Type 1 Diabetes and Carb Counts

[scanne]

Hello.
My son was diagnosed with T1D right after our trip last summer and we're now planning for summer 2019.
Do the restaurants have carb counts for their food items? We are trying to avoid buffets this time cause it's just too hard to count.

Is there a thread about this? (I am sure there probably is). Thank you!

 

[SteveH]

They don't have carb count info that I found, except for prepared/packaged foods. However your general Carb count info will apply. In Jan of 2018 I was full on cutting carbs, I knew I was going to splurge some but I took the time to look over the menus for every restaurant I planned to eat at. Places like Peco's Bill, Marrakesh, etc. gave me a good idea of what I could eat on the menu and what I'd need to avoid. Obviously fried & battered items needed to be avoided, fries, rice and potatoes. With the list of possible menu items your son will want to eat you can come up with similar foods and find the carb counts. For example if he wants chicken nuggets you can take the store brand or McDonald's as an example. If you google "Disney Diabets" or "Disney Low Carb" you'll find some great help. Specifically I came across a couple really good pages for Disney with T1D for kids.

 

[bumbershoot]

They don’t really provide this. If you’re willing to wait at QS places to look at ingredient lists that might give you an idea for those places.

But the preponderance of “after the fact” posts I’ve seen seem to be more about lows from all the activity during a Wdw trip. I think people worry ahead of time about foods and insulin doses, but then they get there and find it’s the opposite problem.

The DISabilities forum here might have more info for you.

 

[bphilb]

I'm type 1 and wish the menus had carb counts. I use the MyFitnessPal app to log all of my food and the Disney restaurants are found there. It's not perfect as portion sizes can vary but it generally gets me in the ballpark. As bumbershoot said though it's lows that can sneak up on you. The amount of walking you do and spending a lot of time swimming can really drop your blood sugar quickly. I've been multiple times though and have never had a bad experience.

 

[Marissa227]

I don't think the restaurants have carb counts. DS17 is a Type 1 diabetic and we have done two trips with him so far, our third will be in May. I always be sure to schedule planned sit-down meals with him at regular intervals. I don't think its really going to matter whether you do buffet or sit-down because you're going to have to have an idea of your own portion size either way. One good thing about a buffet is that you can have as much as you want of your salads and proteins, and then just take an appropriate portion of your carbs. Pack snacks, and don't over do it. Like others have said, high levels of activity and getting overheated can really affect his blood sugar so be prepared and check his levels frequently.

 

[scanne]

Thank you all so much. This is very helpful and a great start to our planning.