Going To Disney World With Food Allergies
Disney || Tags: Disney, Disney Food ||Out of all our travels, Disney has been the best experience at accommodating food allergies. My husband has a nut and shellfish allergy, but this hasn’t stopped us from enjoying all the food Disney has to offer. You can still take part in restaurants, and even the food booths found at Epcot.
Eating out at restaurants can be a stressful experience for those who have life threatening food allergies, but Disney not only accommodates, they usually go above and beyond to make sure you have the best meal possible. There are a few things you should know about before you go and while you’re there to make the most of your trip!
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Tips For Visiting Disney With Food Allergies
Making Dining Reservations
Most of Disney’s table service restaurants require advanced dining reservations (ADRs), which you can make only up to 60 days in advance. When you are booking online, you can look at menus in order to make your decisions. After you select your restaurant, select your date and time, then you will get to the part where you add in your food allergies. All of the most common allergies are available to check off, for any other allergies you can add them in.
If you have extensive or uncommon allergies, you might want to email Disney’s Special Diets to see how they can best serve you. Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com
Eating At Table Service
When you arrive for your dining reservation, usually the hostess will confirm that you have food allergies at your table. If they don’t, make sure to mention it to them. Once you’re seated at your table the servers might bring out a food allergy menu for you. You have the option of having the chef come out to speak to you and go over the menu with you as well. At a buffet the chef will go over the buffet with you and bring items out from the back to limit the chance of cross contamination.
We’ve had great experiences at table services restaurants, especially Chefs De France and The Plaza on our last trip. The chef made special a meal for my husband, and the servers took the allergy seriously, and that made us feel very comfortable.
Headed on an adults only trip? Here’s what you should do!
Eating At Quick Service
Quick service restaurants are easy places to grab something quick to eat; there are a lot of options! If you have food allergies, the easiest thing to do is to grab one of their allergy menus. All of the common food allergies are accounted for on this allergy menu. You also have the option to talk to the manager. They will have binders with all the ingredients in the menu items.
Mobile Ordering
Now that Disney is pushing mobile ordering, it is a little more complicated to eat at Quick Service. You can still request to chat with someone to see the allergy menus and the ingredients binder.
You can also use mobile ordering if you’re comfortable. The app will tell you about common allergens.
Snacks at Disney
Disney has some of the best snacks ever! (seriously, check this post out if you’re prepared to drool) We’ve never had a problem finding safe snacks. The cast members at the Plaza Ice Cream Shoppe were kind enough to open a new ice cream container for us, so that there would not be any cross contamination. Don’t be afraid to ask what they can do for you at any restaurant or snack cart.
Food Festivals at Epcot
With so many food booths at Epcot most of the year, there are lots of options to grab something to eat. Although things are pre-made most of the time, cast members are helpful when you ask about ingredients. Overall we had a positive experience at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year. They usually mark on the menus at the booths if the item is gluten friendly and/or vegetarian!
Want more about Food & Wine Festival? Check this out!
Parties at Magic Kingdom
We attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and had a fantastic experience getting allergy friendly treats! When we got to Magic Kingdom to start the party, they gave my husband a teal allergy bag. When we visited the trick or treat stations, he got a teal coin, which he then traded in at the allergy friendly stations (one on Main Street, and one in Liberty Square). At the trade in station, he told them his allergies and he was then able to choose from a menu of candy that was safe for him.
Read all about our night at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party here.
Ask Other People
Millions of people visit Disney World every year, and with an estimated 15 million people in America having food allergies, there are lots of us out there with the same problem! I have found many other blogs and resources to help me plan my trip, here are a few you might want to check out:
Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW – this blog will help you tremendously if you have gluten or dairy allergies. Sarah has allergy menus, restaurant reviews, a podcast and so much information!
Disney Food Allergy Group – This group, run by a man whose child has multiple food allergies is a super helpful place to ask questions. With over 8600 members, there’s always someone to answer your question!
Rope Drop Radio Podcast – My favorite Disney podcast did an episode recently all about navigating the parks with food allergies.
Do you have any advice for anyone visiting Disney with a food allergy? Let us know in the comments!
Share with any food allergy friends!
11 responses to “Going To Disney World With Food Allergies”
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Disney is terrific where food allergies are concerned. I don’t have allergies but I watch my sodium content and the staff is always very accommodating when I ask questions.
They are awesome with any sort of dietary concerns! I love it.
This is such a great post! Disney is the BEST when it comes to accommodating people for food allergies (and just picky eaters as well)!
They really are the best. It’s always harder when we travel other places because Disney has set the bar so high.
Disney really knows how to take care of it’s guests!
They really do! It’s awesome
It’s nice that they go to lengths to avoid cross contamination as well! A lot of places would just stop at the item itself and not think beyond that!
Yes they do a great job and their chefs are really well trained in food allergies!
Servers definitely take it super seriously. I once mentioned my mild strawberry allergy, and the waiter went back to the kitchen to ask the chefs about any cross contamination – without me asking him to!
Disney is so good about being accommodating. I once asked about butter on a side dish, and they hurried the chef out to discuss accommodating me. I know that they want to cover their tails, so to speak, yet I do like that they seem to care about making guests happy and comfortable, too.
I love how inusive disney is with allergy issues