Food Allergies at WDW

[BriNJ]

We just got back so I thought I'd write an update! DS is severely allergic to tree nuts, assumed to be allergic to peanuts and has a mild sesame allergy (we dont know what level it is). Here's where we ate and our experiences...

-Concourse Steakhouse
We arrived there and were seated in 15min. When we sat down, a chef came out to the table and went through the menu with me. She was clear on what he couldn't have and made recommendations for things that DS might enjoy. DS and DD ate filet mignon for dinner with mashed potatoes and ice cream for dessert. Terrific place, food was amazing!

-O'hanas
We arrived and were seated shortly after. We asked about the chef, but it took at least 10minutes for him to show up and that was after our server went back 2 times. DS and DD ate the meat, the salad, the wonton chips and the potaoes. Good meal, food was good and if you are going to go to Ohana's, ask for Margie as your server, she's a riot!

-Le Cellier
Very good restaurant. Kids could eat most things- they had steak on a stick (sorry, not the real name) for an appetizer, hot dogs for dinner and sorbet for dessert. There were some very good desserts, but they kids couldn't have them due to nut concerns (sigh, chocolate moose was awesome). The kids enjoyed the sorbet though, and it was beautiful to look at, with spun sugar on top!

-Hollywood and Vine
The chef here was the most pleasant to deal with in our expereiences at Disney. He came out immediatley, was prepared for us (read our adr notes), and walked the buffet with us. He knew what to stay away from and had a concern on one item that was not on his list and he went back to research it. He came to our table at least 2x during the meal. He offered to make a special dessert too- though the kids were perfectly happy with the ice cream there. The kids had mac and cheese, chicken strips, salad, ribs, ice cream sundaes with fudge sauce and sprinkles

-Odessey Restaurant in Ecpot
This was a special meal, only open for those having a grand gathering (large amount of people). What a fun time this was! There was a DJ and a story teller to amuse the kids, a dinner buffet from many countries and then dessert on a special pavilion to watch Illuminations. There was quite a bit of Asian food here that we had the kids avoid. They ate from the kids buffet (mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, fries) and some Italian food (ravioli, pasta with sauce, lasagna). The chef that came out first was a bit strange...not quite there- no eye contact etc, but he knew what he was talking about. A few minutes later, the exec chef came out (Mike) and went through things in detail with me. He was concerned about dessert- he wanted us to avoid all chocolate, but felt that the kids wouldn't like anything left so he made them up bowls of ice cream. After dinner, we walked from the Odessey to a special pavilion (right on the water) and the ice cream was waiting for us at the coffee bar. The kids were also able to have the rice krispie treats and little tarts there. That Mike thought to take care of my kids like that was priceless, instead of feeling like a burden, they felt special.

-Crystal Palace
This was DS's bday dinner (he turned 6 on this trip). It was ok, the chef who came out wasn't the most accomodating, he wasn't clear on everything but he did know most of the buffet. He suggested some alernatives and showed us where to get them (ie: plain pasta). The dessert bar was off limited except for ice cream. Because of DS's allergy, they were not comfortable with us having a bday cake (boo hoo) and our server brought us a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles and a candle and sang Happy Birthday with us.

We ordered a bday cake from the Poly's room service. It was $26 I think, and huge. We had a choice of cake, icing, filling and they were able to take precautions with it. At the Poly, all cakes are supposed to be nut/peanut free as per policy. The cake was waiting for us at the end of the night.

Overall, we had a great dining experience this time. Good competent chefs, lots of food, very little frustration.

Bri

 

[Selket]

of course, asking to speak with someone's supervisor does not generally lay the groundwork for a relaxing meal....

I just wanted to say that comment made me laugh! I guess that is why we tolerated Chef Mickeys I guess I'd just warn anyone eating there with allergies to perhaps lay better groundwork than I did for what you might want to eat (like dessert). If they can't accomodate you then you'd know beforehand and pick some place that will! I would think there is more than one chef back there that could be sent out to speak with you but perhaps some are designated to work with certain allergies? Or they got the short straw that night perhaps and had to deal with all of us allergic folk?


Bri - thanks for the restaurant report - sounds like a great trip! Crystal Palace was one of the best places for us. I think it really does depend on who you get as the chef. We were offered the same dessert there as you but they also had a sugar-free, peanut-free brownie that they gave William too. (William is also diabetic as well as allergic). I think what he ended up eating the most of was the sprinkles. Frankly if he'd eat all the dessert they put in front of him it would have been way too many carbs!

 

[gigi1313]

wow, BriNJ, sounds like things went relatively well... glad you did not have too much frustration...

we've been to the same restaurant multiple times and had a diff't chef each time... so i have no clue how it works...

 

[lelandra]

We just got back from a trip (12/4/06-12/07/06) where we stayed at Fort Wilderness. Having read such universally glowing reviews of how well Disney treats those with Food Allergies, we decided not to lug the whole camp kitchen setup with us and just eat in the World. We did not purchase the dining plan (and in our case, this decision NOT to do the dining plan saved us at least $175)

I have a gluten intolerance rather than true celiac and can handle a tiny bit of exposure before it triggers a skin condition... and of my party of 2 adults and 1 child, I (the adult) am the only one with a food restriction. I've been eating GF for almost 10 years now, so I'm pretty comfortable with negotiating naked food in restaurants in the outside world and getting my needs met.

In a nutshell, for someone like me, the Disney treatment was overkill and added huge delays whether we were doing TS or CS. I wish it were possible for Disney to put an item on the menu that is flagged gluten-free as it seems to be possible for them to do with vegetarian food. Unless they do this in the future, we will in the future simply buy treats in the parks and make all our own food at the campsite and forego Disney restaurants for meals. I don't know if the long waits we experienced were because of the newish Dining Plan making everything more crowded and reducing the variety on the menus or if they were simply always present but just not mentioned on the glowing reviews I read. Note that we visited Disney during the offseason - I can't imagine what the experience would be for someone coming during the peak season. I made ADRs for the table service restaurants three months in advance of our visit. I'm not sure that it made any difference whatsoever, other than that we were able to get in to the restaurant at all. And I suppose we may have just been unlucky in the places we chose.

Our first encounter was the Whispering Canyon Cafe at lunch time. It took over 2 hours from the time we sat down until we signed the bill. I told the hostess who seated us about being gluten free and it was stamped on our seating card. The waiter, when he saw the stamp, would not take anyone's order for anything but drinks until a chef could be found to come talk to me. This took forever. Eventually a chef came to our table, and started talking to my 6 year old... apparently the food allergic is assumed to be the child. We straightened that out and I said I would like the trout - just make sure it's not dredged. He said it's never dredged - so my choice was gluten free to start with! (Couldn't this information have been available on a document at the hostess stand for those who are willing to order the one thing that is already GF to avoid extra waits? It's not as though GF is rare anymore - it's even got its own aisle in the supermarket.) The food was fine but the waiting was excessive in our opinion. I would have been very upset if we were trying to get rides in at the parks. As it was, it only took time from our lazing around the campsite. As a side note, I probably could have also eaten one of the new children's meals. I don't know if Disney would have allowed that, for an adult to eat the children's meal, but the the grilled chicken strips with carrots and green beans looks quite naked and probably safe.

Dinner that night was basically the dried fruit and snacky items we had brought from home as the options at the campfire stand didn't appeal to anyone.

Breakfast the next morning was at Trail's End Buffet. Again I had an ADR, and we told the hostess and waitress about doing GF. After being shown to our table we waited a few minutes but no waitress had appeared yet, so we just went up to the buffet. I figured I could risk a breakfast buffet and figure a first trip worth of things out for myself. Scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, grits, coffee - these are easy to discern. I have no idea if I would have been able to eat the cinnamon apples, or breakfast potatoes dish, as I was never able to see a chef. I just assumed they were unsafe, as I would in a restaurant in the outside world. The waitress tried to find a chef to come talk to me but no one was able to, so I asked if she would find out if I could have the gluten free waffles that I've heard are available on request. It took her a lot of extra effort to find someone willing to make me something... just as we were about to give up waiting for them, 45 minutes into the meal, a plate with two gluten free pancakes was given me. Not waffles as I had requested, and no butter or syrup - unless I wanted to use what was at the buffet with the communal knife and big dish of butter (with obvious bread crumbs throughout) and communal syrup, but I still give the waitress an A for effort - because it sounds like whoever was in the kitchen that morning really didn't want the hassle of dealing with a food intolerance issue. Given the number of items I felt confident I could eat, the price just seemed out of line to do this buffet on the other mornings, so we didn't.

After that, we decided to cancel most of our remaining table service meals, keeping only Fulton's on Pleasure Island on the day we left, because on that day slow service wouldn't be keeping us from time in the parks. Instead I relied on the info Brenda Bennett had sent about what things in snack carts would work, ate counter service salads without dressing, and supplemented with the snacky stuff we had brought with us - Brenda gets an A+ for the detailed info she sent. In fact everyone who sits behind a computer or phone in their job gets an A+ for my interactions... my problems were all in the restaurants themselves.

Trails End's Takeout was our third frustration. We missed getting to Tusker House at the Animal Kingdom before it closed and decided to try to get something to go when we got back to the campground. This time I did see a chef, but "to go" took about 45 minutes. There was no information at the counter for what would work - which is why I had to see the chef - as it turns out nothing would work as is. I ended up getting an adaptation of the two-piece fried chicken meal - except that the chicken was grilled and the fries must have been separately fried, and they did have some tapioca rolls in the kitchen to warm. But again, I got no butter and had to eat them dry.

On the other hand, Fulton's was absolutely wonderful. (Could there be any relationship to it not being on the Disney Dining Plan?) I told the waitress that I didn't want to take the time to see the chef, I just wanted the cobb salad, but to tell the chef to omit any ingredients that wouldn't work. And it really was a seafood cobb salad, not surimi like "seafood" usually means here in Illinois - I didn't notice anything missing. And our meal only took 1 hour from seating to signing the bill. Which is just how I like it.

We do plan on coming back to Disney World, but as we plan on doing Fort Wilderness again, we are going to come with a kitchen setup and enough groceries to cook our own meals.

 

[bertalander]

WHAT?! Did I read that correctly in a few posts above? As in all the cakes made there are pn/tn free? Where did you hear this?

My son has tree nut allergis (pistachio, walnut, cashew) and we avoid peanuts as well. Our most recent Disney trip was September 2006. Brenda reminded me via email that no bakery items made in Disney are considered tn/pn free. My allergist also said 'never ever ever'. So we just avoid all bakery items. And my son puts up with my awful attempts at baking. Poor little guy! (I'm determined to have him a nice looking cake by his 6th birthday coming up)

 

[bertalander]

I meant to add some quick notes from out trip with regards to allergy dining:

Chef Mickey's Breakfast
Chef arrived moments after we were seated. Walked the line with me. Then told me she truthfully felt more comfortable making Tommy's food in the back and bringing it straight to his place. They made some eggs and waffles fresh for him. Accomodating and very polite. Very allergy friendly for a buffet!

Boma
Again, the chef was out within moments of us being seated. (I usually remind the greeter and the seater that we have a severe food allergy in our party and soon to be tired kids... and that they WANT to get me ther Chef sooner than later!) Chef spent quite a bit of time walking the line with me. Glad he did! The fish that night had crushed pistachios in the crusting that was not so clearly marked on the name... made my heart stop for a second at the thought. Chef said to have waitress notify him when Tommy ws ready for dessert and he'd make him something himself as nothing was safe on the line. Tommy crashed way before dessert though. WAY before!!!

Concourse Steakhouse
Fantastic service. The chef did not come out. BUT the server ran back and forth with any questions I had concerning the kids menu. Though I didn't speak with the Chef I felt comfortable here seeing the precautions they took flagging his ticket etc. Server walked me through kids menu before I had a chnace to ask!!!

Le Cellier
Oh, this was MUCH too late of a night for the kids. We were one of 4 families left when it closed that night. BUT it went really well. Tommy really wanted Pretzel bread, but couldn't have it He ate some fresh fruit, one bite of his hotdog and promptly went to sleep for the night! Nice dinner, great service.

Hollywood and Vine
We did the Character Breakfast, this one was great for Tommy. (He's a cheese grits kinda boy). Chef was to our table in a flash, and very helpful

Kona Cafe
Probably my only disappointing FA experience. They truly seemed a bit unsure of what to do with us. When I asked about the menu and talking to the chef the server assured me 'everything' was nut free. I should have insisted right then to speak to the manager, but I didn't. Tommy has grilled chicken, rice and fruit. For dessert I told him he could have icecream. Which they brought out with chocolate candies on the bottom and a chcolate Mickey stuck on the top. I got the "you must be crazy look" when I questioned if the candies were safe. I hate that look. I let Tommy have the icecream only. I left a bit upset and disappointed truth be told

Mama Melrose
Amazingly awesome chef there (Ricardo?) we had the year before. He was out within 5 minuts. Told me what he would and wouldn't allow Tommy to have. Served Tommy dessert himself. Outstanding service, excellent meal. Well enjoyed.


All in all I'd rate the experience very high. I think I should have handled Kona's differently and if we return next year will make sure I feel safer about Tommy eating there.

Disney really did a great job for making this mom feel safe about her kid eating.
Hope this helps someone looking at a vactaion soon.

 

[ducklite]

WHAT?! Did I read that correctly in a few posts above? As in all the cakes made there are pn/tn free? Where did you hear this?

This is absolutely false info. All of the bakeries make items with tn/pn meats or oils, and if cross contamination is an issue, then you MUST stay away.

One item that is considered generally safe are the biscuits they serve at many breakfasts. They are Pillsbury brand, and although there's no guarantees, they are generally considered to be completely tn/pn free. I have eaten them many, many times without as much as one little suspicious itchy bump.

Additionally, a lot of baked goods aren't even made on property, so they wo'nt guarantee anything safe.

BTW--YMMV, but I've eaten the pretzel bread many times and not had a problem.

Anne

 

[bertalander]

Yeh... once I thought about it I realized there was NO way Disney was going to guarantee any bakery item was safe. Cross contamination issues are WAY to high. Only cakes etc I trust are ones from home.

Thanks for replying!

 

[Talking Hands]

when we were travelling we had a diabetic adult, a peanut/tree nut allergic kid and a nut allergic adult and all were treated the same and accommodated equally and quite well!

Yes but the diabetic adult can basically eat anything served as long as they count carbs and avoid sugar. My situation is being diabetic and being allergic to the most used sugar replacements as well. I have been lied to by staff when brought a dessert, offered a Rice Crispy Treat for dessert, been told that it won't hurt me to have nutrasweet or the sugar alcohol because you can't be allergic to these chemicals. Sorry it may not be a true allergy but what it does to me is not pretty.
Except for one chef who had a special cake made for me with Splenda and had it delivered to Hoop Dee Doo for me for my birthday last year and TJ at Boma who made me an entire meal with Splenda the chefs have been clueless. Being unable to use any sweetener but Splenda seems to boggle their minds.

 

[Talking Hands]

Have you tried to have those two things listed as allergies when you make a sit-down reservation? I've been able to arrange certain foods (not normally served at that particular place) or a dessert to be available for William (type 1 diabetic and allergic to peanut/tree nut) if I talked to the restaurant in advance.

We generally give William a regular dessert sweetened with sugar and cover the carbs with insulin. Perhaps that would be an easier route? However I would think .having those things noted on the reservation and calling in advance would yield some good results.

I always list them as allergies on my reservation. I would go ahead and eat dessert with sugar if they would just give me a carb count so I can cover it. I think I will ask if the can get me a Mickey bar since a friend got me the carb count on that.

 

[LaraK]

Thanks for this feedback. This will be my first trip with my son since he was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis. He has bizarre food allergies; turkey, pears, bananas and chocolate. We really have to watch the pears because they use pear juice in lots of things....because no one (except my son) is allergic to pears. We actually have to make people look at the ingrediants in everything such as juices or juice bars (most are no-nos and fruit snacks are completely out).

 

[carlossanta]

I eat gluten free-no choice in the matter-which is an allergy to wheat, oats, barley, and rye, or anything made from them. We had no problem with any Disney owned restaurant, but Epcot was a different story. Teppanyaki was by far and away the worst (awful food too). Morocco's counter service people were very rude. Le Celler and the sit-down restaurant in France were fine. We LOVED the chef at Boma, and at Coronodo Springs-we stayed there, and he personally made sure we had a good time-they even went to the health food store to get us gluten free brownies and pasta! He had a clear understanding about cross-contamination. We also enjoyed Wolfgang Pucks. ALL of the Disney owned restaurants were courteous and helpful-but we called ahead first, and made sure to talk personally with the head chefs. Counter service was a little trickier. I never felt that I needed to pack my own food or that a kitchen was required. It was one of the best restaurant experiences I've had.

 

[dawnball]

I'm gluten free and dairy free and *very* sensitive to both. I've been to Disney three times in the last year and every time I've gotten sick - and every time I've seen really sloppy allergen handling on the part of chefs. During the last trip I decided that I'm just not comfortable eating on property anymore.

The first two trips we ate on property for every meal, so I've eaten at most of the CS and TS locations.
Teppanyaki was pretty awful (unseasoned food, difficulty communicating, etc).
Le Cellier was fine, except that it was very hard to get a "gluten free or not gluten free" determination on most dishes.
Chefs de France was generally unaccommodating but safe.
Garden Grill brought out a plate of "gluten free" food that had gluten-covered fried fish on it and didn't replace the plate when it was pointed out to them. It was also impossible to tell what was gluten free vs what was gluten free and dairy free because the server didn't know - they just knew it was allergen-related. I also felt like I was making the chef's life very inconvenient there.
Crystal Palace refused to get us food that hadn't been contaminated by being on the buffet line. They were also inconsistent from one night to another. One night the mashed potatoes were fine - the next night they told us that they always put flour in them to make them fluffy.
The Boma chefs muttered and didn't look at you when they told you what was safe, so it was hard to hear them.
It just went on and on.

In general I found that the chefs would occasionally use "good" to mean "tastes really good, but may not be gluten free" and occasionally use "good" to mean "safe for you to eat" and the same chef would use the two uses of "good" interchangeably.

I think that for future visits I'm going to bring my own food, cook it in a kitchen (probably offsite) and only eat on property for a few special meals at "2 Credit" restaurants. Those were the only places that I felt like I wasn't at more risk than I would be at the local outback steakhouse.

YMMV.

 

[maynard]

we were there the week after thanksgiving and found all table service restaurants to be very accomodating...the one exception was japan (were they make it at your table) the manager spoke with us as the chefs had in the other table service places we went to, the problem is that he failed to mention that they use butter on everything! that's a milk product! my husband and i looked at each other and said "looks like butter, melts like butter, it's gotta be butter" the japanese chef confirmed it and simply made another portion for our milk allergic son. you really have to be specific.

counter service is another story. we ate at a counter service near the honey i shrunk the kids playground at MGM and all they had for desert was sugar-free jello for the kids. i don't let my kids have asparatame and they had no alternatives. since we were on the dining plan and thus paying for something we couldn't get, i was less than pleased!

finally, be prepared to wait. you will need to talk to the chef and that takes a while. but i've found that "in the real world" it's much worse because it seems the wait staff that i've encountered rather lie than find out...

 

[sleepingbean]

Who is this person who sends out lists of what is safe? Brenda, was it?
How can I get a list like this before we go in 3 weeks?
That would be so handy for the counter service stuff!
(we're looking for GF/CF)

Thanks!!!
Laura

 

[Berta]

I have to thank all of you for your contributions to this thread. Last summer, before we knew that DD is allergic to tree nuts, she had a mild reaction after eating at the restaurant next to the American Experience. Luckily, all was well, but frankly, we've been lucky and her allergy hasn't been a problem for us while at home. Reading this reminded me that we will need to be more careful when traveling, and that I'll need to carry the epi-pen and benedryl. Thanks also for sharing Brenda Bennett's phone #, and the advice to speak with her. Hopefully, she'll be avaiable tomorrow!

You are all a wonderful source of information and education on how to best deal with this issue. Thanks for sharing your exerpiences so that others may learn from them!

Berta H. (not to be confused with the other Berta!

 

[ducklite]

I have to thank all of you for your contributions to this thread. Last summer, before we knew that DD is allergic to tree nuts, she had a mild reaction after eating at the restaurant next to the American Experience. Luckily, all was well, but frankly, we've been lucky and her allergy hasn't been a problem for us while at home. Reading this reminded me that we will need to be more careful when traveling, and that I'll need to carry the epi-pen and benedryl. Thanks also for sharing Brenda Bennett's phone #, and the advice to speak with her. Hopefully, she'll be avaiable tomorrow!

You are all a wonderful source of information and education on how to best deal with this issue. Thanks for sharing your exerpiences so that others may learn from them!

Berta H. (not to be confused with the other Berta!

FYI--I'm not sure that anything there actually contains nuts, which leads to one of two scenarios.

1. She is HIGHLY allergic to a particular nut, and there was a cross contamination situation in a factory; or

2. She has another allergy that you aren't aware of to something she ate.

You might want to get her tested. For the longest time I thought I was having a cross-contamination issue, we couldn't figure it out. I finally discovered that I'm also allergic to coconut and palm oils, and BINGO! a lot of puzzling things fell into place.

Anne

 

[LisaFB]

I haven't read this entire thread yet, but I skimmed a few posts. We're taking the kids with us on our Oct trip and I'm nervous. DS is HIGHLY allergic to dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, beef, tree nuts, peanuts, onions, garlic, and a slew of other stuff (WAY too many to list). He drinks rice milk and we have to be very careful about his foods since he's snesitive to x-contam, especailly when vegetable oil (ie soybean oil) was used. Anyway, if I'm correct, I contact Brenda Bennett (sp?) before our trip about all this and then speak to the chef at each restuarant before we get there and when we arrive... is this true? They'll use seperate pans to grill him chicken or turkey and steam him veggies w/o anything in it?

 

[mtakac]

My husband and I went for our 10th anniversary in October. I contacted Brenda, had the intolerances noted on my reservations and then followed up with a call a few days before each reservation.

Food Intolerances: Dairy, garlic & onions
With the dairy, I won't eat cheese or ice cream when I'm on vacation, but I will eat something like bread (with a lactaid) that has a little milk or butter.

California Grill - Huge disappointed. We went there for our anniversary dinner. They brag of making everything made-to-order with fresh ingredients but it seemed like such a big deal to request unseasoned food. The host assured me that there wouldn't be a problem and that our server worked there for 9 years. Apparently, the server didn't understand that no dairy meant no cheese. After carefully ordering our appetizer and entree, reiterating my intolerances, the appetizer came out smothered in cheese. I thought maybe the runner grabbed someone elses plate but that was not the case. I watched the host go to every table around us and inquire about their meals and he completely skipped ours. When dessert time rolled around, our server said he only had sorbet to offer me. At $10 a dessert, I passed.

Le Cellier - Amazing, wonderful service, perfectly cooked medium rare filet. I felt totally comfortable eating there. Our server was great. The chef had no problem adapting an appetizer (tomato mushroom stack, yummy) for me. Our server made sure I knew that there was milk in the bread sticks. I could have eaten there every day.

Biergarten - I was rather nervous about this one. It turned out to be another great experience. The chef came out with a clipboard and the ingredients for every item on the buffet. He even made me some plain salmon and potato dumplings. Excellent service as well

Beach Club Marketplace - They have truly amazing lemon gelato that's dairy free. I'm not sure if it's the same as the gelato in Epcot's Italy. It's totally worth the trip through the international gateway over to the Beach Club.

Sunshine Seasons - I ate sushi there a couple of times. It was just your average CA. roll but the ingredients were listed on the label which was comforting. I saw some people requesting plain salad ,so I think they can accomodate as well.

Cosmic Rays - It general, the grilled chicken everywhere seemed to be heavily seasoned. I'm not sure if they would have even had something in the form of chicken that I would have had. My husband ordered a burger and I ordered the grilled chicken. One bite and I knew that I couldn't eat the chicken so we swapped. The burger was very good.

I ate a lot of plain pretzels which I really like. We were on the dining plan which added pressure for me. I think it might be less stressful not to be on the plan because it can be hard finding an appetizer, entree and dessert all in one place.

 

[DVCDawn]

As I have posted in the past, we have had exceptional service in regard to my DDs allergies to peanuts and nuts at both WDW and Vero Beach. However, in the spirit of fairness, I feel obligated to tell you all about a less than stellar experience on our family's trip this past November.

Our last night we had an ADR at Spoodles. Allergies were duly noted on our reservation. It all seemed to go downhill from there.

1. I had to inform the server of the allergies. At all other locations, the servers always knew ahead of time and addressed the issue(s) immediately.

2. Our server was not familiar with the ingredients used in the offerings on the children's menu. Also, the menu was similar to the new theme park menus -- entree and choice of sides like carrot sticks, applesauce, etc. My kids had their fill of that during the day.

3. It took several requests to get the chef to come out to our table. I was so uncomfortable with the unprepared server, that I actually had to insist on seeing the chef. At other WDW locations, the chef came to our table without requesting it.

4. When the chef was speaking to me about the menu and what would be safe for DD he actually recommended -- and here's the truly shocking part for me -- that she eat the ice cream offered as a dessert choice. He said it was Haagen-Dazs Vanilla. Now, admittedly, I am super-cautious about what my DD can and cannot eat. But, she has had reactions from mass-produced ice cream before, so we simply do not eat what I call "supermarket ice cream" unless the manufacturer labels for cross-contamination, which Haagen-Dazs does not.

It was such a disappointment on our last night. My DD could pick up on my stress and was crying by the time her food was served and was much too frightened to eat. Not a way to end our vacation at WDW at all.

On a positive note, unlike mtakac, we had a marvelous experience at the California Grill this time. The server and the chef were unbelievably helpful and, in sharp contrast to Spoodles, the chef was able to assure me that the ice cream was safe for DD. He said they make all their ice cream at the restaurant and that they no longer make any ice cream with peanuts, nuts or peanut/nut derivitives because so many of their customers are allergic and that they haven't for months.

DVCDawn