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.
Best experience ever at Ohana character breakfast March 2010. Staff was amazing, I didn’t have to repeat a hundred times that my oldest has a peanut allergy, they greeted us at the door and told me they already knew from my previous email. Staff did not treat my 16 year old daughter like she was an alien because of her allergy. One time I have ever been able to relax while eating somewhere other than home, and one of the few times we do. I have already made our reservations to go back in 2011, we live in Canada and worth every penny and the trip!
After being diagnosed wheat intollerant, I took my first “gluten free” WDW vacation last May. The highlight of the trip (believe it or not) was when the chef at Pop Century food court offered to make a fresh waffle on a dedicated waffle iron for me. He brought it out to me with 100% maple syrup (which he told me NOT to share because it was just for me!) . I had not had any waffles, panackes, bread, etc.. for 3 months. I almost cried it was so good!