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Disney Veterans

taweavmo3

By taweavmo3
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

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taweavmo3 Enthusiast
taweavmo3
Posted

Dh and I are tossing around vacation ideas.....we haven't ever had a family vacation. The past few years have been more than rough, and now that things have settled down, and our youngest child will be 3 this summer, I feel like a vacation is in order.

We had originally thought of just renting a beach house, but since we are all (except dh) gluten free, I'll still have to cook each meal, pack a ton of food if we leave the house, etc. That really wouldn't be much of a break for me. I've read such great reviews about Disney here, and the prices seem the be similar to renting a beach house anyway. Being able to eat out as a family, and not spending most of my day in the kitchen would be amazing.

But where to stay? Does anyone have a favorite hotel, or most kid friendly hotel? We really want to make this all about the kids....they are the perfect ages, 3-10. After all they have been through, I feel like we all need some time to just have FUN!

Thanks for any help!

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Guhlia Rising Star
Guhlia
Posted

We have stayed at regular hotels off the Disney property. I make sure there's a microwave and fridge in the room for nighttime snacks. We do the Disney parks every other day. Those days that we don't do Disney parks we eat simple foods like gluten free cereal for breakfast, fruit for snacks, hot dogs and steam-in-bag veggies for lunch, gluten free crackers or such for snack, and then we do Downtown Disney (free entrance and parking) for dinner. The Portabello Yacht Club has fabulous gluten free food and if you call ahead they'll make sure they have Tinkyada pasta for you. :) Mmmmmmm.....

There's a Wild Oats or Trader Joe's or Wegmans or something just outside Orlando. I generally try to stick mostly to naturally gluten free foods though, they're easier to find. I bring my gluten free cereal and crackers from home. This is easier to do if you're driving rather than flying.

Disney parks are AMAZING for Celiacs. They actually get it. Just make sure you're careful. If something looks too "real" to be true, it probably is. Always double check and ALWAYS ask for the manager at counter service places.

Enjoy yourself! You will have a blast!

Sailing Girl Apprentice
Sailing Girl
Posted

DD and I go to Disney *frequently* (my parents live fairly nearby, and we visit Disney and then visit Grandma and Granddad). I agree -- Disney "gets it," and it's pure pleasure to go there.

We've stayed both on property and off-site, and I much prefer to stay on property -- you get a variety of perks that way, including extra hours in the parks, free transportation to the parks (don't have to worry about paying for parking!), and the Disney Dining Plan. The basic dining plan gives you two meals a day (one table service and one counter service), plus a snack, for around $40 per adult per day and $10 per child -- it's a good deal, especially given that every restaurant actually has food we can eat!

*All* the Disney-owned hotels are kid-friendly -- have a look around on their site and see some of the pretty amazing themes. They're also offering some good deals right now (recession pricing). Your kids are just the right ages -- they'll have a blast!

Can you tell I love Disney??? Post any other questions you have, and I'll be happy to point you in the right direction!

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

Staying off property is somewhat cheaper but if you an afford it, staying on property is MUCH more convenient.

richard

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

I stayed at Port Orlean's in Disneyworld. They don't have a table service restaurant, but the food court had a head chef who was VERY helpful for me. They can make gluten free pancakes with real maple syrup. They were very knowledgeable about food allergies and about celiac.

In Disneyland, we stayed off property...fortunately I had good luck with that except for one day, but we ate mostly in the park anyway, and that was also a good experience.

glutenada Newbie
glutenada
Posted

We're taking our 4th annual trip to Disneyland January 25-31. We buy the City Pass and will spend 3 days at DL, 1 at Universal, and 1 day at The Wild Animal Park near San Diego.

This year we're staying at the Homewood Suites. All rooms have kitchens so I can cook up breakfast and dinner there.

I LOVE going to Disneyland. The first year there I ate my way through each day. I was 2 years into being gluten-free and it was simply amazing that there were gluten-free options for me. Pizza, burgers, fries, etc. Yummers!

I'm not sure what DWorld area is like, haven't been there in years, but in the years we've been going, the places with the kitchen are comparable to non-kitchen hotels and allow for saving money on eating out as well as a way to eat gluten-free when not at DL.

Have fun!!

nothungry Contributor
nothungry
Posted

We go to a beach house every year and it is not relaxing at all...too much cooking and fussing!

We have been to WDW a few times in the past years and it is dreamy! They really take care of you there. We have stayed in a few resorts, but the value resorts have been great (from $80 a night, depending on the season, and cheaper when they are running promotions). So, it can be affordable. Even the food courts at the value resorts prepare pancakes, pasta, waffles, homemade chicken tenders etc. for us. We loved POP century, and All Star Music and All Star Sports (value resorts) and we stayed at Saratoga Springs also. It has more adult theming. The All Stars and POP century are decorated very fun and very much in the spirit of Disney! Kids can really appreciate it! (Adults too!) We also like that onsite you don't have to pay for parking ($12 per day) and you don't necessarily need a car onsite because of their transportation system. Have a great trip!

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  • 4 weeks later...
CeliacMom2008 Enthusiast
CeliacMom2008
Posted

We are huge Disney fans! We are going again over spring break just for the restaurants. We're staying on the property, but we will not be going to the parks this trip (too crowded for our tastes).

Where to stay?? There are so many good options!

The All Star resorts are great if you're on a budget or if you plan to spend most of your time at the parks. The pools are nice, but not as fancy as the more expensive ones. But with little little ones, things like water slides may not be appealing anyway, so the All Star pools would be more than fine.

Saratoga Springs is very nice with great pool. It also has a ferry boat that can take you over to Old Key West or Downtown Disney. When my little guy was a toddler boat rides, busses, and the monorail were his favorites! So much for the expensive park tickets!!

I wouldn't recommend Old Key West. It is a golfers resort and not all that kid oriented. My son has said it's his least favorite.

Want a beach? Carribean Beach Resort is really nice. Nice pool and wonderful sand beaches and playgrounds. You can rent bikes the whole family can fit into (one big bike with bench seats) or paddle boats. There is very nice hammock area next to playground equipment off a tropical trail that is really relaxing and feels very tropical.

We thought we'd need a kitchen, but you really don't. The people at Disney really do understand gluten free. You can eat out every single meal and not worry one bit. You'll have all sorts of selection (chefs come out and ask you what you feel hungry for and they try very hard to accomodate you - we have loads of positive stories about this).

You can eat at fancy sit down restaurants, family sit down restaurants, buffets (I was nervous to try buffets, but you needn't be. The chef walks the buffet with you and tells you what you can have and then you tell them what you want and they get fresh from the kitchen to avoid the possibility of CC.), walk up restaurants in the parks, Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom even sells gluten-free cookies, brownies, and rice crispy treats.

Go, go, and have a relaxing, wonderful eating experience...ummm, I mean vacation! B)

Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted

I'm so happy to have read this thread. One of my favorite places to go is Disney World and recently with finding out I have Celiac and could not eat all the delicious yummies there made me sad. Now I can go to Star Wars weekends with no worries. :lol:

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    • trents
      Why now?

      By trents · Posted

      Yes, other health challenges and even severe prolonged emotional distress are thought to be potential triggers for the latent celiac genes. Let me encourage you to get tested for celiac disease as soon as possible so that you can get on with eliminating gluten from your diet, which itself will involve a considerable learning curve in order to become consistent at it. Even pills and meds can contain gluten because wheat starch can be used as a filler. It's important to know if you have celiac disease for two reasons. First, it damages the lining of the small bowel and, over time, wears down those billions of little fingers that make up the lining and produce a huge surface area for absorbing nutrients from the food we eat. The small bowel is essentially the place where all of our nutrition is absorbed. Long term undiagnosed/ignored celiac disease therefore results in nutritional deficiencies even when we are eating well. You don't need that with the other health issues you are dealing with.  Second, many or most people find it difficult to be consistent with the gluten free diet if they don't have a formal diagnosis of celiac disease. It is just too inconvenient and limiting and they begin to rationalize that, "Well, maybe my problems are due to something else." Human nature has a remarkable capacity to rationalize. It can be argued that you can cheat a little bit on the gluten free diet with NCGS because it only creates a little discomfort and distress but not damage. That doesn't work with celiac disease. So, I feel it is important to know which you are dealing with, especially in the case where you have not yet begun the gluten free diet and you are a good candidate for beginning testing. Many people make the mistake of experimenting with the gluten free diet before they get tested for celiac disease and then they have to go back on gluten for weeks or months, the so-called "gluten challenge", in order to achieve valid test results. By the way, autoimmune diseases tend to cluster. When you get one, it is very common to develop others in time. 
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    • heart390
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      Welcome to the celiac.com community @heart390! Genes connected with the development of celiac disease remain latent until triggered or activated by some biological stressor. The stressor can be many things and our knowledge in this area is incomplete. Suspects include viral infections, antibiotics, pesticides, preservatives and other harmful chemicals in the environment. The onset of celiac disease can happen at any stage in life. It is a long outdated misconception that gluten intolerance is a childhood phenomenon that you eventually outgrow. You use the term "gluten problems". What do you mean by that? Have you been formally diagnosed with celiac disease (aka, "gluten intolerance")? There is also NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity or "gluten sensitivity") for which there is not yet any testing available. It shares many of the same symptoms with celiac disease but is not autoimmune in nature and does not damage the lining of the small bowel. A diagnosis of NCGS depends on first ruling out celiac disease for which we do have tests. If you would seek testing for celiac disease, you must not begin the gluten free diet until all testing is done with or you will have invalidated the testing. There are two stages to the testing. The first stage involves a simple blood draw to check for certain antibodies produced by celiac disease. If the antibody testing is positive, doctors normally order an endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining which checks for damaged caused by the inflammation associated with the autoimmune response. That is the second stage of diagnostic testing.
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