Is the Dining Plan good if you have multiple food allergies?

[stackyallred]

This will be our 10th trip to WDW in 9 years but this will be my first trip with my newly diagnosed food allergies. The big ones I need to avoid are wheat, peanut, soy and egg. I need to try to avoid dairy if possible but it is an intolerance, not a true allergy like the others. We have used the dining plan on several trips and enjoy the freedom we have with it (we really like to know that we don't have to worry about how much each meal will cost). My question is- Has anyone had a good experience with using the dining plan and eating an allergy free meal? I know that WDW is great about accommodating allergies but I guess I am afraid we will pay for the plan and then they will tell me that they can fix me something but it won't be included in the dining plan- meaning I will end up paying out of pocket on top of paying for the dining plan.

I know counter service restaurants are a different situation and they aren't able to accommodate you as well- I am referring mostly to the table service restaurants, but if anyone has any advice/insight on any of the dining plan meals and allergies, it would help me to decide what to do.

Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

Being on the dining plan will not impact whether the chefs will prepare an allergen-free meal for you - it makes no difference.

 

[Cuddlemama]

I think that one of the best reasons to purchase the DDP is allergy-specific dining needs.

Gluten free meals at quick service (and gluten free products at some table service) are more expensive than traditional products. Same with dairy free or various other allergen-free products. Those products do not result in an upcharge on the DDP.

My gluten free child (now almost 8, but traveling to WDW since she was 4 months old) would have to pay almost as much for 1 appropriate counter service meal in cash as we do for a day of dining for her, including a cs, amazingly attentive table service, and an appropriate snack.

 

[clanmcculloch]

We've got laundry lists of allergies in my family as well. We've done well with dining plans in the past and we've also done well without. Your allergy food will definitely be covered by your dining credits without exception. Here's my take on the pros and cons with food allergies.

Pros

• Some allergy foods are subject to a higher price than their allergy free counterparts but with a dining plan credit you just pay using a credit with no added cost.
• At resort CS locations, chefs have a lot of ability to customize a safe meal for you. When using dining credits, you don't have to worry about just how that off menu meal will be rung into the computer since you'll just be paying with a credit.
• Babycakes at DTD accepts dining plan snack credits. Feel free to use up LOTS of your snack credits there.

Cons

• Not all restaurants (more an issue at CS than TS) will carry a safe dessert. Using a credit, you have to choose a dessert option at that location meaning the dessert alotment feels wasted. You generally have the option of a bottled drink or fruit at CS but if you really want a dessert then you have to use a snack credit elsewhere.
• If the restaurant you're at (more an issue at CS than TS) doesn't have a side that you can eat and actually want (for instance the fries have soy but next door may have a baked potato), if using a dining credit then you're forced to get the whole meal together and you can't really get a la carte options without really wasting your credits.
• Dessert options at restaurants (both TS and CS) are pretty much the same everywhere. It gets old. Fast. Because of the dining plan, many feel obligated to order that dessert because it's been paid for. Again, it'll get OLD. Especially since you also have egg allergies as almost all of the allergy baked goods have eggs these days. Basically, you'll be eating a LOT of Rice Dream ice cream and the odd Enjoy Life cookie where available.

Like those without allergies, I'd think about how you want to eat on vacation and run some rough numbers to see if a dining plan even makes sense for you. We'll continue to use a dining plan when free dining is the best promotion available to us at the time based on the resort and dining preferences we have for that trip but I double we'll EVER pay for a dining plan again mainly because we can eat the exact same way even as the plan prescribes and still spend less money because we prefer very light breakfast, TS lunch and CS dinners which overall doesn't add up to the cost of the plan for 4 adults even with allergies.

 

[hippieck12]

My son has dairy and egg allergies, the last time we were there we did the quick service and it worked out fine with us, the chef at our resort (Pop) was fantastic, two days into our trip he would just come out and greet my son with "Hi Cory - what would you like today" We ate at Crystal Palace (out of pocket) and that chef also was great, Cory was getting tired of eating rice dream for dessert so they baked him this huge cupcake (more like a small cake!) he couldn't finish it all and we brought it back to our room, I tried some and it was yummy! We are going back in August with the quick service plan again, can't wait!

 

[stackyallred]

Thank you to each of you for your posts! We went ahead and reserved POP and decided to go during free dining. I've been doing lots of research to see what I can ask for at each reservation. Looks like the only thing I will really miss is dessert which is hard because that was always my favorite part of the dining plan... but I plan to make lots of desserts ahead of time and take with me so I won't feel like I am missing too much. Plus, I am hoping I really like Babycakes and get a few things there. Thanks again!

 

[jlr9882]

I loved having the dining plan for my son. He was 4 when we went a couple years ago. Every place treated him like a Prince. Pop was great, and the chef called us several times before our trip to prepared for him. My son has over 20 food allergies, so he is very limited on what he can eat. Because of that, he really can't eat any of the kid's meals at most place. Just to name a few allergies: milk, soy, wheat, turkey, beef, chicken, pork, all nuts, barley, oats, etc. He CAN have lamb and seafood. The chef at POP prepared him shrimp and he had a watermelon ordered for him. My son loved watermelon at that time. He was able to get Divvies caramel popcorn as his dessert there and as several snack credits (to bring home because they were a big bag), but I don't think they have Divvies products anymore. Cape May also called me several times, and the chef planned a head and made him a special rice milk flan as a dessert. We also ate at Boma, Chefs de France, and Kona. He was able to get special cookies, brownies, and rice dream as desserts at different places. He was able to get fish or shrimp at each place prepared specially for him even if it wasn't offered on the kid's meal. The chef came out and talk to me about all the allergies. For QS, he ate at Pop twice. We also ate at Flame Tree BBQ in DAK and Cosmic Ray's in MK. Both places had nothing he could eat, so the manager and chef went to a different place and brought the food back to us. I think the food at MK came from Columbia Harbor House and at DAK from Tusker House. Both places gave his way more than one meal. More than an adult could eat! At DAK, they felt so bad that he had to "wait" for his food, so they didn't even charge his counter service kids credit! He was able to order some food at Port Orleans before heading home. We are looking forward to our next trip at AOA!

 

[PosadaGirl519]

I have a laundry list of allergies as well. A lot of them come in the form of garnishes/compotes (mango, pineapple etc.) that are easy enough to avoid. For everyone's convenience, I typed up my list of no-nos and printed out about two dozen copies. I just hand it to the server when I order.

V&As/CT was fun like that. They very creatively changed entire courses for me.

 

[GoneDisney]

Does anyone know which restuarants are the best for food allergies?

 

[vicki_c]

Does anyone know which restuarants are the best for food allergies?

I don't think there is a best. Call the Disney special dining line, make sure it's noted on your ADRs and I think you will do fine at any TS location.

 

[clanmcculloch]

In general we stick with Disney owned and operated restaurants as they're better equipped to handle food allergies than the restaurants that are not owned and operated by Disney. Something I would also suggest doing is taking a look online at menus to be sure that they have some basic ingredients which would be easily modifiable to be safe for somebody with your allergies. For instance, if you're allergic to shellfish then Cape May won't have nearly as many options for you as 50s PTC (and frankly I'd be afraid to walk around that place with shellfish allergies just because of residue on people's hands getting on backs of chairs and walls and tables; I don't have shellfish allergies so I do enjoy it there).

Over on the disABILITIES! board you'll find all sorts of dining reviews from people with food allergies. A few of the regulars also have blogs linked in their signatures.

 

[catne]

we went last year with son & DIL, she was recently diagnosed with multiple allergies & intolerances including gluten, dairy, eggs & soy. She LOVED doing the regular dining plan. All of the table service restaurants (including buffets) had a chef come out and go over the menu telling her what she could order straight from the menu, and what they could sub if a side was not acceptable, etc. And also what they could make from scratch on allergen-free equipment. Even the buffet, the chef walked her through the buffet line pointing out what was "safe"...and again, telling her what they could make from scratch & allergen-free for her. For example, at Cape May there was a salad she really wanted, and that everything in the salad was OK but the dressing (had dairy and soy oil I think it was) Anyway, the chef said "no problem" will make a fresh individual version for her using a dairy/soy free dressing. They brought it to the table within 5 minutes, even did a beautiful "presentation" on it like you'd see at the signature places.

We found the resort counter service had the most options for the allergy issues, and again, they were able to cook some stuff from scratch for her.

Desserts were trickier...though they have Rice Dream and Tofutti (frozen non-dairy dessert, like ice cream) at virtually all places. They also offered her fresh fruit every where as an option for dessert. Some places offered fresh fruit and the Rice dream (like a fruit-topped sundae)