Starting with food allergies

[figment41]

how do you handle food allergies at disney?

Do you fill out the form and email dietary and then just talk to the chef at the restaurant?

Do you talk to the chefs on the phone before you arrive?

Do you just wing it when you get there and talk to the chef at that point?

What restaurants seem to be the safest?
I am looking for advice for people with multiple severe allergies

TIA

 

[gap2368]

I just let then know when I make my ADR then again at the restaurant. I did have one to e at the brown durby I was given a food that I am ellergic too

 

[mistysue]

If you have more than three, or some unusual allergies, special diets has a form you can fill out if you email them.
Rarely (for us that means 2 out of maybe 100 reservations with an email) a chef will call you. Honestly one of those 2 times the chef then volunteered that he would make DS brownies, we told him, and when we got there he had no idea and they offered him the Enjoy life ones he is allergic to- so I'd rather they don't call now.

Mark it on your reservation, let them know when you arrive. When you get to a quick service location ask for a chef or manager if the allergy menu they give you does not have enough information.

Safest sort of depends on the allergy. We are more careful in EPCOT, language and the fact that most locations are not actually Disney owned means you have to be smart here. If you are allergic to corn, beef and dairy- the mexican place may be a bad choice. Same thing for gluten/dairy- maybe the place in Italy isn't for you.

For the most part, table service can help you out. The more diversity on the menu- the more raw ingredients they have to work with. Buffets can actually be good for that reason.
IF you happen to have issues with all of gluten/egg/dairy/soy - breakfast can be an issue. Resort quick service (with exception of YC/BC/Boardwalk) will be able to help you, but those allergies are not good for getting any quick service breakfast in parks. Lunch and dinner you should basically be able to go wherever, but you want to go for menus that have more items close to what you can have. I used to say stick with Cosmic Rays, Columbia Harbor house (unless it's shellfish), Sunshine Seasons and Flame Tree BBQ- but they have been taking measures in the past year to spread out the allergy options so it's more fluid now. It all really depends on what you can't have. We are top 8 +sesame + buckwheat + cottonseed and life is just much easier at table service. We are allergic to all the pre-packaged allergy items so everything has to be fresh.

 

[figment41]

This is all great advice

Are there any restaurants that you find more helpful than others?

 

[Dis703]

My kid's have multiple severe allergies and avoid dozens of foods including all grains. So feeding them safely can be a bit complicated. For them, I fill out the Allergy Request form and send it to Disney a few weeks ahead of our trip. I usually request to speak to the chefs because it can be very confusing to sit down at the time of our ADR and go through all three children's allergies and keep them straight. It also sometimes involves a need to special order a product or two. Some restaurants I'm familiar with enough to know they have safe options so we still send the form but I don't need to speak to their chef ahead of time.

As for helpfulness, we've had the best experiences so far at Biergarten and Crystal Palace. But the majority of them do what they can to provide a safe meal. Those two just consistently go above and beyond.

We struggle to find safe quick service meals, but for the first time this upcoming trip we spoke to a chef at our resort about some safe options. We'll see how that goes.

 

[k-dawg324]

I have never had a problem getting allergy friendly items at WDW, even at non-Disney owned restaurants. Just tell the waiter/ cashier when ordering food.

There have been 2 times I was disappointed with the food allergy situation. First was at the Christmas Party at MK. The soda machines were rigged for hot chocolate (dairy allergy), no soy option and was told they rigged them in a way they couldn't dispense water. At least at the lunching pad. Ended up with a kids' juice box. Slightly embarrassing.

The other time was the lack of diary free choices at the France kiosk during the International Food and Wine Festival. The other Festival kiosk locations I stopped at had a chef which will work with you to prepare something allergen-free.