Special meals but not for allergies

[Ctsplaysinrain]

Hi all- I keep reading all these wonderful dining reviews about how the chefs will go out of their way and beyond to make special meals for allergies.... Has anyone requested special meals for other reasons??? I typed a post last night in response to someone's review.. Instead of retyping, I'm gonna cut and paste here and you will understand my problem....
This is a wonderful report. SO nice that allergy kids are treated so special.. Now, I have a related question sorta.. My boys have special needs but do not have allergies.. My younger son who is 11 has ADHD, some sensory issues and has been struggling with anorexia.. Puberty may be winning and we have made much progress but mainly because we let him eat what he will eat.. He is still very,very picky and I still need to watch him eat or he is likely to trash the food if I'm not watching. For the most part, he subsists on chocolate milk, baked beans and chicken strips... Since he is now consdiered an adult for disney meals, this makes the restaurant choices harder.... I know many will say "go to buffets", there is something for everyone.... BUT, that leads to son #2... My 13 yr old has Asperger's... Buffets just do not work- too loud, too chaotic, too many people moving around etc...He has recently become an eating machine but his choices are not very adult either.... primarily pizza, chicken strips, hamburgers and his new love bacon!!LOL
Has anyone ever been able to get "special" meals made in any restaurants at WDW due to these kind of issues versus allergies??? It has gotten even harder lately since they are making the kids meals so healthy and have gotten rid of chicken strips etc at most of the restaurants they were served at... My 13 yr old will not even consdier eating anything if a veggie has touched the plate....

 

[bookwormde]

Yes we have found the restaurants to be very accommodating, our DS9 aspergers has a very limited diet (typical aspie diet and he is a “moral” vegetarian who does not eat vegetables), but we are always able to get something that he will eat like FF or grilled cheese or pizza.

I should note that we do not do much TS (1 or 2 each visit), but instead ended up buying into DVC so we could have our own kitchen (we were never that much into TS all the time anyway)

bookwormde

 

[mechurchlady]

Give me some time to research this matter further as far as finding his favorite foods and make some suggestions.

Do indeed call them and explain what your son will eat and state that he has sensory issues aka SID/SPD and that he will only eat those things. It can and will be done if they can. Remember that it never hurts to ask.

 

[livndisney]

I would contact Brenda at Special diets. We have some unusual eating needs. Most places have been wonderful at providing things that are not on the menu. I know Brenda's email is in the stickee at the top. She is WONDERFUL!!!!! And very helpful, she is great at answering questions.

 

[Brightsy]

I know that some places will do some thing like that now and then.
Once we took the boys to a buffet because we thought they had mac-n-cheese there...turns out they didn't that night, it was T-Day and they had a special menu. Anyways, I mentioned to our Hostess that my son was really upset about the mac-n-cheese, that that was about the only thing he would eat. Before we even finished settling in at the table a large bowl of mac-n0cheese was brought out for my son.

 

[Selket]

I've found that if your child has specific foods that he will eat and you want those foods, the table service places will generally be able to acquire them with advance notice. My experience is with simple foods - similar to the ones you've mentioned (ours was hot dogs, sliced tomatoes, etc at the time). They are able to pull food from other locations at WDW if the item is not generally served where you want to eat. At one time when we needed it, we were able to get a hot dog served at every TS location where we had a ressie - even though many of them didn't have it on the menu.

I would talk to the special food services people mentioned in the FAQ (for those with special diets or allergies) and request that these items (or some sampling of them) be made available at the restaurants where you have table service meals reserved.

From the items you've mentioned, I think even if they don't have them on hand (if the communication falls through) they would be able to get them but it might add some time).

Because they are both "adults" in the eyes of WDW they will likely be charged some adult price for their meals - but given large portions.

 

[mechurchlady]

Other than breakfast how about bacon cheeseburgers at Cosmic Ray's?
Sci Fi Dine-In Theatre has a BLT soup and a bacon cheeseburger.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/menuoutput.cfm?restaurantname=Chefs de France
Chefs de France offers kids chicken strips.

Coral Reef is another place and Crystal Palace for chicken strips. Check the menus to see what he will eat and do call WDW and let them know about his limitations.

 

[SandrA9810]

try dealing with a normal adult that only eats those foods. Kari has been very picky her whole life. She eats lots of breakfast foods, like pancakes and sausage biscuits, fruits, cereal, hash browns. But that's where the variety stops.

She'll eat Cheeseburgers (but no other meats besides saugage biscuits), mac and cheese, cheese pizza, french fries. She doesn't like steaks, she doesn't like pasta with sauce, she doesn't like chicken. getting her to try something new is hard enough, and she doesn't eat any vegetables besides potatoes. And since disney has started thier healthier foods, she doesn't like the flat bread pizza, and she hates disney mac and cheese, besides the mickey-roni and cheese they serve at chef mickey's and the the 5-cheese n mac they serve at artist point.

But we get around pretty good. Trails end is one of our favorite places to eat at. But since they changed the mac and cheese there, there's even less that Kari will eat. So I went up to the buffet and asked the guy if he could make a grilled cheese sandwhich. And they did, no questions asked. He even brought it out to the table with potato chips on the side. And Kari was sooo happy about it because she didn't even know I did it for her.

And don't worry about ordering off the kids menu, sit down or counter service. We love chedder cheese soup at Canada, but can't afford the adult meals, so we order two kids meals, and I get a 6oz steak. We just tip off of what an "adult" meal would cost.

One of Kari's favorite stories about Disney food, is her trip to Epcot with her french class. Since it had to be "educational", they ate at le chef de france, and every one had to order in french. The waiter got to her, and she ordered "french fries with ketchup" in french. The waitor seemed confused, so he asked her to repeat herself and she did in french. He wasn't really sure, so he asked her to say it in english, and she told him, I want french fries and ketchup. And he's like, yeah, you said it right the first time.

So don't be afraid or embarresed to do it. Especialy if they're eating smaller portions than the average person, a kids meal will be plenty. Most the time we split an adult meal because it's too much for one person.

 

[SandrA9810]

buffets are the only place that are charged based on age. There's 7 year olds that eat more than her, and off the "adult" section of the buffet. But we still have to pay the adult price. So we do it when we're on the dinning plan or for breakfast when there's more to eat.

 

[carrollchristoph]

I've never had trouble getting them to make a special meal. But you'll probably need a few options since you can't count on every restaurant to have the ingredients to make for example a hot dog. Our 9yo eats only hot dogs, pasta, and grilled cheese. Between these three, we never had problems!

Another potential up side: at least for us, Disney was a great opportunity to increase the number of things in his "new foods book". There is something about Disney that really seems to open up these children!

Good luck!

 

[SueM in MN]

I would contact Brenda at Special diets. We have some unusual eating needs. Most places have been wonderful at providing things that are not on the menu. I know Brenda's email is in the stickee at the top. She is WONDERFUL!!!!! And very helpful, she is great at answering questions.

Just to point people specifically to the place - the information is in post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread stickie at the top of this board.

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I will need to study the menus some... We did just buy DVC and this will be our first trip with it so worse come to worse, I'll have a stockpile of chocolate milk and beans in room...LOL

We do have some "go to" restaurants... Sci-fi has been a fave.. Chocolate milkshake for younger one and nuggets.. Hamburger for older.

Yak and Yeti was fairly sucessful in Dec.. Honey chicken worked for both and I think there were smoothies

T-rex worked as well.


I want to try Ohana's for dinner and I have heard that they will make chicken strips if asked..

I'm thinking of Hoop de du as well since we havent been- sounds like fun and they have BEANS on menu...LOL Anyone have any luck getting chicken strips here???? Neither will eat meat on bones.. Guess I can pull it off in pieces if need be like I do at home...LOL

Tusker HOuse breakfast was great in Dec as well. This is where 13 yr old (aspie)discovered bacon and he can't wait to go back... I dont know if I should admit this but he ate 57 pieces of bacon at that meal ( that's all but he was quite excited about bacon and hey it was a new food...I'm sure some of you will see the humour and triumph in this although I'm sure some of you are gagging but probably not as bad as other forums..LOL.. The younger one loved the frunch and I think there were some chocolate patries and such that he enjoyed... he may have had some strawberries


I'll study the menus harder and then call special meals if needed..

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

buffets are the only place that are charged based on age

Except for Tusker house which has been requested, we will skip buffets... The thought of paying 39.99 for one nugget which I did last summer for younger son and with 13 yr old and his troubles with the crowds, noises, etc at buffet , they are not a good fit for us...

 

[mechurchlady]

That is why I skip the Blue Bayou at DLr and character meals. Expensive buffets and Blue Bayou does not serve rice and taters.

For me at the Blue Bayou for a scoop of ice cream with syrup and no decorations at all, plain rice pasta, yucky veggies, and a chunk of chicken I could have had a Minnie all you can eat gluten free buffet breakfast, chedarburger, fries, hot dog, and chips with lots of free ice water.

I hear on DLR and WDW boards the same complaint by parents whose kids eat half a sandwich or a few nuggets then are charged a full buffet meal price.

 

[SandrA9810]

well at character meals, you're paying for the characters to come to your table. Some people see this as a big timesaver vs standing in line for 2 hours to meet the characters. Like I said before, that's why I wait for those more expensive meals for the dining plan... because whether I eat at a cheaper place with more food variety or at an expensive character buffet, i'm still paying the same price. And plus there's the counter service meal to help fill in for the day.