Not telling Disney about Allergy?

[Beehn]

First, let me say I'm NOT advocating this for kids. Food allergies are very serious and I'm not making light of that by any means...that said this is my story:
I found out I was allergic to tree nuts when I was about 2. My parents instilled the fear of God in me about my allergies and I think I was able to say "Almond Extract" and "Anaphylaxis" before any normal child should. I am always very careful and I haven't had a reaction in more than 15 years..but I still don't go anywhere without my Epi-Pen.
I'm a big dessert lover and normally when I'm out at a restaurant I ask the server, who disappears into the kitchen (presumably to ask someone or read something) then they come back and tell me what desserts I can and can't have. WDW is such a great place for allergies....the chef comes out and sits down and goes over the menu. He knows every ingredient and it is great to know someone understands how serious a food allergy can be. But the problem is they always tell me the desserts were made off site and they can't guarantee they haven't come in contact with some nuts...so how about a bowl of ice cream instead? My whole trip last time I sat at these restaurants with cakes, pastries and other goodies going by my table while I ate a bowl after bowl of ice cream.
I'm just wondering if other adults have run into this. Like I said...I'm very careful...but I'm an "old school" allergy sufferer. Before the days of "may contain traces of" I ate M&M's without any problems. If it was my kids suffering from the allergy, I wouldn't question it...but Mama likes her chocolate cake!

 

[tinkgirl2007]

I was told that for my mom who is diabetic they can make arrangements if they are contact at least 72 hours before. So maybe this is also true for nut allergies as well. I would call dining and ask if there is something they can do for you.

 

[canadianmom2three]

I do the same thing regularly. I have a severe shellfish allergy, and there are so many restaurants that can't guarantee no cross contamination, all the foods go in the same deep fryer etc.....I don't know if you all have Mandarin, a huge chinese buffet, but when I go there, if I tell them the allergy, there is literally a handfull of things that they can guarantee haven't been cross contaminated, at other smaller buffets, its next to nothing. OTOH, if I take a benedryl, I am fine to eat most of the dishes (obviously avoiding any dishes that actually contain shellfish). If I don't have the benedryl and epi-pen at hand, I wouldn't even try it......but I feel by this point that I have a pretty good handle on what I can tolerate, and I'm sure you are the same. Perhaps asking what deserts actually have nuts in them would be prudent, but as an adult, you can make the judgement call as to rather or not you want to tell them about your allergy.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I started doing the same thing for my mom - she is allergic to Kiwi and Crab.

I stopped mentioning it because even at restaurants that didn't serve either, we still had to wait for the chef to come out and assure us that there would not be a problem (even at Ohana breakfast - I had seen pictures of the fruit plate, I just wanted to make sure that they hadn't put a slice of kiwi on top - it took 25 minutes for the chef to come out and because the concern was with the fruit the server would not bring any food until we had seen the chef).

 

[princessjilly]

from the point of view of a server, If a guest had said to me they had a nut allergy, but they could still eat desert as long as it didnt contain any whole nuts, I would probably still serve you. As long as we give u the warning that it may have come in contact, if u still choose to eat it then its up to you.

I had a guest who was allergic to alcohol and she ordered cake with alcohol in, obviously I advised her it contained alcohol and she shouldnt eat it but she said she would be fine with the small amount it probably contained. I double checked with a chef and he told me that as long as u had told her it contained alcohol and she still wanted to eat it, then we couldnt really stop her.
its like the bread, we put it on the table for the family, advise it was made offsite so we cant guarantee wot it may or may not have been in contact with, so its in ur hands wether u eat it or not.

I always asked my allergy guests if they were comfortable ordering from the menu or if they wanted to speak to a chef. If they ordered for themselves then I would double check each item with the chef but it wouldnt hold u up any.

If you want to alert them to an allergy, but dont want to wait around for a chef, just say in one go "I have an allergy but i do not want to speak to a chef. I can order myself from the menu, if you could just double check my selections with the chef"
Thats what i was trained to do anyway, i guess some servers may just want to cover their own back!

 

[maj42169]

All I know is that I APPRECIATE the fact that the chef comes out and goes over the entire menu or walks me through the buffet. I don't mind in the least waiting a few extra minutes to know what I can and can not serve to my child with allergies. I can't belive someone would complain about that special treatment.

Of course, if you don't want to take the chef's advice, then don't mention the allergy.

BUT, for those of us who want to keep our trip "magical" and without medical concerns......THANK YOU DISNEY for taking food allergies and special dietary concerns seriously!

 

[hildarumpole]

I'm glad Disney takes allergies seriously, but sometimes it's a pain in the neck waiting for the chef, especially when you've been there before and know what is o.k. Coral Reef was very reasonable, giving us the option of seeing a chef, while Ohana was ridiculous. We couldn't even order beverages until after the chef visited us and cleared our choices. If a dessert contains nuts, it's usually mentioned in the description. To be extra safe, you could tell your server you don't like nuts and inquire if a particular item you want to order has them in it. That way you avoid having to wait for a chef and get told what you already know about cross-contamination.

 

[DisMN]

I can't imagine how frustrating that must be for you, both to feel like you have to talk to the chef, then waiting for him and THEN possibly only being able to have ice cream while watching all the other goodies pass your table.

I've heard of calling well in advance to ask for something special to be made but the other option MIGHT be to find special treats you CAN have and carry them in WITH you to eat for dessert. Would that work?

 

[Colleen27]

We don't bring up DH's fish allergy when we're at Disney, but fish isn't something that tends to "hide" in foods like nuts/nut oils/nut extracts. He avoids fish dishes (obviously) and confirms the type of base used in seafood soups before ordering, but we don't bother with mentioning it to the server or talking with the chef. He's 38yo and has been managing his allergy for 30 of those years, mostly in times and places much less allergy- and food labelling-aware than Disney today and he's not particularly sensitive to cross-contamination (for example - fryers used for both chicken and fish, like at many fast food places, aren't an issue) so we're pretty confident that we can leave the chef free to tend to other guests who might need the guidance.

 

[Beehn]

Thanks for the responses. I almost feel a little guilty not saying anything when they do such a good job trying to protect us, but I have been able to handle myself at restaurants for many years so I'm sure I'll be OK. To maj42169: I think I made it clear I wasn't talking about children. I do appreciate all the things Disney does to help kids with allergies have a normal trip.(I wish there was more known about food allergies when I was younger) But talk to your son/daughter in 20 years after they have learned to handle their allergy on their own and you might get a different perspective.

 

[twinnersmama]

although I am VERY appreciative of how my DDs were accommodated for their allergies, I can understand your delimma. At Cosmic Ray's I only wanted to see the binder of ingredients ... I saw what my DDs could eat from the ingredient list in the binder, but because I mentioned "allergy", the manager (or chef) had to come out to speak with me ... here, it took FOREVER and the only thing she said was "yeah, that's a good choice for them".

Everywhere else the chef came out pretty quickly and was more than accommodating. For this reason, I absolutely love Disney.

As an adult, only you can decide where your comfort zone is -- if you decide to mention the allergy or not.

 

[WantToGoNow]

On our last trip, we had my ds5's latex allergy document when we made the ADR's. Every chef appeared at our table within a few minutes of being seated. We didn't mention the shellfish allergy in our group because as an adult, she pretty much knew what she could/could not have. My son has now developed allergies to milk and egg as well.

A funny story that happened at the Liberty Tree Tavern character dinner. The server sat the basket of bread on the table and then picked up the card for our party and saw the latex allergy -- she whipped a dinner roll out of my son's hand just before it reached his mouth. She felt so bad since he started to cry. The Chef came out and spoke to us and said he personally would prepare my son a "special" plate with just the items he wanted - even brought him new (unused) napkins and utinsels (this happened as several restaurants). They brought this small 40 lb. 5 year old an entire basket of rolls and a plate of food big enough to feed 5 grown men. I don't think he even made a dent in it - I wish I would have taken a picture when that sat it down in front of him.

 

[maj42169]

Same thing happened to us with my daughter...........they made her whole plates full of food that would have fed all of us.......and still had some left....but I can't get over how accomidating they are about the allergies there at Disney.............mushrooms seem to be in just about everything anymore and those chefs knew their foods inside and out! I appreciated that.