Traveling with cold food/liquids

[Dis703]

I know there are a lot of people with food allergies who post here so I thought this may be the best place to ask.

We are going to Disney next week and flying with our 3 kids. All of them have an allergic condition called Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome and their diet is pretty limited, especially for my 2 year old twins. Between their allergies, feeding issues (aversions to certain textures and very hard time with new tastes) we have very specific foods/brands we stick to for them because even among the same products we have to trial new brands to know for sure they are safe.

Here we are about to leave in 5 days and I can't find some of the foods I need to get then through the 8 days we are there in the stores in the Orlando area. I have letters from the kids doctors to allow us to travel with liquids they night not otherwise allow but as I understand it they only allow "reasonable amounts for use during the flight"

If that's the case I can't bring enough to last the week so how else do I get it there? Someone suggested checking a cooler yet the TSA guidelines mention not to pack perishable foods. Has anyone ever checked a cooler? Does it count as standard baggage or do you have to pay more? Or has anyone ever shipped cold items?

I even wondered if I froze it if they might let me take it on but that won't work for everything.

Any advice?

TIA

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You will have no problem checking a cooler; people do it all the time. It counts as a checked bag; make sure it's not overweight. Pack food tightly and make sure it's completely frozen. We once packed a cooler of halibut we caught in Alaska, and it stayed completely frozen on a long flight from Anchorage to Washington, DC.

 

[laughinplace199]

Have you looked into the grocery delivery services like WegoShop or Garden Grocer? I've used Garden Grocer many times and they've gotten us items that weren't on their website. Maybe they could do the same for you?

 

[Betty Rohrer]

one thing to remember is that you can not get food brought into the parks heated up. no place other than maybe baby centers can you heat up even for medical issues. it is not allowed

 

[stackyallred]

This may not help you a ton with your specific question on this trip but I travel with food frequently (I am allergic to so much that I basically don't eat unless I've prepared it from scratch) and when I do fly with food, I pack a small soft-sided rolling cooler as my carry-on and use tons of frozen grapes as my "ice packs." This allows me to get through security with out having to declare anything. Once through security I then ask for ice at a fast good restaurant to put in baggies and help keep it even cooler for the flight. This tip has helped me a lot. I know I could declare my foods/liquids because I have the medical paperwork to prove I need food but this way I don't have to mess with it.

I know it's a lot of work to travel with extreme diet issues so I hope it all goes smooth and you have a great time!

 

[lepidop]

If you can find a retailer online who carries the products you need, you can have it shipped to your hotel. Or, if they carry what you need, there is a Whole Foods not too far from WDW, if you'll have access to transportation.
If none of that works, maybe you could purchase what you need at home and freeze it, then pack everything in dry ice and ship it to your hotel yourself. If you mark it refrigerated, they should be able to store it properly until you arrive. I'd call ahead to make sure, but our hotel was able to store our cold items from the time we checked out until we left town that night.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you can find a retailer online who carries the products you need, you can have it shipped to your hotel. Or, if they carry what you need, there is a Whole Foods not too far from WDW, if you'll have access to transportation.
If none of that works, maybe you could purchase what you need at home and freeze it, then pack everything in dry ice and ship it to your hotel yourself. If you mark it refrigerated, they should be able to store it properly until you arrive. I'd call ahead to make sure, but our hotel was able to store our cold items from the time we checked out until we left town that night.

Please note that you CANNOT just pack a box with dry ice and ship it. There are specific rules which must be followed:

http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52apxc_034.htm

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/materials/coolants.html

http://www.fedex.com/us/developer/p...bHelp/Services/Options/c_DryIceShipments.html

If you want to check luggage with dry ice, you also need to check with your airline for their policies.

 

[Dis703]

You will have no problem checking a cooler; people do it all the time. It counts as a checked bag; make sure it's not overweight. Pack food tightly and make sure it's completely frozen. We once packed a cooler of halibut we caught in Alaska, and it stayed completely frozen on a long flight from Anchorage to Washington, DC.

Does it have to be frozen? I'm really only looking to keep it cold. It's their safe milk and yogurt mostly. I thought about freezing some of it, but I'm not sure if it would effect the taste when it thaws.

 

[Dis703]

one thing to remember is that you can not get food brought into the parks heated up. no place other than maybe baby centers can you heat up even for medical issues. it is not allowed

Thanks, I was aware of this from prior trips. Nothing needs to be cooked.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Does it have to be frozen? I'm really only looking to keep it cold. It's their safe milk and yogurt mostly. I thought about freezing some of it, but I'm not sure if it would effect the taste when it thaws.

Frozen will probably travel better. And it will take longer for it to go bad. If you are worried about what freezing the stuff does try a small amount over night and try it in the morning. I used to work a summer camp and parents used to freeze regular yogurt all the time so that it wouldn't spoil by lunch.

Just remember even if it's frozen I'm 90% sure that the tsa will still count it as a liquid.

Also if you haven't tried looking for it on amazon, it might be worth a shot. If they have it, it can be shipped straight to the resort.

 

[Dis703]

Frozen will probably travel better. And it will take longer for it to go bad. If you are worried about what freezing the stuff does try a small amount over night and try it in the morning. I used to work a summer camp and parents used to freeze regular yogurt all the time so that it wouldn't spoil by lunch.

Just remember even if it's frozen I'm 90% sure that the tsa will still count it as a liquid.

Also if you haven't tried looking for it on amazon, it might be worth a shot. If they have it, it can be shipped straight to the resort.

Thanks. The really hard part is their Almond Milk. It doesn't freeze well and separates a lot. And my kids aren't great about when things look or taste different.

The cooler I'm looking at buying supposedly will keep ice frozen for 3 days. I'm thinking of freezing some items, leaving the almond milk just cold and adding some soft ice packs. From what I'm reading online there are no restrictions on amount of liquid if it's checked baggage. I'm guessing in total it should be in the cooler for no more than 9 hours.

That's good to know yogurt freezes well because if that's the case I'll freeze those to keep other items cool and keep the weight of the cooler down a bit.

Thanks!

 

[swilshire]

I flew for years before I read the TSA website closely enough to know that you can carry frozen water onboard as long as it is completely frozen. It can't be thawing or mushy. If I want to bring my lunch now, and I'm close enough to the airport for the ice to stay completely frozen, I freeze a couple of soda bottles for my lunchbag.

I have run into a couple of TSA agents who weren't familiar with the rule, but there is always someone close by that is. It speeds you through security if you go ahead and remove the bottle of ice and put it in one of the bins when you're passing through security.

Sheila

 

[clanmcculloch]

Email the folks at Orlando Theme Park Shoppers to see if they're able to find your brands. The people who run the company live numerous food allergies themselves so they're familiar with shopping at all sorts of different places looking for allergy safe products. We used them for our most recent trip and I was very happy with the experience. Like other grocery services, they do deliver to the resorts.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Does it have to be frozen? I'm really only looking to keep it cold. It's their safe milk and yogurt mostly. I thought about freezing some of it, but I'm not sure if it would effect the taste when it thaws.

No, it doesn't have to be frozen, but you will need to add ice packs to keep it cold.