What is the best resort on WDW property for Gluten Free?

[KristenFNJ]

We have a time share and always stay off property, but are considering trying to stay at a Disney resort, just for the experience-extra magic hours, maybe buy the dining plan, FP+, etc...

My husband and 2 of our 3 sons have celiac, and I was wondering what opinions are regarding the resorts that have the best quality/most variety of gf options?

Our timeshare has a kitchen so we usually prepare more than half our breakfasts, some snacks and a dinner or two at the hotel, but if we stay on property we'll be pretty dependent on the restaurants, quick-serve, and/or snack kiosks they have on-site, for everything for our family of 6 (including grandma <3). And I have NO. CLUE. what resort has what!

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[wendow]

If you want a full kitchen, you'll need to stay at one of the DVC villas in at least a 1 bedroom. These include resorts like Villas Grand Floridian, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Villas, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Villas Wilderness Lodge and Bay Lake Tower. Can't think if there are any others but that should give you a start for what to look for.

We have two dc with allergies and we prefer to stay where we have a kitchen and can cook. It just makes life easier though Disney really does a good job accommodating allergies. My MIL is gf and she ate very, very well at Disney!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Almost all Disney owned resorts can do what you're asking. The only exception IMO is CSR because the restaurants are not owned by Disney and they're reputation is not the greatest with allergies.

If you're looking for QS dining at your resort then I wouldn't stay at FW, BC, YC, BCV, BWI, or BWV. All of the other resorts can prepare GF Mickey waffles, breakfast platters with GF rolls or toast instead of biscuits, and so on. They should all also have GF chicken tenders (SOOOO delicious) as well as GF hamburger buns. If they have pasta on their menu then chances are they have GF pasta.

If you're looking for TS dining at your resort then obviously the values won't work. The moderates only have 1 TS option each (FQ shares Boatwrites with POR and FW actually has 2) while the deluxe have multiple. If you're at a monorail resort then you can easily hop between all of the monorail resorts to get QS or TS dining nearby (any of the resorts or MK). If you're at a Crescent Lake resort then you can easily hop between all the Crescent Lake resorts to get TS dining nearby (any of the resorts or Epcot & DHS) though for QS you would have to head to Epcot or DHS (Epcot's better).

 

[Gracie09]

If you want a full kitchen, you'll need to stay at one of the DVC villas in at least a 1 bedroom. These include resorts like Villas Grand Floridian, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Villas, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Villas Wilderness Lodge and Bay Lake Tower. Can't think if there are any others but that should give you a start for what to look for.

We have two dc with allergies and we prefer to stay where we have a kitchen and can cook. It just makes life easier though Disney really does a good job accommodating allergies. My MIL is gf and she ate very, very well at Disney!

The cabins at fort wilderness also have full kitchens and are a moderate. They sleep six and could be a nice alternative if the op wants a kitchen

 

[lanejudy]

As a party of 6, you will need to decide whether you are willing to split into multiple rooms or wish to stay together. You can request connecting rooms at any resort, and most likely will have that honored, but WDW will not guarantee connecting rooms. So there is a chance that the 2 rooms would not even be in the same building.

Art of Animation and AllStar Music have family suites that sleep 6. These have a small kitchenette, probably not great for cooking dinner for the family, but you could do breakfasts or maybe even lunches in the room. Both of these resorts have QS dining only, no TS restaurants. As mentioned, the Cabins at Fort Wilderness will sleep 6 with a full kitchen. No QS at the Fort but there is TS. Otherwise, to sleep 6 in one unit I believe you would need a villa.

IF one of the children is under age 3, you could try to squeeze into a bayou room at POR or a few of the deluxes will sleep 5 plus an infant. But that sounds much to crowded for my preference.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mistysue]

Just pretend the EPCOT area deluxes don't exist. The Boardwalk/Beach Club/Yacht club have really limited specialty food options for quick meals, especially if you want breakfast. Otherwise CSR may be an issue, but most Disney resorts handle gluten free really well.
If there were 6 of us I would probably be looking at the family suites in the values or else 2 rooms wherever. I know people immediately say to rent DVC, but every time I look renting DVC is more expensive than Disney's room discounts for the larger rooms.

 

[GFShelley]

My daughter and I are Gluten Free. We are also locals and pass holders so we dine at Disney often. Our favorite restaurants are at AKL. They have a ton of GF options. All restaurants will have GF choices, they just have a ton and the chefs are particularly great.

For a real treat, Sassagoula at POR has GF beignets! They are $4 for six. We had them this morning.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions, I'm happy to help!

 

[bookgirl]

My daughter and I are Gluten Free. We are also locals and pass holders so we dine at Disney often. Our favorite restaurants are at AKL. They have a ton of GF options. All restaurants will have GF choices, they just have a ton and the chefs are particularly great.

For a real treat, Sassagoula at POR has GF beignets! They are $4 for six. We had them this morning.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions, I'm happy to help!

When did POR get beignets? Thought only POFQ had them.

 

[GFShelley]

I just used POR, it's still the same place, FQ. We just used different acronyms

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I stayed at WL this past trip and the GF options in Roaring Forks were great. Almost anything on the menu was available gluten free. My only complaint was the lack of GF snacks at the resort. There are no pre made bakery items other than the prepackaged brownies (and I think a cookie). No GF bagels or scones etc. They do have some dry cereal and milk as well as fruit and yogurt. I am sure this is the case at all the resorts but it was a pain when the family used snack credits for breakfast and I was stuck paying out of pocket for cereal or just eating an apple. If you are on the dining plan be cautioned that dry cereal is one snack credit and milk is another snack credit.

 

[bookgirl]

I just used POR, it's still the same place, FQ. We just used different acronyms

Okay. I was just there and thought Wait I could have got gf beignets. LoL

 

[nfceagles]

Almost all Disney owned resorts can do what you're asking. The only exception IMO is CSR because the restaurants are not owned by Disney and they're reputation is not the greatest with allergies.

If you're looking for QS dining at your resort then I wouldn't stay at FW, BC, YC, BCV, BWI, or BWV. All of the other resorts can prepare GF Mickey waffles, breakfast platters with GF rolls or toast instead of biscuits, and so on. They should all also have GF chicken tenders (SOOOO delicious) as well as GF hamburger buns. If they have pasta on their menu then chances are they have GF pasta.

If you're looking for TS dining at your resort then obviously the values won't work. The moderates only have 1 TS option each (FQ shares Boatwrites with POR and FW actually has 2) while the deluxe have multiple. If you're at a monorail resort then you can easily hop between all of the monorail resorts to get QS or TS dining nearby (any of the resorts or MK). If you're at a Crescent Lake resort then you can easily hop between all the Crescent Lake resorts to get TS dining nearby (any of the resorts or Epcot & DHS) though for QS you would have to head to Epcot or DHS (Epcot's better).

What she said.

Avoid CSR because they aren't run by Disney. We tend not to stay at the Epcot resorts for more than a day or two, because the Quick Service options are limited. We love staying at BLT because we love the TS and QS options at the Contemporary and we can hop on the monorail for several other options.

I hear the Value resort food courts are excellent with special diets, especially Pop, but I haven't stayed there.

 

[sleepingbean]

Agreed with the above. We have dined at so many resorts because they always do such a good job! I loved the food at Animal Kingdom Lodge the best and Trudy posted some great reviews of Pop in the past. We enjoyed the options at Yacht Club and all the others (I have photos in my sig link). If I had to say my favorite resort counterservice, it would be Mara at Animal Kingdom, but for Table Service, it would be a toss up between Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, and Grand Floridian. And maybe Poly and Contemporary, too! LOL While I LOVE CSR, I agree that is is not the right place for GF food options.
We had good food at Port Orleans and Carribean, too. So many options on Disney Property, you are safe at their resorts!

 

[bookgirl]

I hear the Value resort food courts are excellent with special diets, especially Pop, but I haven't stayed there.

I stayed at Sports last month and they were great and had tons of options. I had the turkey dinner one night and the kids pasta another night.

In both cases they got my food from the back (not the line).

They offered me any meat I wanted on the pasta (meatballs and sausage are not GF). The Alfredo was not GF but pesto and red sauce were. I did however get it plain and because it was a kids meal I got two of the bagged sides (carrots and apples).

The turkey was done well and with the exception of the gravy was safe (I think the only side I couldn't get was some kind of breaded veggie but I can't remember now what it was). I had plain mashed potato and corn and they gave me toasted GF bread.

They were out of pasta the first night and they were very apologetic and she promised to get a fresh batch sent over the next morning.

Best service I've gotten (and this was the second trip I had on a restricted diet) and I did TS on both trips.

 

[KristenFNJ]

Thank you all so much for your replies! (I tried to post the other day but had technical issues... I've been reading though!)

I just found out that my mom had to bank our timeshare at our home-base for this year, so we will have to find another place to stay in November! We have the option of switching to another timeshare (since there are a thousand of them near WDW I'll be asking about that in another forum!) but I now need to get real with considering our on-property options also!

AKL would be SO FABULOUS! Since we also want to do 2 park-to-park days at Universal for the Harry Potter stuff, the extra ticket cost might make the Values our only real option. I'm so pleased to know that either way, my boys will be taken care of!

I have no idea if we'd go for a suite/villa/family room with a kitchen (which would make the resort restaurant gf offerings less important) or 2 regular style rooms (connecting wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but the thought of across-the-world is not appealing! ... well, unless I get a night or two on the other side of the resort with no kids! Then it might feel like *I* am actually on vacation! LOL).

I appreciate all the input and helping me figure out the different scenarios I need to consider! Thanks again!