GFCF Dining at Disney: Part 1

The Prince’s Spring Break starts tomorrow and we will be spending 4 days next week at Disney World. I have to be honest, although we are Florida residents and just a few hours away, we frankly thought going to Disney would be an utterly insane idea to undertake with a child who has sensory and dietary limitations. However, several friends whose children have ASD had good experiences, so we decided to take on the challenge. Plus, we are pretty sure our little Pixar aficionado is going to love it, if he isn’t too terrified by the characters with giant heads (which frankly scare me a little bit too!)

In planning the trip, I was pleasantly surprised by the Disney food and beverage staff. For anyone considering a first-time Disney vacation, I thought I would share with you our experience and a few resources. I also have to thank my friend Queen Bee who gave me what she calls “GFCF Disney 101” which saved me a lot of time.


Make Reservations in Advance
The Disney website is not very user-friendly, to me at least, so after some frustration, we called 1-407-WDW-DINE. The operators there will make advance reservations for you at any of what Disney calls “table” restaurants, that is, “sit-down” places where you receive a menu and order. They also take reservations for the buffet-style “character meals” where you are joined by your favorite Disney Princess, the Majestic Mouse himself, or in our case, Tigger & Pooh and the Little Einsteins. Plan well-ahead. We made our reservations a month in advance, and had limited choices of times for the character meals. If you have a little Princess who wants to dine at Cinderella’s Castle, you should probably call at least 6 months in advance, no kidding.

While you are making reservations, tell the operator you have someone in your party with food allergies. They will note this on your reservation and make the chefs at the restaurants aware. Upon arrival, we are told to ask for the chef who will advise as to “safe” items on the menu and in some cases, may prepare items in a dedicated kitchen just for your little Prince or Princess, if that restaurant has the capabilities.


Get to know the Special Diet Food & Bev Staff
If you ask, they will then connect you with the special diet food and beverage staff. Our staff person was terrific. She took our email and sent us the most comprehensive lists of what “table” restaurants in each park were best equipped for gluten-free dining. She also sent us lists of what they call “counter” restaurants (that is, walk-up, fast food) for each park. She said we could speak to the manager at each of these and that they can provide an ingredient list at each location. She had us complete a guest allergy form that included all of the Prince’s dietary restrictions and needs as well as the data on our reservations. She circulated this among the chefs at each place we chose to dine.



Chefs Who Care
After speaking with our gracious staff person, the next thing I know, I am receiving detailed emails from the Executive Chef. He sent truly wonderful lists that showed some of the more popular items at each of the park locations. For example, if you can handle casein, Toy Story Pizza Planet serves Amy’s Gluten-Free Pizza. Several locations, including Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café have GFCF hot dogs in Ener-G tapioca buns and baked GFCF fries (dedicated oven). Tofutti or Rice Dream ice cream are available at a number of locations. We were also sent the ingredients for some common items. There is too much information to list here, but know that if you speak to the special diet food and bev folks, you will be well informed. It appears the main companies Disney contracts with for GFCF items are Amy’s, Ener-G, Tofutti, Rice/Soy Dream, Divvies, Pamela’s, Bob’s Red Mill, Pacific Rice Milk, Van’s, Mrs. Leepers, and Ancient Harvest.


Due to the increasing volume of GFCF requests, Disney has added some of this information to their website, which you can access here.


Special Requests Are OK!
If you want, you can make specific requests in advance. For example, we have requested that Tofutti ice cream be available at the “sundae buffet” for our Tigger and Pooh character meal. We were told the chef at the Coral Reef restaurant could make GFCF chicken nuggets, so we have pre-ordered those too. If you are staying on a Disney Property, you can request that certain items be available at your hotel restaurant, like Van’s waffles, rice milk etc. Apparently GFCF pancakes and waffles shaped like Mickey are an often-requested treat! We were also told that we may bring GFCF snacks to the park, and if anyone questions it, just tell them our child has food allergies, which are noted in our “file.” If your Disney hotel doesn’t have a fridge already (many do) if you mention you need one for dietary reasons, they will provide one for you.



Other Tips
Right now, I will stick mainly to Disney and food, but I bought The Unofficial Guide to Disney with Kids which has tons of good information on rides, peak times, and park strategies. Here are some other practical tips from my local ASD parent brain trust: no matter the age of your child, bring or rent a stroller; ride the Disney public transportation whenever possible; make reservations and eat at “off peak” hours if you can; the Play House Disney character meals involve lots of running around and are recommended for our kids; take advantage of the hotel pools, playgrounds and water parks for a mid-day break; be advised, no alcohol is served at restaurants in The Magic Kingdom (but is served at other parks, like Epcot); download the guide for guests with disabilities from the website--it has the locations of all the bathrooms, including co-ed "family" bathrooms; and most importantly, get the Guest Assistance Pass when you arrive (in the Magic Kingdom, Main Street area in the Town Hall) which allows folks with disabilities and their parties to board rides from a special line, rather than waiting in long lines. After our trip, I’ll report back on how everything turned out.

Chef Mickey, here we come!

(Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)