Our trip was back in February, but another thread about food allergies prompted me to copy this review over from one of my food allergy forums. Not sure how well it will copy, but here goes. The pictures aren't copying over real simply. I'll see if I can add them later.
For the record, DS is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and we avoid tree nuts and shellfish (DH is allergic to shellfish).
We got the Dining Plan which include 1 snack, 1 counter service meal, and 1 table service meal per night of your stay. Except for one day where we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's we usually ate breakfast in our room (had a full kitchen in Bay Lake Towers by the Contemporary) and then used counter service and table service credits for lunch and dinner.
I ordered some groceries at Garden Grocer and had them delivered to the room. So easy and they have a decent selection of allergy-friendly foods. I had safe bread, Earth Balance butter, Van's Waffles, Johnsonville breakfast sausage links, bananas, watermelon, Pop Tarts, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal to make various breakfasts. I also got a variety box of snack packs of Teddy Grahams, Lorna Doones, and Animal Crackers, all safe. And a few snacks for DH and I. Their prices were basically the same as my grocery store, but you pay $12 for delivery.
One of the best things I did was carry a small ziploc bag in my fanny pack with a few condiments for DS. He loves A-1 sauce and steak so I didn't want to get stuck at a restaurant that used some unsafe house steak sauce. I got condiment size packets of it from minimus.biz for $.39 each. I also carried a small tupperware of Earth Balance (from my Garden Grocer order) so that he wouldn't have to eat a roll or waffle without butter. Lastly, I carried a small (think spice bottle size) container of safe sprinkles to dress up any plain vanilla ice cream. It took up no space and was totally worth not having to bother the chefs for anymore help. I didn't even ask for safe butter or steak sauce, just used what I had.
For snacks, we were able to find and or eat popcorn (there is a peanut x-con issue on this), Itsakadoozie popsicles (both kids loved them), Divvies twin packs of choc chip cookies, marshmallow lollipops at the Confectionary, Pez dispensers, turkey legs, strawberry popsicles, frozen lemonade, Divvies caramel corn, Divvies jelly beans, Tofutti ice cream. We didn't even get a chance to try everything, there were so many options. We had trouble using all of our snack credits so the last evening we went to the Main Street bakery and bought a few packs of Divvies to take home.
Before reviewing restaurants, I forgot to mention that I packed a jar of chocolate soynut butter (DS's fave) and some individual servings of Sunbutter in my luggage for backup meals.
I had intended to take pictures of all the food, but I rarely remembered so there are only a few and usually they are after DS dug in.
Contempo Cafe- Our hotel's counter service. The only thing I ever ordered for Abe was their allergy free chicken tenders and fries. The first time, he and my 21mo DD ate them all up. I ordered them a couple other times when we were not out at the parks, but DS wouldn't eat them. DH and I thought they tasted good, so I think it was just a matter of him not being hungry with all the other big meals and snacks going on. They did take a little longer, so I usually sent DH to the room with the kids, waited for the order, and then took it to the room to eat. That was a nice break from all the sit-down eating too. They also sold Divvies, Itsakadoozies, Strawberry pops, French Meadow DFGF brownies, and Silk soy milk (plain, vanilla, and choc) there. The Silk didn't qualify for the children's meal so I would just get it under my adult meal and trade with DS.
Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge- DS got pulled pork, fries, and a non-dairy vanilla MILKSHAKE. I don't think the chef would have offered that up, but I had heard rumors it was possible so I asked and we received. The milkshakes there count as your drink for the meal plan, so you can get another dessert. We didn't really want dessert after the milkshakes so the waiter offered to box some up and DH and I discretely took them back to the room for post-bedtime snacking.
Cosmic Ray's- Counter service in the Magic Kingdom. We were able to get the half chicken and ribs plate right off the menu. It just had to be plated specially by the manager to avoid cross-contamination. It was yummy and we had a lot left over to take back for another meal in the room. Manager said fries would take 20 minutes so we had grapes and applesauce instead. There were enough fries going on all week, so no disappointment there.
Liberty Tree Tavern- So YUMMY. They serve the dinner family style here. They bring out plates of turkey, beef roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, etc... and it's all you can eat. Chef made DS his own separate plate piled high with specially made mashed potatoes, turkey, beef roast, and green beans. He also brought a separate server of a special gravy made from the beef drippings and cornstarch. He also told us to feel free to ask for seconds of any items. For dessert he brought him a bowl of vanilla Rice Dream ice cream. This is where carrying a small think of sprinkles was handy. Sprinkles make anything special for my kids and DS was as happy as could be.
Chef Mickey's- This was the only breakfast we ate out. It's a buffet, but the Chef brought DS a plateful of special Mickey waffles, strawberries, grapes, banana slices, tater tots, syrup, and bacon. The special waffles look just like the Mickey waffles from the buffet. Theyre gluten free to accommodate a wider allergy set, but they were light and fluffy and I would have never guessed they were special. I think I heard that they use juice instead of a milk to make them, so I think they are both dairy and soy free. I used my take-along butter here, since DS is not used to eating waffles without butter. I have no idea if the Chef could have provided a dairy free butter if Id asked.
The Lunching Pad- We got a smoked turkey leg and some chips here. Those things are so big. We took it back to the room and it was almost enough to make a meal for all of us.
Ohanas in the Polynesian- So fabulous. Chef TJ was as wonderful as I had heard. This restaurant serves meals family style. Servers walk around with big skewers of various meats. Chef TJ came out and discussed which items DS would have. He was able to eat everything except the peanut sauce which he suggested our entire family skip (that was our intention anyway), the pork dumplings, the shrimp, and the rolls. He brought out an EnerG gluten free roll for DS and again I used the butter I had with me. DS was even able to share the platter of broccoli and NOODLES. Chef TJ explained that he had recently found new noodles for the restaurant to use and that they happened to be egg free too. For dessert, Chef TJ personally delivered the most magnificent dessert to DS and drizzled chocolate sauce over it right at the table. Its a tower of fresh pineapple, half an ice cream sandwich, half a banana, the other half of the ice cream sandwich, a scoop of ice cream, and a cherry. It was beyond wonderful.
Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom- We had planned on eating at Flame Tree BBQ since we have a lot of luck with that kind of cuisine, but I was tiring of all the meat centric meals and decided to duck my head into Pizzafari and see if a cheeseless pepperoni pizza would be safe and doable. To my delight, a wonderful manager showed me the binder with all the ingredients. The crust was fine, but they use a different sauce since their normal one has romano cheese in it. They even had Vegan Gourmet soy cheese for it. It took about 10 minutes since it couldnt be pulled right off the assembly line, but it was fantastic and such a nice change of pace.
LeCellier Steakhouse in Epcot's Canada- This is the one my DS was looking forward to our whole trip, because he LOVES steak. The Chef asked what we had in mind and DS announced that he wanted a steak. No problem. Fries with that? Yup. DS loved it. Then for dessert the Chef brought him a small bowl of ice cream (can't remember if it was Tofutti or Rice Dream) with two condiment size cups of chocolate sauce and sprinkles (this seemed to be the only place with regular, non-Mickey shaped, safe sprinkles). The two smaller cups were set at the top of the bowl of ice cream to form the traditional Mickey head and ears. DS was over-the-top excited at pouring his own choc sauce and sprinkles on his ice cream. Our favorite meal of the trip, except for the Ohana dessert. Oh, and Chef even assured me that DS could eat the bread there, which included pretzel bread sticks and sourdough bread sticks.
Biergarten in Epcot's Germany- We had lunch here and it's a buffet. The Chef was extremely nice and walked me through the buffet showing me what DS could have. I'm sure she would have plated it in back, but all the things I thought he'd want were grouped together with other safe things (basically a row of various meats) and the restaurant had just barely opened and few people had even been up to the buffet yet. So I grabbed some chicken, bologna, and some roasted pork from a carving station. The Chef also got an EnerG roll for him from the back. There were a lot of other safe things, but not much I thought he'd like. A lot of salads, red cabbage, sauerkrat, applesauce. At the dessert station, there was a berry compote and chunked watermelon, but she asked if he liked Divvies and Enjoy Life Foods Boom Boom chocolate bars. I said yes and she brought him both. This was probably the least effort any chef put into his dessert, but let me tell you he was NOT disappointed. I had read that they had really good singing and dancing for both lunch and dinner. But we were done eating and still no show had started. Turns out the entertainment started at 1:15 and we had had a 12:00 reservation. We didn't stick around since the kids were getting restless. My DH loves German food. I can take it or leave it. Lunch was definitely a success and certainly not bad, but this was my least favorite table service meal.
The Palace Ice Cream Shop on Main Street- Our last evening we put DD to bed and then DH sent me out for a night with DS. We stopped for ice cream at the Palace. Tofutti and Rice Dream were listed right on the big menu board. All week we'd only had vanilla, but when I ordered for DS they said they had chocolate too. So we both had chocolate ice cream and sat down at the bakery next door to enjoy it. That's when I got choked up and spent the remainder of the evening teary eyed. It was such a treat. Then we rode It's a Small World for a 4th time and watched the fireworks before heading back to our hotel.
I LOVE DISNEY! We never thought we'd be the type to take our kids to Disney more than once, maybe twice, during their childhood, but given my DSs allergies and our experience there we plan on making it a regular vacation, probably every 2 years. We even bought into the DVC. Hope this helps others planning trips.
For the record, DS is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and we avoid tree nuts and shellfish (DH is allergic to shellfish).
We got the Dining Plan which include 1 snack, 1 counter service meal, and 1 table service meal per night of your stay. Except for one day where we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's we usually ate breakfast in our room (had a full kitchen in Bay Lake Towers by the Contemporary) and then used counter service and table service credits for lunch and dinner.
I ordered some groceries at Garden Grocer and had them delivered to the room. So easy and they have a decent selection of allergy-friendly foods. I had safe bread, Earth Balance butter, Van's Waffles, Johnsonville breakfast sausage links, bananas, watermelon, Pop Tarts, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal to make various breakfasts. I also got a variety box of snack packs of Teddy Grahams, Lorna Doones, and Animal Crackers, all safe. And a few snacks for DH and I. Their prices were basically the same as my grocery store, but you pay $12 for delivery.
One of the best things I did was carry a small ziploc bag in my fanny pack with a few condiments for DS. He loves A-1 sauce and steak so I didn't want to get stuck at a restaurant that used some unsafe house steak sauce. I got condiment size packets of it from minimus.biz for $.39 each. I also carried a small tupperware of Earth Balance (from my Garden Grocer order) so that he wouldn't have to eat a roll or waffle without butter. Lastly, I carried a small (think spice bottle size) container of safe sprinkles to dress up any plain vanilla ice cream. It took up no space and was totally worth not having to bother the chefs for anymore help. I didn't even ask for safe butter or steak sauce, just used what I had.
For snacks, we were able to find and or eat popcorn (there is a peanut x-con issue on this), Itsakadoozie popsicles (both kids loved them), Divvies twin packs of choc chip cookies, marshmallow lollipops at the Confectionary, Pez dispensers, turkey legs, strawberry popsicles, frozen lemonade, Divvies caramel corn, Divvies jelly beans, Tofutti ice cream. We didn't even get a chance to try everything, there were so many options. We had trouble using all of our snack credits so the last evening we went to the Main Street bakery and bought a few packs of Divvies to take home.
Before reviewing restaurants, I forgot to mention that I packed a jar of chocolate soynut butter (DS's fave) and some individual servings of Sunbutter in my luggage for backup meals.
I had intended to take pictures of all the food, but I rarely remembered so there are only a few and usually they are after DS dug in.
Contempo Cafe- Our hotel's counter service. The only thing I ever ordered for Abe was their allergy free chicken tenders and fries. The first time, he and my 21mo DD ate them all up. I ordered them a couple other times when we were not out at the parks, but DS wouldn't eat them. DH and I thought they tasted good, so I think it was just a matter of him not being hungry with all the other big meals and snacks going on. They did take a little longer, so I usually sent DH to the room with the kids, waited for the order, and then took it to the room to eat. That was a nice break from all the sit-down eating too. They also sold Divvies, Itsakadoozies, Strawberry pops, French Meadow DFGF brownies, and Silk soy milk (plain, vanilla, and choc) there. The Silk didn't qualify for the children's meal so I would just get it under my adult meal and trade with DS.
Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge- DS got pulled pork, fries, and a non-dairy vanilla MILKSHAKE. I don't think the chef would have offered that up, but I had heard rumors it was possible so I asked and we received. The milkshakes there count as your drink for the meal plan, so you can get another dessert. We didn't really want dessert after the milkshakes so the waiter offered to box some up and DH and I discretely took them back to the room for post-bedtime snacking.
Cosmic Ray's- Counter service in the Magic Kingdom. We were able to get the half chicken and ribs plate right off the menu. It just had to be plated specially by the manager to avoid cross-contamination. It was yummy and we had a lot left over to take back for another meal in the room. Manager said fries would take 20 minutes so we had grapes and applesauce instead. There were enough fries going on all week, so no disappointment there.
Liberty Tree Tavern- So YUMMY. They serve the dinner family style here. They bring out plates of turkey, beef roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, etc... and it's all you can eat. Chef made DS his own separate plate piled high with specially made mashed potatoes, turkey, beef roast, and green beans. He also brought a separate server of a special gravy made from the beef drippings and cornstarch. He also told us to feel free to ask for seconds of any items. For dessert he brought him a bowl of vanilla Rice Dream ice cream. This is where carrying a small think of sprinkles was handy. Sprinkles make anything special for my kids and DS was as happy as could be.
Chef Mickey's- This was the only breakfast we ate out. It's a buffet, but the Chef brought DS a plateful of special Mickey waffles, strawberries, grapes, banana slices, tater tots, syrup, and bacon. The special waffles look just like the Mickey waffles from the buffet. Theyre gluten free to accommodate a wider allergy set, but they were light and fluffy and I would have never guessed they were special. I think I heard that they use juice instead of a milk to make them, so I think they are both dairy and soy free. I used my take-along butter here, since DS is not used to eating waffles without butter. I have no idea if the Chef could have provided a dairy free butter if Id asked.
The Lunching Pad- We got a smoked turkey leg and some chips here. Those things are so big. We took it back to the room and it was almost enough to make a meal for all of us.
Ohanas in the Polynesian- So fabulous. Chef TJ was as wonderful as I had heard. This restaurant serves meals family style. Servers walk around with big skewers of various meats. Chef TJ came out and discussed which items DS would have. He was able to eat everything except the peanut sauce which he suggested our entire family skip (that was our intention anyway), the pork dumplings, the shrimp, and the rolls. He brought out an EnerG gluten free roll for DS and again I used the butter I had with me. DS was even able to share the platter of broccoli and NOODLES. Chef TJ explained that he had recently found new noodles for the restaurant to use and that they happened to be egg free too. For dessert, Chef TJ personally delivered the most magnificent dessert to DS and drizzled chocolate sauce over it right at the table. Its a tower of fresh pineapple, half an ice cream sandwich, half a banana, the other half of the ice cream sandwich, a scoop of ice cream, and a cherry. It was beyond wonderful.
Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom- We had planned on eating at Flame Tree BBQ since we have a lot of luck with that kind of cuisine, but I was tiring of all the meat centric meals and decided to duck my head into Pizzafari and see if a cheeseless pepperoni pizza would be safe and doable. To my delight, a wonderful manager showed me the binder with all the ingredients. The crust was fine, but they use a different sauce since their normal one has romano cheese in it. They even had Vegan Gourmet soy cheese for it. It took about 10 minutes since it couldnt be pulled right off the assembly line, but it was fantastic and such a nice change of pace.
LeCellier Steakhouse in Epcot's Canada- This is the one my DS was looking forward to our whole trip, because he LOVES steak. The Chef asked what we had in mind and DS announced that he wanted a steak. No problem. Fries with that? Yup. DS loved it. Then for dessert the Chef brought him a small bowl of ice cream (can't remember if it was Tofutti or Rice Dream) with two condiment size cups of chocolate sauce and sprinkles (this seemed to be the only place with regular, non-Mickey shaped, safe sprinkles). The two smaller cups were set at the top of the bowl of ice cream to form the traditional Mickey head and ears. DS was over-the-top excited at pouring his own choc sauce and sprinkles on his ice cream. Our favorite meal of the trip, except for the Ohana dessert. Oh, and Chef even assured me that DS could eat the bread there, which included pretzel bread sticks and sourdough bread sticks.
Biergarten in Epcot's Germany- We had lunch here and it's a buffet. The Chef was extremely nice and walked me through the buffet showing me what DS could have. I'm sure she would have plated it in back, but all the things I thought he'd want were grouped together with other safe things (basically a row of various meats) and the restaurant had just barely opened and few people had even been up to the buffet yet. So I grabbed some chicken, bologna, and some roasted pork from a carving station. The Chef also got an EnerG roll for him from the back. There were a lot of other safe things, but not much I thought he'd like. A lot of salads, red cabbage, sauerkrat, applesauce. At the dessert station, there was a berry compote and chunked watermelon, but she asked if he liked Divvies and Enjoy Life Foods Boom Boom chocolate bars. I said yes and she brought him both. This was probably the least effort any chef put into his dessert, but let me tell you he was NOT disappointed. I had read that they had really good singing and dancing for both lunch and dinner. But we were done eating and still no show had started. Turns out the entertainment started at 1:15 and we had had a 12:00 reservation. We didn't stick around since the kids were getting restless. My DH loves German food. I can take it or leave it. Lunch was definitely a success and certainly not bad, but this was my least favorite table service meal.
The Palace Ice Cream Shop on Main Street- Our last evening we put DD to bed and then DH sent me out for a night with DS. We stopped for ice cream at the Palace. Tofutti and Rice Dream were listed right on the big menu board. All week we'd only had vanilla, but when I ordered for DS they said they had chocolate too. So we both had chocolate ice cream and sat down at the bakery next door to enjoy it. That's when I got choked up and spent the remainder of the evening teary eyed. It was such a treat. Then we rode It's a Small World for a 4th time and watched the fireworks before heading back to our hotel.
I LOVE DISNEY! We never thought we'd be the type to take our kids to Disney more than once, maybe twice, during their childhood, but given my DSs allergies and our experience there we plan on making it a regular vacation, probably every 2 years. We even bought into the DVC. Hope this helps others planning trips.
