Our experiences of Soy and Peanut allergy dining Jan 2008

[kidzmom3]

We just arrived home from our vacation. My husband has a severe allergy to peanuts (legumes actually) and Soy. This can be difficult as many things are made with soybean oil. Here are our experiences:

all bread products were off limits-all chefs told him that they do not make their own bread products and they could not guarantee that they were safe. For soy. They knew if they had peanuts.

no butter-they use margarine and butter replacements. We asked everywhere. We never found real butter, even in the best restaurants.

Counter service-very knowledgeable and able to look up allergy info on all of their products. Peanut and soy free brownie they offer was really gross. Most deserts were off limits, sometimes soy sometimes peanut. He could eat the cheesecake at the Electric Umbrella.

We ate at Chef Mickey/Crystal Palace/Mama Melrose/Coral Reef/Garden Grille
San Angel Inn/1900 Park Fare.
Every place a chef came out and spoke with him. At buffets they took him around and showed him what he could and could not eat. All seemed very knowledgeable and took their time.

The best was at Mama Melrose, the worst was 1900 Park Fare.
1900 Park Fare seemed rushed and sweepingly said everything over there is safe. A little hard to believe, so he did avoid those. Perhaps the chef was correct, but every other chef went dish to dish and explained ingredients.
At Mama Melrose both the server and the chef were fantastic. He came over, made suggestions, modifications the food was delicious. The server was knowledgeable. They asked if a culinary student could help with preparation of the food as he was working on food allergy prep. It was still quick and very delicious.

Just a side note San Angel Inn is not for the soy allergic. They cook absolutely every dish they prepare with soybean oil or cook it in soybean oil. The chef was very nice but totally thrown by the allergy. He did prepare a special chicken breast but the side dish had to be angel hair pasta with olive oil. They sent someone into a main Epcot kitchen to obtain the oil. They were very kind and really went out of their way. Unfortunately, the food was totally bland, dry and tasteless. But they tried to keep him safe, the most important thing. It also took a long time. We did appreciate their effort but would not eat there again with his allergies.

If you have any questions feel free

 

[ENSOCK]

Thank you for your post. Thank god we do not have to deal with that problem. But it is great to know that Disney was able to help you!

 

[familyS]

Thanks for posting.

Sounds like the 1900 Park Fare chef was almost indifferent compared to the other chefs. Glad to hear you were able to eat safely, though

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for the report!

My DS is allergic to peanuts and we have always been impressed with how well it is handled. They really go above and beyond to ensure all safety.

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

My DD has a severe peanut allergy and we feel very safe w/ her at Disney. We have had excellent response to our situation and we feel confident in what the chefs tell us is safe vs. non-safe. They do seem very knowledgable and understanding of how serious an issue it is. The chef at Chef Mickey's even sent someone out to get my DD some gummy bears for dessert b/c the ice cream bar wasn't safe for her! That is just one example of what makes Disney so magical!

 

[mickey&minniealways]

My niece has severe allergies to all nuts, shellfish, and sesame seeds. My sister can't eat eggs or sesame seeds. Her fish allergey to shellfish isn't as severe as her daughters. First off they can't even go into a resteraunt that serves shellfish as she will have a reaction. They need to bring disinfectant wipes everywhere. Wipe down chairs, hanles on fawcets, etc. The oils from someone touching nuts comes off on hands. They also need to ask that food be cooked in pots that these foods have not been cooked in. They need to make ADRs and speak to someone about menues before hand. All this being said my sister is a DVC member and most of the time meals at either WL or OKW. Bothe places are very accomodating. Anything with breadcrumbs is a nogo. All commercially prepared bread crumbs have sesame seeds in them. So going with food allergies can be dificult but it can be done with some planning.

 

[DCDisney]

I am also allergic to legumes including soy and we just got back. I found lots of places had canola oil now rather than soy. When I couldn't eat the gluten free special allergy stuff like the amy's pizza or energ rolls I was pretty much out of luck at most CS places--the new multigrain rolls, breads, and pizza crust have a variety of seeds flax, sunflower, etc that aren't considered nut safe. TS was great CS was HORRIBLE. I could pretty much have a bun less burger or wait until I got back to my resort CS where they had a safe bread option or could make me a safe salad. In years past I was able to eat at least 1 thing at most CS places. I did have a similar issue at 1900. They pretty much said everything was fine--well I know most asian stuff has soy and I already knew the pizza crust was not considered nut safe. I ended up eating plain baked chicken, broccoli, corn, and mashed potatoes from the kids buffet. It was actually good and I had eaten yet another very late lunch waiting to get back to the resort so I wasn't too hungry anyway I was fine just didn't feel safe.

 

[mechurchlady]

I am no gluten, eggs and soy, avoid dairy and chocolte.
I eat sometimes, and pay for it lol, dairy product or even chocolate. It is shocking to hear that gourmet find dining places do not use butter. That would put a very large ding in my trip if I ever went. I could handle eating buttered potatos and coffee with milk but the soy would ruin the trip.

Thank you very much for the trip report.

 

[Selket]

Interesting about 1900 Park Faire - of course I have a ressie there for next month for the first time ever - argh! Maybe I'll try to move that one.

I think it REALLY depends on the chef you get - some people have had great luck with Chef Mickey's but they were horrible (HORRIBLE!) with us. The chef pretty much refused to provide any dessert except some ice cream which my son does not like and would not eat...without sprinkles. (My younger DS has a peanut/tree nut allergy and type 1 diabetes). Honestly the chef had lectured me earlier (!) on not giving him dessert because he had diabetes and I told him he could have it. I could tell that his "back end" way of dealing with what he thought I SHOULD do was just not provide anything.

My son was more recently dx'd with type 1 back then and just a toddler (the rest of the family literally ate dessert from the buffet while walking around the restaurant while he couldn't see and then we got him something when we got back to the room). I guess if a chef pulled that with me now he (she) would not find it a pleasant experience.