Info for Peanut Allergy Sufferers

[DeeCeeSW]

You're the first buffet user I've heard from to have had an incident. Hope all went well. It certainly confirms the worries we have when eating at buffets (not at WDW, but in general...i.e., Country Buffet or Sweet Tomatoes chains and others). These places lose control of cross contamination risks, and place them in the hands of the general public. It's a neat idea to ask for in-kitchen preparation...then, you're only at the mercy of a 16-year-old wearing a hairnet! (Sorry...at some point you have to laugh about this...)

Unfortunately, our chef told us it was OK for DS to eat a vegetable dish off of the buffet. Imagine our surprise when DS had an instant reaction (runny nose, hives). Turns out it was a kitchen issue (dealt with cross contamination during cooking).

Disney responded positively and bc of this incident, we know for a fact that changes were made and the staff was inserviced throughout the World. Can't go into more detail, but I will say Disney took good care of us. Again, this is one incident in 5 years, or 9 visits to WDW.

 

[Selket]

We seem to have the most problem finding safe desserts. Another trick I've learned (which might only work on little kids - my DS just turned 4) is to carry some ice cream sprinkles with us and this seems to turn anything into a magical dessert in his opinion.

I know much of the experience one has at a sit-down restaurant depends on the chefs working that day. For example Chef Mickeys was our worst dessert experience while it was gigi's best! I'm almost sure in our case it was the chef - he wasn't all that nice to begin with!

gregger - thanks for the info on the CS places you dined - I was wondering if you had mostly avoided them and it sounds like you didn't. My son is not so hard to please as long as we can find a hot dog I agree that from all the info I've seen that the hot dogs buns are safe (regular old buns) at the CS places.

 

[mom2fivecs]

Thank you so much for your posts. DS also has a peanut allergy and told WDW Dining when I called for ADR's of such...it's good to hear they generally handle things well.

 

[Mickey527]

I was wondering if any of you had noticed a mild reaction when you walk past Japan's "country"? Every time I go to Epcot I notice the strong penut oil smell permeating the air around Japan.
I would think it would cause a reaction to those that have severe allergies but I have never noticed anyone in the area react.
I work at a college in the Health center and we had a young girl come down last year because she stepped on a nut shell and the oils caused a reaction. I wound up sending her to the ER. Peggie

 

[MinnieMom]

For those questioning whether to avoid all WS restaurants, I wanted to post to let you know that I just received a phone call from Restaurant Akershus in Norway. We will be eating there during our upcoming trip and I did have the CM note ds's allergies on our ADR.

Ds is allergic to nuts, dairy, and berries. They said they could handle this by serving a grilled chicken breast with corn and potatoes and asked if that would be alright. I thought that was excellent!

Granted, we haven't actually eaten there yet so we'll have to see how it really goes, but I thought it was very positive that they called me to discuss. Since this is a princess meal, it may not appeal to everyone either, but I have a dd5 also and I need to make sure ds's food allergies don't keep us from doing things that she likes. You always have to find some kind of balance!

Anyway, just wanted to pass that info along in case anyone has considered Restaurant Akershus but decided against it not knowing if they would work with you.

 

[gigi1313]

We seem to have the most problem finding safe desserts. Another trick I've learned (which might only work on little kids - my DS just turned 4) is to carry some ice cream sprinkles with us and this seems to turn anything into a magical dessert in his opinion.

I know much of the experience one has at a sit-down restaurant depends on the chefs working that day. For example Chef Mickeys was our worst dessert experience while it was gigi's best! I'm almost sure in our case it was the chef - he wasn't all that nice to begin with!

funny you should mention Chef Mickey's 'cause the second time we were there the chef was very helpful in guiding us thru the buffet but was not seemingly very anxious to make a special dessert, so i pushily described what allan had done for us a few months prior and he duplicted it!

 

[MinnieMom]

For those that have had good dessert experiences at Chef Mickey's, would you mind describing what the chef did for you? I'd like to be able to go in prepared saying I know you have done "such and such" in the past. Could you please do that again for ds?

Hopefully then no matter which chef we get they'll be nice enough to work something out for ds.

 

[Selket]

For those that have had good dessert experiences at Chef Mickey's, would you mind describing what the chef did for you?

Check gigi's earlier post - she does describe that dessert.

I will add that the chef we spoke to at Chef Mickey's said something a bit unneccessary to us about William (what he should do and not do about his health issues). When it came to dessert he said the only thing safe was the plain vanilla ice cream - no sprinkles or anything else. I think the real issue is that he didn't want William to eat ANY dessert (William has type 1 diabetes). Some folks get type 1 and type 2 diabetes rather confused - he seemed to think we were killing him by even suggesting he have a dessert! (We are usually able to cover desserts rather well with insulin - not like we'd let him eat a pan of brownies or something though!). (And I'm not suggesting type 2's can't have dessert either!).

Frankly if you want dessert at Chef Mickey's for a PA person I'd try to contact one of the chefs there in advance and prearrange it so you don't have issues like we did - really our only negative experience dining at WDW. Just being able to have some of the sprinkles on the ice cream would have made the difference for us! The chef told us he had NOTHING else that was safe.

 

[Caylin]

I'm so glad I found this post! I was recently diagnosed with food allergies and I'm heading to WDW within two weeks. My best friend did all our ADR's and she mentioned my various allergies so they were noted. I'm really happy to hear about how accomodating the restaurants are. I was also really happy to hear about the special meal prepared in Norway. I'm allergic to fish so I'm glad to know there's an alternative so my friends and I don't have to skip it altogether!
I'm also glad to know about problems others have experienced. I'm 29 and just embarking on this interesting FA journey, so hearing from others is very comforting. I'll be sure to share my experiences, esp. since we're hitting some restaurants others have had difficulties with (Boma). Thank you all for sharing! I appreciate it.

 

[gregger77]

... The chef told us he had NOTHING else that was safe...

Exactly one of the points I made in starting this thread. We felt the same was true at Morocco...although I happily acknowledge that Moroccans are, well, nutty about nuts.

All of us with food allergies know the routine...a blanket disclaimer is a fast and easy way to make the problem go away. Certainly we see it everyday on our food packaging, as well...to the point now where it seems everything we buy "may contain traces of peanuts/tree nuts..."

I am aware of the very real risk of cross contamination even in food processing plants. I am also extremely well aware of corporate legal thinking. As the last straw...it appears that some companies have decided to cover the 'cross contamination issue" by intentionally adding peanut ingredients to non-peanut flavored foods, so that they can firmly list them as ingredients and not deal with the inherently wobbly legal position of saying "may contain..."

When you have seen "peanut flour" listed LAST on the third or fourth packaged good which, months before, did not list it, you will stop thinking of yourself as a cynic!

I know I am well off the WDW topic now...but let me thank everyone else for sharing and making this a helpful thread. I am guessing most of us subscribe to F A N -- Food Allergy Network -- whose newsletter is FULL of fantastic advice on coping strategies in and away from home. I'm not allowed to put hyperlinks in, but google that name and you'll see the link at the top. Really worthwhile!

 

[gregger77]

gregger - thanks for the info on the CS places you dined - I was wondering if you had mostly avoided them and it sounds like you didn't...I agree that from all the info I've seen that the hot dogs buns are safe (regular old buns) at the CS places.

That's right, we didn't avoid any CS restaurants but were ready with questions for places that fry foods due to the possibility of peanut oil. Strictly speaking, good quality peanut oil does not present an allergic hazard as it doesn't contain the proteins; however, lesser grades may not be safe...and you can't exactly determine this when eating out.

By the fourth day, I had picked up on the "bread isn't safe" disclaimer, which I finally interpreted as a blanket disclaimer coming from the bakery which undoubtedly also produces cookies, cakes etc. with nuts in them. I tend to agree...no reason not to enjoy a hot dog bun or pretzel, but that is purely up to the individual. My ds is 9 and knock on wood, no problems yet after all these years in theme parks, schools, birthday parties, etc etc etc. My true nightmare is when he goes off to college, and all the housemates say, "Let's order Chinese!" Or a girl he likes offers a kiss...after a lunch of peanut butter crackers unknown to him. Will the years of education and preparation pay off?

 

[gigi1313]

at nine years old, my ds is already fanatical and super-careful about any and all possible forms of contamination (even asking his g'ma if she's eaten nuts today before kissing her hello! and determined that the bottle of handsoap at my sis' was 'almond/cherry' and therefore unsafe for him to wash his hands!) and i cannot imagine that he will let his guard down as he gets older unless the allergist tells him it's safe...

for the poster that asked about a special dessert... ds received a vanilla ice cream banana split w/hidden mickey out of whipped cream and i think one time it had some sort of chocolate sauce and another time it had some fresh berries on it...

also, i'm very cautious about cross-contamination and although some of the candy toppings on the ice cream buffets are safe, once they've sat next to the snickers or whatever, we won't take the chance... at hollywood and vine, although the chef initially attempted to "blow me off" and told me that the ice cream from the machine was find, i told him in no uncertain terms that i was reluctant to even use the bowls that have sat out and been touched so he not only brought ds a bowl of ice cream (i believe it was actually rice dream) from the kitchen but brought the entire five pound bag of non-pareils candy topping so i could read the label and dump some in a bowl for ds to top his ice cream with... it seems that in the event they are reluctant to go out of their way, once you let them know that you expect them to accommodate you/your child, they do!

garden grill brought all four of us itzakadoozie ice pops, which the waiter made a big deal about "presenting" them to us with some help from the characters... it was great fun!

oh! and when we were at lecellier, the 7yo boy of the family we were with was teasing ds that he couldn't have any "fun" desserts [totally separate argh there!] (there were things safe for ds but nothing "fun" like the s'mores or moose) i asked our waiter to inquire about just the marshmallow portion of the s'mores and lo and behold it was safe and he brought ds a big plate full of just marshmallow sprinkle skewers, much to ds' delight

hope that helps... feel free to ask some more

 

[gigi1313]

oh, and p.s., i'd rather have a blanket disclaimer than have a fatal mistake made... but that's just me... i might treat it differently if it were *my* allergy and not my child's, kwim?