How am I doing this wrong? (critique needed, allergy ordering)

[mistysue]

I have concluded the problem is me, so I would like suggestions here.
My son has allergies to wheat, soy, dairy, egg, peanut, some treenuts, sesame, buckwheat, and tests positive to shellfish but we haven't confirmed it, we avoid it because I can't eat shellfish anyways.

Basically, when we go to eat at Disney if it's a counter service we tell them we have an allergy order and they page a chef. It then goes something like this:
Chef: "Hello, somebody needed a chef?"
Me: "Yes, this one here, we made a card" I point to son and have a business card with allergens listed. They look at the card for a second.
Then one of four things has happened-
1) "We have chicken tenders if he would like those" (Hurricane Hannas did a chicken breast) (Col. Harbor House, Backlot express)
2) Resort CS (except Beach club marketplace, which did #3) has waffles, pasta, chicken or fish
3) "There really isn't anything we can do for you, I suggest you go ____" (happened at Pinnochio Village Haus, that sandwich place by the kid's play area at HS, BC Marketplace- actual CM words were "we don't do special orders")
4) "We can not serve anybody here who does not eat shellfish due to the risk of airborn cross contamination." (CHH one time, out of numerous times the same week they did the chicken tenders)

How are people asking for food? What are we doing wrong? When in the parks, we have been turned away from more locations than have served us. I have learned that trace soy is not bothering DS, so the time we didn't tell Casey's about the allergies, they gave us a bun free hot dog for our "picky" kid. Earlier that day they told me that the hot dog wasn't soy free so they could offer only side items. (meaning carrots and grapes only)

When turned down, we usually say thank you and hurry ourselves out before DD gets set on the idea of where we are. (she resents her brother if she realizes she was going to eat and his issue gets in the way)

Except the time we cheated to get a hot dog, he has not eaten CS in a park that wasn't allergy tenders.

At Table service, he gets offered exactly chicken or fish (Mahi mahi or salmon every time) with sides of steamed rice and steamed veggies. Dessert is Rice dream occasionally with syrup. Sometimes he ends up with allergy tenders and fries, Mama Melrose gave him pasta. DS is used to people not knowing what to do with him, so when the chef says "I can do chicken with steamed rice and veggies, does that sound good" His response is "Whatever you can give me" or "as long as it's safe." Maybe one time he asked for corn instead of broccoli.
I would like him to have some sort of variety, how are other people asking for food? Every time I see reviews they are more exciting. I have wanted to do food reviews before but our menu is so boring it seems like a waste of time to show 40 pictures of the same plate.
We aren't very pushy, so when they offer we just sort of go "ok." In the past sometimes his ice cream has come with cookies, but he is now allergic to the "enjoy life" too. We have not had TS or CS offer us babycakes with the exception of one meal that I recall. (we are talking one of out about 60 TS with him) It has happened a number of times that his dessert has come with a prepackaged item he was allergic to.

So how would you try to improve this? Should I be more assertive? Do you ask questions differently? I know I can be a little confrontational online, but I have a lot of social anxiety in person so in the moment it's more like a sheepish person handing over a business card and waiting anxiously for what they can do to help. Then smiling and nodding.

Are other people going in to the same places, listing allergies and being offered an assortment of things? Or do they start out saying "we have allergy tenders" and you have to ask for more? Are babycakes being offered, or do you have to actually ask by name for allergy foods? I keep reading that if you go to a CS (or one post now says any resort) they will bring in food, or go run for it. Is this being offered to you? Or are you asking them to go get you something? Because they have been telling us to go get it. If I stormed in, irate and demanded things I wouldn't be surprised but I am waiting in line and asking like a normal kind person. We stayed at the YC, were told by the BC marketplace they had nothing for DS, asked the concierge if there was any option for a quick service and were told there was nothing at the BC/YC for us and to try EPCOT or Kouzzina. (this was during the HH construction so that wasn't there)
We go at off times. Lunch in the 11-11:30 range, dinner is usually close to 4:30- during late August when we are the only customer or one of 2-3 groups. Is it really just me having crappy luck, or am I missing something that makes other people get offers of better food?

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

First let me say that I don't have a ton of allergies so no experience with that, but I eat a fairly limited diet due to mild intolerance and metabolism. I also know social anxiety and don't like to make waves or come across as rude. I used to use the "what can you do?" Approach, but like you and your son often ended up disappointed.

I would suggest you explain the allergies with the card and then ask for something specific. Since your son is used to whatever they can do he likely won't be too disappointed if they say no as he's no worse off than before.

If you ask "can you do x,y,z?" They may still not be able to but they would have a starting point to come up with something more interesting. When you leave it all up to them they are likely to just present the easiest solution for them and see if it sticks.

At CS ask for the specific packaged stuff you want. Nobody will ever be as diligent in presenting all the options as you can be in knowing what they are and asking since you have a much higher stake in it.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

That is a varied and complicated list of allergies. It is not going to be easy for those to be accommodated with any type of variety, especially by counter service restaurants that have a limited range of items available, and some of which cannot prepare special items.

If you want babycakes dessert items, ask for them specifically. Not everyplace is going to have them available though. I would doubt that all these places actually have them, but are neglecting to offer them.

And you may just have to learn to say "He enjoys the tenders, but he has had them eight times already. Is there a way you can provide him with something different?"

Not much you can do about places that can't handle the cross-contamination issue.

 

[clanmcculloch]

The places where they turned you away are places I've intentionally not gone to be cause the options look very limited to non-existant. That must be why we haven't had the same thing happen to us.

When we stayed at BC I was basically told when I spoke to a chef ahead of time that I shouldn't waste my time at BC Marketplace for hot food an that tenders would be our only option at HH. The one time we ate at Backlot Express we intended to get tenders as well so I'm not sure what other options might be there. These days we always eat TS at DHS so I haven't paid attention to options for CS. We've never been to Pinnoccio's. One time we did try to get a brownie at Starring Rolls (it was on the reference sheet that they had them) but they didn't even have that. As far as I knew, that was the only thing I expected to find there (this was back when they had French Meadow and DD16 could still eat eggs so she was able to eat the brownies).

We've had great experience at every other resort CS besides BC, just like it sounds as though you have as well.

Looking over the allergy reference sheets, I really don't recall options other than tenders that would work for us at CHH so we've never actually asked about anything else. If we're planning to eat there then the plan is to get tenders. There are other places where the only other option would be burgers on allergy buns though only one of my kids can eat Udi's and neither can eat Ener-G or GNI so I generally don't think of burgers in the parks. We really don't typically eat burgers at WDW.

Short version is that our CS experience really isn't much different than your other than the fact that I know what's available where before we go and I only go to where I know we can get something we like.

At TS locations my kids eat adult meals. Back when they were still eating kids meals, there really weren't alternatives for the most part so the chefs basically whipped up something small that was sort of an equivalent. We did have chefs get creative and try to do things like chicken tenders for us but they would pretty much just offer to prepare whatever protein, starch, and vegetable that the kids asked for as long as it was on the menu and available in the kitchen. I go over menus before booking ADRs to make sure that there will be options that can be easily made into something they like. If I don't see anything like that then I don't book the ADR.

As you can see I do a lot of leg work before we ever get to WDW but it really does pay off during our trips.

I have NEVER heard that if you go to a CS location that they'll run to get food from elsewhere. NEVER!!!! I have had a couple TS chefs send runners to nearby places to get a thing or two but it's something they've offered; I would never think to ask and I would never expect it.

I never think to ask for Babycakes products. Unless a chef suggests it, I'm generally not aware that they have it. My kids eat a lot of Tofutti with Enjoy Life cookies, sprinkles, and chocolate sauce.

 

[mistysue]

Thank you. I am going to start keeping more tabs on what sort of things people are getting to know which "X, Y, Z" to suggest he ask for to see if that helps.

I have been trying to coach him a bit at home. Every day now I ask him what he wants for each meal and make him actually answer. He always says "I don't care" - but he does based on responses. Sometimes after "I don't care" he has come back with "I was hoping for this!" when I serve food. If you hoped for something specific... you cared.

 

[Gracie09]

This may be stupid to ask, because you probably have done this, but have you checked the menus on all ears? That way you know what is in the menu and can see if an easy modification would work.

 

[mistysue]

Good to know I'm not awkwardly not being offered normal things.
I feel a bit less strange about it now. I am probably noticing when people make comments about something special just because I haven't noticed much of it. I don't really feel like there's anything wrong with nothing being super special, it just stings when it looks like other people are getting more help, if that makes sense.

Our overall food experiences I still rate as good because I too sit around before we go making sure our ADR's will work so we can all eat. I was trying to figure out how to cut costs on our last trip resulting in CS food hunting and I'm thinking if I need to cut our food cost in the future it really means a shorter trip because we are so TS dependent.

Those reference sheets just make me sad by the time I cross reference them. I made a list of all the options we had that was basically just a list of allergy tender locations. Then for a full picture you have to try to fill it in guessing which things on which menus are pre-assembled, leaves me wishing I had a personal chef to just make us all food on our trip.

 

[eliz603]

Have you requested the special foods list from special diets? I'm not sure how helpful they will be because you'd have to cross reference the lists, but it might help when planning.

For example, my older kids want to eat at Pizza Planet. We couldn't because of our allergy toddler, but now the list says that Pizza Planet offers an OMG Bakery pizza, and they have an Udi's crust. However, the nut free papers said only the Udi's pizza was safe. I then went on the OMG website, and the pizza is nut free (my guess is that maybe it's produced in a facility that has nuts, but that doesn't bother my son). So this will work for us.

Perhaps if your child can handle the Udi's crust, and you can confirm that Pizza Planet has dairy free cheese, maybe this would be an option? I don't have the dairy list to check.

I've also picked up on the various boards that I need to be careful about how I describe the allergy to whomever. Like people who are dairy free have complained about being stuck with HAVING to get a GF crust, not just a reg crust with dairy free cheese. This might not work if you are truly having to avoid all these things completely, entirely (my DH just found out he is allergic to soy. He avoids but can handle eating it in small amounts.). For me, to continue the Pizza Planet example, I probably will just stick to revealing the GF allergy since I'm not really worried about someone throwing a handful of almonds on my kid's pizza.

 

[mistysue]

This may be stupid to ask, because you probably have done this, but have you checked the menus on all ears? That way you know what is in the menu and can see if an easy modification would work.

I start there with picking where to try. Thank you for suggesting it.
It just feels like every time I look at pictures or read a review (for allergy orders) all the food seems so much more interesting. Based on these couple responses it is probably not so much reality as trying to compare and different circumstances.

 

[SMD]

Have you requested the special foods list from special diets? I'm not sure how helpful they will be because you'd have to cross reference the lists, but it might help when planning.

For example, my older kids want to eat at Pizza Planet. We couldn't because of our allergy toddler, but now the list says that Pizza Planet offers an OMG Bakery pizza, and they have an Udi's crust. However, the nut free papers said only the Udi's pizza was safe. I then went on the OMG website, and the pizza is nut free (my guess is that maybe it's produced in a facility that has nuts, but that doesn't bother my son). So this will work for us.

Perhaps if your child can handle the Udi's crust, and you can confirm that Pizza Planet has dairy free cheese, maybe this would be an option? I don't have the dairy list to check.

I've also picked up on the various boards that I need to be careful about how I describe the allergy to whomever. Like people who are dairy free have complained about being stuck with HAVING to get a GF crust, not just a reg crust with dairy free cheese. This might not work if you are truly having to avoid all these things completely, entirely (my DH just found out he is allergic to soy. He avoids but can handle eating it in small amounts.). For me, to continue the Pizza Planet example, I probably will just stick to revealing the GF allergy since I'm not really worried about someone throwing a handful of almonds on my kid's pizza.

I would be careful with this, as Disney's crust may be different than the ones they sell directly to consumers.

An example, the sausages at Village Haus at DL come in a pork casing when you buy the same brand at the supermarket. But Disney special orders them from the manufacturer in a lamb casing.

Now, I don't know why they would intentionally put nuts into something, unless they're trying to remove some other allergen and adding some ingredient with nuts was the best/only way. But I would err on the side of caution and heed Disney's warning.

 

[eliz603]

I would be careful with this, as Disney's crust may be different than the ones they sell directly to consumers.

An example, the sausages at Village Haus at DL come in a pork casing when you buy the same brand at the supermarket. But Disney special orders them from the manufacturer in a lamb casing.

Now, I don't know why they would intentionally put nuts into something, unless they're trying to remove some other allergen and adding some ingredient with nuts was the best/only way. But I would err on the side of caution and heed Disney's warning.

I hear you. But believe me when I say I've done my due diligence, and I'm comfortable with this specific example. I've even contacted OMG. This doesn't always work, but with my child and his specific reactions, coupled with my experience with this brand and Disney, I'm okay here. As an allergy mom, I'm all about doing my research and doing what's best for him.

 

[brown1442]

My son has multiple food allergies (peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, gluten, and zucchinis). We don't eat at CS restaurants after being turned away a few years back. Plus I wasn't comfortable with their cross contamination statements. Now we use the deluxe dining plan and only eat at TS places.

We've NEVER encountered any issues at TS places. My son eats like a KING while we are there. Most chefs come out and ask what he WANTS to eat. He's gotten chicken breast, chicken wings, chicken fingers, steak, pork, hot dogs, pasta, varieties of potatoes (roasted, boiled, fried... he won't eat mashed), rice, veggies, fruits, etc... not to mention breakfast foods. Desserts are iffy admittedly... most 1 credit places only have Rice Dream but a lot of the 2 credit places have a different selection to offer (he's gotten brownies, cookies, sorbets, etc).

 

[spacecanada]

With so many allergies, I think you need to do a lot of pre-work. Even with our multiple top-8 allergens, we not expect them to be able to accommodate us without advance notice. With allergens that are less common, it becomes even trickier.

Have you made dining reservations at least two weeks in advance and noted all of these allergies on the reservation? You can call Special Diets and talk to the chef to come up with some options ahead of time as well, so the kitchen knows you are coming and can prepare something for you. They can tell you what options exist at the counter service places too, but with so many allergies, I wouldn't rely on counter service as they have very limited ingredients. If you call ahead they can at least give you the allergy list and you can tell which locations will have safe options.

We've had great success with peanut, tree nut, egg, dairy-free vegetarian meals. (Curry with rice, stir fry with rice, french fries, pasta and sauce, burritos, and a few other things. We look at the menus ahead of time and talk to special diets to maximise the variety. If your child eats meat the options should be much greater.) We never expect a wide variety of foods like we could make at home because restaurants have limited ingredients to work with and some of the allergy-safe products aren't safe for us (i.e. Bob's Red Mill). We also bring a lot of our own snacks and eat a lot of fresh fruit in the parks.

If finding safe food is proving difficult, have you considered a hotel room with a kitchen and having groceries delivered to your room? We've done this before to make breakfast and dinner easier and less stressful.

 

[Random Ninja]

I know what you mean Misty. It's so frustrating to see all these cool allergy meals people get and then realizing that you (or your kids) could never have it. I can't have gluten, dairy, tapioca, mustard, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, seafood, shellfish, and I've tested positive to soy and brazil nuts. Getting anything other than a plain protein, fruit, and a plain veggie is rare and quite difficult even at TS.

I think I've run into the same chef you have at CHH. He didn't want to prepare anything for me either until he realized that there wasn't anywhere on Disney property that could be completely safe for me. My tapioca allergy is anaphylactic and airborne sensitive which makes me allergic to every single french fry at wdw. (I wear a mask in the parks.) He finally agreed to make something at LTT since it was between sittings. I received a full to-go box and a recommendation to go eat on TSI or by the Frontierland train stop. The chef was more paranoid then I was.

Several places have told me that they can't accommodate my allergies including every count-service in world showcase except for America and all the Epcot resort CS. I don't even bother trying at the CS at CR and GF or at DHS. I will say that the Poly has been absolutely wonderful when it comes to food and Captain Cooks is my favorite CS.

I'm at wdw about once a month and I'll be happy to ask the chefs/managers if it'll help. I used to do a food review thread and I really need to get back into updating it.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I start there with picking where to try. Thank you for suggesting it.
It just feels like every time I look at pictures or read a review (for allergy orders) all the food seems so much more interesting. Based on these couple responses it is probably not so much reality as trying to compare and different circumstances.

Sometimes I worry that my dining reviews might give that impression to people because we have had some special things done for us.

We've eaten CS meals that are more than just chicken tenders. But, here's the scenarios. Most of our CS meals are at our resorts. Like you've experienced, CS locations at resorts can do a heck of a lot. One other CS that is must-do for us is Sunshine Seasons in Epcot. You do get to talk to an actual chef plus they've got a bunch of stuff that's already free of most if not all top 8 allergens plus a bunch of other stuff. The majority of the stuff from the grill station is safe for us without any alterations even with our laundry lists of allergies. They really are amazing there. Other than these and getting chicken tenders, the only other CS we really do is chicken and/or ribs at Cosmic Rays or Flame Tree BBQ without any sauce. That's the extent what we do for CS. We know where we'll have good experiences and we stick with that.

When ordering, I do try to have each of us tell the chef something on the menu that looks appealing so that they can use that as a guide for our preferences. They typically come up with some unique version of that item. While it's not some big special dish, to us it feels that way and I know I tend to gush a bit. For me it's the huge deal of getting something that is so "normal" and yummy outside of home. It's a heck of a lot more than just plain grilled protein with steamed vegetables but it's not some "out there" request either if you get what I'm saying. Chefs will let you know if they can come up with something similar to what you're pointing to on the menu and they'll let you know what kind of alterations they'll have to make assuming they can make it. If they can't make something similar then usually they can suggest something with somewhat of a similar flavour profile or else using a similar protein or if you're pointing to a pasta dish then something different they can do with the pasta, or...... there really are a lot of suggestions they'll make if you point out things on the menu that look interesting to you.

A few resort chefs have gone out of their way to do special things for us. We eat a lot of meals at our resorts so chefs do seem to like doing things. I actually just today spoke with a pastry chef at AKL. You have no idea (or maybe you do) how excited I am. It actually shocks me some of the things that they always have on hand that are safe for our numerous allergies (vegan rice pudding though with berries instead of the fruit salsa since that has something we can't have, vegan panna cotta) plus she offered to make a few other things because we have so many ADRs at the resort (5 ADRs there during our trip) plus we'll be eating at Mara several times. When we stayed at FW a chef ordered a bunch of Babycakes stuff just for us for our HDDR and multiple Trail's End ADRs because we had several ADRs at our resort that time as well. Most times that something that I consider really over the top special (like the things I just mentioned) have been done for us, it's been at the resort we're staying at where we have multiple ADRs plus we'll be eating several CS meals there. As I said, I do worry about these kinds of things being perceived as typical and they're not. They are very much the exception.

 

[RubyV]

Honestly, don't do CS.

We have just returned - my daughter is extremely dairy allergic, and in extremely seafood allergic. CS just doesn't work we wound up doing TS, worth ADR whenever possible.

Be up front with the chef. Let them know if you are sick of something, but, they are also working to si the best they can. I don't get anything in a deep fryer often, because of cross contamination risk. Most places actually don't have Babycakes.

My daughter would say "I like x, I'm tired of y. What can we do?" She is ten.

 

[Talking Hands]

I am dairy and shellfish allergic and have been able to eat at CS without problems. I do tend to get more unusual dishes or rather plain dishes. The one restaurant I do avoid is the TS in Japan. Just too risky.

 

[mistysue]

A few resort chefs have gone out of their way to do special things for us. We eat a lot of meals at our resorts so chefs do seem to like doing things. I actually just today spoke with a pastry chef at AKL. You have no idea (or maybe you do) how excited I am. It actually shocks me some of the things that they always have on hand that are safe for our numerous allergies (vegan rice pudding though with berries instead of the fruit salsa since that has something we can't have, vegan panna cotta) plus she offered to make a few other things because we have so many ADRs at the resort (5 ADRs there during our trip) plus we'll be eating at Mara several times. When we stayed at FW a chef ordered a bunch of Babycakes stuff just for us for our HDDR and multiple Trail's End ADRs because we had several ADRs at our resort that time as well. Most times that something that I consider really over the top special (like the things I just mentioned) have been done for us, it's been at the resort we're staying at where we have multiple ADRs plus we'll be eating several CS meals there. As I said, I do worry about these kinds of things being perceived as typical and they're not. They are very much the exception.

The year babycakes opened we drove the entire 20 hours (and spent months building up) repeatedly mentioning how DS was going to be able to walk into a shop and get cupcakes. We actually went there before even checking in. It was pretty cool that he teared up when looking at the case, and it's not that exciting of an environment.

I'm glad to see the Poly mentioned in another reply here. We are planning a Poly trip this year and I've been excited, but it made me nervous when somebody suggested they might do work in the GCH, I really want Captain Cook's to be open.

I do ADR's at 180 days to get the times we like, it sounds like maybe if I do more repeats of the same places we've loved there may be better options for us. I'm so glad it's not just me with the park CS. I've had a bit of guilt thinking DS was missing out from my bad luck.

 

[mistysue]

Honestly, don't do CS.

We have just returned - my daughter is extremely dairy allergic, and in extremely seafood allergic. CS just doesn't work we wound up doing TS, worth ADR whenever possible.

Be up front with the chef. Let them know if you are sick of something, but, they are also working to si the best they can. I don't get anything in a deep fryer often, because of cross contamination risk. Most places actually don't have Babycakes.

My daughter would say "I like x, I'm tired of y. What can we do?" She is ten.

It surprises me you had trouble with just dairy and seafood. I'm sorry that didn't work out. It seems to me a lot of the posts that are the most enthusiastic about how great Disney is are for lists of 1-3 allergies.

 

[eliz603]

Since I posted about the OMG pizza in here and got a little heat about it, here's the response I got back from OMG directly regarding the pizza they serve at Disney. As I suspected, it's produced in a facility that has tree nuts, although they say they use best practices to keep the food safe. This works for my kid and his specific situation.

So yes, I feel safe with my kid eating it, even though it's not on the nut free menu. OP, you may find that a little digging on some of these brands, including contacting the company, may help a bit when trying to find new foods!



Our pizza at Disney is tested and certified at below 2.5 parts per million and is considered by the industry as peanut free. However, rigorous manufacturing practices are used to safely isolate product in a facility containing tree nuts.

Chocolate chip cookie, dairy free chocolate chip cookie, butterscotch cookie, blueberry muffin, banana chocolate chip muffin, fudge brownie, & sugar free fudge brownie are also tested and certified at below 2.5 parts per million and are considered by the industry as peanut free. Our bakery items are manufactured in a facility that does not contain tree nuts.