Has dining with food allergies outside of top 8 improved?

[stargazertechie]

Hey all,

It's been awhile since I've been on the forums. We're planning a trip next spring with my kids' auntie who has multiple complex severe food allergies. When we took my son on his first trip in 2018, he had an anaphalacitc cinnamon allergy, and at the time they pretty much refused to accommodate. No chefs would speak to us, and none of the "allergy menus" were helpful to us. Luckily he was still mostly on baby food at the time, and we just fed him pouches galore on the trip.

We're hoping that my kids' auntie will be able to eat orally again by May (she's 95% tube fed currently) and if she is, we will be balancing multiple anaphalactic food allergies incluing apple, pineapple, chocolate, banana, and tree nuts.

I'm really wanting this to be a good trip for her, but I'm terrified we're not going to find any restaurants that can accommodate her food allergies.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Hopefully someone with direct experience will chime in, our allergy meals are preference not required so it is easy for us. With a somewhat recent death at Disney Springs due to a food allergy I think they would be even less accommodating than previously. Personally with that death happening I would not trust that protocols would be followed and I would bring my own food if a reaction would be severe, not worth the risk.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

There’s a massive difference between not having those ingredients in whatever you order and not even being able to accommodate trace amounts. As stated above, when allergies are that severe the safest course of action is to provide your own food. I’m not sure where you are staying but perhaps you might consider somewhere with a kitchen (DVC villas perhaps)? Otherwise she may be stuck with prepackaged foods.

 

[WLWildlife]

I found a website for an individual who has some helpful information. I use it as a starting place. I'm not sure if I can post it since it is not affiliated with the Dis Boards. If you Google "safe Disney food" her site should come up.
My experience is Disney only focuses on contains, not cross contamination, or shared lines. Their allergy friendly line of snacks are not very friendly, often only eliminating one allergy at a time. I don't know why they aren't partnering with better allergy companies.
You may be okay with quick service, but likely better off with sit down restaurants where you can get food with whole ingredients. Personally, we prefer staying DVC and providing our own food. I hate cooking, and I am really tired of doing it, but it is the only way to ensure my food is not going to make me sick. It is expensive, so we don't travel until we have saved the money to pay for it. There are forums on this board that you can check out to get more information on renting points if you don't want to book directly through Disney.
I hope this helps. Have a great trip!

 

[Miffy]

I feel that depending on someone else to accommodate multiple food allergies, particularly if cross-contamination is part of the situation, is asking for trouble.

As other posters have said, the fix for this is to stay in a place that has a full kitchen and prepare your own foods. DVC 1- and 2-bedroom villas have full kitchens and of course certain off-site rentals will as well. You can prepare food to bring to the parks with you as well. There's no restriction on supplying your own food.

And, as a side note, this is a problem you would have vacationing anywhere.