How to Handle Food Allergies at Disney World
Here are three ways we handle my son's nut allergy at WDW.
I hope this article will help anyone else out there wondering how to handle their own food allergies or a family members while at Walt Disney World! I promise you will want to vacation there again and again because they make it so easy!!
First off, let me say that I do not personally have food allergies so handling them is completely new to me (well newish). Last February, we found out that our little munchkin has multiple food allergies with the most severe being nut allergies. He also has slight allergies to egg and soy that we are hoping he will outgrow. So I have spent lots of time really learning how Disney handles allergies as well as experiencing these services myself.
I want to start off by saying that Disney World is probably the easiest place for us to handle my son's allergies. The second thing I want to say is as far as nut allergies go Disney ensures that 90% of their menus are nut-free (I don't know if this is the exact percentage but it feels like a good guess). Lastly, I want to say that every cast member I have ever told about his nut allergy has gone above and beyond to ensure he won't come in contact with them. We have even had chefs come out multiple times to talk us through menus to ensure we can safely order for him. They always offer guidance for us as well if we want to completely avoid nuts during the meals.
So how do we actually handle his allergy?
1) Alert Cast Members- When you are dining at a sit-down restaurant ensure the cast members taking care of you know before you start ordering. You can do this when you check-in through the My Disney Experience app and by telling your waitress/waiter. A lot of times there is a separate allergy menu. They will also alert the chefs and their teams to make sure that the people with the allergies plates are put together in a nut-free area. The one thing I will say is that any restaurant at Disney with a bread service is that the bread is made in a bakery that can't be guaranteed to be nut-free. We have let Thomas taste the bread and currently, everything has been okay but that is our choice as parents. You can always request that they just don't bring the bread service at all!
Cast members are always amazing in these situations and everyone has always taken the time to walk just through dessert options (most commonly our problem area for finding something that works).
2) Mobile Ordering- If we decide to eat at a quick-service location I will always mobile order if possible. I do this because there is an allergy menu at the bottom of most of the quick-service menus that allows you to pick a nut-free hamburger or chicken tenders, etc. While these dishes don't necessarily have nuts in them, it does notify the chef that there is an allergy. I love that Disney has this option for parents ordering because it takes out the guesswork if you aren't able to talk to a cast member.
3)Bring Our Own Snacks- While Disney has so many wonderful baked goods a lot of them aren't necessarily baked in nut-free areas. I typically ask but if perhaps they don't know for something at a limited-time food booth I have nut-free snacks in my bag including lollipops or chocolate I know is safe to give him. That way he still gets a treat in the parks!
I hope this helps anyone else out there wondering how to handle their own food allergies or family members while at Walt Disney World! I promise you will want to vacation there again and again because they make it so easy!!
Side note: while I have talked specifically about a nut allergy, Disney does the same for all other food allergies.
Until next time,
XOXO
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