A Mom With Mouse Ears’ Guide to Disney Dining with Food Allergies
Prologue: As a baby, our son had eczema. It was chalked up to sensitive skin and just a ‘normal’ thing in babies. He threw up a lot. Again, we were told it was nothing to worry about. Even with no family history of food allergies, we decided to take him in for testing. The results? He’s allergic to eggs, chocolate, sesame seeds with a sensitivity to beef. So many things became so clear in that moment, the foods he had eaten in his first two years of life that had made him sick: scrambled eggs, ranch dressing, chocolate chip cookie cake.
Life with food allergies has been an adjustment, one that we still deal with on an almost daily basis. Where we had once thrown groceries into the cart with wild abandon, label reading became the order of the day. Eating out at restaurants became more difficult…not only did we need to keep a squirrely toddler in check, but also make sure (to the best of our abilities) that the food was safe.
With that backstory in mind, it comes as no surprise that our love for Disney went to another level when we took our first ‘trip with food allergies’ in October 2015.
The first thing I did when we had the food allergy diagnosis was to call Disney Dining and add Ronan’s allergies to all of our dining reservations. I also started doing online research about the different selections that would be available to Ronan.
Fast forward to our vacation: At counter service restaurants, I simply asked the Cast Member taking orders for an allergy menu. Disney has done a great job of breaking out the different items based on what is SAFE. Not what is off-limits. I will say we’re lucky, very lucky, that Ronan’s allergies are not severe or life-threatening. Cross-contamination is not an issue. So if I saw something from the ‘regular’ menu that was ALSO on the ‘allergy’ menu, I would order that for him. If you’re ordering strictly from the allergy menu at some counter service menus, you’ll wait longer because the food is prepared on special equipment to avoid cross-contamination.
At table service restaurants, Cast Members noted our food allergies when we checked in. Without fail, and in an exceedingly professional and cheerful manner, each and every Chef visited our table to either walk us through the safe menu items or to walk Mom through the buffet to point out what Ronan might be able to enjoy. Amber at Kona Café checked on us twice during our meal to ensure Ronan was enjoying his food.
It didn’t hurt that, up until now, Ronan was eating off of my plate at buffets. Occasionally we’d order something separate from the kids’ menu but a lot of the time it went uneaten. During our November 2016 trip, Ronan will be three years old. Translation – going to have to pay for his food. So we’ll be doing less buffets and more counter service to hopefully avoid food waste.
In short, here are my top tips for Disney Dining with Food Allergies:
Make your allergies known when booking advance dining reservations (ADRs)
Ask for the allergy menu at counter service locations and, if necessary, order from that menu to avoid cross-contamination
Bring your own food, you can do that at Disney…just don’t bring any glass…of course, you can’t bust out a sandwich from a Ziploc bag at Le Cellier, but a picnic lunch is a great way to save money and time!
First image: Allergy menu from Gaspirilla Grill (counter service at Grand Floridian); Second image: Ronan enjoying pasta and turkey meatballs at Tony's Town Square (table service, Magic Kingdom)
