A Look at the New Allergy Menus at Walt Disney World
Growing up inn the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Aleisha has never let distance stop her from enjoying Walt Disney World vacations. From an early age, whether it be on a family vacation or tagging along with a friend on her vacation, she fell in love with the magic and the joy that Disney brought. Now making her own memories as a DVC member with a Star Wars obsessed little boy, she tries to capture the same magical feelings into every day life. She has quickly established a reputation with friends, relatives and coworkers as a real-life Belle. Always with a book in her hand and available to help others plan their magical Disney vacations. Beyond Disney, Aleisha is a lover of all genres of music; craves a good concert from time to time, considers her food allergies a blessing rather than a curse and can be seen at the good old hockey game during the NHL season.
A couple of weeks ago while visiting Walt Disney World, I was able to check out the new menus geared to those with allergies at a few restaurants. There were plenty of options on these menus, however, keep in mind that they are geared only to the major 8 allergens of milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy. It’s still recommended to talk to the Chef if you have a food allergy that is not listed.
For those that do have one of the major 8 allergens, the menus give you plenty of choices and are labeled very clearly. I managed to take a couple of shots of the menu from Le Cellier Steakhouse at the Canada pavilion over in EPCOT. Just like the regular menu, the cast member taking care of us was quite knowledgeable on the selections, answering any question that I had. She even asked if I still wanted the Chef to come out and speak to me to reassure me that everything would be all right. I must admit, the selection she suggested was one of my favorites of the trip.
It is also important to note that places like Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom and O’hana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort menus had not changed and did not give out separate menus, but they made sure the Chef came out and spoke to us right away.
The one nice thing about getting an actual menu was it allowed for both my husband and I to browse the menu at the same time. While it usually isn’t a big deal, its nice to actually take our time and have a visual of selections rather than choosing something right away and then waiting for the rest of the party to do the same.
What have your experiences with allergies and Disney chefs been?
