Need Nutritional Info for Son w/T1D

[April Prevost]

Hi! We are headed to WDW + Cruise at the end of Sept. My 5 year old was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I am trying to plan ahead a little bit so that I can minimize time spent trying to track down nutritional info for his insulin dosage, and maxamize our fun family time on this MUCH needed vaca . I have called the cruise line a few times to try to see if there is easy access for ANY nutritional info on the food in the restaurants, etc... and they have no idea what I am even asking. They tell me to ask our servers. Is there any links online or someone I can call who manages this sort of info for Disney? I am really shocked that there's not more resources for diabetics at Disney! Am I just not looking or asking the right people? And especially since Disney is partnered up with Lilly Diabetes to help educate the public on T1D?! They have incorporated a character into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with T1D and everything (Coco) --- and no one can tell me how to find out the carbs in the kids meals in the restaurants? ANY info for better resources would be SO greatly appreciated. We have a had a really hard summer ...(well, a hard couple years - actually it's been terrible since our last Disney vaca almost 3 years ago so maybe this is was a sign we need to spend more time there haha!) and I am so looking forward to this trip. We need it to be great - not super stressful. TIA!!!

 

[lanejudy]

Unfortunately, it's not a case of not contacting the right person. Disney does not provide nutritional information for most meals. I believe BOG has some info (at WDW MK) but as yet it is not widely available at the parks or the DCL ships. In all honestly, I'm not sure I'd trust it any more than estimating from the Calorie King (or other app) anyway. Prepackaged foods should have the info available on the packaging. However, for regular meals and such, we use the Calorie King book or app to estimate carb counts (I'm not sure the app will work onboard, so having something in hardcopy would be good). Depending on how recent is his diagnosis, you'll get very used to recognizing portion sizes and estimating carbs quickly. I know that doesn't give you much confidence if his diagnosis is very new and you leave soon for vacation, but you will manage.

In the parks, expect that he will run lower than usual due to the heat and activity. Onboard the ship, maybe not as much but if he's a very active kid running-around in the Club/Lab or out on port adventures, again he may run low rather than high.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[anorman]

My DD14 has T1D and was diagnosed at age 10. We have been to WDW several times since and it is very frustrating to me that WDW does not provide nutritional or carbohydrate info for we who need it most. The best advice I can give you is using Calorie King app/book. Bring a small portable scale for measuring portions to get your carbs right. You can talk to the chef at each restaurant which we have done.....it is of limited use however but they will give you portion size by weight and let you know if there are any hidden sugars in the meal.

Don't worry. He'll be fine and so will you. Keep low treatments and snacks on your person so you will not have to leave any lines to treat a low. Go and have a good time. Use the extra activity as an excuse to sneak in a few treats for him!

 

[gap2368]

There is nothing that will give you the carb count at Disney I would down load calorieKing and just type in what you are eating and about how much ( yes it take some timeI do not know how long ago he was DX but I found a pretty quick learning curve with counting carbs and I can pretty much estimate how many carb I am eating. I would also let his ends know you are going and see if they do not want you to adjust his insulin

 

[mitzy150]

Hi. T1D here.. 27 years old, and was diagnosed at 3 as well... I've done Disney World 9 times with it through the years so I have a fairly good idea.
1.) They don't have carb info in general... which can make things hard. If he is little, and doesn't eat anything too crazy you should be able to approximate most things with counts of things he normally eats. I know my nephew when he is there likes chicken strips and fries, and eats a lot of grapes, and so you can kind of go off what you already know... which definitely isn't ideal. I'm guessing this will probably be hard for you as you are just starting out, but don't worry you'll get there soon. I can guess the carbs in most things by looking at them, and I am generally fairly close (within 2-5g).
2.) Speak with your doctor before you go about adjusting his insulin. Excitement and exercise can cause havoc for your blood sugars. I half (or sometimes a bit less) my long acting insulin when I go to Disney and can still get multiple lows a day.
3.) Carry lots of low snacks! Like I said... lows are big at Disney. I know when I was 3 (we went 2 months post diagnosis... this was in the 90s mind you so there was no rapid insulin so stuff was considerably harder) my mom say I spent most of the trip with a juice box cause no matter what they cut out and how much the fed me I was low all the time cause I was running around and so excited! If you are in a line and he goes low and you do not have something on you... tell a cast member and they (at least they have for me every time it has happened) given me a pass to get back in line where you were, or right to the front. Also... if he is low... and you need something fast and you are at a restaurant of a quick service place, tell the cast member out front. They will go and get you something right away, rather than making you wait in line (again, at least they have for me).
4.) If he is on syringes... or pens... almost every (if not every) bathroom at Disney has a sharps... which is super convenient. If you want somewhere nice to do tests, or injections, or even if he needs somewhere to cool down and treat a low or high, the first aid centres at all the parks will be happy to accommodate you. I don't have a pump, but my friend does, and when she was younger she had a bad habit of having it pull out all the time... she used to change sites in the rooms in the first aid centres, and it was great.

 

[gap2368]

One thing I will say about CM at Disney is they are Wonderfull I can not tell you how many time I have been sitting of tithe side and a CM would come up to me asking if I was ok and I would tell them I have T1D and was low they would offer to get me some OJ or something else with sugar in it and offed to stay with me until I was better ( when I was a lone) and I do agree if you need something talk to the CM about your needs are more then likely they can and will ( you might get that one CM that dose not want too but that is not that often) ( I go about once a month) and all the CM have been great

 

[mitzy150]

One thing I will say about CM at Disney is they are Wonderfull I can not tell you how many time I have been sitting of tithe side and a CM would come up to me asking if I was ok and I would tell them I have T1D and was low they would offer to get me some OJ or something else with sugar in it and offed to stay with me until I was better ( when I was a lone) and I do agree if you need something talk to the CM about your needs are more then likely they can and will ( you might get that one CM that dose not want too but that is not that often) ( I go about once a month) and all the CM have been great

You are so right. I would say probably 75 percent of the time I have asked someone if I can get a Pop or a Juice quicker than waiting in line and they have gone and grabbed me one, they have not let me pay for it. I always stay in the line to go up to the ordering part to pay, but most of the time they are like, "no please go sit down and have your drink" and always ask if I need anything else. They are incredible. Probably the best thing that they have ever done for me, was when I was younger, I was in a spot for a parade at HS, and I went low, so my mom had to take me to get food. Unfortunately we did not make it back in time for the parade. My dad went to the Guest Services after to mention how kind that CM was, and mentioned that we had missed the parade because I was being treated... I was still kind of low, and was upset about missing the parade, so I was crying (I am a teary low person lol), and the CM felt bad I gues, and they gave me VIP seating at the show the next day. It was so above and beyond. I have never had an issue with being T1D at Disney, and in fact it is one of the places that makes me super comfortable, because I know even if I am alone, and something happens CMs are all so amazing that they will help out. They truly go above and beyond.

 

[gap2368]

You are so right. I would say probably 75 percent of the time I have asked someone if I can get a Pop or a Juice quicker than waiting in line and they have gone and grabbed me one, they have not let me pay for it. I always stay in the line to go up to the ordering part to pay, but most of the time they are like, "no please go sit down and have your drink" and always ask if I need anything else. They are incredible. Probably the best thing that they have ever done for me, was when I was younger, I was in a spot for a parade at HS, and I went low, so my mom had to take me to get food. Unfortunately we did not make it back in time for the parade. My dad went to the Guest Services after to mention how kind that CM was, and mentioned that we had missed the parade because I was being treated... I was still kind of low, and was upset about missing the parade, so I was crying (I am a teary low person lol), and the CM felt bad I gues, and they gave me VIP seating at the show the next day. It was so above and beyond. I have never had an issue with being T1D at Disney, and in fact it is one of the places that makes me super comfortable, because I know even if I am alone, and something happens CMs are all so amazing that they will help out. They truly go above and beyond.

Oh yes the CM are great at Disney, I can not even to being to tell you things that Disney has done for me because of my D ( part of the region why I was moved from all start spot to Animal kingdom large was due to me being T1D) OP please do not stress too much about having a child with Diabetes at Disney do your best to guess carbs ( and guess a little lower ) and bring things for lows ( and hight) and enjoy the heck out of Disney have fun and leave ( most) of your worries behind and come out of the Disney bubble refreshed...

Oh and by the way ever summer around the 4th of July there is an amazing conference called Friend for Life it is fro people ( and there family) with T1D I would go ( they do give scholarships to people that need them really not that hard to apply ) but if you can GO even if you think you can not GO best week of my life/