Trail's End w/Food Allergies

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We have a DD with several food allergies including peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy and bananas. We have had great luck with some of the other dinner buffets on property and the chefs are very accommodating. DD LOVES fried chicken and mashed potatoes --among other items I see listed on the Trail's End buffet regular offerings. Has anyone here had experience with this buffet and their ability/willingness to accommodate food allergies? We are also considering doing the Trail's To Go instead of the buffet. Any experience with that as well for allergies? TIA

 

[seven dwarfs]

We have eaten here several times with an allergy child. We had zero issues. The food has been great. They will walk you around and tell you what is safe or you can request all food to come direct from the kitchen if you are concerned about cross contamination. They can also make special things. My kids love Trails End.

When my son's list of allergy's was long, we had some major issues at many of the Disney Restaurants. Now that his are less complicated, it's been fine.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Thank you so much for your response! I posted the same thread on the restaurant board and had zero response. I was beginning to think no one with allergies ever ate at Trails End....LOL I am glad to hear it is the same treatment as other buffets we have encountered on Disney property. Our last WDW trip to CSR was not stellar in terms of food allergies. I do understand that their food service is run by an outside company and believe me....NOT the same treatment or expertise. We would never stay there again with DD.

We are very excited to try Trails End. Now just trying to decide if we are going to make an ADR or just try it as the Trails To Go......Hmmmm....I have apx two months to decide as our 180 day mark is Jan 24

 

[DCDisney]

I am allergic to nuts and soy (but not eggs) and I could have the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I'm allowed to have soy oil and soy lecithin too though. There were very few things I could not have on the buffet though I recall having cornbread for dessert (but it was REALLY good cornbread). The chef was not quite as knowledgeable as most buffet chefs in terms of every ingredient in every item but a few times he seemed to rethink things and check them and come back with more info including one of those scary wait don't eat that moments after you ate it (it was fine it was soy oil in margarine and he got confused).

 

[seven dwarfs]

Thank you so much for your response! I posted the same thread on the restaurant board and had zero response. I was beginning to think no one with allergies ever ate at Trails End....LOL I am glad to hear it is the same treatment as other buffets we have encountered on Disney property. Our last WDW trip to CSR was not stellar in terms of food allergies. I do understand that their food service is run by an outside company and believe me....NOT the same treatment or expertise. We would never stay there again with DD.

We are very excited to try Trails End. Now just trying to decide if we are going to make an ADR or just try it as the Trails To Go......Hmmmm....I have apx two months to decide as our 180 day mark is Jan 24

I would do the ADR. Staff was great each time. We love the "home like" feel and it is so relaxing. They do have picnic tables outside if you would rather that option. There is a really cute campfire with Chip and Dale and music. After they have a movie. The beach fireworks are wonderful. It's not the same as watching in MK, but it's a close second.

 

[seven dwarfs]

I am allergic to nuts and soy (but not eggs) and I could have the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I'm allowed to have soy oil and soy lecithin too though. There were very few things I could not have on the buffet though I recall having cornbread for dessert (but it was REALLY good cornbread). The chef was not quite as knowledgeable as most buffet chefs in terms of every ingredient in every item but a few times he seemed to rethink things and check them and come back with more info including one of those scary wait don't eat that moments after you ate it (it was fine it was soy oil in margarine and he got confused).

This is kind of what I meant when I said if the allergy is simple. (kind of hard to call it simple as allergies of any kind are not simple) But if it is egg, gluten, peanut (etc.), it seems to be easier for the Chef. When you go grain free, and say things like no seeds, or soy lecithin (etc.) things can get complicated. We did have some chefs go above and beyond and bring me a bag from the back with ingredients to check.

I am sure for every positive experience, someone has had a negative. That is what makes it so hard to know what to do. If my son stays on the track he is, I am ok with eating at Disney. If he ever goes backwards like he was two years ago, I would never eat at Disney again.

I am glad they are willing to even attempt to help those of us with allergy issues. I am sure it is a lot to learn all the different issues. I read labels all the time and still have to second guess myself sometimes. I can not even imagine the liability of it.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I am allergic to nuts and soy (but not eggs) and I could have the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I'm allowed to have soy oil and soy lecithin too though. There were very few things I could not have on the buffet though I recall having cornbread for dessert (but it was REALLY good cornbread). The chef was not quite as knowledgeable as most buffet chefs in terms of every ingredient in every item but a few times he seemed to rethink things and check them and come back with more info including one of those scary wait don't eat that moments after you ate it (it was fine it was soy oil in margarine and he got confused).

DD is only allergic to soy protein so she is OK with soy lecithin and soybean oil (as long as it is not expeller pressed, extruded or virgin soy oil which is such a rarity ). She is also OK with traces of soy....at this point. The HARDEST issues with her soy allergy are bread buns (hot dog and hamburger), meat flavorings/bouillon that often use soy protein fillers, and all of the Asian foods that are loaded with soy sauce. We actually bring hot dog/hamburger buns with us on vacation in a Gladware container and then I put one of each in a plastic baggie and keep in my backpack for the day in case she wants a hot dag or hamburger that day and their buns are not safe.

My bigger concern on the Trails End buffet is eggs. I have heard many people say the TE fried chicken tastes just like 50s PT fried chicken which is allergy safe for her...and the chef at 50s PT did a fabulous job making her a special plate with 4 chicken legs and a huge pile of mashed potatoes. She felt so lucky that night! Luckily, she is not a big bread eater because I am sure that yummy cornbread has eggs in it! My older DD will have a huge pile of that cornbread on her plate for sure

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I would do the ADR. Staff was great each time. We love the "home like" feel and it is so relaxing. They do have picnic tables outside if you would rather that option. There is a really cute campfire with Chip and Dale and music. After they have a movie. The beach fireworks are wonderful. It's not the same as watching in MK, but it's a close second.

Are the picnic tables under a covered area or are they out in the open thus affected by the heat of the sun and the rain? I am torn between making a ressie at Trails End or Cape May. We have done the Cape May seafood buffet and we all love it. Living in Wisconsin, we don't get a lot of fresh seafood(other than fish frys) so that is always a priority when at WDW. I am just not sure we want two buffets this trip and the Trails To Go seems like such a great option. I also like that the To-Go option could be more flexible as we hate having things too planned out on vacation. We usually only do apx 3-4 TS on vacation at WDW for this reason. This upcoming trip, I have more planned to help us deal with the heat of summer that will be a new experience for us as well. My current "plan" has 2 lunches at LTT, one bfst at Kona, dinner at Cape May, lunch at 50s PT, and dinner at either Narccoossee or Citricos. It would be easier to just do TE To Go more on-the-fly when our schedule seems open....KWIM?

 

[Denine]

While not a food allergy, DD has to eat GF because she has Celiac disease, I am glad to read about Trails' End with the food allergies. We have ressies there for April as well as Cape May. It will be our first time at both of those GF, but we had great experiences every where we went last March.

 

[clanmcculloch]

We stayed at FW in August 2012. Because I knew I'd be eating at least 4 meals at our resort during our stay I asked lots of questions of Special Diets. They had a chef contact me and we went over options and were ready for us when we arrived. We had great experiences at TE and HDDR.

Our list of known allergies/intolerance at the time were (sigh, the lists have gotten longer since then):
DD14: gluten, milk, eggs, citrus (citric acid is ok), yeast, msg, peanuts (minor - cross contamination not a concern)
DD11: milk, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, citrus (citric acid is ok), peanuts (minor - cross contamination not a concern), sesame, blueberry, cranberry, raw carrots, raw fruit skins besides grapes, lima beans, hops, soy products other than Tofutti and Follow Your Heart (soys not the problem but we havent identified what ingredient in Silk and other soy products cause Oral Allergy Syndrome)
Me: gluten, milk, peanuts (minor - cross contamination not a concern)

Here are my TE dining reviews from that trip. We didn't eat at the dinner buffet but anything we got at HDDR could be requested at TE for dinner (like all buffets, the chef will prepare things in the kitchen to meet your needs and since TE and HDDR share an allergy kitchen they should be able to get you anything that's available at HDDR) so I'm including that review as well.
breakfast buffet
lunch
dinner to go
HDDR

You know, looking over my reviews, I'm thinking that now that I've had to give up pork my options sure do look a lot more limited. That stinks. TE really did have the BEST bacon plus their pulled pork was amazing (we had it at breakfast but I would think it's available at dinner).

I don't know if all of this would be safe with soy allergies. None of us has to avoid soy. Most was pretty simple foods that I would think would be soy free but obviously you'd have to check (sauces I would think to be the most likely thing to contain soy).

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

clanmcculloch Thank you so much for the detailed info and dining review links. Great stuff. Was the fryer issue--for the chicken-- because of gluten contamination in the oil? or Egg? Also--are there covered picnic tables to eat the to-go food or are the tables uncovered and out in the sun?

 

[clanmcculloch]

I know that there was gluten cross contamination issues with the fryers but I don't know what other allergens may have been a problem. The fact that other breaded stuff is cooked in the same fryer made it off limits so there was no need to ask about other allergens. I can't imagine that they don't use eggs in the regular fried chicken and I don't know if that degree of cross contamination would be an issue for you or not. I'd probably suggest going in not expecting to be able to get fried stuff and then if you can it'll be a pleasant surprise. Pleasant surprises make for a much better experience than disappointments because you couldn't get something you expected.

I don't recall any indoor seating in the to-go area. I'm pretty sure you have to eat outside. My mind is blanking on whether there were tables on the porch under the covering but I'm thinking no because if I'm remember our trip to HDDR where we had a wheelchair, we went in through the entrance by the TE to-go area and I don't recall tables in the way of the big crowd with people with mobility issues. I bet allears.net has pictures of the outside in the FW resort section of the site.