Having someone in your family with dietary restrictions or
food allergies can make it very difficult to travel and eat out at
restaurants. Thankfully, this is not the
case at any of the numerous Disney Destinations! The first step towards a
successful and food safe vacation is to make sure that your agent is aware of
the special dietary requests so that they can annotate it on your
reservation. Once this simple step is accomplished,
you can rest easy knowing that Disney will go out of their way to make sure
that you have an enjoyable and delicious vacation just like everyone else in
your group.
How do they do this?
At most table-service restaurants, the server will verify the dietary
requirement when you are seated. After
that, the Chef will come to your table to discuss the various options available
based on the restriction. The
restaurants try their best to have numerous options available for your specific
need.
Every table-service restaurant
that we visited at Walt Disney World has chocolate soy and chocolate almond
milk waiting for my son in addition to numerous other kid favorite meals (mac
and cheese, pizza etc.) ready to be prepared dairy free.
For buffet meals, the Chef will walk along the buffet with
you to identify what can and cannot be eaten.
They will also offer to prepare a fresh plate of those items chosen off
the buffet to ensure there are no issues with cross contamination.
For quick-service restaurants, Disney offers a list of those
restaurants that may be able to accommodate a food allergy or dietary
restriction. In addition, you can always request to speak to a chef at the
quick-service restaurants to clarify ingredients in an item.
Beyond the Theme Parks and Resorts, this attention to detail
also extends to the Disney Cruise Line.
For meals aboard on of Disney’s four ships, your server will present you
with the next evening’s menu at dinner the night prior. From there, they will discuss the menu
options available to you, and you will pre-order your dinner.
On my recent Disney Cruise, my server noted that I had a
reservation at Palo for one evening. He
went to Palo the day before my reservation to talk with the Chef and my server
about my dietary restrictions to ensure that I would have the best possible
experience at evening. When I showed up
for dinner, the Chef has special versions of all of the dishes and their sauces
ready for me to choose from. Wow, talk
about customer service that only Disney provides!!
As an added level of reassurance and comfort, Walt Disney
World and the Disneyland Resort allows guest with food allergies and
intolerances to bring food in to the theme parks and dining locations. All they ask is that the guest notify
security at bag check that there is a food allergy in the group so that they do
not make you dispose of the food items.
It is important to note that Cast Members are prohibited from handling
in any way, the food that is brought in to the resorts and parks by the guests.
While Disney can try to accommodate last minute requests as the restaurants, it is always better to provide advance notice so that the necessary food items will be available. Regardless of which Disney location you plan to visit, those with dietary restrictions can rest easy knowing that not only will they have fun in the parks and resorts, but they will have a delicious time as well!
While Disney can try to accommodate last minute requests as the restaurants, it is always better to provide advance notice so that the necessary food items will be available. Regardless of which Disney location you plan to visit, those with dietary restrictions can rest easy knowing that not only will they have fun in the parks and resorts, but they will have a delicious time as well!
For more information on Walt Disney World and Disneyland
Resort policies for Dietary Needs, please visit their websites:
*Please Note that all foods pictured here are actual Gluten Free meals prepared by Disney Chefs
Stacy L.
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