Allergy/sensitivity menu help

[Menglish27]

Hello!

We are headed to wdw in March. We’ve been before but this is the first time since my son’s Crohns diagnosis. His doc has him on a gluten and dairy free/low sugar diet. I know of certain restaurants that advertise allergy menus on the app but do all restaurants there have the ability to make allergy friendly foods? And do I need to contact Disney/specific restaurants prior to our trip to notify them and get options and info? He’s not truly allergic (no anaphylactic issues) but if he eats gluten or dairy it flares his Crohns symptoms.

Thanks!

 

[Marthasor]

Every restaurant should be able to accommodate his needs. When you make your ADRs, there is a spot to click during the reservation process where you can indicate dietary allergies and needs. That alerts the restaurant. Your server will also ask you if there are dietary needs when you are seated.

 

[CynBeth]

My DH has Crohn’s and as a result can’t have dairy or any spice that is hot and due to other issues also has to watch his salt. Disney is so good with allergies. We can pretty much eat anywhere even buffets and pre-fixe. A chef comes out and works with him.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

They're super used to dealing with all sorts of allergies and are extremely good about it. Started off speaking to chefs then just trusted servers toward end of trip.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Caveat - most of what these posters are mentioning at at table service restaurants. Counter service restaurants and food carts have less flexibility to help, so if you have allergies and you want to eat at CS or a cart, make sure there is something on the main menu or allergy menu that seems like it would work as is or with very few changes before going to that place - if there isn't something close, they probably can't accommodate you.

In good news, since your son is not allergic, but just intolerant, that should make going to any restaurant cuisine okay. But again, be aware - choices at an Italian place will be way more limited for him than choices at a Japanese place, as one example, since Italian food lives on pasta and cheese...while Japanese is rice and fish. If he's okay with 1-2 choices, book anything. If he wants a lot of choices, again, look at menus to see where he could have a lot of stuff.

 

[MidnightMeeko]

Just want to chime in that Japanese food can have a lot of dairy - the QS in Epcot has dairy in pretty much everything and the TS is prepped with butter on the griddle/table. I too have to avoid it and pretty much the only thing I can eat in Japan is the shaved ice and even some of that has milk, so still have to be careful about flavors.

 

[Her Dotness]

Mobile ordering won't be possible at most QS since both dairy and gluten are problems. You'll need to go to the order desk and specify these. For that reason, looking over the menu beforehand for possible omissions and switches of one item for another could be very helpful or may result in determining the restaurant won't work well.

Generally, we don't eat QS because the dairy-gluten combo eliminates all options for me but maybe salad.

Check kids menus, too. I often find options on those because items are prepared without seasonings or sauces used on similar adult dishes.

Every restaurant should be able to accommodate his needs.

This has not been my experience post-covid with gluten-dairy intolerance. Dishes safe for gluten are often loaded with dairy and vice versa. That's particularly so at QS because so many items are made with packaged ingredients.

Perhaps things have improved since a year ago, but many more TS restaurants told me then that they were unable to alter dishes by omission or substitution because virtually all were "pre-prepared." They couldn't leave off a sauce or seasoning as a result. Also, they no longer had plain raw ingredients to make something suitable unless there was something on the kids menu such as grilled chicken breast or fish. I ate a lot more steak with nothing but salad than ever before.

I'm hoping that my experience then was the result of pandemic shortages. It was a sad contrast from prior years of something specially made for my needs. Be aware that this might be more your experience than what prior posters indicate. Disney used to be wonderful accommodating gluten-dairy. Last trip, it was substantially less so.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Just want to chime in that Japanese food can have a lot of dairy - the QS in Epcot has dairy in pretty much everything and the TS is prepped with butter on the griddle/table. I too have to avoid it and pretty much the only thing I can eat in Japan is the shaved ice and even some of that has milk, so still have to be careful about flavors.

Oh, I wasn't thinking Hibachi - that's not Japanese to me. I was thinking Morimoto and sushi places.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I've found the Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW YouTube channel to be very helpful (I have no affiliation with them). They're adults so don't delve into the children's menus specifically but are good about giving an overview of the process (speaking to server, manager, chef), what kinds of concerns there might be in terms of cross contamination & the kinds of questions to ask, and what a specific restaurant was or wasn't able to modify. I've found them to be very responsive and helpful in comments as well. They also have an instagram account, FB page, as well as a website.

 

[Her Dotness]

Oh, I wasn't thinking Hibachi - that's not Japanese to me. I was thinking Morimoto and sushi places.

The concern with any Asian food will be that soy sauce contains gluten.

Most such places would likely have tamari which is made without wheat. However, many dishes would be made with soy sauce and be unworkable.

I'm not bothered by the small amounts of gluten in soy sauce, but someone with Crohn's might be.

 

[Steelers0854]

My Wife cant do Dairy, gluten or eggs. She has a very easy time finding food at both table and QS locations. As said before table service is obviously easier, but there are many QS locations that offer things she can eat as well, most are fairly obvious of what to avoid (like the spring roll cart in MK). Even the QS locations will have binders with every ingredient listed in all their menu items, which can be overkill but also super helpful. He wont have any issues finding something no matter where you are, but not every QS or Cart will be good to visit.
Couple highlights, she LOVES Pecos Bill in MK, Regal Eagle in Epcot, Yak and Yeti in AK, and Docking Bay 7 in HS, plus all regular popcorn is GF/Vegan (including maple popcorn in Canda in Epcot, and the popcorn at Katsaka‘s in GE). Every table service we have dined at have gone above and beyond to make dishes for my wife. The allergy menus are very helpful for the big stuff, but you’ll want to ask about the low sugar. Also the allergy friendly bread is excellent per my wife. Disney is literally one of the best places to go with allergies, they are incredible.

 

[Steelers0854]

Mobile ordering won't be possible at most QS since both dairy and gluten are problems. You'll need to go to the order desk and specify these. For that reason, looking over the menu beforehand for possible omissions and switches of one item for another could be very helpful or may result in determining the restaurant won't work well.

Generally, we don't eat QS because the dairy-gluten combo eliminates all options for me but maybe salad.

Check kids menus, too. I often find options on those because items are prepared without seasonings or sauces used on similar adult dishes.

This has not been my experience post-covid with gluten-dairy intolerance. Dishes safe for gluten are often loaded with dairy and vice versa. That's particularly so at QS because so many items are made with packaged ingredients.

Perhaps things have improved since a year ago, but many more TS restaurants told me then that they were unable to alter dishes by omission or substitution because virtually all were "pre-prepared." They couldn't leave off a sauce or seasoning as a result. Also, they no longer had plain raw ingredients to make something suitable unless there was something on the kids menu such as grilled chicken breast or fish. I ate a lot more steak with nothing but salad than ever before.

I'm hoping that my experience then was the result of pandemic shortages. It was a sad contrast from prior years of something specially made for my needs. Be aware that this might be more your experience than what prior posters indicate. Disney used to be wonderful accommodating gluten-dairy. Last trip, it was substantially less so.

That is too bad, we have found completely the opposite experience and have been 4 times this year, plus once during 2021 with strict COVID measures in place. There are even things my wife can eat at most of the EPCOT festivals (granted it may only be 2-3 items in total), for festival of the holidays there were 4-6 booths she could find something at. She never ate a single salad on any of our trips. There is atleast 1 QS place in every park that she loves and we regularly eat at.

 

[vratiana]

The app has allergy menus for most restaurants. Some of them list the allergens separately so you’d have to check both gluten and dairy, but it can help give you an idea of what meals might work.

 

[Anna131517]

Most - but not all - restaurants at WDW are very accommodating of allergies. We have had a few instances where something was made ahead of time in a big batch and they couldn’t make any changes. Quick service can be problematic when mobile ordering if you can’t just order off the allergen menu (ex multiple allergies or allergies not addressed on the menus). However, milk and gluten should be pretty easy to rule out based on the online allergen menus. Table service is easier with allergies and special dietary needs. With buffets, they label the food but will also offer to have the chef come out and help you. Edit - I have one child who is allergic to pineapple and another who is allergic to eggs and tree nuts (and used to be allergic to milk) and we never have any issues finding stuff they enjoy eating.

 

[jimmymc]

Every restaurant will have something he can eat. How much of the menu he can have will depend on the location. Most places have gluten-free bread and pasta that they can substitute in, and a lot of times it's just the sauce or topping on a dish that has gluten, so they can leave it off. Most table service restaurants will have a no-sugar added dessert.