Will they give MA DS a regular hot dog bun if he's ok with baked milk?

[nfceagles]

My DS is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. However, we recently passed a baked milk challenge. I had been planning on ignoring this for our Jan 15th trip because I don't want to complicate things for the chefs/managers helping us. The change from EnerG to Udi's, however, has left us bunless due to his egg allergy. The regular hot dog and hamburger buns should be safe for him, but will they let him have one if I explain things? Do they handle such nuances ok or are they so careful they'd rather err on the side of caution.

I've considered lying and just saying he's egg and nut allergy at places like Casey's where I know that the other ingredients are safe, but I hate to do that if it's not necessary.

 

[livndisney]

My DS is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. However, we recently passed a baked milk challenge. I had been planning on ignoring this for our Jan 15th trip because I don't want to complicate things for the chefs/managers helping us. The change from EnerG to Udi's, however, has left us bunless due to his egg allergy. The regular hot dog and hamburger buns should be safe for him, but will they let him have one if I explain things? Do they handle such nuances ok or are they so careful they'd rather err on the side of caution.

I've considered lying and just saying he's egg and nut allergy at places like Casey's where I know that the other ingredients are safe, but I hate to do that if it's not necessary.

In my experience they err on the side of caution. Just last night I had an issue with a supervisor "knowing" more about my allergies than I did LOL.

 

[jcano]

You are the parent. They are there to serve you. If the regular bun is going to be fine, then so be it. Stand up to the food allergy Nazi chefs!!

***This from a mom who made the mistake of telling them that my DD had Type 1 diabetes on our first trip. At her b-day dinner at CRT, they took it upon themselves to bring her a bowl of fruit with a candle in it. I was so stunned I didn't know what to do. Then the program started and the waiter never reappeared. I wish to this day that I had marched into the kitchen and corrected it, but we politely waited for the waiter to come back. We no longer mention "diabetes" on our ressies.

 

[disfan07]

You should be able to get what you want. They do err on the side of caution mainly because they do NOT know the severity of the allergy for each individual person.

I am cross contamination allergic to peanuts. But not cross contamination allergic to tree nuts, eggs, or shellfish (just mild-moderate allergy)

They have always asked me what I am comfortable with (for example, I can eat things that are fried in the same oil with egg or shellfish products but for peanuts, I can't eat a lot of the rolls at teh TS restaurants because of the peanut cross contamination issue)

If you say it is okay, they might ask you a few times if you are sure, but they should still give it to you.

For those who have had issues with them erring on the side of caution....would you rather they not care and not treat allergies so seriously? I would rather have them play it safe than have them not take it seriously.

 

[buffettgirl]

You are the parent. They are there to serve you. If the regular bun is going to be fine, then so be it. Stand up to the food allergy Nazi chefs!!

***This from a mom who made the mistake of telling them that my DD had Type 1 diabetes on our first trip. At her b-day dinner at CRT, they took it upon themselves to bring her a bowl of fruit with a candle in it. I was so stunned I didn't know what to do. Then the program started and the waiter never reappeared. I wish to this day that I had marched into the kitchen and corrected it, but we politely waited for the waiter to come back. We no longer mention "diabetes" on our ressies.

....cause you didn't need ANY insulin for that low carb fruit, right?
(we never say diabetes either. They have zero clue. And the fact that they REFUSE to provide carb information for their foods and instead push sugar alcohol laden sugar free foods, makes me realize that I know far far far more about type 1 diabetes than they ever will. )

So I think to the OP if you know a certain item is fine then you should be able to tell them that it's fine. This is your child. And you're paying for the food.

 

[MSSANDRA]

WE were there last week and found that most of the chiefs were pretty good at filling my request. DS5 has a peanut allergy. His dr, based on his test, has told us he is ok with any "made in the same factory" warning but no others. We learned pretty quickly that ANY baked, dessert items was going to be considered off limits. If you mention allergy, they are not allowed to bring any food out without the chief talking to you. I was very clear in what we needed to avoid, and they were really good about following my wishes. DS has also reacted to eggs, but is ok with small amounts baked into items. I did not even mention this to chiefs. The wave chief was a little more cautious than others and went to another location to get an ice cream that was 100% safe and also gave him a different bread basket.
Rain forest Cafe had been mentioned as having a few issues as they are not wdw owned but I asked the chief to simply read me the warning on each item in the dessert we wanted and he was glad to do so.

 

[CarrieR]

Clarity is your friend. When discussing allergies with the chef, tell them exactly what the allergy is -- DS is allergic to eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and liquid milk, but baked is ok. We've had a bevy of nuances in our allergy dining this year (literally one of my cards said "soy in large amounts," for a friend who can have things like soy lecithin but not soy sauce, for example,) and the chefs are great as long as your needs are clear.

Also, ask for the allergy book when you ask for the manager -- that way you can say, "DS is allergic to xyz; I've looked at the book and we'd like to order a, b, and c. A and B are fine, C needs this modification."

 

[kkandaj]

Just want to say congrats on passing the baked milk challenge! DS failed his baked egg and his baked milk was canceled after his component testing came back with a 98 for casein.

I do love hearing about kiddos that pass these challenges though! Gives me hope for DS.

Have fun on your trip!

 

[dzorn]

The one that drives me nuts is Ohana breakfast. Yes please bring the basket with the sticky gooy, oh so fattening breads. I know DD cannot have it but I can.

Denise in MI

 

[clanmcculloch]

The one that drives me nuts is Ohana breakfast. Yes please bring the basket with the sticky gooy, oh so fattening breads. I know DD cannot have it but I can.

Denise in MI

We've always been asked which regular foods we want brought to the table at 'Ohana giving us control over the at-the-table cross contamination. I do ask for separate dishes of things that we'll share (like the fruit at breakfast) so that I don't need to worry about DH's hands having crumbs when he grabs some and at dinner we keep the sauces over by DH so we don't need to worry about sauce dripping on allergy safe food but we are given the option of having any regular foods that we want. I do know that one chef who used to work there (Chef Kim who is now at Coral Reef) was over cautious about our citrus allergies and it took a lot of convincing to get him to bring pineapple to the table because he was convinced that it's a citrus fruit (not even a similar plant family so no it's citrus, it's just acidic which is not a problem for us). He did finally relent though (my kids love pineapple so I fought for it).

When they first switched the fries to the ones they now have which contain soy, I had a chef say he wasn't comfortable serving the fries to my 11yo because I stated an issue with soy products but he finally let me go ahead and order them for her once I got it through to him that the issue isn't actually soy but rather some ingredient in many brands of soy products (she can eat Tofutti and Vegan Gourmet products no problem so it is DEFINITELY not soy but some other ingredient in many products). I had to push though because they do tend to be over cautious.

Frankly I prefer that they're over cautious because it is SOOOOO much safer than the alternative of being lax. So far I've been able to convince chefs to serve us items that I know will be safe after discussing the issue. This is at TS or resort CS. At park CS where it's managers and not chefs I just order what we know is safe based on the allergy guides and tell them what allergens to avoid with cross contamination. It works out well for the most part.

 

[nfceagles]

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. We're new to this grey area, so I understand and appreciate Disney's cautious approach.

Thanks kkandaj. It's exciting because it's our first step in the right direction, albeit a small one. It doesn't change a whole lot, practically, as most baked goods contain egg. I still have to make those myself and using soy is no harder than using cow's milk. Plus, now I have to be careful not to let him eat any of the batter. Still we've discovered a few store made items that he's eating without issue. Buns and bread have been fine, but I never had trouble finding milk-free versions before. The big one is Chips Ahoy cookies, at least the original variety. I'm bringing some small packs of those to keep with me in lieu of the now gone Divvies cookies.

 

[dzorn]

We've always been asked which regular foods we want brought to the table at 'Ohana giving us control over the at-the-table cross contamination. I do ask for separate dishes of things that we'll share (like the fruit at breakfast) so that I don't need to worry about DH's hands having crumbs when he grabs some and at dinner we keep the sauces over by DH so we don't need to worry about sauce dripping on allergy safe food but we are given the option of having any regular foods that we want. I do know that one chef who used to work there (Chef Kim who is now at Coral Reef) was over cautious about our citrus allergies and it took a lot of convincing to get him to bring pineapple to the table because he was convinced that it's a citrus fruit (not even a similar plant family so no it's citrus, it's just acidic which is not a problem for us). He did finally relent though (my kids love pineapple so I fought for it).

When they first switched the fries to the ones they now have which contain soy, I had a chef say he wasn't comfortable serving the fries to my 11yo because I stated an issue with soy products but he finally let me go ahead and order them for her once I got it through to him that the issue isn't actually soy but rather some ingredient in many brands of soy products (she can eat Tofutti and Vegan Gourmet products no problem so it is DEFINITELY not soy but some other ingredient in many products). I had to push though because they do tend to be over cautious.

Frankly I prefer that they're over cautious because it is SOOOOO much safer than the alternative of being lax. So far I've been able to convince chefs to serve us items that I know will be safe after discussing the issue. This is at TS or resort CS. At park CS where it's managers and not chefs I just order what we know is safe based on the allergy guides and tell them what allergens to avoid with cross contamination. It works out well for the most part.

Cross contamination is not an issue for us as DD only eats the mickey waffles they make for her. Nothing brought to the table she eats other than her special plate.

Denise in MI

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

Also, ask for the allergy book when you ask for the manager -- that way you can say, "DS is allergic to xyz; I've looked at the book and we'd like to order a, b, and c. A and B are fine, C needs this modification."

This is what I always do. It makes things easier for both myself and the ts/cs.

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

*Sorry! Double Posted*