Just back with food allergies

[JessLCH]

My daughter is allergic to milk, egg, peanut, tree nut sesame and mustard. Disney was fabulous about handling her allergies. Our 6 reservations were all flagged for allergies and at every restaurant a chef immediately came over to our table to discuss our options and accomodate her. Soy milk was available everywhere, including at counter service places- just ask- they always have it in the back.

 

[RxforDisney]

I agree! We had a very similar experience in October with my DS (3). He is allergic to milk, egg, and peanut. It was SOOOOO nice not to have to cook every meal. I don't think we even went to the grocery store for the first 2 days! It was a vacation for me!

 

[SueM in MN]

thanks for the report.
glad things went well.

 

[stephbillalec]

I'm assuming the allergies were noted on your ADRs. Did you call each restaurant a day or two prior to your arrival?

 

[JessLCH]

I'm assuming the allergies were noted on your ADRs. Did you call each restaurant a day or two prior to your arrival?

Yes, all the allergies were noted on the ADRs. Sevevral of the chefs called ME beforehand to check in as well. I did not call any ahead of time. Once we arrived things were handled very well at every place we ate.

 

[stephbillalec]

Yes, all the allergies were noted on the ADRs. Sevevral of the chefs called ME beforehand to check in as well. I did not call any ahead of time. Once we arrived things were handled very well at every place we ate.

WOW!!! That is so nice to hear. We're going in August and it will be PA dd's first time. She's such a good sport about her allergy that it will be nice to go someplace where people go above and beyond what we would expect. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Foxes Den]

this is great news, my DD is ANA to Milk, Mustard and allergic to eggs, avoiding fish/nuts. While I knew Disney would be okay for Dairy/Eggs/Nuts, and Fish.. I was unsure about Mustard. Its in so much. (hidden) were you able to eat CS or just TS?

 

[5 blind mice]

We're taking our first family trip to Disney World in Feb. 2008. My 4 year old son is ana to milk and allergic to eggs and peanuts. Do you have any restaurants that you would recommend in particular, or do you think we're pretty safe no matter where we eat.

When we decided to plan this trip, we were originally going to stay off-site at a place with a kitchen, so we could prepare most of my son's food. Then we started to hear that Disney is very sensitive and accomodating to those with food allergies. We decided to stay at the Polynesian, and give ourselves a REAL vacation...with no cooking, preparing meals, etc. I can't remember the last time we've been able to do that. I'm still a little nervous about eating out for every meal, but hearing success stories from others helps ease my anxiety a little bit.

Anyway, if you have any restaurants to recommend, I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks!

 

[RxforDisney]

My son is also ana to milk and eggs, and avoiding peanut. We stayed 5 nights on site at Beach Club Villas (full kitchen), with the intent of going to the grocery store and cooking most meals. But, we ended up not cooking once!!!! The only reason we went to the grocery store was to get snacks. All of the chefs were EXTREMELY accomidating everywhere we went, but our favorite had to be Whispering Canyon. It is just a fun place to eat, and my son LOVED the roasted chicken. We got the family style skillet that they put in the middle of the table for everyone to eat out of. But, they brought him his own skillet so his stuff would not touch anything else. And for dessert they went down to the gift shop and brought him an itsakadoozie popcicle. Here are some other places we went:

Table service/room service:
Room Service at the Beach Club – once for lunch when he got chicken, corn, and a fruit bowl. And, the other time we called around midnight and set up a pancake breakfast for 7am the next morning, and they had no problem making him milk free/egg free pancakes on such short notice. And, they brought a HUGE glass of soy milk that we put in the fridge and used again the next morning.
Restaurant Askerhaus Princess Breakfast – (For his sister) This was the least accomidating place. They had stuff for him to eat, but the choices were limited. He ended up mainly eating fruit.
Beaches and Cream – He had a hamburger, fries, and an Tofutti sundae with chocolate syrup and mickey sprinkles.
Chef Mickey’s – The chef made him a grilled chicken breast and mickey shapped pasta with red sauce. He ate fruit off of the food bar, and they made him a chocolate Tofutti creation that looked like Mickey Mouse for dessert!
Cape May Café Character Breakfast – They made him Mickey shapped waffles just like the ones on the bar. He also ate fruit off of the bar.

Counter service:
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café (three times)– He got an adult burger and fries and ate his sister's grapes twice. And, rotisserie chicken once.
Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street – Everyone knew what Tofutti was – WOW!
Tolucas Turkey Legs at MGM

As a general rule counter service places are less accomidating than table service just because they don't have a chef on site or the facilities to cook special things. The best thing to do is contact Brenda Bennett at Magic Kingdom foods, and she can send you a list of safe foods at counter service places in each of the parks. Then you can plan around that.

Brenda Bennett
MAGIC KINGDOM Foods
407-824-5967
brenda.bennett@disney.com

FYI, when we were there in Oct 06, the popcorn was safe, but it took stopping several stands before we were able to get someone to answer our questions sufficiently. These stands are generally where they put the teenagers working at Disney.

I hope you have as good of a time as we did! It was a vacation for our WHOLE family.

 

[Selket]

Do you have any restaurants that you would recommend in particular, or do you think we're pretty safe no matter where we eat.

I think most places are safe so you can go with what appeals to you. The most problems are usually reported in Epcot (the Moroccan restaurant comes to mind). I think you will find that there are those who had great experiences but a few who had a bad experience. The bad experiences are usually just lack of food choices rather than ignorant chefs however!

For example the previous poster had no problems at Chef Mickey's while this was the least accomodating place for us for dinner. My son is ana to peanut and a type 1 diabetic and at the time wouldn't eat ice cream and that was the ONLY dessert choice they could offer (no sprinkles or toppings - with sprinkles he would have eaten it). I think the worst thing was the chef - who said some inappropriate things to us about letting William have dessert at all (he was confusing type 1 and 2) - and he just thought William shouldn't have anything! Well it wasn't like the end of the world but I won't go back to that place for awhile anyway.

We especially have gotten good service at Le Cellier (the best), Biergarten, CRT (for dinner), and Crystal Place (also the best with Le Cellier). Mama Melrose is great too - we always go there. No problems at Sci Fi, 50's PT, H&V, and many others.

My biggest suggestion to you is that you call the number they give you for the sit down spots about a week before you go and make any special requests for dessert, etc. Like if your child won't eat tofutti or something they are likely to serve them due to the allergy then ask for a substitute dessert. Itskadoozies (a popsicle) worked well for us - that is what William wanted everywhere at the time (he was 3 and 4 yrs old on those previous trips). We also often requested a hot dog for him - and they would have a hot dog ready to go even if the place didn't usually serve them. At the time it was the only meat he'd eat (thankfully now that isn't the case!).

Have fun!

 

[5 blind mice]

Thanks for the great info! Luckily my son LOVES tofutti and popsicles, so dessert shouldn't be an issue. Great to know they can make milk and egg-free pancakes and waffles for him, too.

On the whole, which do you think is best?

table service
buffet
family-style meals (such as whispering canyon)

Thanks again for the recommendations. Can't wait til Feb. 08. Seems so far away, but hopefully will be here before we know it!

 

[clkelley]

this is great news, my DD is ANA to Milk, Mustard and allergic to eggs, avoiding fish/nuts. While I knew Disney would be okay for Dairy/Eggs/Nuts, and Fish.. I was unsure about Mustard. Its in so much. (hidden) were you able to eat CS or just TS?

I'm not allergic to Mustard, but really don't like it all. Most normal FF places in the US puts mustard on most everything so I have to request it without. At WDW counter service I don't have to make that request because most of their offerings come without condiments of any kind and they have a self serve condiment bar. So really, no problems with mustard.

 

[Foxes Den]

I'm not allergic to Mustard, but really don't like it all. Most normal FF places in the US puts mustard on most everything so I have to request it without. At WDW counter service I don't have to make that request because most of their offerings come without condiments of any kind and they have a self serve condiment bar. So really, no problems with mustard.

I only WISH it were that easy Carol.. But Mustard/Mustard Seed/Mustard Flour, is in EVERYTHING from Pizza - to Sliced Meats. And because by law its only a **SPICE** it does not have to be declaired. I find it much harder to deal with then Milk/Eggs/etc. Because its hidden in so much!




Taylor

 

[Foxes Den]

Thanks for the great info! Luckily my son LOVES tofutti and popsicles, so dessert shouldn't be an issue. Great to know they can make milk and egg-free pancakes and waffles for him, too.

On the whole, which do you think is best?

table service
buffet
family-style meals (such as whispering canyon)

Thanks again for the recommendations. Can't wait til Feb. 08. Seems so far away, but hopefully will be here before we know it!

On our last family trip to Jamaica - I **THOUGHT** if we ate off the buffet before anyone else arrived my DD would be safe. (I was only thinking about X con from spoons, forks, falling foods etc). Not the kitchen it self. My daughter had a ANA reaction - let me tell you - hosptials in a 3rd world are not so much fun. : (

So for us, we are ONLY going to be going to TS meals - maybe a CS if its got no line - the risk is just to high, and its just SO EASY to make a error.

Taylor

 

[LisaFB]

We're going to eat at both TS and CS. Brenda was/is WONDERFUL with helping us plan everything. I don't know if it's because my son has 37 food allergies, but she asked us which CS we want to eat at in each park and what time we'll be there and she planned out a menu for him at each one (well the head chef for CS at the parks did some of them and she did others). Since they know what days we'll be at which parks and what times we'll be at which CS, they'll have his food all ready for us there, all we'll have to do is give our names. I can't wait to not have to cook for him!!!!

 

[RxforDisney]

On the whole, which do you think is best?

table service
buffet
family-style meals (such as whispering canyon)

I think all are good at Disney as far as safety. We avoid buffet food for the most part except for the "intact" foods like whole fruits. But, even at the buffets, the chef personally came out to talk to us and brought DS's food fresh from the kitchen.

The buffets and family style places tend to be a more kid friendly atmosphere (especially for young kids). But for food allergic adults and older children, some of the table service places are very nice and will fix very fancy foods.

 

[jkjkj98]

I'm assuming the allergies were noted on your ADRs. Did you call each restaurant a day or two prior to your arrival?

Do any of you know how they handle milk and soy allergies? My DS can tollerate soybean oil and lecithin but not protein or flour. He drinks rice milk. I know to call about 10 days before the trip. He is also allergic to peanuts, treenuts, eggs and shellfish. They know all that!

 

[nfceagles]

We don't avoid soy, but here are a few observations based on our experience. We avoid milk, egg, and nuts.

* Rice Milk is not going to be as readily available as soy. If it's a must have, talk to Brenda and/or the chef at your resort about where to get it. I have heard of resort food courts getting some per a request. Garden Grocer carries it and offers delivery.

* Rice Dream is available at the ice cream parlor on Main St.

* My DS got a lot of ice cream for dessert. Sometimes it was Tofutti, sometimes it was Rice Dream. My guess is you'll find it available sometimes, but not as often. You'll probably get more popsicles. If you really want to make sure you can get an ice cream dessert, you may want to call the chef a week before your trip or note it on the form. My DS did get a rice-based milk shake at Whispering Canyon Cafe, but I had to request it. I don't think the chef was going to offer it up.

* The Mickey waffles at Chef Mickey's, and I think at most places, are top 8 free in order to accomodate a wide allergy set.

* Divvies chocolate chip cookies are available at a lot of places and are often served with dessert. I have a package here and they say, "Contains; Wheat, Soy", but when I read the label it looks like just lecithin to me. If you can verify that those are safe ahead of time you have another nice option. You may have extra work convincing the chefs that your child can have them though. They can be pretty black and white sometimes. Be sure to note on your form that he can eat oil and lecithin. And if you're comfortable, you may even want to note that the Divvies cookies are safe for him.

 

[nfceagles]

I just posted a meal-by-meal review of our experience in a separate thread.