Peanut Allergy

[dlr25]

My son is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful our experiences (4 trips so far) have been with the chefs at Disney park and resort restaurants. They obviously deal with this often and handle it well. That said, if a place has PB&J on the menu, we look for another place. I have always avoided the Luau at the Poly because I've heard there are nuts in the food there for instance.

Here's the question: we are considering a stay at AKL and I'm concerned that the African cuisine may have more nuts than the food we've gotten at the dinners at 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, etc.

Does anyone know if there are more items made with nuts at the AKL restaurants?

 

[chell]

You can call Boma directly and ask them. Their number is 407/938-7117. Sorry, that is the only number I have at the AKL.

 

[dlr25]

Thanks for the help. I'll call today. As I said, whenever we have asked, we have always been impressed with the way Disney handles food allergies.

 

[Kermit]

FYI, concerning PB&J, I've read on other threads here that the sandwiches are assembled elsewhere and sent to the restaurants to reduce the risk of getting peanut butter on other foods. Of course, you'd still need to either carry your own materials to clean the tables and chairs if you ate at those places or get an employee to clean one for you.

 

[Lisa F]

There definately seem to be a lot of nuts at Boma (that came out wrong ;-) ). One of the featured dishes on a regular basis is some nut encrusted fish (the fish and the nut changes but some variant always seems to be there). Many of the dishes there have interesting flavor combinations so I am guessing you'd have to at least check into those too.

At Jiko, just at a glance, one of the desserts has peanut butter in it. I'm not sure about Mara.

Good luck, I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to have to worry about that!

Lisa

 

[ducklite]

I am highly allergic to tree nuts. I haven't eaten at Boma, but I've eaten at Jiko, and there are plenty of nut free entrees. I've also eaten in the concierge lounge at the AKL, and other than avoiding the obvious (pastries and cookies for example) I had no problem.

I've been eating at WDW for years, and have never had a reaction there, although I'm overly cautious and ALWAYS speak to the chef about my allergies before eating a thing. Nuts and nut oils can be hidden in the most unlikely places...

Anne

 

[dlr25]

Thanks for the info. Anne, you'll appreciate this story: This May we went to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. Fried Chicken, Corn, etc. but, like you, I'm overly cautious so I asked the waitress to check with the chef. She said, "No nuts in anything. They used to put almond extract in the strawberry shortcake but they don't anymore. I'll double check with the chef just to be sure." Those of you with food allergies know how rare it is to have educated wait staff who take these things as seriously as we do.

 

[erinch]

we have a 13 yo son with life-threatening tree nut, peanut, milk and egg allergies.

Needless to say, this makes everything a challenge--even Disney restaurants. We found the Crystal Palace and Hollywood & Vine by far the most frustrating, even with several "pre-communications" with the chef. Neither restaurant was expecting us when we walked in--and both made errors regarding hidden milk products in their food. The crystal palace rep tried to insist sherbet is milk-free.

But BOMA---it was heaven.
The head chef personally walked us through every item on the buffet. He knew what kinds of butter or oil prepared any fried foods.

And---when our son couldn't eat any of the desserts, he personally prepared 2 kinds of sorbet and fried mango in phyllo so our son could experience "gourmet" desserts. It was our best food allergy experience.

The other very good experience was at Donald's brontosaurus in AK. The chef there made milk and egg free pancakes which were really pretty good.

Even with nuts in some of the dishes, BOMA will go to great lengths to give your son a safe and special dining experience, including separately preparing in a fresh pan if cross-contatmination might be an issue.

BTW, we ate at Ohana's last year without any allergy problems, although the waitress seemed pretty obnoxious about our need to check every food item. We finally had to demand the chef come out, and one thing she said was safe was not. There was plenty a nut-allergic individual can eat.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by dlr25
Thanks for the info. Anne, you'll appreciate this story: This May we went to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. Fried Chicken, Corn, etc. but, like you, I'm overly cautious so I asked the waitress to check with the chef. She said, "No nuts in anything. They used to put almond extract in the strawberry shortcake but they don't anymore. I'll double check with the chef just to be sure." Those of you with food allergies know how rare it is to have educated wait staff who take these things as seriously as we do.

Hoop De Doo is in my experience one of the best at being really concerned that those with allergies have a terrific, but safe, dining experience.

Other great places were GF Cafe, Jiko, and the Kona Cafe. Palio's was a disaster, as was Tony's.

Anne

 

[gfolchick]

We were at WDW for 2 weeks earlier this year. My 3yr old son has life threatening allergies to peanut and tree nut and is allergic to wheat, soy, corn, milk, and egg. We had PS for Cindy's breakfast-he ate the fruit salad and Chef Tom made him oatmeal with apples. For dinner we ate at LTT. Chef Tony prepared him his own plate of ham, turkey, and mashed potatoes made with the turkey drippings which were really good. The portions were huge. On a second week we didn't have PS but the chefs again were wonderful. At CP Chef Brett made him a special plate because there was nothing on the buffet he could eat. I think it was ham and mashed potatos and french fries. A second trip to LTT and Chef Hans made the same and included a patriotic fruit platter for dessert. At the time my son was only 2 so we didn't even have to pay for his meals and they fed him as if he was a linebacker for a football team. I was less impressed with Sci-Fi diner at MGM. Ralf Gosswiler the executive chef for WDW called me a few days before our trip and read ingredients for certain foods to me over the phone and told me which restaurants would be best or which to avoid. I was so impressed by all of the chefs knowledge of food allergies and their willingness to provide a safe delicious meal for him. I wish restaurants back home were so accomodating.

 

[paduncan]

Its good to hear your experiences and how accomodating the chefs were. Did you attempt to contact restaurants ahead of time about your special needs? If so, how did you contact? I'm just begining to make PSs and haven't said anything yet about my son's allergies.

 

[chell]

I'm just begining to make PSs and haven't said anything yet about my son's allergies.

If you note the allergies when making the PS they will give you the phone number to the restaurant to call 3 days before your scheduled PS so you can talk with the chef or someone else from the kitchen staff.

Last night I called to change the time on a PS and the CM and I started talking about how accommodating WDW restaurants are for those with food allergies. She mentioned how they changed from cooking with peanut oil since so many visitors have nut allergies. Also, she told me about a little boy that couldn't eat regular flour. The chef of the restaurant they made a PS at went out and bought a bag of the flour that he could have.

It is nice to know that they are so accommodating. When I mention allergies around here or when traveling for work they just look at me like I'm crazy. One restaurant even said to tell your server if you have food allergies since they can make special dishes. I thought I would finally get some pancakes at a restaurant again! No, he told me that they have eggbeaters. I only wish the general population knew half as much about food allergies as some of the staff at WDW.

 

[PatriciaH]

When I took my little sister to WDW in 1993 we did not call the restaurants before hand, but when we sat down we told the waiter/waitress she was very allergic to nuts and to let us know if anything had nuts in it. We had no problems. I did carry her Epi pen around just in case. It is such a scary thing to deal with so it is great to have understanding staff! We ate at Chefs de France, Brown Derby, Sci-Fi, Alfredo's, Coral Reef, Cinderella's (then King Stephans), the old Chef Mickeys (DD), Character breakfasts at Minnies Menehue (sp?) at the Poly, Yacht and Beach, and 1900 Park Fare (GF).

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

As a grown up with EXTREME food allergies (no you don't necessarily outgrow them, mine have gotten WORSE over the years), I can honestly say that the ONLY place I will dine out is in WDW. And even then I don't always feel safe.

It's obviously the chef and not necessarily the restaurant that makes the difference. For example erinch had a bad experience at H&V while I had an incredible breakfast experience. The first time EVER that I had pancakes (thanks to the Chef and the server who even brought out the package mix for me to personally read the ingredients). I have had wonderful experiences numerous times at Le Cellier, Kona Cafe (Chef Bubba is wonderful), Whispering Canyon Cafe (only when Chef Stephan is there -- the last time we did lunch there, the Chef did not "get it", but Chef Stephan made the most wonderful breakfast EVER), Chefs De France (Chef went out of his way to make sure that I got vegetables and potato with my meal), Rose and Crown, Mama Melrose (we had a server Jules, several years ago who I will NEVER forget for her caring and compassion) and Tony's Town Square (again, the chef had someone go to CRT to get a baked potato for me). And let me not forget Penny, who used to be at the front desk at the Concourse Steakhouse who was INCREDIBLE in making sure everything was perfect and that there was absolutely NO CHANCE of cross contamination.

It is these people who make eating out for me, an enjoyable experience (something I would usually dread).