Gluten Free snacking in the World...

[hkeller27]

Hi! This will be my first trip being gluten free (diagnosed Celiac 9/2010). I have a pretty good idea of everything I'll be able to eat - but I thought I'd ask about experiences with GF snacks. We are on the dining plan.

Also, looking for any experience with GF quick breakfasts. Gone are the days of grabbing a bagel or muffin to eat in the room before heading out for the day. I might just bring my own box of cereal with me, but it is vacation after all!

Thanks!

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Hi! This will be my first trip being gluten free (diagnosed Celiac 9/2010). I have a pretty good idea of everything I'll be able to eat - but I thought I'd ask about experiences with GF snacks. We are on the dining plan.

Also, looking for any experience with GF quick breakfasts. Gone are the days of grabbing a bagel or muffin to eat in the room before heading out for the day. I might just bring my own box of cereal with me, but it is vacation after all!

Thanks!

I'd like to know this as well - not Celiac, but gluten/lactose intolerant.

I have not been to WDW since diagnosed.

I've been eating the same breakfast for almost 10 months now (oatmeal with some brown sugar, blueberries and almond slivers) along with some vanilla flavour Soy Milk. I really enjoy it and it's filling.

Eating lunch and dinner is always more of an issue

 

[koolaidmoms]

I am getting ready to make our first trip to WDW since my DS (7) has gone GF and food dye free. I am using:

Gluten Free and Dairy Free (with some pictures)

Gluten Free Dining Guest Experiences.

As a guide. Hope this helps some.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Love that blog!

We bring quick food for our resort just because we like light breakfasts and we like to get up and dressed quickly in the morning and I don't feel like shlepping down to the food court to pick something up. I'm lazy first thing in the morning. Larabars and Glutino cereal bars are great for being able to throw them in a suitcase and also for being able to just grab on the way to the bus stop in the morning. Easy peasy!

If you do want to be able to go down to your food court and get food, let Special Diets know that you'll be eating breakfast at your resort every day and that you'd like to know what foods will be available. You'll get an email from a chef at the resort to discuss your preferences. They can get Kinnikinnick muffins or bagels (gluten and milk free and REALLY tasty). They can definitely make waffles or plenty of other types of breakfast foods for you if you're willing to wait for them to be cooked, but things like waffles and bagels are much faster. I would bet they could get Tofutti cream cheese as well considering that they already order ice cream from Tofutti. Chefs at resorts really are AMAZING. Chef Dan at Pop even helped me find a better bread for DD12 (she's got a complicated list of foods that she needs to avoid; he found on I hadn't looked at before and it turned out to be so much better than what she was eating at the time). Resorts also carry Ener-G bread products and can even make french toast if that's something you'd like and would be willing to wait for. Remember, it really does take a lot longer to get an allergy meal than it does for everybody else. This is why I really prefer to just bring breakfast foods with me or order from Garden Grocer.

 

[robert@dvcstore]

A new bakery just opened at Downtown Disney at WDW. It is located in the space previously occupied by McDonald's. Here is there website:

http://www.babycakesnyc.com/2010/11/its-truebabycakes-nyc-now-in-downtown-disney.html

I was just at their bakery in New York City last week looking for sugar free items. The specialize in gluten free and sugar free baked good. The cupcakes were very good.

Robert

 

[mfd25wife]

Not just about snacks, but definitely remind them when you get to the restaurant that you cannot eat gluten. We did find the prepackaged snacks at WDW mentioned any allergy issues including wheat, soy, nuts, tree nuts, etc. I just returned from my first gluten free trip to WDW Sunday. They were really great about it. The chefs all came out and talked to me at the full service/buffets. The Boma chef (Lance, I believe) pointed out what I could have and also offerred to make me mickey mouse waffles. They were really good. I learned there to ask about the sausage at all WDW breakfast meals. Boma uses gluten to bind their sausage so it is off limits. They had a lot of options in most cases. The managers came out at the CS places. The only one I was disappointed in was La Hacienda. They did not deal well at all with it. We had to insist on seeing the chef, and it took three times of asking. The server tried to tell me what I could eat, but since he did not understand what being a vegetarian meant for another in our group, I did not have any faith in his knowledge. I really didn't care for the chef's attitude there, but she is the only one we had any issues with at all.

 

[clanmcculloch]

You know, I got so focussed on answering about breakfast that I didn't answer anything about snacks.

When you contact Special Diets, they'll send you an email with a bunch of attachments. These attachments will include lists of gluten free snack foods around WDW as well as where they can be found in each park (resorts should carry a variety as well). Among the many snacks you'll find will be brownies (French Meadow), cookies (French Meadow or Enjoy Life), crispy rice chocolate bars (Enjoy Life), caramel corn, popcorn, popsicles, jelly beans and so much more. Take your time looking through the lists. I like to print off a spreadsheet containing lists of safe food indicating where in each park I can find each allergy safe food. This includes snacks and CS dining foods (including chicken tenders, hamburger buns, fries, roasted chicken, ribs, etc). I've found that having this list helps for 2 reasons. 1. When we're hungry I know we won't have to wait in line then look through the allergy book to find out if there's even anything that my kids can eat (if not then we'd have to leave and start the process over elsewhere which is NOT fun when hungry). 2. CMs don't always even know what they carry in CS locations. I've had to educate CMs about what they actually carry in their locations based on what Special Diets has sent to me.

 

[ambertides]

You can search the DISabilities board for gluten free and there's a ton of info there as well.

AFAIK, Babycakes doesn't take the dining plan (yet?) but it's SO worth the stop anyway.

The flavored nuts, Dole whips, kaki goris were also GF last time I checked in with Special Diets about them.

ETA: For breakfast I often grab something like the Nature Valley Nut Crunch bars or make Rice Chexpie treats to bring (just like rice krispy treats, but with Chex) and some fruit. Or stop at Babycakes for a donut. But for something healthier, I grab those individual packets of peanut butter and have one of those on a banana or apple.

 

[KS Dis Mom]

I have been to the world 3 times (last time 2 weeks ago) since being wheat/gluten intolerated, I do the following.....

Go to the disAbility thread. We did a search of GF snacks on line (gluten free disney world) and came up with a list for snacks at each park.

We eat breakfast in our room. I bring my own cereal and GF snacks. I do pack in my suitcase (with bowls/spoons/forks/plastic cups) all this stuff for the time I am at the World. All the space that is taken up by this stuff on the trip there I use for gifts on the trip back. Many of my snacks were for fruit - pineapple/bananas/oranges (better quality of fruit than what I can buy in NW KS in the winter). The usual dessert for a QS meal will be a Straw Yoplait Yogurt.

Our family really loves meeting all of the chefs at the TS meals. I have pictures of them pointing at me whenever the chef came to the table!

If you have any more questions, please message me.

Enjoy your trip!