Food Allergies Unite....Need Help and Experiences

DisHopeful

Getting There is Half the Fun
Joined
Jan 1, 2018
It's been 2 years since my family has been to Disney world. I know that Disney is great at accommodating food allergies at all their restaurants especially the TS restaurants. But I was wondering if anyone has tips, experiences or preferred dining in dealing with food allergies. I have a kid who has dairy, egg, and beef allergies.
Best experiences? Worst Experiences?
Any recommended QS (at any park) that were better for allergies? As I plan what QS my family would like, I'm wondering what (if anything) my kid can eat there.
Is there a website that actually shows the allergy notebooks from each restaurant?
Do you think they will updated the mobile ordering to better work with food allergies?

I'll take any information you want to give. And thank you in advance.
 
For TS restaurants, note it on your reservation (there's an entire section detailing what allergies there are) and they'll confirm it when you arrive and most likely have the chef come out and speak with you.

For QS, we get in line, go up to where you order and tell the person taking the order about the allergy(ies). They'll more than likely direct you to a spot and have a manager come out/over and speak to you. From there, they'll be able to tell you what you can/can't order, get the books, etc.

AFAIK, there is no online "notebook" site. Also, I'm fine with food allergies NOT being listed for mobile ordering. Yes, it's an inconvenience, but being able to speak with someone in person on a case by case basis is a small price to pay to make sure something doesn't get assumed or overlooked and you get allergens in your food which can ultimately put a downer on your vacation.
 
There is good information and lots of very knowledgeable folks on the disABILITIES Forum here on the DIS. You should post your questions and concerns there
 
I have 2 family members with food allergies and we find the CS are not that great unless they are interested in a salad so we pretty much do TS for every meal and can even eat at buffets and dinner shows.
 


It's been 2 years since my family has been to Disney world. I know that Disney is great at accommodating food allergies at all their restaurants especially the TS restaurants. But I was wondering if anyone has tips, experiences or preferred dining in dealing with food allergies. I have a kid who has dairy, egg, and beef allergies.
Best experiences? Worst Experiences?
Any recommended QS (at any park) that were better for allergies? As I plan what QS my family would like, I'm wondering what (if anything) my kid can eat there.
Is there a website that actually shows the allergy notebooks from each restaurant?
Do you think they will updated the mobile ordering to better work with food allergies?

I'll take any information you want to give. And thank you in advance.
My son is gluten free. From our experience, I recommend avoiding quick service and eating at table service instead. Quick service's allergy-friendly meals are made separately, take forever, and are not timed to come out with everyone else's meals in your party.

We have table service breakfast and dinner, and have a snack instead of lunch. That works well for us.

The one quick service I can recommend for allergies is Be Our Guest. It helps that you can review the menu & order in advance. Your food will come out together, and although there is a slight delay, it's nothing like the delays we've experienced at other quick service restaurants.
 
I had a really good allergy experience at Satuli. They brought out an iPad, showed me labels, and I was able to eat off the menu with one small change. No hassle at all.
 


On our last trip to WDW, our D, who has food allergies, had to continue with an elimination diet her doctors had her on, and she could have no dairy, eggs, or soy. She was already a vegetarian, so this essentially meant she now had to eat soy-free vegan. When we made our TS ADRs, we noted on the reservation the allergies to egg, dairy, and soy. When we showed up at each ADR, we were given pre-printed allergy menus, where it would list items that were safe to eat for people with certain allergies. Shortly thereafter, the chef came to our table and discussed our D's food restrictions and what she'd like to eat. Where possible, my D ordered something off the allergy menu, but because of the way the allergies are listed and combined, this wasn't always possible. Also, sometimes my D didn't like any of the choices on the pre-printed menu, and the chefs were very happy to accommodate her and make her something she'd like.

In particular, we had fantastic experiences at The Wave, Mama Melrose, and Trail's End. At each of these places the chefs were absolutely wonderful and made her the most incredible meals that other diners were looking at jealously! In particular, the chef at MM made us all the most delicious roasted veggie pasta we've ever had in our lives (we all followed her diet because she was really upset and we didn't want to rub it in by eating all the stuff she couldn't right in front of her). He asked her what her favorite veggies were and she mentioned eggplant, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and red pepper, and he just went to town making this incredible pasta for her/us. And Chef TJ at Trail's End is legendary for making spectacular meals for vegans and people with food allergies...he made us/our D a 7 course meal that was seriously the highlight of the whole trip for us! So I really think you will have no problem at all at TS restaurants. The Disney Food Blog has a video called "Best WDW restaurants for vegetarians and vegans" that you might want to check out. Just be sure to plan out these TS meals in advance and make ADRs so there's no need to scramble while you're in the parks.

In terms of CS, that gets a little trickier, but it can be done too. All of the CS locations have binders with ingredient lists in them. What I did for our trip was to google "vegan disney world" (which would work for you too with your child's allergies), and I found several websites that listed specifically which items at each park were vegan (for example, all popcorn and Mickey pretzels, minus the cheese sauce, are vegan). I then created a Pinterest page for each park and pinned photos of the specific items that were safe for my D to eat -- we found that much easier to do than follow a list. That way, you can access your Pinterest page on your phone and will have a quick and easy guide to CS meals...and I found that the photos helped our D to be more excited about her choices. :)

And again, I do appreciate your child isn't vegan...but the dairy/egg/beef allergies make it close...so it seems like there would be some options to add in grilled chicken to, say, an otherwise vegan pasta or salad, and that might work...or to add a vegan bun to a grilled chicken sandwich.

Good luck! I hope you have a magical trip...and I really do think Disney will take great care of your child...we found it easier for my D to eat there than anywhere else we've ever eaten. :)
 
DS is contact ANA to Dairy, eggs, sesame, peanuts and tree nuts. He has had a wonderful time and eaten like a king in Disney! Generally, with a non top 8 allergy you will need to talk to to the chef. We don't do mobile ordering. If you google there are some blogs that post the allergy menus. However, for beef, you still need to talk to someone. At Teppen Edo, for example, they put beef in the rice which would not come out. (they have regular rice too). They will cook food in the back if there is a concern.

Vegan mickey waffles are at the resorts or at sit-down restaurants.

Generally, I'd say choose which restaurants interest you the most and go from there. With my son's allergies, we've eaten successfully at Boma, Beaches n Cream, Ravello, Trails End, Ohana, 1900 Park Fare, Grand Floridian Cafe, Chef Mickey, Contempt Cafe, Gasparilo's, Concierge at GF, Trex, Teppen Edo, Garden Grill, Electric Umbrella, 50's prime time, Liberty Tree Tavern, Be Our Guest, Plaza Inn, Crystal Palace, and Tusker House.

I'm probably forgetting something. This next trip we are trying Coral Reef, Biergarten, Skippers Canteen, and the Kids Club.

We are doing Club level again, so DS will have vegan waffles in the am (hopefully, that's what they did at the GF). We do breakfast in the lounge, then TS for lunch and dinner.
 
Talk to the manager and/or chef everywhere you go. I’ve had to do that. The chef will sometimes just ask what sounds good, and they can make it without the allergen sometimes. Otherwise, I’ve been happy AND safe with what they’ve given me!
 
Where possible, my D ordered something off the allergy menu, but because of the way the allergies are listed and combined, this wasn't always possible. Also, sometimes my D didn't like any of the choices on the pre-printed menu, and the chefs were very happy to accommodate her and make her something she'd like.

I agree with this. My allergies are shellfish and mango and the allergy menus didn't exactly fit. I have had really great service at Boma, Jiko and Saana. We are going again in October and I no longer eat meat, but I do eat fish so my choices will be more limited but still great.

I've had a chef come over at nearly every restaurant (sometimes it's not an issue at all and the server can handle it) and they actually walk me through each buffet. I check the 'other' box on the reservation allergy choices and that automatically triggers a chef in my experience.
 

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