Special Diet in Disney World | Off to Neverland Travel

Disney Park Restaurants Introduce New Allergy-Friendly Menus

This month, the restaurants at the Walt Disney World® and Disneyland® Resorts have started introducing new allergy-friendly menus, providing increased convenience and options to guests with special dietary requests.

Throughout the next several months, these menus will be rolled out to over 120 quick-service and table-service locations throughout both properties – inside and outside of the Parks. The launch began with Signature Restaurants and will continue with table-service and quick-service. The menus focus on the most common dietary allergens (gluten/wheat, milk, peanut, tree nut, and fish) providing allergen content for menu items from appetizers to desserts!

These new menus are just another step in Walt Disney World® and Disneyland® Resort’s dedication to serving guests with a specific dietary need. In 2013, special dietary-safe meals for over 650,000 guests were prepared! While these menus are meant to enhance the dining experience, guests may still consult directly with the restaurant chef and are encouraged to continue to alert the waitstaff of special dietary needs.

Walt Disney World with Severe Food Allergies

From Magic Maker® Jeff Williams
If you’ve ever watched your child go into anaphylactic shock from a severe allergic reaction to food, you get a little hesitant to eat out at restaurants and do a lot of traveling. When we booked our first Walt Disney World® vacation when my son was 4, I was very nervous about being able to find something for him to eat at the restaurants. Well, let me tell you, I need not have worried. When I called to make our advanced dining reservations, I was asked if anyone in our group had dietary concerns or food allergies. I explained that my son had life threatening allergies to Milk, Eggs and Peanuts. They made a note of his situation on all of our reservations. I was still sure that I would need to be very vigilant while at the Resort.

When we arrived and went to our first counter service eatery, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the places offered soy milk. The Cast Members were very knowledgeable and helped determine what my son could safely eat. So far, so good. The next hurdle was going to be the table service restaurants and their endless buffet lines. They all have incredible food to be sure, but how would we know what he could and couldn’t eat?

To my surprise upon check in at our first table service restaurant, the chef came out and took us through the entire buffet line and explained exactly what ingredients were in each dish and which items to avoid. I was flabbergasted that a simple note on a table reservation made it all the way through the chain of communication to a chef that cared enough to spend that kind of time making sure that my family could enjoy our meal safely. THAT is just one of the many “Disney Touches” that keeps me coming back year after year.

Contact your Magic Maker™ to help make your dining arrangements and discuss with them any special dietary needs or concerns you may have.