Special Diets at Disney - a word of warning

[Clare]

Just to let everyone know I had a very bad dining experience following a meal at Narcoossees. I don't want to worry anyone but just to make you aware.

I've eaten many times at Disney and have never ever had any problems.

From the word go something didn't feel right, I felt a little uneasy when discussing my gluten free requirements and then we waited ages and ages following our appetiser for the main course.

I normally check and double-check my meal requirements but on this one occassion (our first night at Disney) I didn't.

I was very unwell following the meal for a good 24 hours afterwards, this could have been very serious as I have other medical conditions that this could have impacted on.

The restaurant have of course denied any gluten (no surprise there then), but I have advised Disney and also my contact at Disney special diets.

So, if something doesn't feel right, please double-check, don't make the same mistake I did.

[carys]

Oh Clare poor you ! You don't need that ! I hope WDW take your comments on board that is disgraceful a chef in this day and age should know better ! Glad you are ok x

[twinkletoes]

Not a pleasant experience Claire :(

My hubby is a Coeliac, and I know only too well what happens, when gluten is ingested, not nice :omg: :omg:

[mcsue]

I'm still shocked that this happened to you Clare.

I hope you at least get an apology.

Do you think they were slapdash in the kitchen or that the Chef didn't actually understand your requirement/needs?

Also I guess if they deny they used gluten products it's now hard to prove otherwise. :(

[Clare]

Su, I personally think they forgot about us and then cocked the order up. After our appetiser we must have sat there for a good 40+ minutes waiting for our mains, it was only when the server noticed we didn't have our mains he gave a shocked look and went dashing off, 10 minutes later our meals arrived.

My meal looked OK but the salmon did appear to be coated with something, but I just assumed it was my gluten free meal.

The funny thing is when the chef called me he thought I was Jane as Jane's meal had been heavily seasoned and she couldn't eat it so they refunded the money, he then asked 'and how is Clare' (funny thing to ask when he thought the problem was Jane!), to which I replied I was Clare and I had been extremely unwell. He was spluttering and stuttering and rambling on about a hot line and how the food had not been prepared on the hot line and I must have 'another allergy'.

[truesdpr]

I really think I'd be taking this further Clare given the potential medical issues with things like allergies and food intolerances. YOU were "lucky" to only suffer for a day or so but it could have been much much worse and as you say could have impacted on other conditions or on things like absorption of medication etc. If the restaurant is not Disney owned/operated then I think a compaint to the MD of the relevant company is in order detailing what happened on the night and afterwards in fine detail. For some allergies e.g. nuts this could have been a life threatening situation and certainly something that any chef/restaurant operator should take extremely seriously and ensure that they comply and provide what is requested. Otherwise they should state they can't make guarantees about ingredients and special requirements in which case you would be fully informed and choose to eat elsewhere. It's just not good enough and if I'd lost 24 hours of my holiday they'd know about it. If I was American of course I'd be consulting my lawyer!

Pam.
:wavey:

[mcsue]

It all sounds a rather suspect doesn't it?

I hope your letter of complaint flags up a problem with Chefs maybe not taking customers needs seriously enough.

I know Paul's vegetarianism isn't a special need as such, but he'd be horrified if there were fish or meat products in his food.

Did the Chef come out to speak with you or did the server relay the info to the kitchen?

[Clare]

Pam - you're right, the more I'm thinking about this the more I should take it further. I'll let you know how I get on.

Su - I had to wait a while for the chef to talk to me (this in itself is unusual, normally the chef is there pretty quickly), when he came out he didn't talk me through the menu, it was more me talking to him, but he confirmed my choices were gluten free.

[mobeckwith]

sorry to hear about the suspect meal claire it was a rotten start to your holiday,luckily it semed to improve after that.i must say its poor that the 5 star disney hotel (restaurant, has messed up when the counter service can get it right).my son has severe nut/egg allergy and has severe anaphalaxis,and i have to carry an epipen where ever we go,and its thanks to your advice re.discussing requirements with the chef we had a wonderfull experience in all the restaurants we tried,the chef came out and discussed the requirements and at the time i didnt know about giving a special praise to the cm that had gone the extra mile,but if i could it would have been to all the chefs and most of the servers if only i could remember there names :blush: :blush: my favorite was the chef at the crystal palace who was outstanding.its a god job we didnt go to narcoses,because if they messed up on my sons order they would have had to deal with a violent vomit,and disgruntled diners.perhaps we should go and see :mad2: :mad2: .i think you should write a letter to the top,lets face it,you are a good customer,and have probably gained them untold revenue with your recommendations and reviews,and deserve an explaination,apology and some sort of compensation for the 24 hours that you wernt able to enjoy the facillities due to a mistake on there part. mo.

[Petalsoftly]

Hands Clare her *Kick a$$* boots cos she'll be needing 'em.

[Jules R]

Hi Clare,

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Our daughter is Coeliac so we ordered her gluten free meals from Virgin on our last trip. Her meal on the trip out was lovely and included a gluten free bread roll, we actually joked about ordering the gluten free choice ourselves next time because our meals were inedible, however on the return trip she noticed that her gluten free bread roll contained wheat! She then realised she had dairy free creamer instead of milk for her tea and no after dinner chocolate so obviously she had been give a dairy free meal instead of gluten free although it was labelled gluten free. She was lucky that she noticed the mistake before she ate anything.

Although the crew appologised there were no other meals to offer her she made do with our cheese portions and salad starter because we had taken the precaution of eating at Outback in the airport before boarding.

She usually takes her own food onto the plane but this time thought she'd give the airline food a try, don't think she will be doing it again though.

[Tigger37]

My partner has PKU and we really struggled with meals. Disney don't seem to recognise this illness as it's so rare. Pop food court was like a suicide mission as the diet is low to no protein. Virgin din't cater for it at all. The vegetarian option was the only option available but that's still dodgy.
As we booked fairly late on, we couldn't do ADRs and so had no chance of getting prepared meals. It really annoys me when they cater so well for other physical illnesses and special needs. These illnesses cannot be seen but they still exist and people still suffer from them.

[Clare]

My partner has PKU and we really struggled with meals. Disney don't seem to recognise this illness as it's so rare. Pop food court was like a suicide mission as the diet is low to no protein. Virgin din't cater for it at all. The vegetarian option was the only option available but that's still dodgy.
As we booked fairly late on, we couldn't do ADRs and so had no chance of getting prepared meals. It really annoys me when they cater so well for other physical illnesses and special needs. These illnesses cannot be seen but they still exist and people still suffer from them.

I'm sorry to hear you've had difficulties with food. In this day and age you really would think something could be done.

Disney are 'investigating' my incident and apparently will report back their findings. I know what happened but it's trying to prove it. I'm not after any compensation, but just want to ensure it doesn't happen again to anyone else.