Severe shellfish allergy

[ReganlovesWDW]

Hi! Looking for some feedback about other's experiences. My DS has a recently diagnosed shellfish allergy that causes anaphylactic reaction. Today his allergist advised that we steer clear of all restaurants that serve shellfish due to cross contamination. As you all know, just about all signature restaurants serve shellfish to some degree. That being said, what are your experiences with cross contamination at Disney...particularly at CG, Narccoosse's, Rose and Crown, Bluezoo, Shula's and Il Mulino?

 

[MSSANDRA]

WDW is great at handling food allergies and cross contamination issue, much better than most places. I would however, avoid them if your doctor advises. He knows what your child's reaction numbers are, and the chances and possible severity of the reaction. That is going to eliminate a lot of places, but it's simply not worth chancing a reaction if your child is that sensitive. We were advised to avoid all Asian food with out PA child. We only eat there when he is not with us and at our local Bistro that we know for a fact uses nothing with peanut. If you decide to avoid, you will need to do a lot of research to see which places serve shell fish and remember some counter service places do as well.

 

[disfan07]

I have known anphylactic allergies (have had anaphylactic reactions to all of these) to peanuts (6+ RAST test), eggs (5 for egg yolks, 4 for egg whites) tree nuts (range from 3-6+) and shellfish (6) along with varying levels of allergies to about a dozen other things.

At home, my allergist advises we avoid restaurants with a lot of shellfish and nuts. Honestly at home, we just don't go out to eat.

At disney we are careful, but we feel like we have a little more leeway at Disney because they are so well trained with allergies.

We have never had an issue at any of the Disney restaurants with cross contamination.

We just got back from WDW and we ate at:
Citricos
Liberty Tree Tavern
Crystal Palace- twice
The Wave- 3 times
1900 park fare
Contempo cafe
Garden Grill
American adventure
Columbia harbor house (I just get allergy free chicken tenders there)
Cosmic Rays

We almost ate at Narcoossees, but we decided against it. It actually had nothing to do with the shellfish allergy...it was more that when looking over the menu with my other allergies in mind, the selection for me was extremely limited and if I was paying that much, I wanted to make sure I could get something worth the money

I think most of Disney places serve at least 1 shellfish item on their menu but I'm not entirely sure.

This might seem like a weird question but....has your allergist ever been to Disney? Do they know the allergy protocols that Disney has? The only reason I ask that is because I have found that the advice I get depends on whether or not the allergist knows how Disney works with food allergies. My current allergist knows how Disney operates with allergies and has been there herself and is very confident in their ability. So because of that, she gives me a little more leeway with her advice about what type of places to avoid. But that is my personal situation. You have to do what you are most comfortable with.

 

[Michigan]

I am allergic to all seafood and have had anaphylactic reactions from several restaurants due to cross contamination. The only places I have found that are 100% safe are cruise ships where they have separate kitchens for seafood and Disney. Tell them about the allergy and they will send the chef over to make sure nothing comes in contact with fish.

 

[Talking Hands]

I have a severe shellfish allergy and at Disney have not had any problems. I thought I might at Crystal Palace and Biergarten where they have peel and eat shrimp on the salad area but the chef went and got me fresh portions of what I wanted so there was no cross contamination issue.
I have also had good luck at Golden Corral on 192 near the parks. When I explain the allergy they gladly go to the back and bring me a plate with the item. Either I am really lucky or found someone who is aware. Only once have I had a problem at a Golden Corral and that was the local one in Florida City and I refuse to eat their now.

 

[ReganlovesWDW]

Thanks for all of the feedback!!! My DS is feeling much better and less anxious. As one person asked, I don't believe my allergist was as familiar with Disney and how sensitive they are to allergies.

 

[Random Ninja]

I have a severe shellfish allergy and at Disney have not had any problems. I thought I might at Crystal Palace and Biergarten where they have peel and eat shrimp on the salad area but the chef went and got me fresh portions of what I wanted so there was no cross contamination issue.
I have also had good luck at Golden Corral on 192 near the parks. When I explain the allergy they gladly go to the back and bring me a plate with the item. Either I am really lucky or found someone who is aware. Only once have I had a problem at a Golden Corral and that was the local one in Florida City and I refuse to eat their now.

I've had very good luck with both the Golden Coral near the Marriot Village and the one on 192. Both places have prepaid food in the back for me. The managers there are trained in top 8 allergies but my uncommon ones left them horribly confused. I stuck to foods that didn't normally contain my allergens, asked to check ingredients, and get fresh food from the back before it gets to the buffet. The only reaction I've ever gotten at GC was when someone accidently put diet in the soda machine instead of regular.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I would agree with other posters here that Disney is very accommodation and I'm sure Special Diets will be able to help as well as speaking with the chef. The only thing I would add is to stay alert anyway. Just check stuff over, make sure silverware and all that is clean if the allergy is that severe and all that. Sort of a hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I have no doubt that Disney will have it covered but if a mistake is made or whatever, you don't want to be caught with your pants down.

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

I know this post is a couple weeks old now, but since my experience has been quite different than the other posters I feel I should share.

Among my many allergies, I react anaphylacticly to fish. I also have allergies to those not among the top 8.

My worst experience was at the GG in EPCOT. The chef was amazing. He even prepared parts of the meal the day before and was very thorough and knowledgeable/willing-to-learn about my food allergies. Since it was a character meal, my family was caught up in the moment with interacting with characters when our food came. The chef brought it out to me and it seemed fine at first. More characters came and went and by that time I was very eager to eat. As I was cutting up the first meat on my plate, I noticed that the meat was fish. The chef apologized, but I assume that an underling back in the kitchen was working on auto-pilot and put fish on my plate since the GG meals are all the same. If I had not known what fish meat looked like, or if I had not been paying attention to what I was eating, I could have died or at least the rest of my vacation ruined. I am scared to think what would have happened if I had been a child and had eaten the whole piece of fish unknowingly.

Your doctor is right in advising you to avoid places with the potential for cross-contamination. People on the boards will say that Disney is great, but that is only their opinion based upon their positive experiences. I have had MANY negative experiences at WDW and have discovered numerous flaws in their system including unknowledgeable/uncaring/lying CMs and chefs to unlisted ingredients in meals (BOG restaurant with the new computer system). The reality is that many working in the kitchen have almost no knowledge of food allergies. They are either young college students there for three months or older folks who think food allergies are a modern fad and don't take them seriously. These guys are minimum-wage workers. Do you really expect them to understand the finer points of cross-contamination? Are you willing to trust your life with them? Your child's life?

Also, I would suggest researching about fraud within the seafood business. Much of the seafood around the world is contaminated by fraudulent practices of selling a cheaper look-a-like product in place of something more expensive. For this reason, I don't eat any seafood because unless I know that the food came right off a boat into the kitchen, there is really no way to know if there was a fraudulent substitution. This also commonly happens in the olive oil and honey industries and affects those with corn, sunflower, and soy allergies.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad experiences and warnings.