Calling the Chef's with food allergy requests

[DisneyMom5]

I am supposed to call the chef's at my PS restaurants one week before we are there. Anyone here have experience doing this? Just curious who I will get when I call, will someone answer or will I get the chef's voice mail, etc.

 

[new_yawka]

My sister and nieces have severe food allergies (soy, wheat, corn, milk, chocolate...). They call before they go each time. My sister generally gets to speak to the chef on duty at the restaurant at the time. If the restaurant doesn't have food in stock that can satisfy, they make every effort to get it. The Chefs seem to pride themselves on making sure guests with food allergies enjoy their food every bit as much as everyone else. Restaurants which were particularly excellent with my sister and nieces, include:

Tony's in Magic Kingdom;
Donald's Breakfast o sauras in Animal Kingdom;
Boma at AKL; and
'Ohana at Polynesian.

My sister has remarkable confidence at WDW (which is especially wonderful considering she does not feel comfortable eating outside of her house very much

ENJOY!!

 

[solotraveler]

DisneyMom5-

Although I don't have any serious food allergies, I took a trip to WDW and was at the time eating an all-organic diet.

You can reach the restaurants by dialing the main WDW number and asking to be transfered to the restaurant of your choice. What usually happened with me was that i would get a live person (I'm guessing at the podium) who would transfer me to a chef's voice mail. (Chefs are usually busy people, so this was expected) I would usually get a call back the next day and would discuss what they could do for me. The chefs were VERY understanding and willing to modify certain ingrediants or come up with something totally special. Some of these meals were among the BEST I have EVER eaten.

Just be sure to get the name of the chef you talk to and mention to your server that you spoke to "Chef XX" about a special meal and reiterate your restrictions. I have never had so many chefs come out to introduce themselves in my life!! One actually thanked me for my "special challenge."

If you have any questions, let me know!!

Solotraveler

 

[Mainebound]

I just want to add that my mother was diagnosed with celiac sprue (serious allergy to wheat and gluten) days before our last trip. We had PS's but didn't really have time to make calls. After our first meal (at Boma -- we were staying at AKL), somehow EVERY chef knew who we were and personally escorted my mother around the buffet (if it was a buffet) or offered to make her something special. I had never even HEARD of celiac disease before my mother was diagnosed, but every chef at WDW knew exactly how to prepare celiac friendly food. This is a main reason we are returning to WDW in March.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyMom5]

Thanks all! My son is not severely allergic, more of a long term annoyance (eczema, breathing, itching), but we have him off of wheat, eggs, cheese, berries and peanuts. He would just be tickled to have a safe pancake or waffle. I have heard of the chefs doing this. I have the numbers for 2 of the chefs, but I will have to call one when we are on site, or they won't be able to call us back.

 

[DisneyMom5]

Oh, one more thing -
new_yawka - what kind of things did they do for your nieces? Donald's Bkfst is one of our PS's.

 

[swankybeth]

I have a dairy allergy (everything except butter) and I called the restaurants before my trip with varying responses. Sometimes I just got a chef's voicemail and I left a message. Other times I spoke to the chefs directly and they didn't say much about, mostly "no problem". I know a dairy allergy is probably much easier for chefs to work with than some other allergies, so that's why they said that. At the restaurants themselves I always had a chef come to the table to talk to me or if it was a buffet they walked me around. Only at Citricos and California Grill did the server take care of the allergy rather than the chef. At Boma the chef was wonderful and explained EVERYTHING to me. He also managed to get me a bowl of chocolate brownie soy ice cream! At Cape May Cafe (dinner) the chef told me what to avoid and got me rice dream for dessert. At Cape May Cafe (breakfast) the chef took me around and also made me dairy free waffles. The same thing happened at 1900 Park Fare (breakfast). At Jiko the chef came over and explained the menu, and brought me soy ice cream for dessert. At California Grill I was disappointed because the way they ended up making my dish was to just eliminate all things containing dairy. They didn't give me any interesting substitutions. I felt that they would do something a little more at such a great restaurant. At 'Ohana instead of the caramel dipping sauce, the chef brought out a dish of chocolate sauce. At most of the other places we dined at the chef just told me what to avoid.

 

[new_yawka]

My nieces ate very well. In each instance, they had interesting and tasty foods to enjoy. In at least one instance (Tony's), their food was far better than what we ate from the menu!

As for breakfasts, I believe they had bread and hashbrowns...eggs....a beautiful fruit assortment...pancakes...

That's what I remember for now. If wheat is a problem, most of the kitchens already have a wheat substitute flour on hand...but even if the substitute is no good, they are very good at accommodating dietary needs.

This is truly a place where WDW shines above most vacation destinations! The chefs truly give individualized attention to those with food allergies.

I have confidence your son will feel special and his meals will add to the magic of your vacation!