Newly Diagnosed Celiac - GF questions!

[MrsDuck]

Hi friends -
Like most Celiac folk, I've been dealing with terrible, undiagnosable stomach pain my entire life. I was finally diagnosed with Celiac and while of course I'm not thrilled lmao I'm sure as heck happy to know what's going on and that the fix is easy enough.

We are FL residents, APs, DVCs, etc... basically, we get to WDW pretty frequently. From what I've gathered thanks to this amazing forum is that avoiding gluten and wheat at Disney is pretty easy thanks to all of the accomodations Disney makes.

Just a few questions:
1. I'm assuming it's a good idea to indicate that I'll be eating gluten free on our dining reservations online, correct? Is there an easy way to do this for already existing reservations? Admittedly, I haven't looked yet.

2. Do restaurants have gluten free menus or is the waiter able to tell guests what can be made GF? I immediately freaked out at the thought of no longer having Mickey Head waffles to quickly learn that they're able to be made gluten free! But, I would've never known without the DIS... So, are there specific menus or do I just ask if normal gluten foods can be made GF?

I appreciate all the help and all of the existing threads out there on gluten free food at WDW. I can already tell what a great community this is.

Thanks!

 

[Simba07]

I've never had to change a res to add it, but I'd recommend calling and asking a CM to add the request. There is almost always a special menu, ingredient book, or a manager who will come explain. Everyone is helpful, although sometimes it is slow. Plan on a little extra time for meals.

My favorite site for info, outside of DIS, is http://glutenfreedairyfreewdw.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_10.html . It has a lot of details about what is available where.

Our fav GF option was GF fish and chips at Ragland Road in DTD.

Good luck!

 

[StarCruiser]

Hi friends - Like most Celiac folk, I've been dealing with terrible, undiagnosable stomach pain my entire life. I was finally diagnosed with Celiac and while of course I'm not thrilled lmao I'm sure as heck happy to know what's going on and that the fix is easy enough. We are FL residents, APs, DVCs, etc... basically, we get to WDW pretty frequently. From what I've gathered thanks to this amazing forum is that avoiding gluten and wheat at Disney is pretty easy thanks to all of the accomodations Disney makes. Just a few questions: 1. I'm assuming it's a good idea to indicate that I'll be eating gluten free on our dining reservations online, correct? Is there an easy way to do this for already existing reservations? Admittedly, I haven't looked yet. 2. Do restaurants have gluten free menus or is the waiter able to tell guests what can be made GF? I immediately freaked out at the thought of no longer having Mickey Head waffles to quickly learn that they're able to be made gluten free! But, I would've never known without the DIS... So, are there specific menus or do I just ask if normal gluten foods can be made GF? I appreciate all the help and all of the existing threads out there on gluten free food at WDW. I can already tell what a great community this is. Thanks!

1. Yes, you can specify several kinds of allergies on your reservation, including gluten. I recommend doing that.

2. At each of the table service locations we've been to a chef has come out to explain to my wife (gluten free) what she can have either on the menu or at buffet. They are extremely helpful and very accommodating. We also had an excellent experience at Columbia Harbour House last weekend. The chef came out and showed my wife the ingredients for the meal she was interested in and she was able order it without the roll and know it didn't have any gluten.

 

[KCSherri]

I had the exact same experience - went YEARS with undiagnosed stomach pain and a myriad of tests, and found out 2 months ago that I am Celiac, as well. I had already made a dozen ADR's for an upcoming trip in November. It took just one phone call to Disney Dining, and a very kind CM went through each of my ADR's and notated my gluten-free request. Didn't take but a few minutes.

Disney is supposedly VERY good at accommodating gluten-free diets, but be sure to do your own homework/education before you go, so that you don't get tripped up on "hidden glutens." Trust me - I'm still learning, and when I realize I've been "glutenized" by a hidden gluten, I will immediately know it. And it hurts.

 

[MrsDuck]

Thank you all VERY much!

I've been reading and learning like a crazed college student the night before an exam, trying to learn as much as possible so I can avoid the evil gluten as frequently as I can.

I appreciate your help and wisdom, DISers!

 

[Snork]

My wife and I moved to Kissimmee 6 months ago, and she has celiac disease.

I would say that depending on how sensitive you are, YMMV.

She is very sensitive and she is constantly cross contaminated at many of the places that claim to be gluten friendly. For example her favorite CS location is Flame Tree Barbeque, and they claim the ribs are Gluten friendly, but they make her sick. We've asked many times to see the ingredients and asked if they are prepared separately and everything checks outs, but she gets sick. We have this issue constantly.

We've not eaten at every location at every park and resort, but here are the places we've been to multiple times and she doesn't get crossed and the location. Cosmic Rays (MK), Pizziafarie(AK), Pollo deCamparo (DTD), Kona Café (Poly), Mama Melorse (HS), and Sunshine Seasons (Epcot).

Another tip, she doesn't eat fries at the parks. They all claim they have dedicated fryers, but she still gets crossed from them. Also at Animal Kingdom they have a food sensitivity booth that has a flyer they pass out with options. I would suggest still talking to a chef if you have questions. We were at AK on Oct 1 and went to Pizzafarie, the cashier told us to look at the brochure but couldn't answer any questions that we had.

The best buns for burgers and hot dogs are at Cosmic Rays, they use UDIs brand and have a newish brownie that is really good.

 

[MrsDuck]

My wife and I moved to Kissimmee 6 months ago, and she has celiac disease.

I would say that depending on how sensitive you are, YMMV.

She is very sensitive and she is constantly cross contaminated at many of the places that claim to be gluten friendly. For example her favorite CS location is Flame Tree Barbeque, and they claim the ribs are Gluten friendly, but they make her sick. We've asked many times to see the ingredients and asked if they are prepared separately and everything checks outs, but she gets sick. We have this issue constantly.

We've not eaten at every location at every park and resort, but here are the places we've been to multiple times and she doesn't get crossed and the location. Cosmic Rays (MK), Pizziafarie(AK), Pollo deCamparo (DTD), Kona Café (Poly), Mama Melorse (HS), and Sunshine Seasons (Epcot).

Another tip, she doesn't eat fries at the parks. They all claim they have dedicated fryers, but she still gets crossed from them. Also at Animal Kingdom they have a food sensitivity booth that has a flyer they pass out with options. I would suggest still talking to a chef if you have questions. We were at AK on Oct 1 and went to Pizzafarie, the cashier told us to look at the brochure but couldn't answer any questions that we had.

The best buns for burgers and hot dogs are at Cosmic Rays, they use UDIs brand and have a newish brownie that is really good.

Thanks for the warning... I am fairly nervous about the crossing possibilities and while being sick is never fun, being sick at Disney is the worst. Thanks so much for the advice and tips!

 

[MommaBarb]

I went last year with my DD, and our biggest problem is that she is a picky eater. At most of the buffets, she ate roast chicken and broccoli. And had vanilla ice cream or enjoy life cookies for dessert. There were better options, but as I said, she's not adventurous.

We ate frequently at the QS at our resort (POR) last year, and the chefs were quite accomodating, but it took a while for her meals. (I think they were all prepared at boatwrights and brought out for us.)

We were super impressed with the plate she received at the dessert party. She only ate about half of it, but it was nice that we didn't pay a ton of money for her to get nothing.

I wish some of the special menus were posted on the Disney website, because I keep looking at the menus and there's so many places where I can't imagine what she'll get. Chefs have also been helpful at monkeying with the meals to make sure she only got what she could eat.

At the American Pavilion, they baked her chicken nuggets and fries instead of frying them, so they weren't cross contaminated. They were really, really good there about making sure she only got what she could have. And Pizza Planet. It was a long wait, but we all could have eaten lunch from her GF pizza.

ETA - There's also a GF dining at WDW iPhone app (not sure about android). I got the paid version and it updates frequently with what the options are, and I think I need to check it before I finalize any ADRs.

 

[Sagginit]

My wife and I moved to Kissimmee 6 months ago, and she has celiac disease.

I would say that depending on how sensitive you are, YMMV.

She is very sensitive and she is constantly cross contaminated at many of the places that claim to be gluten friendly.

The best buns for burgers and hot dogs are at Cosmic Rays, they use UDIs brand and have a newish brownie that is really good.

thanks for the tip about the UDIs buns! i love their stuff

i have yet to feel sick anywhere and am a sensitive celiac, but since i get DDP i eat mostly breakfast QS and i think i only opted for fries once or twice.