Nut Allergy Help

[Blondie Mom]

My 7yo has a peanut and tree nut allergy. I was searching for DLR allergy info on the DIS to help plan/prepare for our upcoming trip in October, but everything I'm finding relates to WDW. Is there anywhere I can look for help with DLR allergy info, specifically nuts?

 

[valiamo]

Disney is excellent when it cones to allergies. If you make a formal reservatios, specify "Allergy", and a chef will come out and note your allergies and make a special meal, allergen free.

In almost every food establishment, tell your server you want to know your allergy choices, and the will get a senior person from the kitchen to speak to you. Your son will have tons of choices. Almost all of the tips from WDW apply to DLR, just the restaurants change.

If you have a list of the specific Tree nuts it will help the chefs greatly.

 

[Whistlebee]

My daughter has a peanut allergy and has been able to eat very safely at Disneyland/CA. If you make table service reservations let them know what your son's allergies are. I'm not sure how counter service is done now. It used to be you could ask for their allergy binder and then check ingredients. I'm not sure if that is how it is still done. Here is the contact information for special diets DLR.Special.Diets@disney.com. If you join the Facebook group Disney Chefs Rock Food Allergies there is a ton of information there. Under files go to Disneyland Reviews and there is a lot of information. Also, feel free to ask questions on the page. I know they have a couple of "disneyland experts". A lot of the info is about WDW but there is quite a bit on Disneyland too.
Here is a link to Disneyland Special Diet's Page:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/special-dietary-requests/

 

[Blondie Mom]

Thanks for the helpful info, everyone! I will definitely look into these links. I'm feeling pretty good about table service restaurants. Just curious about how counter service is handled. Also, I'm guessing most bakery treats, ice cream, etc. are all made in the same facility with other items containing nuts....which is always hard to explain to my child why he can't get the cute themed cookies and treats. I'm sure I could always ask at the counter, but I was just trying to find out as much as I could ahead of time.

 

[Whistlebee]

You would need to check for yourself as my daughter is peanut only but we've safely had the churros, soft serve ice cream on Paradise Pier, the carmel popcorn, regular popcorn, and dole whips. I haven't seen any bakery items that were safe (cookies, muffins, etc). We haven't been in about a year though so maybe they have some now.

 

[Blondie Mom]

You would need to check for yourself as my daughter is peanut only but we've safely had the churros, soft serve ice cream on Paradise Pier, the carmel popcorn, regular popcorn, and dole whips. I haven't seen any bakery items that were safe (cookies, muffins, etc). We haven't been in about a year though so maybe they have some now.

Okay, thanks for that info! It's always great to hear firsthand how others were able to navigate the parks where allergies are concerned.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

I have peanut and treenut allergies and can vouch that the TS are great, Disney is the one place I feel safe eating. As PP have said just note allergy on your ADR and mention it again at the restaurant and they will have the chef come out and talk to you and make something allergy free. Now as far as QS/CS is concerned, some places will still give you the binder and other places will just have the head of the kitchen come meet with you and they bring the binder with and will in most cases whip something up for you. I had allergy free chicken fingers and fries made for me on our last trip at a CS. Disney is really awesome about this.

Now when it comes to the cupcakes and stuff out of the counters. They are generally not safe, have had head chefs at Disney CS restaurants tell me this. Now, sometimes if you are lucky and are able to talk to the head of the bakery, etc they may be able to give you one that wasn't in the case and wasn't cross contaminated, but it's up to you if you want to take that chance. I have eaten the chocolate cupcakes at WDW this way, but I am very very careful with knowing what things were around. I also always have my epi-pen with me.
As an alternative, they do have allergy-free cookies and cakes etc that they can give, they may not be decorated like mickey etc but they are at least safe. It is kind of a bummer though that most of the time the fun decorated cupcakes and such are not allergy safe.

 

[Metalliman98]

We have a 4 yo with peanut (not tree nut) allergy, and Disney has always been very accommodating. As others said, when you make reservations you can inform them of the allergy. We always reserve online and check the peanut box, and the waitresses/servers have always noted the allergy and asked us if we wanted to speak with the Chef. When we do character meals with buffets, the chef comes out and tells us what is safe and offers to make up a special safe plate of the foods our son can eat, including peanut free Mickey waffles/pancakes. Also, most of the TS now indicate allergen information on the menus.

As others have said, most baked goods aren't going to be safe; Disney makes all of their baked goods offsite in one facility which processes peanuts, so cross contamination is the issue. However, I was able to contact the head pastry chef and she worked with me to create a peanut free cake for my birthday so that my son could enjoy it too.

Overall, Disney is pretty awesome about allergies.

 

[Blondie Mom]

Now when it comes to the cupcakes and stuff out of the counters. They are generally not safe, have had head chefs at Disney CS restaurants tell me this. Now, sometimes if you are lucky and are able to talk to the head of the bakery, etc they may be able to give you one that wasn't in the case and wasn't cross contaminated, but it's up to you if you want to take that chance. I have eaten the chocolate cupcakes at WDW this way, but I am very very careful with knowing what things were around. I also always have my epi-pen with me.
As an alternative, they do have allergy-free cookies and cakes etc that they can give, they may not be decorated like mickey etc but they are at least safe. It is kind of a bummer though that most of the time the fun decorated cupcakes and such are not allergy safe.

I know...it's always hard to explain to my child that he can't have the pretty decorated cupcakes. If they don't actually contain nuts he's *probably* going to be okay, but I always feel bad risking that accidental exposure by cross-contamination.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

I know...it's always hard to explain to my child that he can't have the pretty decorated cupcakes. If they don't actually contain nuts he's *probably* going to be okay, but I always feel bad risking that accidental exposure by cross-contamination.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have had the chocolate ones with the mickey sprinkles at the Poly pretty safely(it's just a choc cupcake with buttercream icing and Mickey sprinkles), but it's up to you how much you want to risk. I really wish they would make allergy safe character cupcakes.

Also, I wanted to mention that there is a way to talk to the place that makes the special cakes to order for WDW (for bdays and such) and work out a way to have an allergy free one made. Just an idea so your child can have a "special, pretty decorated" treat in Disney.

 

[Blondie Mom]

Also, I wanted to mention that there is a way to talk to the place that makes the special cakes to order for WDW (for bdays and such) and work out a way to have an allergy free one made. Just an idea so your child can have a "special, pretty decorated" treat in Disney.

Any idea who to contact about this?

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

Any idea who to contact about this?

This thread may be able to help you, make sure you let them know when you call that it's to be an allergy free cake.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/official-disney-cake-chatter-part-iv.3261922/

EDIT, I just realized you are going to DLR , and things may be different there and IDK about the cakes there but @lurkyloo might know who you could contact about cakes for your child. Best of luck and hope your family has a good time!

 

[starshine514]

We only do counter service and my daughter (allergic to milk, egg, peanut and sesame)!eats better and safer there than anywhere except home.

We eat a Cocina Cucamonga (sp?) a lot. They are peanut-free. We also have eaten at Tomorrowland Terrace, French Quarter, and Smokejumper's Grill without problems. Some of the places now have allergen menus, but since we are dealing with multiple allergies, we always have to talk to the chef. For treats, popcorn and sorbet (with an allergen note and special precautions taken - I would think that other scoop shops may be able to do the same. We just haven't had the option because of her dairy allergy) from Ghiradeli. Dole Whip should be fine, too (but my daughter is young, and pineapple gives her diaper rash). We also sometimes get a vanilla cream frappacino from Starbucks (hers made with coconut milk) as a milkshake treat when the other girls have ice cream.

I'm sure you have more options than this, but this is what we have found are safe for all her allergens.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

My 5 year old has a severe peanut allergy. We've taken him for years and never had an issue. As everyone else said, the ts restaurants are great. We've also had luck with most cs places (we avoid the rice bowl place at dca, but that's it). It's not as easy as wdw but if you ask, most cms and chefs will help you.

 

[Blondie Mom]

This thread may be able to help you, make sure you let them know when you call that it's to be an allergy free cake.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/official-disney-cake-chatter-part-iv.3261922/

EDIT, I just realized you are going to DLR , and things may be different there and IDK about the cakes there but @lurkyloo might know who you could contact about cakes for your child. Best of luck and hope your family has a good time!

Thank you!

 

[Blondie Mom]

We only do counter service and my daughter (allergic to milk, egg, peanut and sesame)!eats better and safer there than anywhere except home.

We eat a Cocina Cucamonga (sp?) a lot. They are peanut-free. We also have eaten at Tomorrowland Terrace, French Quarter, and Smokejumper's Grill without problems. Some of the places now have allergen menus, but since we are dealing with multiple allergies, we always have to talk to the chef. For treats, popcorn and sorbet (with an allergen note and special precautions taken - I would think that other scoop shops may be able to do the same. We just haven't had the option because of her dairy allergy) from Ghiradeli. Dole Whip should be fine, too (but my daughter is young, and pineapple gives her diaper rash). We also sometimes get a vanilla cream frappacino from Starbucks (hers made with coconut milk) as a milkshake treat when the other girls have ice cream.

I'm sure you have more options than this, but this is what we have found are safe for all her allergens.

Thank you for some great suggestions! It's good to know which restaurants might be more accommodating than others.

 

[Blondie Mom]

My 5 year old has a severe peanut allergy. We've taken him for years and never had an issue. As everyone else said, the ts restaurants are great. We've also had luck with most cs places (we avoid the rice bowl place at dca, but that's it). It's not as easy as wdw but if you ask, most cms and chefs will help you.

I'm glad you've never had an issue....it's always reassuring to hear that others have had successful trips while dealing with food allergies!

 

[Whistlebee]

The rice bowl place at DCA is Fortune Cookie Cookery. It is peanut free (double check about the treenuts). It is listed on the DLR Special Diets page as one of the counter service restaurants prepared to handle allergies. We always enjoy eating here because Chinese food is pretty much off-limits with a peanut allergy!

 

[DCDisney]

Another nut free treat we enjoy is the cotton candy. At DL I feel like for the most part if you don't go into the bakeries there are not as many in your face baked goods to taunt a nut allergic child as WDW. I feel like I am able to eat more at DL than WDW in terms of my nut allergy. There are more things made on site from real ingredients. At WDW they just constantly want to hand you packets of enjoy life cookies where at DL I felt like the chefs made a real effort to have better things than the prepackaged stuff. I really enjoy the beignets at the Mint Julep Stand or Cafe Orleans in Disneyland.

 

[DznyPrnces]

My daughter is also allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, and she eats very well at Disneyland. As far as treats, yes, most of the bakery and candy items are not safe. However, Enjoy Life (a top 8 free brand) has started selling Disney branded chocolate bars at Disneyland (someone from another message board I'm on found them at DCA).