New Kiosk @ DAK For Food Allergy Info

[Planogirl]

There is Gluten Free beer -- I don't know if DIsney has it or not but I know local to me spots that have it - not sure what this comment was about.

Liz

I'm not a fan, that's all. I'm not on the personal attack brigade.

 

[Traveliz]

I'm not a fan, that's all. I'm not on the personal attack brigade.

Haha ok - I just wondered. I am not gluten free - it's my husband and he has never been a beer drinker but I have a friend who is about 5 years celiac diagnosed and she gets so excited when places serve gluten free beer.

Liz

 

[laughinplace199]

Actually, we all understand how serious it is. But maybe you don't understand how readily available the info is. There's a phone number and plenty of Websites that have info on dining at Disney (at TS, QS and kiosks) with allergies.

Yes, there are ways to try to get some info beforehand, but even Disney tells you to check again when you arrive because ingredients are subject to change.

I've been trying to find out if the donuts sold at BB are safe for my nut allergic daughter. I've called and emailed WDW Special Diets and the only answer I've received was to check when we get there. It's difficult to get specific info in advance and if the kiosk prevent someone from having to traipse all over the park looking for a place that best suits their needs, then I'm all for it.

Great. And coming soon to a kiosk nearby: Gluten intolerance info kiosk. Vegan/vegetarian info kiosk. Picky eaters info kiosk. My 10 year old doesn't like the adult menu kiosk. And my all time favourite: the I'm too lazy to do any advance research when we have people with problems kiosk.

Sorry. But the idea of that just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I'm sure they have a very good reason for doing it.

I have no words for this one. Well, I do, but I'd get in trouble.

 

[LilyWDW]

I think this is a great idea for those with allergies (which I do not have). For one, it will help keep the information up to date (hopefully). For another, it will hopefully speed up the lines at QS and snack locations for everyone. No more holding up the lines (I have heard from so many of those with allergies that they hate this). It might even allow guests who need special meals to order ahead of time so that don't have to wait to have the food delivered (takes longer to prepare).

I only see positives!

 

[msjprincess]

http://allears.net/din/special.htm is a good place to start. It's where I start when I have question regarding my own allergies. I have Crohn's Disease and have had seven surgeries over the past decade and a half. So there are a laundry list of things I can't eat and most of those things could threaten my life. You can also email or call the special diets team at Disney, they are great about answering questions (no detail has ever been too small for them).

Phone: (407) 824-5967
Email: specialdiets@disneyworld.com

The bottom line is watch who you get snippy with because you have absolutely no idea what ANYONE on these boards have been through. And I shouldn't have to tell you if there's shellfish in the Yak and Yeti sauce when Disney can so easily give you an official ingredients list.

But things can change. Even if research beforehand it doesn't guarantee that things are safe. And they will send a chef out to talk to you and go over ingredients. Maybe this will eliminate that. Plus there is the fact that not everyone that goes to WDW does research on the internet beforehand and may not know about emailing specialdiets.

 

[heathere3]

Actually, we all understand how serious it is. But maybe you don't understand how readily available the info is. There's a phone number and plenty of Websites that have info on dining at Disney (at TS, QS and kiosks) with allergies.

Except that if you have uncommon allergies, this info is NOT easily available. Part of why we love going to WDW is because of how extraordinarily well they handle this. I welcome the kiosk idea!

 

[WEDWDW]

DPB has a nice report today on the new kiosk.


http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ugust-4-for-guests-with-dietary-restrictions/

 

[MrsDuck]

What is there to even judge? This just shows how much Disney values guest service. I'm impressed and pleased.

For the record, I don't have a food allergy nor does anyone in my family.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Disney food blog says the kiosk should open this Sunday (Aug 4). Anyone going this week/weekend? Report back if you can! I'd love to hear how this works in practice.

 

[Mickdeb]

Yes, they do. You can do advance research but things change very quickly, and important things, leading to frustration both for guests and cast members.

Even if you do research beforehand, you're still going to ask for the ingredient book at Casey's, because in the meantime they could have changed suppliers. That's just how it is. So I ask you, do you want to be in line behind me as I take the few extra minutes to read the ingredients and figure out what I can/can't eat? or would you rather rush by me waiting in line at the special diets kiosk, mock my gimpy intestines, and get your hot dog a little faster?
This option pleases us both. The kiosk would have the most up to date information - computerized, hopefully, based on what chefs have ordered that week.

Eager to see how this works.

Exactly what I was thinking......in bold.
No need for the sarcasm.

 

[Random Ninja]

Visited the new kiosk today. I have to say I'm impressed. The cms there are also chefs at the other restaurants in the park. They sell OMG Gluten Free brownies, Enjoy Life cookies, granola bars, Babycakes cupcakes and cookies, GF beer, packaged pocorn, and rice crackers. I didn't see any surf sweets but, since I'm allergic to them, I didn't ask.

They have binders for each land with all of the ingredient sheets from each restaurant, kiosk, and cart. You can look ahead of time to see what might work before getting there. The CMs did tell me several times that I would still need to talk to the manager/chef. This is just for planning purposes.

 

[Mickdeb]

So nice to hear, thank you for your update. This will be so helpful, as we typically eat at counter service in AK, I will know what to order in advance.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

Great. And coming soon to a kiosk nearby: Gluten intolerance info kiosk. Vegan/vegetarian info kiosk. Picky eaters info kiosk. My 10 year old doesn't like the adult menu kiosk. And my all time favourite: the I'm too lazy to do any advance research when we have people with problems kiosk.

Sorry. But the idea of that just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I'm sure they have a very good reason for doing it.

Wow! That was incredibly rude! Do you get annoyed when Disney puts a ramp somewhere or has to load a person in a wheel chair on a bus? B/c a food allergy is a disability too! My daughter doesn't choose to not have peanuts, she cannot have them! If she does her throat can close up! I am not a mom asking you to not eat peanut butter or anything, I just want to make sure the food that is going into my daughter's mouth is safe. Does this kiosk offend you? Does it bother you?

Obviously you do not have a food allergy or know anyone with one b/c if you did you would know how important it is to read CURRENT info, the info I read the day before I left for Disney may not be the same info when I eat at AK on the third day of my stay. Read labels every time, ask questions, that's what we have to do to ensure our safety. Walk a mile in the shoes before you spew out your ignorant remarks!

 

[mrsdrake625]

Visited the new kiosk today. I have to say I'm impressed. The cms there are also chefs at the other restaurants in the park. They sell OMG Gluten Free brownies, Enjoy Life cookies, granola bars, Babycakes cupcakes and cookies, GF beer, packaged pocorn, and rice crackers. I didn't see any surf sweets but, since I'm allergic to them, I didn't ask.

They have binders for each land with all of the ingredient sheets from each restaurant, kiosk, and cart. You can look ahead of time to see what might work before getting there. The CMs did tell me several times that I would still need to talk to the manager/chef. This is just for planning purposes.

Thanks for the report. Sounds really awesome and helpful, if you ask me. Were you able to use the information, I.e. did you change your plans at all for what you had for dinner, etc?

 

[katt789]

I personally think this is a great idea! It will hopefully be much more up to date with things (heck, half the menus online aren't correct!] and it will help with those with allergies being able to know more!

 

[Random Ninja]

Thanks for the report. Sounds really awesome and helpful, if you ask me. Were you able to use the information, I.e. did you change your plans at all for what you had for dinner, etc?

I was only planning to spend the morning at AK, so my plans didn't change any. My allergies are a bit unusual so there wasn't anything I didn't already know about and what I can get in the park for CS is pretty plain. This girl loves spice and flavour and a plain hamburger patty does not usually cut it. I did recommend they carry babycakes doughnuts as an allergy-friendly breakfast option. Mmm, doughnuts...

 

[SueM in MN]

Well that derailed in a hurry! I have an anaphylactic child and I'm used to statements of intolerance, but I didn't expect it here. Disney has always demonstrated leadership in providing a safe environment for guests with food allergies. Travelling with anaphylaxis is scary. We feel important and taken care of at Disney, but I'm sure that it helps Disney's bottom line to be and their policies don't come from pure altruism. I welcome and applaud the change and think it will be useful for getting the most up to date information.

I have no idea why DAK was chosen but if I was to speculate I would say it has more items available that generate concerns (soy, sesame) but of course it is a guess!

I'm not sure why they chose AK, but it could be some of the specific foods served at that park generate more questions. It could also be that AK is a less busy park with shorter hours, which made it an easier place to start.

Haha ok - I just wondered. I am not gluten free - it's my husband and he has never been a beer drinker but I have a friend who is about 5 years celiac diagnosed and she gets so excited when places serve gluten free beer.

Liz

We went a few years ago with my niece who is allergic to gluten.
She was SO happy to have a chance to drink a beer that was safe for her.

I think the kiosk was a great idea. At CS places, the rest of us had our food and were half done eating while our niece was still talking o the manager.
This sounds like a win for everyone.

 

[Dis703]

What a great idea by Disney!

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...q-opening-soon-at-disney's-animal-kingdom.htm

Disney stole the credit from me, lol. Okay I'm sure I'm not the only one to have ever complained or suggested something like this but I love that something I spoke to guest relations about ended up becoming a reality.

We had major difficulties eating QS with our family on our May trip. We have multiple food allergies including most grains and for the most part they are not obvious ingredients and can show up just about anywhere. We had a terrible time at AK and HS in particular so I wrote them about it and they called me back right away and asked what could be done to improve things and I suggested a central location where one could get menus and ingredient information to at least narrow down where we could go for lunch.

What happened to us is I had an idea of menus before our trip from allears but we would get to a restaurant I thought should have something for the kids to find that the ingredients they used were more complex than expected (particularly the use of multi-grain everywhere instead of just regular wheat flour). So we took all the kids and traveled to the next QS location and didn't find anything there either so on and on this would go and in the meantime I have 2 fussy 2 year olds, a cranky DH and a 5 year old freaking out he's hungry in the hot mid day sun and we are walking from one end of the park to the other and back again trying to figure out what I can feed everyone.

I can't wait to try this out and I think its going to be super helpful for families like ours.

 

[Dis703]

Great. And coming soon to a kiosk nearby: Gluten intolerance info kiosk. Vegan/vegetarian info kiosk. Picky eaters info kiosk. My 10 year old doesn't like the adult menu kiosk. And my all time favourite: the I'm too lazy to do any advance research when we have people with problems kiosk.

Sorry. But the idea of that just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I'm sure they have a very good reason for doing it.

This post seriously rubs me the wrong way. I just posted a little about the troubles we had with QS for my family of multiple food allergies but in regards to advanced research we tried to do as much as we could. I contacted special diets and filled out their form. I also asked if I could get ingredient lists to some of the foods I thought would be safe for my kids. I also wrongly assumed that a place that serves say chicken could make plain chicken with nothing on it (this was another question to special diets that couldn't be answered for me). While some could others already had it doused with some sort of sauce or seasoning that wasn't always safe for my kids. The basic response from special diets was to tell me that they couldn't give me that information in advance because they change vendors so frequently there was no telling what they would be the day we actually dined there.

From menus on allears I picked out multiple options for my ODS who has many allergies but can eat wheat. A simple pasta and butter would satisfy him, but the majority of locations had multi grain pasta which then contained his allergens. Same goes for many breads and even pizza that typically should have been safe for him. We even found one location that had regular pasta but the sauce wasn't safe so I asked for it with butter and this location did not use butter so they had none.

QS dining was a nightmare for us. And we weren't new to Disney, although this was the first time with all three kids, so we did indeed research. I could only imagine a family coming in with similar issues who just hears how fabulous Disney is about food allergies and doesn't think to do research about it because so many rave about them.

 

[Vivilove]

Thanks for your review. I don't have any allergies, nor does anyone in my household but I am glad they have this for people who need it! My nephew recently go diagnosed with allergies to Wheat, Eggs, and dairy. He now has to eat Gluten Free, non dairy food and nothing made with eggs. My sister has to shop for separate food items for him only in her household. Glad that Disney is taking the initiative to make things a little less of a hassle for people who need to be careful with their health.

Visited the new kiosk today. I have to say I'm impressed. The cms there are also chefs at the other restaurants in the park. They sell OMG Gluten Free brownies, Enjoy Life cookies, granola bars, Babycakes cupcakes and cookies, GF beer, packaged pocorn, and rice crackers. I didn't see any surf sweets but, since I'm allergic to them, I didn't ask.

They have binders for each land with all of the ingredient sheets from each restaurant, kiosk, and cart. You can look ahead of time to see what might work before getting there. The CMs did tell me several times that I would still need to talk to the manager/chef. This is just for planning purposes.