Dining out when you have a food allergy can be a challenge. It may leave you feeling like you need to avoid certain menu items or even entire restaurants. I’m here to tell you that no matter what type of food allergy you may have, the Cast Members working in Disney World restaurants are there to make sure you don’t have to miss out on enjoying amazing dining experiences!
Disney does a great job of supplying Allergy-Friendly Menus for multiple common, major allergens and intolerances on their website and in the app. This is helpful for individuals planning their dining choices ahead of time, providing at-a-glance information concerning allergens like Gluten/Wheat, Egg, Fish/Shellfish, Milk, Peanut/Tree Nut, Sesame, and Soy. But what about those of us hoping to enjoy Disney World dining who have less common food allergies?
No matter what allergy concerns you may have, safely dining at Disney World with an allergy starts by carefully looking over the menus provided on the website. Once you’ve decided to make a dining reservation, there are steps you can take during the reservation-making process to alert Cast Members about your allergy ahead of time.
As part of the dining reservation process, the system will ask if anyone in your dining party has any sort of food allergy. Fear not, my fellow diners with allergies that are not listed: there is an option for “other”. As someone with a mango allergy, this is the option that I use whenever I am making dining reservations at my favorite Disney World restaurants.
When you arrive at the restaurant for your dining reservation, you are able to check in on the app or at the host stand. No matter which way you choose to check in for your reservation, the presence of an allergy will be reconfirmed at this time. If you’ve selected “other” as your allergy type, the host or hostess will ask for and notate your specific food allergy prior to your being seated.
Once you are seated at your table, you will be provided with an Allergy-Friendly Menu. These special menus list the menu items in the same way as a traditional menu, and also contain additional information highlighting which menu items are free from the allergens the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regards as most common.
As another layer of safety, your server will (once again) confirm the notation of your allergy. Diners with a food allergy are given the option to speak with the Chef or another Special Diets-Trained Cast Member to discuss detailed information about the ingredients of specific dishes and any special accommodation requests.
In my personal experience, usually asking the server to check with the chef to verify which items I should avoid is enough for my particular allergy. However, during one of my visits to Banana Cabana at Disney’s Caribbean Beach resort, I did opt to speak with the Chef about my mango allergy. The Chef came to my table with a literal binder listing all of the ingredients for every single menu item. We spent time discussing which items I was considering, and he verified whether or not my allergen could potentially be present in those items. It was very thorough, and I really appreciated the time he took to explain everything. Cast Members are the best!
When your food is brought to your table, you will notice that any items intended for the diner with the allergy will have a visual marker. This includes any items that are shared by entire table, if applicable. In my experience, this marker is typically a wooden flag pick. The flag indicates that that item has been prepared to be free from the specified allergen.
The Cast Member acting as your server will be extra attentive to ensure that your dietary requirements are being met as closely as possible. Sometimes, this even means getting something made especially for you! I experienced this while dining at Jiko – The Cooking Place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. The Cast Member brought my table small cups of fruit sorbet as a palette cleanser between courses. The standard flavor included mango, and since that was off-limits for me, he brought me a special cup of another flavor that was mango-free.
So what about Disney World buffets? One nice feature of dining at a buffet-style restaurant like Boma at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (one of my absolute favorite restaurants on property!) is that they have paper guides listing all of the buffet options and information listing allergy-friendliness for the most common allergens. You can take that paper guide with you to the buffet to refer back to as you are going through each food station. As with other table service restaurants, discussing your particular allergy with a Special Diets-Trained Cast Member is always an option at buffets as well. If you have a less common allergy like I do, this is likely the best route to ensure that you are making informed choices at Disney buffets.
In the end, while Disney makes every effort to ensure that your dining experience is a safe one for any food allergies, it is imperative to inform Cast Members if you have an allergy. Disney states that they will make every effort to avoid cross-contamination during the preparation of meals; however, they can’t make any absolute guarantees that all items will be completely allergen-free. It is still up to you to make informed decisions for yourself.
Disney World has countless unique and delicious dining experiences available for guests. Some reservations are obviously more difficult to acquire in advance due to overall popularity or limited capacity. However, even if you aren’t able to get a reservation in advance to these locations, don’t despair! Other diners are constantly amending their plans, so you may just get lucky by keeping an eye on dining availability the day before or day of your visit. Many restaurants also offer walk-up waitlists, so that could be another option to get into a restaurant if you want additional flexibility. I absolutely love trying out new-to-me restaurants and revisiting previous favorites whenever I am in Disney World. No matter what you are craving, you’re sure to find something delicious. For more dining information and reviews, stay tuned to MouseHouseNews.net and we’ll see ya real soon!
