Chronic Kidney Disease and Disney Dining

[Puget Peach]

I've just been diagnosed with stage 2 CKD, meaning my diet needs to be low in sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and careful protein intake. My Doctor hopes that by following these guidelines, we can slow down or stop the progression of the disease. How does one go about ordering food in Walt Disney World, or do I need to plan on cooking and carrying in my food each day? Any experience with this? Any helpful insights would be extremely appreciated! Are there any quick service locations with food I can eat? How well versed are the table service locations for this issue?

 

[happymommy]

My DS has severe (life threatening) dairy and egg allergy, so I can only comment on our experience.

They will have ingredient listings at counter service. At a table service restaurant, you can have a chef come talk to you, which may work better.

Do you have any VERY safe foods you can either bring with you or order from a service like Garden Grocer? I'd feel so much more comfortable having safe foods with me. Our second trip with our son (first one was very short, and he ate little then), we had a one bedroom villa, so I brought a TON of safe foods I could make for him.

I'm sure you can do fine, but I'd plan on bringing or ordering as much as you can to be able to eat enough. I'd feel better also having the full kitchen to help prepare some items.

Good luck!

 

[Puget Peach]

Thank you for your quick response! We will be staying at an off-site timeshare with full kitchen, so prep and pack won't be a problem. I am just hoping there is still a bit of magic I won't have to bring with me. Sodium is a tough thing to avoid, even in krispie treats.

 

[Jedana]

I've just been diagnosed with stage 2 CKD, meaning my diet needs to be low in sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and careful protein intake. My Doctor hopes that by following these guidelines, we can slow down or stop the progression of the disease. How does one go about ordering food in Walt Disney World, or do I need to plan on cooking and carrying in my food each day? Any experience with this? Any helpful insights would be extremely appreciated! Are there any quick service locations with food I can eat? How well versed are the table service locations for this issue?

DH is in Stage 4 ESRD.
A few things he does when on vacation:

No salad dressing on the salad----he goes vinegar, olive oil and pepper. Commercial salad dressings have 300 mg+ sodium per serving.

No seasoning on meats---this needs to be communicated to the server to include no salt or seasoning blends.

No potatoes. He can do potatoes at home, because I soak them for 6+ hours, leeching the potassium out (multiple water changes).



Here's a list that he goes off of (has it saved on his phone)
http://www.nephinc.com/food-lists.asp

 

[DvcDoc]

I visited WDW twice while I was on dialysis. I used the KidneyDiet App on my iPhone to help keep me on track while I was there. Fortunately, I did not have issues with my sodium, so I did not have to watch it that closely. My advice would be not to go overboard and watch what you are eating. There are lots of things available on the menus that you can enjoy while you are there. Have a super trip!

 

[Pamlur]

No potatoes, no citrus fruit (potassium), no bananas (ditto). Very small portions of meat (my husband was told 3 oz, or a piece approximately the size of a deck of cards) and that once a day. Avoid any of the light salt because they sometimes contain more sodium than actual salt does. No cola drinks (phosphorus), very little dairy (also phosphorus).

You can do it, you just have to get a list of food no-nos and stick to it.

 

[Puget Peach]

Thank you so much for your input. I'm assuming that Dole Whip is okay as it is non-dairy. Is there any source for nutritional information about Disney food? I'm thinking the kid's meal turkey on a small roll with carrots and grapes is likely a good choice, when available. I remember these at Cosmic Ray's and other locations.

 

[PirateD]

Thank you so much for your input. I'm assuming that Dole Whip is okay as it is non-dairy. Is there any source for nutritional information about Disney food? I'm thinking the kid's meal turkey on a small roll with carrots and grapes is likely a good choice, when available. I remember these at Cosmic Ray's and other locations.

There doesn't seem to be much information for low sodium diets or nutritional information for Disney food. My mom has a recent diagnosis that also requires a medical low sodium diet. Here is what I have come up with so far in planning for our December 2015 trip: I have read that Allergy Free Chicken Tenders are available and many CS restaurants. According to their website online, there would be 520 mg of sodium for a serving size of 3 chicken tenders. I have also read that Amy's Gluten Free Mac and Cheese is available at Columbia Harbor House (maybe other places???). According to Amy's website, there would be 640 mg of sodium for one serving size (one 9 oz. container). The Kid's Mickey Check Meals available at most CS restaurants are supposed to follow the guidelines of having less than 740 mg of sodium per meal. I think that the turkey sandwich that you are referring to in your post counts as a Mickey Check Meal. My mom always has a protein shake (very low sodium) for breakfast in the hotel room when traveling. We were previously planning on eating mainly CS, but now that she requires low sodium foods, we will probably eat at one TS where the chefs will hopefully be able to prepare a low sodium meal for her. That would leave one CS meal that could include some of the above options which will hopefully work for her. I hope you have lots of success with your dining experiences and would love to hear back on how it went. Wishing you lots of pixie dust!

 

[amybethchristiansen]

Honestly, if he is in stage 2 ESRD, he probably doesn't need to be super, super careful. My vote is, he is on vacation, and should treat himself as such, within reason. Strict potassium and phosphorus control really isn't needed until at least stage 3. His kidneys are still doing nearly all of the work they should. If he is typically pretty good at home, his counts really shouldn't suffer from one week of a splurge on vacation. This is coming from me, on dialysis and in stage 5 ESRD.