Gluten Free in Disney World

Once upon a time, my family and I went to Disney world.  We had a wonderful time, ate lots of delicious food, and went on fun rides.  And we lived happily ever after. THE END

Ok, so maybe there’s more to it than that.  The trip was a blast, and I was able to eat mostly paleo and totally glutenn free in Disney World.  Let’s do this travel log style:

On The Road – Road Trip Food

I am not an organized person when it comes to making sure I take pictures of my food, so I don’t have pictures of my road trip food.  However, I can tell you what I ate.  We mostly did fast food on the way down, and I really couldn’t eat any of it.  My sustenance in the car consisted of:

• Bacon-Bison-Cranberry Epic Bars
• Fruit
• Jackson’s Honest Chips
• Energy balls made with hemp, chia, coconut, almonds, figs, maple syrup, protein powder,etc.
• Jerky sticks
• Cheese

I stayed pretty well sustained, although I can tell you that it will be a while until I eat another, fruit, nut, or piece of jerky!

 

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe – Magic Kingdom

We arrived at Disney late in the afternoon and immediately went to the Magic Kingdom for supper.  We went to a quick-service place called Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.  The place was HOPPING, and I was a bit nervous about how well they would accommodate my celiac disease.  There are a few different “bays”, or counters, in the restaurant depending on what you want to eat: burgers, soup, salad, chicken, etc.  I decided the chicken bay would be the safest,  You order pretty much like a fast food restaurant.  As soon as I said that I was “allergic to gluten”, the lady immediately called over a different person who knew all about what was gluten free on the menu, and what modifications could be made.  The gluten-free menu included gluten-free bread, buns, and brownies.  I was told that my food would be prepared totally separate from everyone else’s, and would be brought out on a green tray.  I felt a little self-conscious as they brought my food out yelling “Allergy order!! Allergy order!” But I have never gotten such amazing service at a restaurant, much less a fast-food one! I got half a chicken with green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, decaf coffee, and a gluten-free brownie, which by the way was delicious, but huge, so I shared it with my family.

Allergy Accommodation Score: Five Stars

Food Quality and Selection Score: Five Stars

 

Roaring Fork – Breakfast (Wilderness Lodge)

We stayed at a beautiful lodge that was patterned after the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park.  It is beautiful and overall an amazing experience within itself.  Adjacent to the lobby is the restaurant Roaring Fork.  The Roaring Fork serves breakfast every morning.  The food is pricey but good.  There was eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, boiled eggs, fruit, veggie sticks, coffee, tea, etc.  Breakfast is served cafeteria-style.  The restaurant is REALLY crowded in the morning, so I was worried about trying to get gluten-free food.  But I put on a bold face and told the lady serving about my gluten allergy.  She called someone who took my order and prepared the food separately without cross-contact.  There was eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes available to me.  I was told that they had gluten-free waffles and bread, although I didn’t want those carbohydrates in the morning.  My mom asked for gluten-free bread one morning, and she got it without claiming a gluten allergy.  Bacon, eggs, black coffee = happy morning!

Allergy Accommodation Score: Five Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Five Stars

 

Columbia Harbor House (Magic Kingdom)

Lunch the next day was the quick-service Harbor House.  They had a nice selection of choices, including salmon and broccoli, which I considered having, but settled on a chicken salad instead.  Someone came again to talk to me about my allergy, and my food was once again prepared separately and served on a green tray.  I can tell that the employees of most of the quick-service places are used to dealing with special dietary requests.  Gluten-free brownies and cookies were available for desserts.

Allergy Accommodation Score: Five Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Four Stars

 

 

Artist’s Point (Wilderness Lodge)

There are actually a couple of restaurants in the Wilderness Lodge.  Artist’s Point is a high-end, swanky restaurant.  Flip-flops are not welcome in this place.  The ambiance was that of a candlelight dinner.  The chef came out to talk to me about my allergy.  He was friendly and informative.  I was given some specialty gluten-free bread with butter and black sea salt.  It was delicious.  No judgement please.  The restaurant’s signature appetizer is a creamy smokey mushroom soup, which I ordered without the sourdough croutons.  It was delish.  I could tell that this place was a foodie’s heaven.  I was feeling ambitious, so I ordered the filet mignon, which came with mushrooms, potatoes, onions, butternut squash, a wine reduction, and some sort aoli.  It was amazing.  The meat was cooked perfectly and I ate nearly every bite of food on the plate, though it did become a bit too rich towards the end.  The Disney meal plan that we were on included dessert, so I ordered pumpkin creme brulee, which I was told was gluten free but which came with a cookie on top.  It wasn’t that big of a deal though because by this time I was totally stuffed.

Allergy Accommodation Score: Four Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Five Stars

 

Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner (Hollywood Studios)

The next day we went to my favorite park, Hollywood Studios.  If you ever go there, don’t miss the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Star Tours, the Toy Story ride, and the Tower of Terror.  For lunch we went to Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner, a quick service place with mostly fried and gluten-containing foods on the menu; no fruits or vegetables.  The only thing that redeems the diner is that they have the iconic Disney turkey leg.  When I asked for the gluten-free options, I was told that the turkey leg was my only option, which was ok because I wanted it.  It came with a bag of chips, which I gave to my family.  The turkey leg was delicious!

Allergy Accommodation Score: Three Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Two Stars

 

The Wave (Contemporary Resort)

The Contemporary Resort is the resort that the Monorail trams go into.  It is modern and beautiful.  The Wave is a family-style sit-down restaurant specializing in healthy, local, sustainable food.  My kind of place for sure! The chef came out to talk to me about the options on the menu, and I was given a gluten-free menu to look at.  I ordered chicken with greens and substituted green beans for the couscous that it came with, ordering the dish without the flour-thickened sauce.  I also had a citrus salad with arugula, marcona almonds, and queso fresco.  I think the salad was the best part of the meal, although my chicken was tender and juicy, and I appreciated being able to order so many vegetables.  Our waitress was friendly and helpful.  There were quite a few gluten-free options on the menu, including a couple different sustainable fish dishes.   I was able to order a cheese plate instead of a sweet dessert, which had a liver pate on it! If you get that though, make sure to order it without the bread and crackers.

Allergy Accommodation Score: Five Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Five Stars

 

Sunshine Seasons Food Court (Epcot)

Our last day in Disney was spent at Epcot.  I only had a couple of boiled eggs for breakfast, so by the time lunch rolled around I was famished.  We ate at Sunshine Seasons, which is a cafeteria-style quick-service place.  There were a few different counters depending on what you wanted to eat: chicken, burgers, soup, sandwiches, etc.  I decided that the grilled meat counter was safest.  It was very busy and loud in the restaurant, and I had to practically yell at the lady to make her understand that I was allergic to gluten.  When she understood, I was told that everything at the grill counter was gluten-free.  I was able to get a half chicken with mashed potatoes and a few spears of asparagus, as well as a banana.  I was glad to be able to get so much gluten-free food, but I was happy once the getting of the food was over; too much stress for this Midwestern rural girl! The food itself was delicious, perfectly cooked, and flavorful, although the mashed potatoes were mediocre at best.  There was lots of different foods available, including gluten-free cookies and brownies.  I am sure that I would have been able to eat well even if I had gone to a different counter.

Allergy Accommodation Score: Three Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Five Stars

 

La Hacienda (Epcot)

For supper we went to a Mexican place in the Mexico part of Epcot.  It was authentic and the service was great.  The chef came out to talk to me about the gluten-free options, and I ended up sharing a mixed grill with my dad.  It included steak, chicken, chorizo, vegetables, and roasted corn.  There were a lot other gluten-free options on the menu, including fish, chicken, steak, etc.  In fact, there was only 1 or 2 entrees that could not be modified to be gluten free.  I was told that the chips and salsa were gluten-free as well, and they were delicious.  The mixed grill was out-of-this-world; the meat was cooked perfectly, and vegetables were absolutely scrumptious.  I was stuffed when we were done.  We got a table by the window, so we got to see the fireworks while we ate our delicious food! As for dessert, I was much too full, but I was told that the only dessert that wasn’t gluten free was an apple turnover-type dish.  I highly recommend La Hacienda and would go there again!

 

Allergy Accommodation Score: Five Stars

Food Quality/Selection Score: Five Stars

 

 

 

Overall, the lengths that Disney goes to in order to accommodate guests with special diets is unmatched.  I have never been able to eat such delicious food from restaurants while feeling so safe eating it.  Disney understands the concept of cross-contact, and takes appropriate measures to avoid it, while offering a myriad of gluten-free substitute foods.  I was nervous going into the trip because I knew I would be giving up a lot of control over what I ate, but I realize that I had nothing to worry about.

General Recommendations for Special Diets in Disney:

• Email specialdiets@disneyworld.com regarding your allergy or intolerance before you leave for your trip.
• Make sure your server is very aware of your allergy.
• Have fun! Disney is a magical place to eat gluten-free!

Shared at Weekend Social,  No Rules Weekend Blog Party