5 Tips for Eating at Disney World with Food Allergies
If you are a regular reader here then you likely know that my youngest daughter, London, has severe food allergies to dairy and peanuts. With the exception of a few “safe” restaurants, eating out with her can be quite challenging. Due to the severity of her allergies, we typically opt to bring her food with us wherever we go – this includes road trips and vacations.
We recently got back from our 5th (yes, 5th!) family trip to Walt Disney World to celebrate London’s 4th birthday. Clearly, we are Disney lovers π Luckily for us, Disney World is known for their amazing accommodations for guests with food allergies making it the perfect vacation destination for our family!
Throughout our past trips I have learned quite a bit about navigating Disney World (and even Disneyland) with food allergies and wanted to share our experience. If you are traveling to any of the Disney theme parks with food allergies, I hope you find this post helpful.
1. Notify Disney of any food allergies ahead of time
If you have plans to eat at any restaurants that require reservations (buffets, table service meals, character meals, etc…) make sure you make a note of any family members with food allergies at the time the reservation is made. This will help the restaurants to prepare for your specific food allergies ahead of your arrival. This is particularly important for those guests with multiple food allergies. If you’re reading this and you’ve already made your dining reservations, don’t worry – you can still contact Disney at (407) WDW-DINE to let them know about your food allergies. And if you don’t get a chance to call before you go, just be sure to notify your server as soon as you arrive.
2. Be prepared to speak with the chef
Anytime you arrive at a sit down restaurant inside of Disney World, you should ask to speak with the chef. We spoke with several chefs during our visit and we were quite impressed by how knowledgeable they all were with regards to what London could safely eat. Often times at buffet-style restaurants the chef will come out and actually walk the buffet line with you – explaining what menu items you can and cannot eat. I remember the chef at Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh character meal) being exceptionally helpful with regards to what London could have. Another awesome chef experience we encountered was at Chef Mickey’s. The chef made London her very own dairy-free Mickey waffles topped with sprinkles & edible glitter – I about cried right there! I never thought she would be able to enjoy a Mickey waffle, but Disney did not disappoint!
3. Ask for an allergy-friendly menu
If you are eating at a quick-service restaurant inside one of the Disney parks (or at your resort), ask them for an allergy-friendly menu. Most menus are broken down by allergen, so it is very easy to see what is safe to order. With Disney’s recent rollout of mobile food & beverage ordering, you can also see allergy-friendly meal choices for each restaurant right inside the My Disney Experience app! I do suggest asking to speak with a manager upon your arrival just to ensure that they are very clear on your specific food allergies. We ate at a variety of quick-service restaurants at all 4 Disney World parks, and never had a problem ordering from an allergy-friendly menu for London. We were actually quite pleased with the number of safe-food options for her. In fact, she had her very first piece of (dairy-free) pizza at the Pinocchio Village Haus inside Magic Kingdom, which made it all the more special!
4. Bring your own snacks
Even with Disney’s world-class accommodations for those with food allergies, don’t forget that you are still able to bring your own food into the parks. This is especially helpful for quick snacks in between meals. We packed up London’s snacks in individual bags the night before, so we had everything all ready to go in the morning. One small surprise we came to find out is that Disney serves Enjoy Life cookies at almost all of their restaurants. If you are an allergy mama, you likely know about this awesome allergy-friendly brand. This is our go-to sweet treat for London, so when we told our sweet server at The Crystal Palace about her love for these yummy cookies, she was kind enough to give us several packs of cookies to take with us. Having these extra snacks for London definitely came in handy throughout our day at the Magic Kingdom!
5. Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Mistakes can happen. And while they don’t happen often at Disney World, it is still so important to be knowledgeable of every item they are serving you. If something doesn’t seem right, don’t be afraid to ask questions.
An extra safety measure that Disney restaurants take is placing allergy-friendly meals on a separate colored serving tray, to ensure all food is kept separate once it leaves the kitchen. As a food allergy mama, I am so, so thankful for this additional step!
Bonus Perk: Dairy Free Popcorn at all 4 Disney Parks!
Did you know that this delicious butter-flavored snack at Disney World is actually dairy free?!
Bonus Tip! An additional wonderful resource for visiting Disney World with food allergies is Allergy Free Mouse. You can find a wealth of information here ranging from allergy-friendly menu options sorted by parks to guest reviews to general trip planning tips. It is a resource I highly recommend checking out before you go!
For more information on visiting Disney with special dietary requests and food allergies, click here.
If you’ve visited Disney World with food allergies, I’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to share any additional tips you may have in the comment section below.
xo,
Sumer
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33 Comments
Harmony, Momma To Go
This the second post I’ve read recently on this topic. We are not an allergy family but love Disney’s commitment to acomodating everyone! Dairy Free Mickey Waffles? that is awesome! It does help too that you can bring your own snacks.
Sumer
Yes! Disney certainly goes above and beyond. So thankful for that!
Stacey
I love Disney and how accommodating they are! We don’t have any allergies in our family, but my husband is really picky. He wants everything plain. So they are really good about putting sauces in the side and leaving off things like onions when they can. At Cinderella’s Royal Table they made him a plain beef tenderloin and gave home the kids’ sides!
Sumer
That is SO awesome! It’s so great how accommodating they are!
Lauren | also known as mama
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. We’re planning to travel to Disney in the fall. My son has severe peanut and tree-nut allergies, so naturally food is something I’m worried about. I had no idea about the allergy friendly menu. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this!
Sumer
Oh, I am SO glad you found it helpful, Lauren! I think you will be quite impressed with how much your son will be able to eat at Disney World. Hope you have an amazing trip!
Ashley
Great tips! Having children with food allergies can be challenging! It is good to have ideas of things that you can do to keep your child safe!
Marie, Mamma's Cooking
Thank you for the tips! We went to Disney literally 2 days after my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease (must have a completely gluten-free diet). We were panicking because we had not informed anyone and had already ordered groceries to be delivered to our cabins. Luckily, I packed some food in our suitcases(snacks, box of cereal and gluten free bread). All the restaurants and quick stop places we went were very accommodating and helpful!
Sumer
Oh wow! Yes! They certainly have a TON of great gluten-free options! They make life just a little bit easier for those of us with children with food allergies and sensitivities.
Melissa D
This is a fantastic resource for all parents! I was so impressed by the Disney staff when we went to Disneyland a few years ago, so I’m not at all surprised to see how inclusive they are, even in the restaurants. (And how yummy is their food, right?)
Sumer
The Disney cast members are truly amazing, aren’t they?! Thanks so much for reading!
Ayanna @ 21FlavorsofSplendor
This are great tips! Being prepared and not being afraid to ask questions is so important.
Jessica
Disney is so great. It is so nice to go somewhere and not be made to feel like a pain for asking for accommodations for your child. Great suggestions!
Sumer
Yes, absolutely! I completely agree! Thanks for reading!
Jessica Peresta
Thanks for this great resource! We have a food allergy child and will keep this in mind when we visit Disney one day.
Bailey
Everyone was so helpful last time I went (dairy-allergy). It was amazing.
Brittany
These are great tips! We are allergy family and rarely ever eat out.
Emily at Made of Stories Blog
Now I want to go to Disney World! Majorly! I’m so glad they’re accommodating to families who need this kind of protection. π
Sumer
Oh you have to go! It is the BEST!
Patricia
Wow!! Disney is really on it!! I recently spent the day dining with someone with serious food allergies and although it was just a glimpse, I saw first hand how important it was to get all the info about all the food!!
Rachel
I’m saving this for later! We’re planning on going to Disney in the next couple of years and my son has some mega allergies!! Thank you for sharing it!
Sumer
Oh yay! You will be so impressed by Disney!
Silvia
These are amazing tips! That Allergy Free Mouse is such a great tool!
Bridget
What a great post! I will definitely pass it along to those traveling to Disney soon! Thanks for sharing π
sumer.schmitt@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Bridget! Much appreciated π
Home Address Signs
Wow! WDW really does care of every last detail. So many great tips Sumer. I will keep them in my mind, as my husband has a couple of allergies. And this post will come very handy when we go there.
Sumer
So glad you enjoyed the post, thanks so much for reading! Hope you have a fantastic Disney trip!
Leah
1. If it’s a blog post about Disney World that includes tips or tricks, I will always read it.
2. This is crazy helpful. I know so many people who could benefit from a real guide to eating with allergies at Disney. Sharing!
Sumer
Thanks so much, Leah! Fellow Disney World lover here, too! π I so appreciate you sharing this post…thank YOU!
Carla Natali
We are Disney lovers too and even though my kid is no longer a kid, we wanted to go back to Disney this year.
My daughter is now Vegan and she was worried we would have problems eating out since I developed an allergy to Gluten and she became Vegan, so she started researching yesterday and discovered that indeed Disney is doing a great job to accomodate all of their guests food restrictions.
How not to love them?
Kelly Bolen
Luckily we don’t have any food allergies, but this is great to know!!!! I would not have even thought to speak to the chef’s!
Jennifer
These are great ideas that I have never thought of before. Our family has various food allergies, and we are always looking for good suggestions on how we can better travel and visit restaurants.
Bailey
I was so impressed by the way the staff at the restaurants handled my dairy allergy when I was at Disney World. They really went above and beyond to help explain the menu, double-check with the chef, etc. It really helped the trip go smoothly!