Clare
19 Dec 06, 07:41 PM
Jane will be giving the full dining reports but I'm posting to give an insight into gluten free meals at Disney and offsite, which will hopefully help others in the same boat.
When my Disney ADRs were originally made a note was put on them to say I was celiac and needed a gluten free diet. On arrival at the restaurant I would double-check with the person checking-us in that the 'allergy' was noted, which they all confirmed it was. When you are checked-in the person will print off a piece of paper which gives your party's details (i.e. number in party, birthdays, any allergies), this should then be read by the server who will confirm. Unfortunately, only a couple of servers were proactive and actually read the piece of paper so I would remind them of the allergy myself, no problem but just to let you know it's best to remind the server yourself. Different restaurants handle things differently, some would send the chef out to my table who would give me the run down of what contained gluten, others would ask me what I would like to eat off the menu and they would then run it past the chef, I found it easier to give a couple of options with my first and second choice. This all seemed to work very well.
I'll give a brief report of some of the restaurants we ate at:
Toy Story Pizza Planet - MGM
This counter service restaurant can make fresh gluten free pizzas (actually via Mama Melrose) with no prior notice necessary. I simply advised the server/cashier I required gluten free and 10 minutes later I had a lovely fresh pizza, which looked and tasted as good as the 'real' thing.
Pecos Bill - Magic Kingdom
All the burgers are 100% beef here so there were no problems at all, they also have gluten free burger buns. I mentioned to the server/cashier I required gluten free and she sent the manager over to see me who prepared my burger and fries separately and again, a few minutes later than everyone else, I had a burger in a gluten free bun and fries.
Yachtsman Steakhouse
The chef came out to see me and ask what I wanted. I knew what I wanted here (caesar salad minus the croutons and the 7 oz filet in a red wine sauce) and the chef confirmed all were gluten free.
Cape May Clam Bake
Unfortunately our server wasn't exactly on the ball so it was left to me to find the chef who was fantastic and walked me through what was on the buffet that I could and couldn't eat. There was a large selection of food available here that was gluten free.
Le Cellier
I was pretty limited here, but I chose my 'favourite' (i.e. caesar salad - I had this most evenings), followed by a plain steak as all the sauces contained gluten. This was one of the biggest disappointments of the holiday for me, the steak was very grisly and dry, if I could have had the sauce I'm sure it would have tasted better.
Teppanyaki
Absolutely fantastic. I had the most gorgeous sushi to start with followed by steak and chicken. The chef prepared my main course before the rest of the table (so as not to 'contaminate'), I couldn't have the noodles but everything else was the same, they even provided me with my own bottle of gluten free soy sauce.
Rose & Crown
Again, I was very limited as to what I could eat here. The chef talked me through the menu but the only things I could have were the cheese sampler to start, followed by the cottage pie. I'll leave Jane to post a full report of our meal here, but this was overall our worst meal of the holiday.
Donald's Breakfastosaurus
The chef came out to see me and asked what I wanted, I asked for a selection which she went off to cook separately for me. I was not prepared for the portion size that came out - 3 separate plates, including 2 massive chocolate brownies!
Crystal Palace
Again, the chef came out to see me and talked me through the buffet, there was quite a selection I could have here, and he made me my own gluten free waffles, which were to die for.
One thing to note with the Disney restaurants is that the majority of them will bring out gluten free bread rolls with the 'normal' bread, the only one that didn't was Le Cellier.
Although the below restaurants are not Disney owned they were equally as helpful, if not more so, than some of the Disney restaurants.
Fultons
Although not Disney owned, our server was equally as helpful as the Disney owned restaurants. and he took my order preferences and came back to advise what was gluten free and what was not. There was a good choice of food available here. I had the 'usual' starter (caesar salad) and chicken with shrimp.
Blue Zoo
This was my favourite meal of the whole holiday. The server took my preferences and ran them past the chef, I was very pleased to note that a lot of the sauces were gluten free so I could indulge in a wonderful red snapper with crab and parsley sauce.
Hard Rock Cafe
Our server was fantastic as soon as I let her know I had to have a gluten free meal. She told me let her know what I wanted and she would run it past the chef, the best news of all was that my first choice (the good old caesar salad and BBQ chicken) were both gluten free.
Tony Romas
Like the Hard Rock the server was great, I'd already contacted Tony Romas beforehand and found out their sauces are all gluten free. I had the spinach dip followed by BBQ chicken.
Olive Garden
I already knew there was going to be a very limited choice here as most of the food is either in a sauce or a pasta dish. The restaurant cooked me some plain chicken with a separate pot of fresh tomato and herb sauce, and little roast herb potatoes, nothing special but it filled my belly.
I'm not sure if I can post email addresses but if anyone would like to know who I contacted at Disney re. gluten free diet please feel free to PM me.
When my Disney ADRs were originally made a note was put on them to say I was celiac and needed a gluten free diet. On arrival at the restaurant I would double-check with the person checking-us in that the 'allergy' was noted, which they all confirmed it was. When you are checked-in the person will print off a piece of paper which gives your party's details (i.e. number in party, birthdays, any allergies), this should then be read by the server who will confirm. Unfortunately, only a couple of servers were proactive and actually read the piece of paper so I would remind them of the allergy myself, no problem but just to let you know it's best to remind the server yourself. Different restaurants handle things differently, some would send the chef out to my table who would give me the run down of what contained gluten, others would ask me what I would like to eat off the menu and they would then run it past the chef, I found it easier to give a couple of options with my first and second choice. This all seemed to work very well.
I'll give a brief report of some of the restaurants we ate at:
Toy Story Pizza Planet - MGM
This counter service restaurant can make fresh gluten free pizzas (actually via Mama Melrose) with no prior notice necessary. I simply advised the server/cashier I required gluten free and 10 minutes later I had a lovely fresh pizza, which looked and tasted as good as the 'real' thing.
Pecos Bill - Magic Kingdom
All the burgers are 100% beef here so there were no problems at all, they also have gluten free burger buns. I mentioned to the server/cashier I required gluten free and she sent the manager over to see me who prepared my burger and fries separately and again, a few minutes later than everyone else, I had a burger in a gluten free bun and fries.
Yachtsman Steakhouse
The chef came out to see me and ask what I wanted. I knew what I wanted here (caesar salad minus the croutons and the 7 oz filet in a red wine sauce) and the chef confirmed all were gluten free.
Cape May Clam Bake
Unfortunately our server wasn't exactly on the ball so it was left to me to find the chef who was fantastic and walked me through what was on the buffet that I could and couldn't eat. There was a large selection of food available here that was gluten free.
Le Cellier
I was pretty limited here, but I chose my 'favourite' (i.e. caesar salad - I had this most evenings), followed by a plain steak as all the sauces contained gluten. This was one of the biggest disappointments of the holiday for me, the steak was very grisly and dry, if I could have had the sauce I'm sure it would have tasted better.
Teppanyaki
Absolutely fantastic. I had the most gorgeous sushi to start with followed by steak and chicken. The chef prepared my main course before the rest of the table (so as not to 'contaminate'), I couldn't have the noodles but everything else was the same, they even provided me with my own bottle of gluten free soy sauce.
Rose & Crown
Again, I was very limited as to what I could eat here. The chef talked me through the menu but the only things I could have were the cheese sampler to start, followed by the cottage pie. I'll leave Jane to post a full report of our meal here, but this was overall our worst meal of the holiday.
Donald's Breakfastosaurus
The chef came out to see me and asked what I wanted, I asked for a selection which she went off to cook separately for me. I was not prepared for the portion size that came out - 3 separate plates, including 2 massive chocolate brownies!
Crystal Palace
Again, the chef came out to see me and talked me through the buffet, there was quite a selection I could have here, and he made me my own gluten free waffles, which were to die for.
One thing to note with the Disney restaurants is that the majority of them will bring out gluten free bread rolls with the 'normal' bread, the only one that didn't was Le Cellier.
Although the below restaurants are not Disney owned they were equally as helpful, if not more so, than some of the Disney restaurants.
Fultons
Although not Disney owned, our server was equally as helpful as the Disney owned restaurants. and he took my order preferences and came back to advise what was gluten free and what was not. There was a good choice of food available here. I had the 'usual' starter (caesar salad) and chicken with shrimp.
Blue Zoo
This was my favourite meal of the whole holiday. The server took my preferences and ran them past the chef, I was very pleased to note that a lot of the sauces were gluten free so I could indulge in a wonderful red snapper with crab and parsley sauce.
Hard Rock Cafe
Our server was fantastic as soon as I let her know I had to have a gluten free meal. She told me let her know what I wanted and she would run it past the chef, the best news of all was that my first choice (the good old caesar salad and BBQ chicken) were both gluten free.
Tony Romas
Like the Hard Rock the server was great, I'd already contacted Tony Romas beforehand and found out their sauces are all gluten free. I had the spinach dip followed by BBQ chicken.
Olive Garden
I already knew there was going to be a very limited choice here as most of the food is either in a sauce or a pasta dish. The restaurant cooked me some plain chicken with a separate pot of fresh tomato and herb sauce, and little roast herb potatoes, nothing special but it filled my belly.
I'm not sure if I can post email addresses but if anyone would like to know who I contacted at Disney re. gluten free diet please feel free to PM me.