Disappointed with Allergy Menus

[Betty Rohrer]

at WDW the only time grandson reacted to peanuts was not even at a restaurant but in a ride line. with guests being able to bring in food and eating anywhere. yes we know it was in line as he reacts as soon as he comes in contact and it had been a couple of hours since we ate. so I agree having one allergy free will not help much as long as guests can bring food in

 

[Chelley00]

at WDW the only time grandson reacted to peanuts was not even at a restaurant but in a ride line. with guests being able to bring in food and eating anywhere. yes we know it was in line as he reacts as soon as he comes in contact and it had been a couple of hours since we ate. so I agree having one allergy free will not help much as long as guests can bring food in

It may not be guests bringing food in. You can get peanut butter and peanuts in lots of different places at WDW. They can ban outside food coming in but then you still have uncrustables at counter services

 

[Accident]

I didn't realize that. Waiters just plopped the menu in front of us and didn't explain. Good to know for next trip! Thanks!

You can also request to discuss your allergy situation with the chef and they will come right out. This used to be standard but when they started to introduce the allergy menu, the consolation with the chef became by request.

 

[Planogirl]

It may not be guests bringing food in. You can get peanut butter and peanuts in lots of different places at WDW. They can ban outside food coming in but then you still have uncrustables at counter services

Plus someone could have fed their kids peanut butter and then neglected to clean them up well before going to the parks.

 

[Tom P.]

All these allergies. Never an issue until the 90's. When we were going to school in the 70's and 80's allergies didn't exist.

I hate to burst your bubble, but I was born in 1976, and I've known I had a peanut allergy since at least kindergarten or first grade. Food allergies most definitely did exist in the 70's and 80's. It's not like people suddenly started being allergic to certain foods in the 90's.

That being said, I do agree that it seems like the number of people with allergies has increased exponentially in the last couple of decades. Some of this could, actually, be a change in the number of people with allergies. But I suspect it is actually a combination of three things -- the easily available medical information on the Internet convincing people to self-diagnose as "allergic" to one thing or another when, in fact, they're not; our society's ever-increasing entitlement mentality that says you always must cater to me and my specific needs; and our lawsuit happy society that will sue a company for even the slightest mistake.

As someone with a severe food allergy, I still respect the rights of others, and that includes the rights of restaurant owners to choose whether or not to specially cater to customers with food allergies. The way I see it, a restaurant has three viable choices: agree to custom make dishes for anyone who asks; provide a menu that specifically calls out certain allergens, but not provide customization beyond that; or simply say that you guarantee nothing about allergens and don't custom make dishes and tell people that they eat at their own risk. I am fine with any of those choices. But as a customer, I should be able to rely that whatever information you put out is accurate and that your staff won't make a life-threatening mistake.

 

[Hibiscus]

All these allergies. Never an issue until the 90's. When we were going to school in the 70's and 80's allergies didn't exist.

I feel for you if you do have these issues. But 98% of the rest of the world does not have your problems.

Disney should designate 1 location at every park as "allergy free". People can go there if they need to.

But do not go to Ohana and complain that you can't be near peanuts, and ask my family to move or not eat the peanut dipping sauce next to you. (yaeh, this has happened so I am a but bitter).

I would be disinclined to acquiesce to this request.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I would be disinclined to acquiesce to this request.

Love It !

 

[Baklava]

That being said, I do agree that it seems like the number of people with allergies has increased exponentially in the last couple of decades. Some of this could, actually, be a change in the number of people with allergies. But I suspect it is actually a combination of three things -- the easily available medical information on the Internet convincing people to self-diagnose as "allergic" to one thing or another when, in fact, they're not; our society's ever-increasing entitlement mentality that says you always must cater to me and my specific needs; and our lawsuit happy society that will sue a company for even the slightest mistake.

Also that people with life threatening allergies are living longer. Heightened awareness and better treatments means a 4 year old with an ANA reaction becomes a 5 year old instead of a tragedy a lot more often.

 

[CynBeth]

We just had a great experience on our trip. Two people in our party have allergies not covered by the menu and the waiter/waitress at every TS for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was great about immediately bringing a chef out and every chef we encountered was wonderful. They even came out later to make sure everything was fine.

 

[North of Mouse]

You can thank the cheaters for the reduction in care. It happens with evey special thing Disney does.

Yes it does! There's a huge (life threatening) difference between a true allergy and a 'sensitivity' to a certain food, but we hear every where people saying they are 'allergic' to this or that, with 'gluten' being one of the latest 'trends'.

Several years ago, it was 'low glycemic', and everyone had to have 'special' diets, then people tired of it, and went on to other 'special' foods needs.

I really sympathize with people that have true allergies. We know a young lady that nearly died as a baby before they finally found that she was truly allergic to gluten. But, all the complaining people that have sensitivity issues are making people like Disney less able to handle the huge thing it has become.

Reminds me of the fake service dog issue - should be more 'leeway' in the questions allowed to be asked - people with true needs should have no issues with this as it their protection - I certainly wouldn't.

 

[pavicich]

We stopped having the chef come to our table years ago. We have gluten, dairy and nut allergies in our family. It became embarrassing almost to have the chef be bothered every single meal (we typically do brunch and sig dinner daily). We all know what we can and cannot order when we go out to eat every other day of our lives outside of the Disney bubble so we stopped listing it on our reso since they still felt obligated to come to the table and we just didn't need nor want the attention-the kitchen and chef have other things to do to be frank.

 

[Nancyg56]

All these allergies. Never an issue until the 90's. When we were going to school in the 70's and 80's allergies didn't exist.

I feel for you if you do have these issues. But 98% of the rest of the world does not have your problems.

Disney should designate 1 location at every park as "allergy free". People can go there if they need to.

But do not go to Ohana and complain that you can't be near peanuts, and ask my family to move or not eat the peanut dipping sauce next to you. (yaeh, this has happened so I am a but bitter).

WHile it is not reasonable to go to a restaurant that serves peanut dipping sauces as part of their menu and expect the guests near you to change their dining preferences, it is also not reasonable to designate an allergy free area in each park and tell people they can "go there."

Allergies always were in existance, but they were not diagnosed as well "back in the day." Just because you did not know that people suffered from food borne allergies does not negate the fact that people did indeed have them.

 

[GreatLakes]

I can't really blame Disney on this one. Stopping what you are doing to go out and speak to table after table about their allergies would annoy the heck out of me if I were the chef. I's want to stay in the kitchen and let the wait staff deal with the guests...the way most restaurants are designed.

 

[PghPiratesGirl]

Not Disney, but we were at our closest major league ballpark over the summer and the family sitting next to us got all upset and asked us not to eat our peanuts as their kid has a peanut allergy.
First off, you are at a BALLPARK. They even mention peanuts in the song "take me out to the ballgame!"
Second, at this stadium they actually have a peanut free section, which they didn't bother to buy tickets for. (we were NOT sitting in a peanut free section.)
So I feel you.

All these allergies. Never an issue until the 90's. When we were going to school in the 70's and 80's allergies didn't exist.

I feel for you if you do have these issues. But 98% of the rest of the world does not have your problems.

Disney should designate 1 location at every park as "allergy free". People can go there if they need to.

But do not go to Ohana and complain that you can't be near peanuts, and ask my family to move or not eat the peanut dipping sauce next to you. (yaeh, this has happened so I am a but bitter).

 

[fallen_angel727]

What do they do with buffets? Hubby has a lactose issue, so in the past I have requested a milk allergy to keep him comfortable and keep our day running smoothly (no flames please). Last year we didn't get a menu of any kind, but the chef came out. So if there is a menu now do they have to order from that instead of the buffet?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I would think that if you are in the restaurant, you do not have the right to tell persons sitting at tables around you what they can or can not order or eat. it is up to you and your family to accommodate your allergic family member. It's also up to the restaurant to provide a reasonable accommodation, which would be to prepare foods free of the allergen for the allergic person, or not provide condiments containing allergens to the table occupied by an allergic person. It is not reasonable to say that neighboring parties must be subjected to the same restrictions in a public restaurant.

Also applies to the ballpark which had a peanut-free zone. Are they also required to accommodate persons who are outside the peanut free zone? Does that change when there is no availability in the peanut free zone?

There was a DIS thread some time ago regarding cruises, from a parent with a peanut allergic child who wanted her family to have the usual cruise experience regarding being seated with other parties in the dining rooms, but she wanted to stipulate that the persons matched up to share a table with her family could not order or consume anything containing peanuts. She got upset when other posters said they would ask to be moved, as she considered that to be discriminatory treatment regarding her child. But then, she expected perfect strangers to alter their dining habits for a full vacation in order to accommodate her desire that her family be treated like every other family onboard.

There are no menus at buffets. Although I disagree with stating one has an allergy in order to avoid an intolerance, a chef will consult with you if you ask them to. They will, however, treat him as if he actually has an allergy.

 

[PghPiratesGirl]

Since we don't have anyone in my family with any food allergies, I cannot answer the question regarding the peanut free zone.
All I know is there is one, and to have the family giving us dirty looks while enjoying our peanuts made us all really uncomfortable.
Miller Park is the stadium we have season tickets at, and any time we have had any reason to visit guest relations, they have always bent over backwards to help us.
If this family had issue with peanuts and either a: didn't know about the peanut free zone or b:the peanut free zone was full, they should have visited guest services.
Anyway, I didn't mean to derail the conversation, just wanted to point out a similar circumstance.

I would think that if you are in the restaurant, you do not have the right to tell persons sitting at tables around you what they can or can not order or eat. it is up to you and your family to accommodate your allergic family member. It's also up to the restaurant to provide a reasonable accommodation, which would be to prepare foods free of the allergen for the allergic person, or not provide condiments containing allergens to the table occupied by an allergic person. It is not reasonable to say that neighboring parties must be subjected to the same restrictions in a public restaurant.

Also applies to the ballpark which had a peanut-free zone. Are they also required to accommodate persons who are outside the peanut free zone? Does that change when there is no availability in the peanut free zone?

There are no menus at buffets. Although I disagree with stating one has an allergy in order to avoid an intolerance, a chef will consult with you if you ask them to.

 

[fallen_angel727]

There are no menus at buffets. Although I disagree with stating one has an allergy in order to avoid an intolerance, a chef will consult with you if you ask them to. They will, however, treat him as if he actually has an allergy.

They have always treated us as if it were an allergy and we appreciated that. And while I respect your (and anyone elses) opinion on the matter, and I understand why many wouldn't agree, for us it used to be a matter of if hubby had anything with dairy he would have to spend the entire day in the room in pain and miss out. This includes eggs cooked with milk, potatoes with cheese etc as he would be extremely sick. He has a new medication however that helps tremendously as he has little to no problems here at home now

 

[PghPiratesGirl]

They have always treated us as if it were an allergy and we appreciated that. And while I respect your (and anyone elses) opinion on the matter, and I understand why many wouldn't agree, for us it used to be a matter of if hubby had anything with dairy he would have to spend the entire day in the room in pain and miss out. This includes eggs cooked with milk, potatoes with cheese etc as he would be extremely sick. He has a new medication however that helps tremendously as he has little to no problems here at home now

If he has meds that he takes at home and has little to no problems, why would he have problems at
WDW? Won't he be taking the meds on vacation?

 

[kdlucie]

We went to Disney in 2013 with my 3 kiddos, and my 2 boys have severe tree nut and peanut allergies. Our week at disney world was the most relief in dining I have ever had. At that time, at each restaurant, a chef came to our table, asked about allergies, and pointed to us on the menu what was safe, what wasn't and what may be unsafe (some breads he was not sure about flour). At this time we didn't request to see any chefs, this was automatic.

On Thanksgiving morning it was my son's 6th birthday and we had reservations at Tusker House for the breakfast buffet. When we arrived the restaurant was dark. It turns out that they had just lost power. They already had some stuff ready to go so we were allowed to be seated with the first crowd. In the middle of what I can imagine was chaos for the staff, the chef STILL came out, walked us through the buffet and pointed to things. She then proceeded to use a hotplate to make my kids mickey pancakes from allergen free mix.

I was BLOWN AWAY by the care Disney World showed my boys. In a world where far too many people claim "It's not my problem it's yours" it was so refreshing. That said, I did my research and didn't bring them to certain places like Ohanas etc. I also would never ask someone not to eat peanuts at a ballpark - My boys know not to touch them. But for every annoying experience you may have with someone there are 100 other families who are respectful and deal every day with a life threatening condition for their kids.