Really specific dining requests???

[goofy4tink]

Here's the story....dd and two of her friends are heading to WDW in June after graduation. I am putting them up in a studio at BWV. BUT..one of the girls has life threatening food allergies. We almost lost her on a field trip to NYC last year when Jambo Juice put dairy in her smoothie!! Now, this girl is very good about knowing what she can, and can't have. Jambo just either ignored her request for absolutely no dairy or they misunderstood. In any case a trip to Bellevue ensued.
So.....she is pretty much allergic to just about everything, but she doesn't want the other two girls to have to forgo some character meals because of her. I know that if you talk to the chefs prior to your visit they can make accomodations for your allergies. My question.....how far will they go??? This isn't just a case of she can't have dairy or peanuts...she pretty much exists on white rice, bacon (go figure), some veggies. Her mother has the same disorder..so the family knows how to deal with it.
I'm just curious as to how far the chefs will go to help her out, or if she is going to have to bring a bag of rice and sweet potatos with her to any meals. Poor kid!!!
And yes, the other two girls will be getting instructions in epi-pen administration!!!

 

[vicki_c]

I think they will do amazing things at most places, based on what I have read.

You really should head to the DISabilities board -- that's where the allergy experts hang out!

 

[Mrsjvb]

they will go as far as they can. in one location, this may be cooking her a separate meal and charging her accordingly( not necessarily the buffet price)

In another, it may be a chef coming out and walking through the buffet line with her pointing out safe things

in yet another, she may be told there is nothing on the menu suitable. and she can expect to be charged up to full price at character meals even of she eats nothing.

TS she should be fine getting steamed rice and veggies at lunch and dinner.

CS could be problematic. I am told it can be a PITA waiting for a chef to come out and discuss issues


the best bet is to contact special services ahead of time and list the requirements on all ADRs

 

[SMorgan711]

I have a dairy allergy and everyone has always been most accomodating.

I would definitely email specialdiets@disneyworld.com and they will give you some information and help you out on what would be available for her to eat.

Also check the DISabilities board as there are some things over there dealing with allergies!

 

[chartle]

CS could be problematic. I am told it can be a PITA waiting for a chef to come out and discuss issues

Also at I would say almost all park CS places all the food is prepared in another location so if she can't have dairy they can only leave the meatballs off the pasta at Pinocchio not make her some without.

My wife has issues with turkey and she never had an issue with finding out whats in what. Someone at the cash registers , I think the greeter, pulled out a binder that listed what was in everything. She had a small crowd around her.

I would think Sunshine Seasonings at Epcot could make her some thing and also I have read that resort CS's are better for special requests due to allergies.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks guys.

 

[cigar95]

I'll just second the suggestion to email the folks at "specialdiets".

the more advance notice you can give them, the more preparations they will be able to make and the more options you'll have. My situation is not nearly as restrictive, but I've always had very good treatment from those folks. Don't be afraid to ask for an opportunity to talk directly to a chef before your trip.

Although I've not done it myself, I've heard that special arrangements can even be made at counter service places, if you're willing to give an approximate time window for when you expect to be there. (Yes, a bit of a loss of spontaneity, but I suspect she's probably used to having to deal with such situations . . . . )

 

[clanmcculloch]

My allergy kids LOVE white rice. If the restaurant carries rice, our experience has been that the chef will cook up a fresh batch of plain rice for them. Note that this is slow. It takes time for that water to boil from tap water temperature and then for the rice to cook. They need to be prepared for long waits. Chefs will do it though. Sunshine Seasons at Epcot does carry white rice. My kids always choose white rice to go with their meals instead of the side that normally comes with it (and isn't safe for them).

DD11 loves bacon. It's one of her favourite foods. She'll eat bacon morning, noon and night if we let her (we don't but she would if she could). Any restaurant that carries bacon has cooked some up for her when asked. At HBD in August there weren't any appetizers on the menu that both looked interesting to her and were safe (we had the FDP so apps came with the meal) but she mentioned her love of bacon. They normally only have chopped bacon on the menu for the cobb salad and according to the chef it's chopped early in the day. He went and found fresh bacon and fried it up for her. He even put some extra bacon in her spinach with her entree (she enjoys spinach; go figure).

Simple vegetables are just about the easiest food to get at any TS restaurant. Chefs can do this pretty quickly.

At buffets, a chef will still come out to the table. Make sure she knows to ask for fresh food to be brought from the kitchen even if the chef says that an item on the buffet is safe. If this girl is prone to anaphylactic reactions then the risk of cross contamination of food on the buffet is just too great. Most chefs gladly oblige. This does take longer than just grabbing food off the buffet though.

Chefs at least at the Disney owned restaurants really will bend over backwards. One thing to be aware of though is that the restaurant does have to have the ingredient in stock in order to custom prepare something for her. They should look over menus and make sure that there are at least ingredients that she can eat from which the chefs can prepare her food. I've read negative allergy reviews of restaurants where people complain about options yet the guests seem to be expecting foods which just don't exist on menus to be offered somehow. I don't understand how they expect this to happen and how they can consider this to be reasonable. I'm always checking menus to be sure that there are ingredients my kids can safely eat and will enjoy if made without their allergens.

If they're wanting a pre-RD ADR and they're hoping to get out of the restaurant in time for the RD dash, they're kidding themselves. With food allergies, their meals will take significantly longer than for the typical diner. It's worth it but definetly something to be aware of.

ETA: Over the past year or so, any pre-arrangements for dining options have been pointless. Even when I have spoken with chefs ahead of time, chefs when we arrive at restaurants seem to have no clue that I've spoken with anybody or that any offers of special foods have happened. The exceptions to this seem to be value resort food courts, chefs at the POFQ food court and the CL lounge at Poly (but that last one's only because I have the chef's email address; she doesn't get the notification from Special Diets which is a huge frustration for her). Note that there will pretty much not be any CS options for her around BWV. I'd plan for a grocery order for at least breakfast foods and snacks (this can be microwavable rice, frozen sweet potatoes, fruits and other foods that are easily eaten either raw or microwaved).

 

[goofy4tink]

My allergy kids LOVE white rice. If the restaurant carries rice, our experience has been that the chef will cook up a fresh batch of plain rice for them. Note that this is slow. It takes time for that water to boil from tap water temperature and then for the rice to cook. They need to be prepared for long waits. Chefs will do it though. Sunshine Seasons at Epcot does carry white rice. My kids always choose white rice to go with their meals instead of the side that normally comes with it (and isn't safe for them).

DD11 loves bacon. It's one of her favourite foods. She'll eat bacon morning, noon and night if we let her (we don't but she would if she could). Any restaurant that carries bacon has cooked some up for her when asked. At HBD in August there weren't any appetizers on the menu that both looked interesting to her and were safe (we had the FDP so apps came with the meal) but she mentioned her love of bacon. They normally only have chopped bacon on the menu for the cobb salad and according to the chef it's chopped early in the day. He went and found fresh bacon and fried it up for her. He even put some extra bacon in her spinach with her entree (she enjoys spinach; go figure).

Simple vegetables are just about the easiest food to get at any TS restaurant. Chefs can do this pretty quickly.

At buffets, a chef will still come out to the table. Make sure she knows to ask for fresh food to be brought from the kitchen even if the chef says that an item on the buffet is safe. If this girl is prone to anaphylactic reactions then the risk of cross contamination of food on the buffet is just too great. Most chefs gladly oblige. This does take longer than just grabbing food off the buffet though.

Chefs at least at the Disney owned restaurants really will bend over backwards. One thing to be aware of though is that the restaurant does have to have the ingredient in stock in order to custom prepare something for her. They should look over menus and make sure that there are at least ingredients that she can eat from which the chefs can prepare her food. I've read negative allergy reviews of restaurants where people complain about options yet the guests seem to be expecting foods which just don't exist on menus to be offered somehow. I don't understand how they expect this to happen and how they can consider this to be reasonable. I'm always checking menus to be sure that there are ingredients my kids can safely eat and will enjoy if made without their allergens.

If they're wanting a pre-RD ADR and they're hoping to get out of the restaurant in time for the RD dash, they're kidding themselves. With food allergies, their meals will take significantly longer than for the typical diner. It's worth it but definetly something to be aware of.

ETA: Over the past year or so, any pre-arrangements for dining options have been pointless. Even when I have spoken with chefs ahead of time, chefs when we arrive at restaurants seem to have no clue that I've spoken with anybody or that any offers of special foods have happened. The exceptions to this seem to be value resort food courts, chefs at the POFQ food court and the CL lounge at Poly (but that last one's only because I have the chef's email address; she doesn't get the notification from Special Diets which is a huge frustration for her). Note that there will pretty much not be any CS options for her around BWV. I'd plan for a grocery order for at least breakfast foods and snacks (this can be microwavable rice, frozen sweet potatoes, fruits and other foods that are easily eaten either raw or microwaved).

thanks for the thoughts. I figured a studio would be good since they can have a lot of meals right there, in the room. Easier for the poor allergic one. She has been to WDW many times before, so knows what to look for. I figure they can put in a grocery order prior to arrival and get pretty much anything she needs. So much easier than worrying about eating in the parks. Good thing white rice is so plentiful!!!!

 

[Skye23]

Something to consider - they now sell a lot of shelf-stable rice in microwavable packages. She could bring some with her that she knows is safe, and or have some shipped down via grocery order and then take it into the parks with her. That way if the chef figured out he could do a protein and veg safely but all of the starches had problematic ingredients they could just microwave the rice and put it on the plate for her. Wouldn't be that much of a bother to carry around a single packet of shelf-stable precooked white rice in a purse or backpack.

I have heard that Disney bacon can be less then magical - one recent dining review I read called it bacon flavored paper. Putting some bacon in the grocery order might not be a bad idea.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Something to consider - they now sell a lot of shelf-stable rice in microwavable packages. She could bring some with her that she knows is safe, and or have some shipped down via grocery order and then take it into the parks with her. That way if the chef figured out he could do a protein and veg safely but all of the starches had problematic ingredients they could just microwave the rice and put it on the plate for her. Wouldn't be that much of a bother to carry around a single packet of shelf-stable precooked white rice in a purse or backpack.

I have heard that Disney bacon can be less then magical - one recent dining review I read called it bacon flavored paper. Putting some bacon in the grocery order might not be a bad idea.

Chefs are not allowed to bring food into their kitchens if it's from outside of the restaurant. This is true even for people with serious life threatening dietary constraints. They won't even plate a cupcake from outside of the restaurant and carry it to your table. It stinks but I think it has to do with legal issues.

 

[DbleTheFun]

We took my mother last spring who has a LONG list of life threatening allergies. We made ADR's at all the returns we wanted to eat at, and filled out the diet restriction forms and made a note on each reservation. My mom's allergies are not all common, so we were a bit worried!

Because she eats out a lot when in her home town, she has created a small "business card" that lists every ingredient that she can not eat, and hands it to the wait staff to provide the chef, so there is no confusion between the front and back staff of the restaurant, she admits though that many times in the "real world" this still scares off restaurants from wanting to serve her anything but toast!

The reaction at WDW was incredible. Not only were they aware of my mom's allergies ahead of time, but EVERY restaurant's chefs came out and sat with my mom going through the menu with her. Not only did they point out items she could eat, they created new items for her to enjoy. I think some chefs actually enjoyed the challenge and the excuse to use their creative juices and divert from their standard recipes. From Chef Mickeys to Le cellier, they all ensured my mom left with a smile and an amazing dinn experience.

She still talks about how incredible the magic of Disney is.... And how great it made her feel to truly enjoy dining around "the world".