Peanut Allergy/QS/desserts etc.

[mikana876]

I have a 3 yr old with a severe peanut allergy.

Does anyone have any experience getting food from the quick service places at Disneyland? Or with items such as ice cream from Main Street, pastries, the mickey mouse shaped ice cream bars etc?

I am not interested in the table service restaurants.

Thanks!

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I've got a deadly peanut allergy. When in doubt, all the rest, both TS and CS have books available upon asking that lists the ingred for everything that they serve. I personally always take Extra Strength Reactine on vacation, as I never know when I will be exposed to the innocent but deadly Peanut. It may be a good idea to give him a good anti-histamine for every day on vacation, such as childrens Aerius to prevent a reaction before it starts. No matter how hard I try to avoid the deadly Peanut, as some point I know that I'm going to get exposed, and the Reactine stops the reaction before it starts for me. Always ask the servers, as they are more than willing to check for you. You can contact Disney direct and ask to speak to one of their Chefs, to discuss this further. Hope that this helps you out.

 

[mikana876]

We will have his epi pens, as well as benadryl on hand in case of accidental ingestion of peanut particles. We also do Claritin or Zyrtec daily.

Have you personally been able to find food items easily at the quick service locations? That's good that they have a book you can check, but it probably wouldn't be very useful if everything in the book says "may contain traces of peanuts".

Have you done ice cream on Main Street? I'd rather know ahead of time if there is a safe option before going into the ice cream shop. He would be terribly disappointed if we walked into the ice cream shop, he saw all the ice cream, and then we had to leave empty handed due to peanut cross contamination. Talk about having a sad kid on your hand, or possibly a tantrum if he's tired from a long day at Disney. For example if they have a peanut flavored ice cream and use the same scoops for all the ice cream, simply cleaning it off in water buckets in between uses like they do in many ice cream shops, than none of the ice cream would then be peanut safe. But he loves ice cream and I would love to take him to the ice cream shop if I knew ahead of time that he could choose a safe ice cream option.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

IMHO the reason why "may contain Peanuts" is on practically everything these days is because the plants the foods are made make many different products. Peanut oil in itself is a very fine oil that has a high flash point. Because the oil is so fine, it can and will contaminate other products, if the manufactures are not careful. Have I had a reaction from a product that says "May contain Peanuts", yes on rare occasion. Because of this, I stay away from granola bars, etc. Unless it says "Peanut Free", there's always a risk of getting a reaction. I had an almost fatal allergic attack many years ago from some chocolate covered lady fingers that we thought were safe. After I had the life threatening reaction we looked closer at the label, and it said "may contain Peanuts". I have gone Primal (no sugar, grains, legumes) because of my various allergies. Because of this, I avoid all sugar, as well as all grains. I've discovered that it's the only way I can feel healthy in the long term. I will have on vacation 1 special treat, then I suffer for it afterwards. I'm not into ice cream, so I can't tell you about the ice cream. However I do know that some ice cream does contain peanut oil, so I'd ask before I ordered. You could bring some special peanut free treats, so that if he does have a craving, you'd have a peanut free treat to give him.

 

[sampal24]

My DD (10) has a life threatening allergy to peanuts/tree nuts. We have been to WDW three time with her and are coming to DLR next month. We stay away from the ice cream shops. There is too much risk for cross contamination between the scoops, as you mentioned, and toppings. We have found the Mickey ears ice cream on a stick to be safe, as well as Dole Whips. Keep in mind that this was at WDW so the suppliers to DLR may be different, but it is a good place to start.

You should also know that the Disney company is far and away the best at accommodating food allergies. We have it noted with dining reservations and the chef comes out to our table to go over the menu, or will walk us through the buffet, to let us know what's safe. Since you are just doing counter service every restaurant should have a book with ingredient lists. We usually ask for a manager when going to a counter service restaurant.

You can all try contacting the DLR dining and ask them if there are places that you should stay away from. If a counter service restaurant uses peanut oil don't go there. There will be plenty of others that don't. This can help narrow down your selections. The best thing you can do is plan ahead. This allergy takes away the spontaneity of finding something to eat, but based on our experience at WDW, you will be good in almost every Disney owned and operated restaurant. The Downtown Disney restaurants are not owned or operated by Disney. You will have to check with them individually.

 

[mmlover74]

My son has a peanut/tree nut allergy not to mention several others. I would advise emailing the head chefs...If you search for "multiple allergies" his email address will be listed in one of the posts...very very helpful as I already have spoken to him a few times before our trip. Also, if you go to allears.net, they list the menus for everyhting at DL and DCA...that should help too...maybe calling Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor and asking them directly what do they do will give you the reassurance you need.

Not too many understand cross contamination which is sad. I understand about having a sad kid...my son would be the same way.

 

[bumbershoot]

I *think* I've read that the Mickey bar don't have peanut anything.

Do NOT get the chocolate covered banana, b/c there are peanuts on it. That's from a frozen snack cart, and it's individually wrapped, FYI.



My son doesn't have an allergy, but he does have a sensitivity that causes violence and really awful behavior, and we try hard to avoid anything that is going to cause a reaction. (Disneyland has been very helpful in *finding* things that spur this behavior...which is unfortunate for that moment but fortunate for future choices) What we do is make sure WE have lots of snacks and even food for him. That way if we can't find something for him, he doesn't go hungry or treat-less. (and since his trigger food is anything based on corn syrup, there's *almost* NO treats for DS to eat at Disneyland...not even a Mickey bar, though in our case, the frozen banana IS allowed)

So for a deadly allergy I would recommend what we do, times a million.