We're Going To Disney World!

[e&j0304]

I have tried to read as much on here as I can find about Disney and it seems like they do a great job with gluten free foods. This is our very first trip to Disney World and we have 2 children (ages 2 and 4) who follow a gluten free diet. We are going in September.

Should I request a gluten-free foods list to be mailed to my house?

Should I make special requests over the phone or is it ok to just ask when we get there?

What about Character dinners....I don't want my kids to feel left out.

We are doing dinner at Cinderella's Castle, Chef Mickey's Breakfast buffet (twice), a Princess Dinner at Epcot and maybe one other Character dinner although I haven't booked it yet. How many character dinners are too many, do you think? We will be doing the Disney parks for 5 days.

We are going to have a fidge in our hotel room. Can I buy things there to keep in our room since we're flying? I am the most worried about breakfast because they LOVE their gluten-free cereal, bars, waffles, etc. that I'm sure they won't be getting at WDW.

Thanks for any insight that anyone has. I'm glad we've started planning this trip now. It's overwhelming for someone who's new at this!

Shannon

[Guhlia]

Disney World is amazing for gluten free meals. It's one of the few places that I actually feel safe eating. They have separate kitchens in many places within the parks for preparing allergy orders.

Call ahead and they can e-mail you lists of gluten free foods and food locations for each park you're planning on visiting. They have a very extensive list for each park. You will want to call ahead to make reservations for your character meals. Just let them know at that time that you need gluten free meals. Make sure you call a few days in advance so that you can get your desired time. I think I'd probably stay away from the buffet meals though as the risk of CC is much higher there.

As far as gluten free cereal, if I were you I would probably just call the hotel and make sure that they can recieve a shipment in your name prior to your arrival. Then, order your gluten free foods online and have them shipped to the hotel a day or two before you arrive. This way you'll have all the food you need without having to haul it with you. Most hotels will be willing to do this if you have paid reservations. You may be able to find everything you need in Orlando, but who wants to be searching for food when on vacation?!?!

[e&j0304]

Thanks for all the advice, Angie! I appreciate it!

We are looking forward to our trip. My little 4-year-old girl is going to have the time of her life!! How exciting!!

Thanks again!

[pnltbox27]

we are taking our kids in sept also . this will be our second time but first gluten free visit . i hope you guys have a blast, especialy your 4 year old

[mrsnj91]

We are going the end of August and the beginning of Sept and I was a nervous wreck! I read and read and read! LOL! What we are doing....

*I am going to send down to our hotel some gluten-free safe foods. This will arrive and be waiting for us at the hotel and I plan on stuffing it with gluten-free chicken nuggets, muffins, snack bars, cereal, cookies, etc.

*Then I rented a small microwave from a place down there so we can heat up items in the room for her since most of her things need to be kept cold and the resturants will not heat anything. This too will be waiting for us at the resort and when we are done we leave it in baggage and they will pick it up. Awesome! (site posted below)

*Then I did advanced reservations at as many resturants and buffets as I could get that got good reviews. And then researched counter services that will offer SOMETHING that both Delaney can have and my picky 14 yr. old will not bulk at either! LOL! At reservations I notified them we are dealing with an "allergy" and it was noted to what in my reservations. This will give the chefs head notice and they will call me prior to each reservation to see what she likes and can have. The buffets they will take you down each row and show you and talk with you on what is there that is ok. And they will make gluten-free waffles!!! Sit down resturants will be better than the counter services

Some sites that I found helpful....

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link?

Open Original Shared Link (this site has the micro)

This is what I have so far.....

Crystal Palace

Tony's Town Tavern

Resturantosaurus

Toy Story Pizza Planet Hollywood and Vine

50's Primetime

Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe

Liberty Tree

Wolfgang Pucks Express

Whispering Canyon

Hoop Dee Doo Review

And these are options I have looked into....

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano

Rosies All American Cafe

Sci Fi Dine In Theather

Back Lot Express

Beaches and Cream

[mrsnj91]

OH and PS...there is a Whole Foods down there too. If you have a car you might be able to stop on the way in.

[CGranit]

I wanted to let you know that I have visited Disney World 4 times in the past 2 years that my daughter has been diagnosed with celiac disease and you will be amazed how well the chef's will take care of the speical dietary needs in your family. At almost every meal I get chocked up becasue the chef comes out to the table and usually asks for my daughter by name. Then they usually get down to her leval and ask her what she would like to eat. They always make her great meals that taste good and look good as well. I am very fussy about the foods she eats and will not serve her bad tasting gluten free foods and I have to say they usually serve her foods that live up to my standards. I get chocked up becasue I wish that the real world could be like Disney World. To our amazment our daughter usually eats better than we do when we are there.

I do strongly recommend that you make advanced reservations because if it is busy then you will not get to eat at a sit down restaurant and if it is a character meal you will probably not get to dine at that restaurant. We have eaten in almost every restaurant and have been to every character meal and they ALWAYS take care of her.

I don't know if you are flying but I usually pack a suitcase with our dry foods as well as our frozen foods. The frozen food I put in a soft cooler with lots of freezer packs and I have had no problems with our foods going bad. I just place the cooler in the suitcase along with the dry foods and off we go.

I don't know exactly what type of accomodations you have but I do want to share with you what we found to be the best thing that works for us. We rent a vacation home 2 miles from disney. It is as affordable as a deluxe hotel room in Disney and you get SO much more.

Christa

[dionnek]

Christa - that looks wonderful! Do you know how much you will be charging? My sister lives near Orlando, so we plan to go down there a lot, but she has a cat and I can't stay at her house (I'm extremely allergic to her cat). Could you email me this link and the price and how to contact you in the future so I can keep it in my files? My email is wondrwho@yahoo.com Thanks!

[RIMom]

We were just there with no ahead reservations for any meals, and it was spring break. None of that mattered. Everywhere we went we were treated amazingly. Walk up to any cashier and they have a book with all ingredients for all foods served there. Identify yourself as having a child/family member with a food allergy/sensitivity. You will be immediately ushered to a chef or manager. this person will personally make recommendations for food items and will escort (yes, I mean escort) your meal through it's process to ensure it's gluten free status. I was never a Disney fan til I went this year, the whole world should take note at their service and their attention to details. Not to mention that this was all done with smiles and great pride, whether it was the chef or the lowly bus person. They were all happy to go out of their way for us.

Here's an example from Ray's Cosmic Cafe.....

"We use designated french fry fryers so there shouldn't be cross contamination, BUT we use the same machine to drain the old oil out of those machines as we do the other ones, so there is a 1-1,000,000 chance of cross contamination that way, so what we prefer to do here is to bake the fries for you. This means it will take about ten extra minutes. Please have a seat and we will bring the fries to you as soon as they are done."

Also, in case any of you are worried it's all about fried food, it's not. It was amazing. Kid's meals are a mickey head plate. The meal (say chicken drumstick roasted with olive oil and pepper and salt over a bed of rice) is in the large portion, and the kids get two healthy sides.... pick grapes, carrot sticks, broccoli or apple sauce. It was great to feel like we weren't eating junk the whole time. Also my gluten free hubby was thrilled with grilled tuna steak salad and much more in the healthy choices category. And this was at the "fast food" spots, not the sit down restaurants.

I will definitely go back.... and I thought I wasn't a Disney Fan.

PS, the only hard place is the worlds in Epcot. Many of the servers don't speak English well and their menus are sketchy in their information. I would recommend sticking to the regular restaurants at Epcot rather than the Worlds..... UNFORTUNATELY.

Also, we didn't take tons of food with us. We stayed in a timeshare so we could make our own breakfasts and winged the rest. We carried snacks with us, but pretty much didn't use them b/c the choices were great. I know we are all so used to being prepared everywhere we go, but it was so much easier than anywhere else we have gone.

HAVE A BLAST!!!

[TinkerbellSwt]

HI there! I too am an avid Disney visitor. The only place I have heard of that it is hard to get a gluten free meal is Cinderellas Castle. They premake their food elsewhere or something, but I would call and double check on that.. my source wasnt that reliable. We love the character dinners and have reservations at Chef Mickeys too..

We also stay off site and that helps a lot with the food issue. I put dry goods into a suitcase and had no problem getting them down there. I did most of my cold stuff there at the local supermarket.

Here is the link to where we stay when we go.. same idea as cgranit.. nice place, quiet and I can keep total gluten free house! YAY. and we dont have to pay to eat out at every meal... but like previously said, in every park there is accomodations for gluten free and other allergens everywhere.

and for those going in Sept and Oct the food and wine festival is on at Epcot. Even those little booths outside the different countries are educated as to what you can have and if they are not sure, they call up to the main kitchen and find out from the head chef!! talk about service!!

the place i stay at is www.lynvillas.com

sorry i cant get the direct link.. I am just not so computer savvy!! but its a nice place and it sleeps 8 comfortably and 10 with the pull out couch!!! we go every year!!!

Enjoy your trip! Its the best.. I asked one chef if I could move into the Magic Kingdom!

[Momma Bird]

I am leaving for Disney world in 9 days!!! I am going with my husband, his brother and wife. No kids this time! I have been researching celiac disease for awhile. I thought I had it a few years ago, but was dismissed by doctors and kind of pushed it out of my mind. My symptoms never did go away, but I have been having severe symptoms for the last 8 weeks, and just started the gluten free diet 2 days ago. I am excited to hear that disney world is accomodating for celiacs. The only problem is we dont know exactly where we are going to eat or when. I don't want to be annoying for the rest of the group. Is there a way to quietly get the food you need without being the center of attention? Are reservations necessary to be safe? I'm so excited to be going, but now I'm starting to panic about food, and wonder if I'm going to have to fast until I can find something I'm sure of. It crossed my mind to forgo the celiac diet, and start it when I get back, but I dont want to feel like crap and be vomiting on my trip. Any thoughts are welcome. Thank you!

[Guhlia]

I am leaving for Disney world in 9 days!!! I am going with my husband, his brother and wife. No kids this time! I have been researching celiac disease for awhile. I thought I had it a few years ago, but was dismissed by doctors and kind of pushed it out of my mind. My symptoms never did go away, but I have been having severe symptoms for the last 8 weeks, and just started the gluten free diet 2 days ago. I am excited to hear that disney world is accomodating for celiacs. The only problem is we dont know exactly where we are going to eat or when. I don't want to be annoying for the rest of the group. Is there a way to quietly get the food you need without being the center of attention? Are reservations necessary to be safe? I'm so excited to be going, but now I'm starting to panic about food, and wonder if I'm going to have to fast until I can find something I'm sure of. It crossed my mind to forgo the celiac diet, and start it when I get back, but I dont want to feel like crap and be vomiting on my trip. Any thoughts are welcome. Thank you!

If you are in one of the Disney parks, have no fear... Gluten free food is EVERYWHERE!!! They even have gluten free brownies at some of the Disney parks. Call ahead and have them e-mail you a list of gluten free foods in each park, this way you'll be able to easily help the group decide where to eat based on selection. Disney is the easiest place to vacation as a Celiac. I didn't call ahead at all and managed to eat better than at home! We ate out a lot too. It was awesome! Enjoy yourself.

[SUZ42]

I am leaving for Disney world in 9 days!!! I am going with my husband, his brother and wife. No kids this time! I have been researching celiac disease for awhile. I thought I had it a few years ago, but was dismissed by doctors and kind of pushed it out of my mind. My symptoms never did go away, but I have been having severe symptoms for the last 8 weeks, and just started the gluten free diet 2 days ago. I am excited to hear that disney world is accomodating for celiacs. The only problem is we dont know exactly where we are going to eat or when. I don't want to be annoying for the rest of the group. Is there a way to quietly get the food you need without being the center of attention? Are reservations necessary to be safe? I'm so excited to be going, but now I'm starting to panic about food, and wonder if I'm going to have to fast until I can find something I'm sure of. It crossed my mind to forgo the celiac diet, and start it when I get back, but I dont want to feel like crap and be vomiting on my trip. Any thoughts are welcome. Thank you!

You certainly won't be alone in asking for the gluten-free foods. My adult dtr and I are going to be at Disney World the week of June 17th! I emailed (the person to e-mail is in earlier posts about DW. I can't remember her e-mail address now.) I was e-mailed back resteraunts and foods available at all the parks and our resort we're staying at. I did call and make reservations for 2 places. I am actually more excited about the food than anything else. Well, not more excited, but close. Have a great trip!

[lonewolf]

You certainly won't be alone in asking for the gluten-free foods. My adult dtr and I are going to be at Disney World the week of June 17th! I emailed (the person to e-mail is in earlier posts about DW. I can't remember her e-mail address now.) I was e-mailed back resteraunts and foods available at all the parks and our resort we're staying at. I did call and make reservations for 2 places. I am actually more excited about the food than anything else. Well, not more excited, but close. Have a great trip!

How funny! I'm going to be at Disney World the week of June 17th too! I'll be there with my daughter and 3 of her friends (they won a free trip for a science competition) and with the parents of one of my dd's friends. It will only be me to worry about for gluten-free food, so I'm not even stressing about calling ahead. I'm looking forward to actually ordering food and not being afraid to eat it.

[natalie]

Hi,

We just visited disney in May. I would recommend taking a thermos along. I found that they were accomodating, but they would not heat up any food for my daughter even when I was purchasing other menu items from them . Cinderella's castle was the highlight for us... the meal was fantastik. Le Cellier was wonderful if you like steak and ceaser salad.

[Alexandra Rosenberg]

We are going to Disney World in about 2 weeks and I was wondering if anyone new the place I email to get lists of the gluten free food in the parks. Thanks in advance.

[CGranit]

We are going to Disney World in about 2 weeks and I was wondering if anyone new the place I email to get lists of the gluten free food in the parks. Thanks in advance.

The person that ALWAYS help me is Theresa Joiner she works in the food and beverage support department

This is her Information:

Theresa

Food and Beverage Support

407-560-6395 (phone)

407-560-2498 (fax)

theresa.joiner@disney.com