Special Dietary Issues ..

[Donald - my hero]

My hubby and I both have numerous dietary issues that need to be addressed before we leave. I sent an e-mail to the address supplied on the Disney site and i'm wondering how long it will take them to respond. It has been a week since i sent my original note and i haven't received a reply yet. Just curious if i should send another one?

 

[Mum23]

I usually get a "We got your note and will be answering you within 3-5 days" email within 24 hours.

 

[Donald - my hero]

THANKS! i guess it's time to send another note to make sure it actually went. Our mail server has been known to "drop" stuff even when it is just coming from upstairs

Update: i just sent another note and within minutes received the confirmation! Thanks for letting me know that i should get that!!

 

[Mum23]

Glad you got it figured out! We deal with multiple food issues and I've been in contact with them a lot. They are really pretty on top of things!!

 

[sleepingbean]

agreed, they are very helpful Enjoy!

 

[mistysue]

The initial response is automated, so in addition to checking that it went through check if their messages aren't going to your spam folder. If you email again you could also include a phone number because if they feel it's necessary they may call.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Update to let all of you who have been very helpful. It turns out that none of our mail actually left our server for that ENTIRE DAY!! Including all of my husband's business mail, so it was great that we found that out!!

I am in the process of filling out the form letting them know when & where we are eating. Good grief, they may shudder when they read it. Putting it in writing made me realize just how many limitations we have that have just become "normal" to us

 

[LilyWDW]

I hope you don't mind that I have jumped on this for another question. I leave on the 15th and just now have given in to the idea that I will have to be on a restricted diet due to a medical condition (sort of like allergies). Is there enough time for me to contact special diets? Is it worth it? Do I need to make note on all my ADRs? It is a LOOOOOOONG list of foods I have to avoid.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I hope you don't mind that I have jumped on this for another question. I leave on the 15th and just now have given in to the idea that I will have to be on a restricted diet due to a medical condition (sort of like allergies). Is there enough time for me to contact special diets? Is it worth it? Do I need to make note on all my ADRs? It is a LOOOOOOONG list of foods I have to avoid.

I would call and note it on your ADRs now and then send an email to special diets. They may be able to help, of course they prefer to have longer, but depending on your limitations they should be able to offer some help.

 

[tlw29]

I called and asked for a note to be placed on my dining reservations a couple of weeks before our trip. At each restaurant, the chef came out and discussed my dietary restrictions with me. If it was a buffet, they would walk me through and point out items I could eat and ones I could avoid. If there was something on the buffet that I wanted but was not OK for me, he would offer to make an alternative. At the menu restaurants, the chef would take my order and prepare it in a way that was OK for me to eat. I found them to be very accommodating.

 

[disfan07]

Our last trip in August I had a list of 21 foods that I had to avoid because of allergies (not including raw fruits and vegetables because of oral allergy syndrome). At buffets, the chef would walk the buffet and tell me what was safe and what was not and what they could make safe and then they would bring me a huge plate (or 2 or 3) from the kitchen. Because of my long list, a lot of times the chef would ask me what I would like so I could get some baked potatoes if there were mashed potatoes on the buffet. Or some plain chicken or beef if the stuff on the buffet was not safe. I got a huge bowl of GF pasta (like half a bag of tinkyada pasta) at chef mickeys with a safe tomato sauce that the chef made fresh for me.

At a la cart restaurants I would look over the menu and the chef would come out and ask me what I was interested in and I would basically tell them what protein on the menu I was interested in and either mix and match aides from the menu or at a place like Citricos, they made special mashed potatoes and a special sauce for my meal not on the menu.

This time, all of our CS meals were at our resorts (POR and GF) because we only went to MK 1 1/2 days and ate TS meals. At both POR I would just ask to talk to chef or manager and would place my order with them. POR took a while sometimes (20-30 mins when busiest) while GF was much quicker b/c it was smaller and less guests.

I did not really have any desserts there. The only thing I could have were enjoy life cookies but only sugar and snicker doodle (I was off chocolate while we were away) and those were very hard to find.

I ate very very well at Disney. Heck, the chicken tenders, fries, and Mickey waffles alone kept me happy. BUT....I don't eat very much so I never really missed snacks, desserts, etc because I wasn't hungry.

They were extremely accommodating, and honestly, that's one of the big reasons we keep going back.

 

[Leota]

Maybe it's just me, but that form has become pretty useless.... I diligently fill one out every time I know we're going to be doing a ton of meals onsite (live local half the year, so most meals are very spontaneous & not possible to use the form except when we have guests & are "on vacation")

I have a huge list too, because of needing low fodmap on top of my other allergies, so Special Diets always asks me to fill one out. I have emailed them asking them to have a Chef contact me prior because I know my list is a difficult one & it hasn't happened since 2011, the Chef from Il Mulino was the only one who called....

Every time I get to the restaurant, the Chef comes out & we talk & they realize a little advance discussion would be helpful Finally, Chef Sergio over at Trail's End (I swear, he's going to be the next Chef TJ for us!) gave me his card & told me to email him when I had plans anywhere on site & he would make sure the Chef got my note.

The Chefs are still wonderful - don't get me wrong. So nurturing & accommodating They still feed even this difficult case very well. So well, that we "moved" down here just so we could go out to eat safely again. It just seems like the form doesn't always do what it's supposed to anymore. I haven't had any different experience at our "planned & formed" meals than I have at our spontaneous, let's run over & grab a bite meals.

Is that just me or has anyone else felt like the form was a complete waste of time lately?

 

[Leota]

I hope you don't mind that I have jumped on this for another question. I leave on the 15th and just now have given in to the idea that I will have to be on a restricted diet due to a medical condition (sort of like allergies). Is there enough time for me to contact special diets? Is it worth it? Do I need to make note on all my ADRs? It is a LOOOOOOONG list of foods I have to avoid.

Lily - sorry - I kinda answered this above, but it's buried.... No it's not too late. Just note on your adrs & let them know when you get there. I literally have more things that I can't eat than I can - I couldn't even put a number on it, honestly.... We are locals half the year & often don't know we're going over to eat until that day or even that hour.... I have had the same wonderful experience either way. I think if they were better about responding to email/forms, I might have some more options when we pre-plan - but I'm usually just so happy to be eating out in a restaurant like a "normal" person that it doesn't matter that much.

 

[LilyWDW]

Lily - sorry - I kinda answered this above, but it's buried.... No it's not too late. Just note on your adrs & let them know when you get there. I literally have more things that I can't eat than I can - I couldn't even put a number on it, honestly.... We are locals half the year & often don't know we're going over to eat until that day or even that hour.... I have had the same wonderful experience either way. I think if they were better about responding to email/forms, I might have some more options when we pre-plan - but I'm usually just so happy to be eating out in a restaurant like a "normal" person that it doesn't matter that much.

I appreciate it.

I tried to call Disney to have a note added but couldn't get anywhere with that person. They wouldn't add anything until I spoke to special diets to "make sure they can accommodate me at those restaurants". Honestly, the only thing I may need is a change/removal of a side or sauce. I may try to call again today or tomorrow and "lie" and say I spoke to special diets so can they please just add a note that I have food "allergies". It was so frustrating.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I appreciate it.

I tried to call Disney to have a note added but couldn't get anywhere with that person. They wouldn't add anything until I spoke to special diets to "make sure they can accommodate me at those restaurants". Honestly, the only thing I may need is a change/removal of a side or sauce. I may try to call again today or tomorrow and "lie" and say I spoke to special diets so can they please just add a note that I have food "allergies". It was so frustrating.

That is so weird that they would not note your reservation. KI have never had any trouble at all. In fact they normally don't even ask what the allergy is, they just note " allergy". One time I did try to tell hem as I thought that they could add a specific note and the CM I spoke to told me they only have an option to alert the staff of an allergy and that the chef would speak to us upon arrival. Maybe they are changing the system.
Did you call the "all purpose" line or did you call 407-wdw-dine? Maybe that makes a difference although I think if you call the generic line they transfer you to dinning if you select the option to make dining reservation.

 

[Leota]

Lily - even if you don't get anywhere with WDW-DINE, you could send special diets a list of your ressies with confirmation numbers an ask that they note it. And if even that fails.... don't worry - the Chwef's are really great for the most part...

What restaurants are you going to? Maybe some of us have been to some of them & can tell you if they were very limited or if they had alot to offer.....

 

[LilyWDW]

Lily - even if you don't get anywhere with WDW-DINE, you could send special diets a list of your ressies with confirmation numbers an ask that they note it. And if even that fails.... don't worry - the Chwef's are really great for the most part...

What restaurants are you going to? Maybe some of us have been to some of them & can tell you if they were very limited or if they had alot to offer.....

Thanks! =) Appreciate any help and suggestions I can get. I did call WDW-DINE originally so not sure what happened. At this point, I leave on Wednesday so may just take my chances that they can do something on the fly. Like I said before most of the issues I would have would be with sides and sauces so hopefully it won't be too much of an issue.

I will be going to:
Raglan Road
Hollywood Brown Derby
Jiko
Grand Floridian Cafe (Dinner)
Via Napoli
Crystal Palace (Breakfast)

 

[Leota]

Not knowing exactly what your issues are, I can tell you that Raglan Road & Jiko are excellent with food allergies. Jiko was one of the first places I ate sick, at the Cooking Place & the Chef was wonderful with me & made me all kinds of tidbits (we were doing a progressive dinner & eating small plates at a number of places) And Raglan Road - Safe Fish & Chips!?! Oh yeah!

I have also eaten at Grand Flo Cafe & had good experiences, but I had already kinda planned out what I wanted by browsing menus ahead of time.

Believe it or not, I have never been to Brown Derby & it's killing me! We're not Studios lovers, so don't hang out there much

If you have Gluten issues, Via Napoli could be tough, depending on your level of sensitivity - I personally can't tolerate that much flour in the air. I have done Tutto Gusto & enjoyed it very much. And I spoke to a CM at Tutto Italia about future meals - they were reassuring.

I haven't been back to Crystal Palace since my guts went south. I am leary of buffets for cross contamination - I have only been to Cape May Clam Bake & they took excellent care of me, finishing the meal with 2 Babycakes Browie Bites & a Babycakes Donut shaped like Mickey

That list looks excellent to me. I hope you have a Yummy trip!

 

[Leota]

Oh, I meant to say too - It does help to look at the menus ahead of time & try to see what might work for you - even if that means a protein from one entree and a starch from another etc..... I even have to ask them to be a little creative with toppings for sandwiches since most condiments are off limits for me. They seem to appreciate that I have done my homework so they don't have to flounder around. I try to come up with a couple alternatives so I have some flexibility.