egg, dairy, peanut, treenut, sesame, buckwheat and shellfish allergies they only had vanilla rice dream, syrup for it was hit and miss, and some locations offered a prepackaged cookie. Luckily, I knew that 2/3 of the cookies had buckwheat so I had to stop DS before he ate it. I pretty much packed away every momento of this year's trip and am doing my best to forget it. Last year Crystal palace made him brownies and a few places gave him babycakes, nobody did that this year. We stayed club level and it took a full week for them to start having something for him for breakfast because the chefs kept saying they were putting him on the list and dropping the ball. We skipped half a park day to get things fixed, just to need to do it again a few days later. Due to another snafu, I actually had CMs who insulted and had me in tears because they were mistaken about ticket pricing policy. I wrote and called guest services about all of these things and was thanked for my feedback but even when directly I asked if somebody could just apologize for the rudeness got a thank you for feedback response again. The sad part is were loved Disney so much before, it is the only place we can find to take our kids and I have an anxiety attack now every time I try to plan out a trip.

I guess point being when you hit certain combinations they seem to drop the ball with desserts, but you still get something. I think its the wheat.

 

[disney david]

TS locations have always been good about an actual meal. In 2013, for wheat, soy, egg, dairy, peanut, treenut, sesame, buckwheat and shellfish allergies they only had vanilla rice dream, syrup for it was hit and miss, and some locations offered a prepackaged cookie. Luckily, I knew that 2/3 of the cookies had buckwheat so I had to stop DS before he ate it. I pretty much packed away every momento of this year's trip and am doing my best to forget it. Last year Crystal palace made him brownies and a few places gave him babycakes, nobody did that this year. We stayed club level and it took a full week for them to start having something for him for breakfast because the chefs kept saying they were putting him on the list and dropping the ball. We skipped half a park day to get things fixed, just to need to do it again a few days later. Due to another snafu, I actually had CMs who insulted and had me in tears because they were mistaken about ticket pricing policy. I wrote and called guest services about all of these things and was thanked for my feedback but even when directly I asked if somebody could just apologize for the rudeness got a thank you for feedback response again. The sad part is were loved Disney so much before, it is the only place we can find to take our kids and I have an anxiety attack now every time I try to plan out a trip.

I guess point being when you hit certain combinations they seem to drop the ball with desserts, but you still get something. I think its the wheat.

Sometimes writing a letter is better then email I would write them and hopefully they call you because that not right. With email they can just send standard response and it ignore it with a letter I guess they can do the same but if you send it enough they will listen.

 

[mistysue]

Sometimes writing a letter is better then email I would write them and hopefully they call you because that not right. With email they can just send standard response and it ignore it with a letter I guess they can do the same but if you send it enough they will listen.

They did call. Among the most awkward phone calls of my life. No apology, just "we just wanted to call to thank you for your feedback."

 

[disney david]

They did call. Among the most awkward phone calls of my life. No apology, just "we just wanted to call to thank you for your feedback."

Sorry I figure if they called they he a little bit more we are sorry it happened and we want to get more details. So we can make sure it never happened again. I didn't think they just call to thank you for your feed back that sounds like a email sorry did you write someone at team Mickey.

 

[cmwade77]

They did call. Among the most awkward phone calls of my life. No apology, just "we just wanted to call to thank you for your feedback."

I would be more than a bit upset about this. Send me a pm, I may have a way that you can get some assistance with this.

 

[mistysue]

Sorry I figure if they called they he a little bit more we are sorry it happened and we want to get more details. So we can make sure it never happened again. I didn't think they just call to thank you for your feed back that sounds like a email sorry did you write someone at team Mickey.

Yes, it was every bit as weird as you could imagine. She called, said she wanted to thank me for my feed back, I said "thanks, I really appreciate you calling, it's good to know somebody cares." Then just a long pause, me saying thanks again and goodbyes.

 

[disney david]

Yes, it was every bit as weird as you could imagine. She called, said she wanted to thank me for my feed back, I said "thanks, I really appreciate you calling, it's good to know somebody cares." Then just a long pause, me saying thanks again and goodbyes.

I wonder if she thought you was someone she was supposed to call who wrote something nice. then realized it wasn't and tried to get off the phone as quick as she could. it almost sounds like she was trying to challenge you.