Mobile ordering with food allergies

[Deanie1]

Are most counter services places just mobile ordering now? I am celiac so is there a way to indicate this? I would prefer seeing an allergy menu. TIA

 

[kevgraub]

The mobile orders generally have allergy friendly options on the menu when you order. My understanding is that you can go up to the counter and order if you want, you just need to tell the cast member what is going on.

I am celiac as as well, and had no issues at all with mobile ordering on our trip in June. I would go into the allergy friendly portion of the menu and pick items from there that were listed as gluten free. Everything was prepared separately, marked as being for an allergy, and brought out on a separate tray from the rest of my families food. Had no issues with messed up orders or cross contamination all week.

The only issue we had (and it was not really a problem) is that allergy orders will take considerably longer to prepare than the rest of the food. After hitting "I'm here" on the app, we generally waited an additional 20 minutes or so to get our food when there was an allergy order. When I was not eating, the food usually was ready in about 5 minutes.

 

[Deanie1]

Thanks for this! i have only used the mobile ordering a couple of times on our last trip in 2017, before my diagnosis. I had no idea that there was an allergy section on the app. Can you hit the “I’m here button“ before you get there, like ten mins before so your wait is not as long? Or would that be frowned upon?

 

[kevgraub]

Thanks for this! i have only used the mobile ordering a couple of times on our last trip in 2017, before my diagnosis. I had no idea that there was an allergy section on the app. Can you hit the “I’m here button“ before you get there, like ten mins before so your wait is not as long? Or would that be frowned upon?

You absolutely can hit it early. I believe the button only opens up once you are close enough to the restaurant, but I would not swear to that. We would routinely hit it about 5 minutes early, and then wish we had done it sooner.

I was diagnosed fairly recently as well, and this was my first trip after being diagnosed. I was a little nervous about it all, but it was really not an issue at all with either TS or CS restaurants. I'd suggest going into the app and poking around the gluten free options at the different CS restaurants before you go. I think just about every place can accommodate your allergy with something from the menu, but there are certainly some places with significantly more options than others.

Also, I absolutely loved Erin McKenna's bakery in Disney Springs. The entire bakery is gluten free. Been a long time since I walked in anywhere and was able to pick out anything I wanted without asking if it was gluten free. Tons of options and everything I got was very good (strawberry shortcake, pineapple upside down cake, cookie sandwich).

Also at DS, the Boathouse had amazing GF rolls. The ones on Disney property were fine, but pretty much what you expect from a frozen GF roll (in the case of Crystal Palace - literally still frozen inside when they served it). Boathouse at least tasted freshly made and was as close to a regular roll as I have seen. Decent bread rolls is one of the things I miss most eating out now, so that was a nice treat. Its amazing how you start noticing the little things like that after a while...

 

[Mike1082]

And don't be afraid to ask if things on the regular menu can be modified! I have eaten many options that weren't specifically listed on the "Gluten friendly" menus. You'd be surprised what the chef wizards can come up with

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Typically, there is a CM near the entrance of the QS restaurant. I think they all hold some sort of tablet or smart device. I actually stumbled across this short-cut, but you can speak directly to a CM for assistance to put in your mobile order and they can push it through right away. Now, I won't vouch for this as an option for large orders for an entire family. But, I was able to ask and receive a mobile order right away for a "Wookie Cookie" in HS, even though the mobile order window was 1-hour out. So, perhaps you can speak to the CM about helping with allergy friendly meals and substitutions too? It doesn't hurt to ask and I've found that CMs tend to bend over backwards to help guests with health conditions and accommodations.

 

[philharmagic fan]

DH has celiac, and we've been pleased with mobile ordering, although as noted, allergy-friendly orders take longer (but they did prior to covid when we ordered at the register; no big difference between then and now). At Regal Eagle the site listed an onion ring topper on the gluten-free burger, but we spoke with a manager who told us that it was a glitch and they'd automatically leave off non-allergy-friendly items. One point, though - most of the resort QS venues don't have the option to mobile-order allergy items, but we've always been allowed to go inside and place the order for our entire party with the chef/manager. As far as bread goes - Whispering Canyon has great house-made GF cornbread. Also, at the Plaza the chef took the standard pre-packaged GF roll, sliced it, put on a little olive oil, and browned it on the grill - nice change from the usual bagged and recently thawed option. And we second the endorsement of Erin McKenna's - we're local and stop there about twice a month. Tons of good options!

 

[123SA]

Just a note to say a sincere thank you to those who have responded. Headed to WDW next month for first time after celiac diagnosis for DS and I truly appreciate your responses.

 

[Dug720]

You might have to order in person at resort QS places - many of them do not have the allergy menu on there.

I’ll also caution that Erin McKenna’s seems to be a love it or hate it place. I am in the hate it camp - hated it when she was “Babycakes NYC” and still hate it. I would rather skip dessert than have her crap. I have to wonder if some of the “love it” camp are there JUST because they aren’t limited to a few things. I would rather be limited and have something really good than choke down something dry and gross just because I wasn’t limited.

 

[123SA]

Reporting back with info from out recent trip - 8/7 - 8/18. My son has celiac disease. He had one minor issue on the last day of the trip. He's not sure what it was from but thinks it may not have been any food he ordered, but rather from drinking out of the wrong water bottle.

We used mobile order for counter service with no problems at
AOA resort multiple times
Polite Pig
Peco's bills - chicken nachos
Liberty Tree Market turkey leg (maybe not mobile order)
Columbia Harbor House
Aloha Isle dole whips
Flame Tree
Regal Eagle
Pizza Rizzo
ABC Commissary

In person order
Australia Food booth, Donut Food booth (Strawberry Smoothie)


Restaurants - Liberty Tree Tavern, Yak & Yeti, Hollywood & Vine, Oga's Cantina (drinks), Nomad's Lounge (churros), Coral Reef, Crystal Palace


We also ate at the following places at Universal: Margaritaville, Mythos, Confisco Grill, Hard Rock, The Kitchen, NBC Grill -- we avoided counter service. He did have frozen Butter Beer as well

 

[Pinkgirl0814]

We were just there two weeks ago. My daughter is on a very complex medical restricted diet and we cannot do mobile ordering. If you do not feel comfortable using mobile ordering, you can still order with a cast member at the register (this instruction is per the special dietary team at Disney). Just tell the cast member at the entrance of the quick service that you have allergies and that you can not use mobile ordering. They will let you inside to order for yourself and your entire party the “old fashion way.” Each quick service that we went to was very accommodating and the cast members were phenomenal about helping us with what we needed. On a side note, the lines inside were not long at all. There were also people that needed to order in person for other reasons like paying with cash. Don’t hesitate to order in person if you need too- they will be happy to accommodate you!