Dining At Disney Parks With Food Allergies
At the Disneyland Resort & Walt Disney World Parks, fine dining, quick service favorites and iconic offerings have become one of the major attractions for guests.
Churros, Dole Whips, themed Candy Apples, and Turkey Legs are all popular treats that even have their own merchandise for beloved fans who want to show their love for their favorites; even air fresheners shaped and scented like Turkey Legs.
Restaurants in the parks, like the Blue Bayou, a scenic indoor terrace inside the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, is always full and reservations are usually made weeks in advance in order to be able to partake in their famous Monte Cristo Sandwich.
Unfortunately, some guests are challenged and are unable to enjoy the wide variety of cuisine due to special dietary needs or common food allergies.
Researchers estimate that up to 15 million American have food allergies and the most common are include peanuts, fish/shellfish, eggs, lactose/dairy, and wheat gluten according to FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education).
Additional studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show food allergies/intolerance among children has increased approximately 50% between 1997 and 2011. Accommodating guests with these conditions at the Disney Parks has been an ongoing effort and their increased awareness shows when ordering or making reservations.
As part of an ongoing series, we will explore and review various locations in the Disney Parks and their options for various allergies and dietary lifestyles (vegan/vegetarian).
As a guest with an intolerance to dairy/lactose, and as someone who visits the parks frequently, finding the “go-to” locations where choices are as acceptable to my diet has become my new found interest due to how accommodating they are by adding to their allergy conscious menus.
Disneyland and Walt Disney World both have helpful guides online to get an idea of locations that have menus catered to these guests and also an email to order meals for more specific allergies and medical conditions.
Do you have special dietary needs and have a place you like to go to in Disney Parks? Let us know in the comment section below.
*This article is not official release from Disney concerning foods safe for guests with special dietary needs. Please consult with each location before consuming any food items mentioned in these posts to ensure they are safe according to your allergy/intolerance/special diet.
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Elizabeth Starling · January 14, 2014 at 4:48 pm
I’m an ovo-lacto vegetarian, so finding food in WDW can be a bit difficult sometimes, but it’s getting better! Animal Kingdom, especially, has some great options, including a black bean burger at Restaurantasaurus, vegetarian curry at Tamu Tamu, and an entire vegetarian meal stand between Africa and Asia. And Epcot has a new-ish partnership with Gardein, so there’s a lot of soy meat options (at the America pavilion and the Land pavilion) during the year, and even more during the Food and Wine, and Flower and Garden, festivals – Terra at Food and Wine is fantastic and compeltely veg-friendly!
I still bring my own food a lot of the time, for the convenience and money factor, but it’s still really nice that if I want a hot meal in the parks, it’s getting easier and easier to get one.
Can’t wait to see the vegan/vegetarian part of this series!
Angela · January 19, 2014 at 6:47 pm
I have fructose malabsorption, which includes wheat. There is very little I can eat anywhere! The Dole Whips look delicious but I haven’t tried them because of my sensitivity. Luckily, I can process dairy alright, the Gibson Girl ice cream is my favorite–but they need to take corn syrup out and use regular sugar, as we don’t process that well at all in our condition. I would love to see corn syrup eliminated from fast food altogether.
East Coast Mermaid. · March 16, 2014 at 9:53 am
HI,
we love Goofy’s kitchen but our last time there the usual rice entry was just plain old white rice!
How Lame. It doesn’t take that much to jazz up rice. Peas, Carrots, chicken broth, parsley.
You can bet we’re checking first before enjoying our Easter sunday dinner there. LOve it other wise!! You Go Goofy! He’s da man or da Goof!!