The Mara (Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo side)
The Mara was an interesting mix of service. There is an Asian female chef who works some of the morning and early afternoon shifts (I am so sorry . . . I wrote down names and have misplaced them - if anyone knows please post!). She is knowledgeable and very careful to prepare everything separately.
At other times, I had different chefs. One did not understand that he should not serve my eggs from the main serving station, where they use the spoon to put eggs on everything from a bare plate to a croissant breakfast sandwich, which of course is cross-contamination. I had to stop him. One of the Cast Members working the line pulled him aside to explain how important it was to serve my food from the back, which he then did and all was well.
So, be careful and watch closely at all times!
The food was very good -- the gluten-free pancakes and gluten-free Mickey waffles here are excellent.
I also had the half-chicken chicken with dedicated-fryer French fries and then, for lunch one day, the Mara Salad - a light vinaigrette dressing on a salad that has chic peas, lentils, and cheese (feta, I believe). Very good!
One night, I ordered a hamburger. The chef (the wonderful Asian lady who I loved) said they were out of gluten-free burger buns and offered to make me "sliders" on individual mini gluten-free dinner rolls. She used fresh hamburger and cooked the burgers on the med-rare side, as much as she safely could, per my request. They were wonderful.
Another night, I had the gluten-free pizza. I believe they use Amy's. It was fair. To make it better, I put some parm. cheese on top (available in individual packets at the condiment table) and hot pepper flakes.
Okay, so here's a good one:
When I ordered the pizza, the chef asked me, "What would you like with that?"
I answered him, "I don't know. I am on the dining plan and using this as a counter service meal. Does anything come with it in addition to dessert?"
The chef said, "You can have fries if you want."
I said, "Sure," although goodness knows I didn't need them! And truth be told, as I look back, I don't think pizza selections come with a side dish, but I trusted the chef's word.
The pizza was quite large and I wasn't able to finish even half of it. Fries really put it over the top, but when I was offered them, I did not know how large the serving would be, and I figured what the heck, if it comes with it, why not? Maybe hubby would want some of it?
I added a gluten-free brownie for dessert (more on these below) and headed to the check-out station.
The cashier asked me, "What do you want to count as a snack, the fries or the brownie?"
I said, "I was told the fries would come with the gluten-free pizza as part of my counter service dinner."
She was very rude. She looked at everyone else in the line behind me and rolled her eyes, then she looked at me and shook her head as if to imply, "You idiot!"
I said, "Please speak to the chef. He can verify."
She said, "Well, where's the chef?"
That comment really took me back. I said, "I don't know, he's back in the kitchen somewhere."
Then she shot the same look to everyone behind me again, and they looked at me as if I were crazy, too. She rang up my ticket and grudgingly gave it to me, not charging me for a snack.
I found this whole thing terribly embarrassing, and I really felt guilty for having taken the fries.
Bad, bad gluten-free guest! 
Shame on you, you naughty thing, you! 
I wondered: How would Donald Duck have reacted to this woman and this situation?
That made me laugh and helped me get over it.
That said, last year and this year, every single CM who serviced me at The Mara (aside from her) has been delightful. This woman was the exception, not the rule. Watch for her -- she's, I would guess, in her 60's with light brown curly hair below the ears. She's been there for a while. I remember her from last year, and while I did not have a problem with her then, she wasn't all that particularly nice last year, either.
Okay, so there's more . . .
On one of my trips to The Mara, one of the
chefs pointed out a special dietary section that houses desserts. It is located next to the check-out area, between the refrigerated section and the first check-out. It is a woven shelf unit. On the bottom are gluten-free brownies. On the upper shelves are jelly beans, caramel corn and chocolate chip cookies.
I was given the impression that all of the snacks in this section were gluten free, but they are not. This is a section for people with various needs, not just gluten-free. READ THE INGREDIENTS CAREFULLY. The only items that are honestly safe are the gluten-free brownies. (I enjoyed them.) The other items state that wheat may be present in the manufacturing, and the cookies have wheat as the first ingredient.
That's tonight's post!
I am especially excited to try the GF pancakes. I loooove pancakes! Pamela's makes a great pancake mix so I hope this is what Disney uses.
We're not going until March but I'm trying to learn all the celiac info for DH that I can. I have some ADR plans but who knows what I will end up with and I have one picky daughter so when making restaurant choices I have to take her into consideration too. Waiting for more reviews.
