Going To Disney

[pnltbox27]

i was looking into taking the kids to disney in orlando and i was wondering if staying at a disney resort instead of off grounds was the way to go as far as meals. ive read many posts on the disney subject so i know they are glutten friendly.but not sure which disney resorts are the best to stay at? or are they all accomodating?

[pnltbox27]

anybody out there???????????????????????????

[SUZ42]

anybody out there???????????????????????????

I just got a fantastic list of gluten free foods from Disney. If you email Brenda.Bennett@Disney.com she will answer quickly. The lists include the four parks, a water park and the resorts. It was very helpful.

[Eriella]

I've been to WDW twice, both long before I was symptomatic, but I can tell you that when we stayed at the All Star Sports hotel the cafeteria workers were amazing and extremely accommodating. They made it so easy for my mom to find things for me to eat (I was recovering from pneumonia at the time and I had horrible heat sickness. All I wanted was a baked potato and they only came with a full meal. The worker not only sold me a potato alone, she only charged me $0.99 for it!) and were very reasonable. I also know that Disney will do whatever it takes to make customers happy, and that includes making special food. From a previous post I know that they said that if you gave any of the full service restaurants 24 hours notice they could have almost anything prepared for you.

What my parents did to save money is have us eat breakfast in the room, get lunch at a stand, and then go out for a full dinner. We also brought in a lot of our own snacks and food. I can tell you that it was 100% worth it to stay at the resorts, and that staying at the lower end resorts are just as nice as the higher end (we stayed at the Carribean beach last time)

[pnltbox27]

thank you i just sent her an email hope to hear from her soon

[pnltbox27]

I've been to WDW twice, both long before I was symptomatic, but I can tell you that when we stayed at the All Star Sports hotel the cafeteria workers were amazing and extremely accommodating. They made it so easy for my mom to find things for me to eat (I was recovering from pneumonia at the time and I had horrible heat sickness. All I wanted was a baked potato and they only came with a full meal. The worker not only sold me a potato alone, she only charged me $0.99 for it!) and were very reasonable. I also know that Disney will do whatever it takes to make customers happy, and that includes making special food. From a previous post I know that they said that if you gave any of the full service restaurants 24 hours notice they could have almost anything prepared for you.

What my parents did to save money is have us eat breakfast in the room, get lunch at a stand, and then go out for a full dinner. We also brought in a lot of our own snacks and food. I can tell you that it was 100% worth it to stay at the resorts, and that staying at the lower end resorts are just as nice as the higher end (we stayed at the Carribean beach last time)

is it worth paying the few hundered more $$ to stay at the carribean or go with the value resorts like the one you mentioned above. i was looking at both and there is about a $400 difference between carribean and all star???

[Eriella]

is it worth paying the few hundered more $$ to stay at the carribean or go with the value resorts like the one you mentioned above. i was looking at both and there is about a $400 difference between carribean and all star???

Not in my mind, especially when you have kids. The All Star resorts are some of the coolest looking hotels that I have ever been in. When I was there (I was 11 and my sister was 9) it was great, full of families, the food was easily accessible and affordable, and the bus ride wasn't that much longer.

We went again when I was 18 and my sister was 15 and the Carribean is nice and wonderful, but the pools aren't as much fun, the food was further away and more expensive for fewer choices, but it was much more resorty looking. The difference in the rooms themselves were minimal for the amount of time we spent in them. (My parents believe to leave early and come back late. One day we left at 7 am and got back at 3 am. Speaking of which, if you can get the late night passes, they are worth it)

If I were to go back again, I would stay at the All Stars. They are very magical and Disney like. The nicer hotels are great if you aren't going to be in the parks most of the day, but if that is the case, why are you spending a fortune to go? Plus $400 can buy a ton of mouse ears, epcot passports, and ice cream (all things I heavily recommend)

[pnltbox27]

thanks for the help we have 2 kids 9 and 7 all they need is a pool and a bed so sounds like the value resorts are the way to go.. thanks again

[SUZ42]

thanks for the help we have 2 kids 9 and 7 all they need is a pool and a bed so sounds like the value resorts are the way to go.. thanks again

you're absolutely right. I've been going to Disney with my dtr since she was 5. She's now 20. We've stayed at a lot of the resorts, but for a child the value resorts seem to be the most fun. Her favorite was the All Star Movies. As a matter of fact, we are going back in June (just the 2 of us ) and staying at the Pop Century. She loves Disney! We live in Florida so getting there is easy, and a little cheaper for us, but still choose the value resorts. As you said all you really need is a bed and a pool. Plus the transportation is provided to the parks and if you fly in there is transport to the resorts, and they will pick up your bags at the airport and deliver them to your rooms! Anyway, here's hoping you have a great time on your vacation.

[pnltbox27]

thanks suz42 we are really excited to go.we were reluctant to stay at a value resort ,but after hearing 2 very positive reviews it seems like a no brainer. we went a couple of years ago and stayed at the nickelodeon family suites, it was under recontruction so we got a great deal now they want over $230.00 a night...

[dlp252]

We stayed at the Port Orleans (medium priced Disney property I believe) in December. I had a very nice time there. They only have a food court as opposed to a sit down restaurant, but I had no problem getting gluten free meals there. The first day they brought the chef out who went over what they could make for me.

Each morning I had gluten free pancakes (for the kids they'll make mickey heads, lol) with bacon and real maple syrup. They checked to make sure the bacon was gluten free. They also made me a hamburger on a gluten free bun and made sure the french fries were gluten free and cooked in a dedicated fryer. They said they could make gluten free brownies for me for dessert if I'd let them know a bit in advance.

I probably could have had all sorts of things while there, but opted to keep it simple and fast and was pleased as could be.

The food court had fresh fruit available all the time too.

[mrsnj91]

I just came on here to ask the same questions! LOL!

I found this link which I thought was great....

Open Original Shared Link

It gives a real account of resturants and places to go or not to go. I am taking notes!

I was looking into the Caribbean resort too. I have a two year old and want to be able to take some time to relax and not just crash the gates all day. And I didn't like the more fast food resturant that was offered at the value resorts. I would rather have a sit down. That link above also has info in it about the resorts and WONDERFUL pictures of them too!

[dionnek]

We went in October and stayed at the Pop Century - I would highly recommend it for kids - it is great and our little girl loved all the big figures, etc. I would recommend trying to get a room in the 50s or 60s section (closer to the food court), but each section has a pool so no matter where you are you can swim (the 60s pool is best for kids though). They only have a food court but it is excellent for gluten-free! I think I got better food than the rest of my family (I'm the only celiac), and they only charged me kids prices for full meals! I had the best gluten-free pizza - you need to ask one of the employees to talk to the kitchen manager (say yoiu need a gluten-free meal) and they will come out and tell yoiu all the options. Be forwarned though that it will take the gluten-free meal a lot longer to cook - by the time I got my meal the rest of the family was usally done, so if you could go and order first and let the others hang out at the pool for another 10 min., that might be best. We also had a character dinner at the Grand Floridian restaurant and that was so worth it! The chef came out and walked me through the buffett telling me what was gluten-free and not, and he said if there was anything special I wanted he could make it (but there was plenty on the buffett that I could eat so I didn't bother having him make anything). I never got sick once.