Disney after Bariatric Surgery

JessicaGreye

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Hey guys, I'm not sure how many of you will be interested in this, but I recently got back from WDW and was about 2 months post-op from Gastric Sleeve Surgery. My program is very conservative, so I had just started soft foods. I scowered the internet for information on how to eat while on vacation and I found very little, so I thought I'd post what I ate and what was good and what was a problem in the event someone else is planning a trip not long after surgery.

I was on in WDW for 3 days and I have to say that I felt great- I had a lot more energy than I did when I was there 5 months earlier. I had a small bottle of water with me at all times and would fill it up in the water fountains. I also read basically every single menu when planning on where to eat and we planned our short trip around where I could eat.

I did have one major problem regarding my diet while I was there that I want to share- I made reservations for dinner at San Angel Inn (not because I love that restaurant past the atmosphere, but because they had a dish with beans and shredded chicken- two things I can eat). That morning, my mom was looking at the menu to plan out her dinner and she said, "there's nothing you can eat on this menu" so I looked on it and realized they had taken off the one item I was able to eat. As it was only 10 hours before our dinner, I had to call to try to cancel the reservations. The woman I got on the phone at Disney Reservations was terribly rude to me. She told me that EVERY Disney restaurant could accommodate ANY dietary need (this seems like quite an over statement). I explained my very limited diet to her and she was very dismissive and her voice because quite judgey and she told me that she would not cancel the reservation without charging me for the late cancel. She said that I needed to go speak to the chef personally before my reservation and if he/she couldn't accommodate my dietary needs then they would cancel it for free. I, of course, was at Disney Springs, not Epcot and did not plan on being there until night. She told me I could not call to discuss it. And then she hung up on me before I could take the survey (I think she knew it would have been bad). It almost ruined my entire vacation. It was not that way cast members treat guests. I was so upset. I was lucky enough to be staying at the Bay Lake Tower and went to talk to the concierge that afternoon. They were so kind and helpful and canceled the reservation and made a new one for us somewhere I could eat. So, my advice is to check the menus the week before you go to confirm that what you're planning on is still there. As bariatric patients, planning is key and if you don't have all the info, how can you do that?

Okay, so if you're still with me, here's what I ate (I usually eat 5 small meals a day):
Every morning I started with a protein shake in my room. One day I also had one in the afternoon on a park break. Theses are the restaurants where I ate:
Contempo Cafe - side of scrambled eggs. the eggs are fake. they weren't the best, but they were fine.
Sunshine Seasons - grab and go tuna salad and croissant (the croissant my mom ate) the tuna salad was mediocre at best. I will not get this again, but if you're desperate, it's there and there was a chicken salad wrap you could eat the inside of as well.
Cosmic Rays - rotisserie chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes. This was the biggest surprise of the whole trip (it's not just a burger place!)- it was awesome!! It was enough for my mom and I to share. The green beans were a little over cooked so I could eat them. The chicken was juicy. They also have this Sriracha aioli that is strong, so you can just put a tiny bit on and be satisfied and not smother your meal in sugar. It is a lot of food though, so share with someone or bring tupperware so you can eat more later.
D-Luxe Burgers - chicken burger with no bun. I got the adult burger and not the child's one because it came with avocado and sauce, both were on the side and neither was very good. The burger though, was great! Juicy and flavorful. I recommend this, but I'd go with the kid's chicken burger sans bun.
Restaurant Marrakesh - lemon chicken and a side of hummus. This was a gigantic portion. I swear there was a whole chicken on my plate. It was good, but it insulting how much food there was, no one needs that much food. It also was barely lemony, but very olive-y which made it taste overly salty. I took a lot of it back with me and ate it later for other meals (since I ate more meals than the rest of my family). The hummus was very good.
Kona Cafe - 2 eggs meal. I got them scrambled with goat cheese and asked for no potatoes or fruit. My server was really nice and offered to let me have something in their place, so I got oatmeal (which I had not tried since surgery). I added skim milk and a Splenda and it was actually better than the eggs. I did't eat much and couldn't take it with me, but it was a very satisfying meal.

So, if you want my advice- bring protein shakes for the morning (and afternoon breaks at the hotel if you take them). Definitely go to Cosmic Rays if you're in the MK. I can't get over how great it was. We actually got it twice it was so good. Always check the menus before you go to the restaurant (even if you know it) and use your concierge if you have one, they are so helpful. One thing I did not try was ordering kids meals. I have read mixed things about if Disney will honor the bariatric card and most of the kids meals had a lot of items I could not eat. I also enjoyed saving part of my meal to eat later. I brought little tupperware things with me so I knew they wouldn't leak.

Anyone else have any good advice? I'm going back in September and, while I'll be eating more "normally," I'd love to know your tricks and go tos. The Disney community and the WLS community are both awesome- let's combine them! :) Sorry this was so long, hope it was helpful to at least one person.
 
Last edited:
That's terrible that she didn't give you a pass on the fee. Give me a break, who would make up your story!

I also disagree with that CM that every restaurant can accommodate every dietary need. I am on a 1,000-1,500 mg of sodium a day diet. I can't eat anything at WDW. I did a whole back-and-forth with Dietary Services and they came up with nothing. They told me that ALL of the meat is soaked in sodium and they don't know the sodium counts of anything. The only thing that they have any counts for are the Kids Meals, but they are 700 mg of sodium for about 200 cals of food.

Anyway, I sympathize! Glad you were able to find enough things to eat though!
 
That's terrible that she didn't give you a pass on the fee. Give me a break, who would make up your story!

I also disagree with that CM that every restaurant can accommodate every dietary need. I am on a 1,000-1,500 mg of sodium a day diet. I can't eat anything at WDW. I did a whole back-and-forth with Dietary Services and they came up with nothing. They told me that ALL of the meat is soaked in sodium and they don't know the sodium counts of anything. The only thing that they have any counts for are the Kids Meals, but they are 700 mg of sodium for about 200 cals of food.

Anyway, I sympathize! Glad you were able to find enough things to eat though!

Wow! That is so much sodium! (That's rather terrifying!) I also can't believe that they have counts of nutrition on their food when you speak personally to dietary services. I also never thought about calling dietary services. I hope you were able to get them to make you something special!
 
Wow! That is so much sodium! (That's rather terrifying!) I also can't believe that they have counts of nutrition on their food when you speak personally to dietary services. I also never thought about calling dietary services. I hope you were able to get them to make you something special!

That's my limit for the day, so it's super low :)
 


That's terrible that she didn't give you a pass on the fee. Give me a break, who would make up your story!

I also disagree with that CM that every restaurant can accommodate every dietary need. I am on a 1,000-1,500 mg of sodium a day diet. I can't eat anything at WDW. I did a whole back-and-forth with Dietary Services and they came up with nothing. They told me that ALL of the meat is soaked in sodium and they don't know the sodium counts of anything. The only thing that they have any counts for are the Kids Meals, but they are 700 mg of sodium for about 200 cals of food.

Anyway, I sympathize! Glad you were able to find enough things to eat though!

That really surprises me because Disney has always been great with my husband's dairy allergy and my Mom who can only have 600 mg of sodium a day and at every TS we went to for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including buffets and dinner shows on trips the last few years they were able to accommodate her. The chefs at lunches and dinners had beef, chicken, or turkey that had not been marinated in any way and cooked on the grill or in a pan with non dairy cooking spray. She knows when she has gone over her limit because her legs swell and turn beet red and she has no issue at Disney. She always kids that when we go she eats better there than at home.
 
Last edited:
That really surprises me because Disney has always been great with my husband's dairy allergy and my Mom who can only have 600 mg of sodium a day and at every TS we went to for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including buffets and dinner shows on trips the last few years they were able to accommodate her. The chefs at lunches and dinners had beef, chicken, or turkey that had not been marinated in any way and cooked on the grill or in a pan with non dairy cooking spray. She knows when she has gone over her limit because her legs swell and turn beet red and she has no issue at Disney. She always kids that when we go she eats better there than at home.

I don't want to take over the thread but that's not what they told me. Glad your mom did good though!
 


That's terrible that she didn't give you a pass on the fee. Give me a break, who would make up your story!

I also disagree with that CM that every restaurant can accommodate every dietary need. I am on a 1,000-1,500 mg of sodium a day diet. I can't eat anything at WDW. I did a whole back-and-forth with Dietary Services and they came up with nothing. They told me that ALL of the meat is soaked in sodium and they don't know the sodium counts of anything. The only thing that they have any counts for are the Kids Meals, but they are 700 mg of sodium for about 200 cals of food.

Anyway, I sympathize! Glad you were able to find enough things to eat though!
What is the purpose of soaking "ALL of the meat" in sodium?! That sounds preposterous.
 
That's terrible that she didn't give you a pass on the fee. Give me a break, who would make up your story!

Who would make up something to get out of paying the fee? Abut 85% of the people on the Dis.:headache: It is unfortunate the fee wasn't waived, but yeah. I can easily see people making up stories to get out of paying the no show fee.
 
Who would make up something to get out of paying the fee? Abut 85% of the people on the Dis.:headache: It is unfortunate the fee wasn't waived, but yeah. I can easily see people making up stories to get out of paying the no show fee.
It's really a shame that people lie in order to get away with something, and that ends up hurting those who tell the truth. It's like the people who aren't handicapped or injured, but use a wheelchair to get to the front of the line of the rides. (I'm aware that WDW is cracking down on that now).
 
What is the purpose of soaking "ALL of the meat" in sodium?! That sounds preposterous.

Preposterous? Not really.

Sodium is used as a flavoring aid and as a preservative. It's not that they are necessarily soaking it but that it comes that way from their suppliers.
 
Who would make up something to get out of paying the fee? Abut 85% of the people on the Dis.:headache: It is unfortunate the fee wasn't waived, but yeah. I can easily see people making up stories to get out of paying the no show fee.

You think? I guess.
 
Hey guys, I'm not sure how many of you will be interested in this, but I recently got back from WDW and was about 2 months post-op from Gastric Sleeve Surgery. My program is very conservative, so I had just started soft foods. I scowered the internet for information on how to eat while on vacation and I found very little, so I thought I'd post what I ate and what was good and what was a problem in the event someone else is planning a trip not long after surgery.

I was on in WDW for 3 days and I have to say that I felt great- I had a lot more energy than I did when I was there 5 months earlier. I had a small bottle of water with me at all times and would fill it up in the water fountains. I also read basically every single menu when planning on where to eat and we planned our short trip around where I could eat.

I did have one major problem regarding my diet while I was there that I want to share- I made reservations for dinner at San Angel Inn (not because I love that restaurant past the atmosphere, but because they had a dish with beans and shredded chicken- two things I can eat). That morning, my mom was looking at the menu to plan out her dinner and she said, "there's nothing you can eat on this menu" so I looked on it and realized they had taken off the one item I was able to eat. As it was only 10 hours before our dinner, I had to call to try to cancel the reservations. The woman I got on the phone at Disney Reservations was terribly rude to me. She told me that EVERY Disney restaurant could accommodate ANY dietary need (this seems like quite an over statement). I explained my very limited diet to her and she was very dismissive and her voice because quite judgey and she told me that she would not cancel the reservation without charging me for the late cancel. She said that I needed to go speak to the chef personally before my reservation and if he/she couldn't accommodate my dietary needs then they would cancel it for free. I, of course, was at Disney Springs, not Epcot and did not plan on being there until night. She told me I could not call to discuss it. And then she hung up on me before I could take the survey (I think she knew it would have been bad). It almost ruined my entire vacation. It was not that way cast members treat guests. I was so upset. I was lucky enough to be staying at the Bay Lake Tower and went to talk to the concierge that afternoon. They were so kind and helpful and canceled the reservation and made a new one for us somewhere I could eat. So, my advice is to check the menus the week before you go to confirm that what you're planning on is still there. As bariatric patients, planning is key and if you don't have all the info, how can you do that?

Okay, so if you're still with me, here's what I ate (I usually eat 5 small meals a day):
Every morning I started with a protein shake in my room. One day I also had one in the afternoon on a park break. Theses are the restaurants where I ate:
Contempo Cafe - side of scrambled eggs. the eggs are fake. they weren't the best, but they were fine.
Sunshine Seasons - grab and go tuna salad and croissant (the croissant my mom ate) the tuna salad was mediocre at best. I will not get this again, but if you're desperate, it's there and there was a chicken salad wrap you could eat the inside of as well.
Cosmic Rays - rotisserie chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes. This was the biggest surprise of the whole trip (it's not just a burger place!)- it was awesome!! It was enough for my mom and I to share. The green beans were a little over cooked so I could eat them. The chicken was juicy. They also have this Sriracha aioli that is strong, so you can just put a tiny bit on and be satisfied and not smother your meal in sugar. It is a lot of food though, so share with someone or bring tupperware so you can eat more later.
D-Luxe Burgers - chicken burger with no bun. I got the adult burger and not the child's one because it came with avocado and sauce, both were on the side and neither was very good. The burger though, was great! Juicy and flavorful. I recommend this, but I'd go with the kid's chicken burger sans bun.
Restaurant Marrakesh - lemon chicken and a side of hummus. This was a gigantic portion. I swear there was a whole chicken on my plate. It was good, but it insulting how much food there was, no one needs that much food. It also was barely lemony, but very olive-y which made it taste overly salty. I took a lot of it back with me and ate it later for other meals (since I ate more meals than the rest of my family). The hummus was very good.
Kona Cafe - 2 eggs meal. I got them scrambled with goat cheese and asked for no potatoes or fruit. My server was really nice and offered to let me have something in their place, so I got oatmeal (which I had not tried since surgery). I added skim milk and a Splenda and it was actually better than the eggs. I did't eat much and couldn't take it with me, but it was a very satisfying meal.

So, if you want my advice- bring protein shakes for the morning (and afternoon breaks at the hotel if you take them). Definitely go to Cosmic Rays if you're in the MK. I can't get over how great it was. We actually got it twice it was so good. Always check the menus before you go to the restaurant (even if you know it) and use your concierge if you have one, they are so helpful. One thing I did not try was ordering kids meals. I have read mixed things about if Disney will honor the bariatric card and most of the kids meals had a lot of items I could not eat. I also enjoyed saving part of my meal to eat later. I brought little tupperware things with me so I knew they wouldn't leak.

Anyone else have any good advice? I'm going back in September and, while I'll be eating more "normally," I'd love to know your tricks and go tos. The Disney community and the WLS community are both awesome- let's combine them! :) Sorry this was so long, hope it was helpful to at least one person.

So confused - if you were there looking at the menu at San Angel, why didn't you go up to the podium and discuss your issue? If you weren't there, how did you access the menu?
 
Preposterous? Not really.

Sodium is used as a flavoring aid and as a preservative. It's not that they are necessarily soaking it but that it comes that way from their suppliers.
I get that the processed foods would have sodium. However, fresh seafood and steak would not be tampered with in that way. It sounds bogus.
 
What sounds bogus? You think I am lying about this? LOL
Last time I checked, this is a forum to share information about Disney. I would love to be educated on this topic. I'm not interested engaging in a debate. I just would love to know the name of your source. Coming from a family of 5-star restaurateurs, this doesn't sound correct.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top