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Sorry this has taken me a while to do a summary--kids, hubbie, and job change made it hectic, but things are calming down now!

The consensus is that Disney is a great place for a Celiac to visit because they accommodate you and KNOW their stuff.  

The main thing I would say that a lot of people said was to contact the head chef at Disney World and the head chef at Sea World.  
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This is a summary of all the replies I received from you.  

DISNEY

Disney is very accommodating. All of the sit-down restaurants can offer you gluten free menu choices, including bread, rolls, pasta, pancakes, etc. You should make reservations, and tell them that you will require a gluten-free meal. You don't really need to make your reservations far in advance though. We made ours from the hotel while we were there.


My 16 year old son is the celiac and we've had wonderful meals at the Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom. 

Great experiences: At MK, Sit down: Cinderella's Royal Table, Liberty Tree Tavern and Tony's Town Square; for counter service, Casey's Corner on Main 
Street. There is fresh fruit in Mickey's Toontown fair. The popcorn is GF. The strawberry fruit bars are GF. Sit down at EPCOT: the restaurant in Canada ("Le Cellier") and the restaurant in Norway (Akershus). You can email Brenda Bennett and she will email you a list of their GF items.

We have been there five times since my daughter was diagnosed. We always get a room with a kitchen, and make some of our own meals. If you want to spend the whole day in the parks, you can get food to eat. We liked the sit down meals the best.

My daughter and I just went to Disney MGM park last week in Orlando. I ask about the french fries being in a dedicated fryer and the hostess said that Disney is very careful because so many people and children visit with allergies of various kinds. She said all the french fries are done in dedicated fryers. Then she suggested that I have the cheeseburger without the bun and fries, which was fine for one meal, but I had trouble finding something different for dinner. Since one burger a day was more than enough for me, we left the park (it closed at 7 that night) and went to the ESPN restaurant and had nachos for dinner. (This was at Disney Boardwalk)


Contact Disney at 407-824-5967 and request their gluten free restaurant guide. They will email you a ton of information. We had a wonderful experience at all of the Disney restaurants that we went to. We did call ahead and let them know we were coming with the exception of one place and it was not an issue. There is a ton of information in the archives as well


We called ahead for Disney & had great meals at Cinderella's castle, a wonderful Italian restaurant in Italy that served me gf pasta and gf rolls, and La Celllier(or something like that) in Canada. Chefs talked to me at each meal - if you call ahead for breakfasts, you may be offered gf waffles, pancakes, or your own special meal! Enjoy!


Whether you eat in the parks or in the hotel restaurants on the grounds (some of which are excellent in addition to preparing GF), just ask to speak to the chef. They will come to your table and discuss what they can do with items on the menu. If given advance notice, most will try to do even more.

My other advice to you is to call the health food store before you leave on your trip & find out which location will be most convenient for you. (There are several locations of this large HFS.) (We did not do this first. Instead we spent 5 hours trying to locate the health food store. The address I had gotten from the archives was old. The store had moved & we had quite a bit of difficulty locating another store.) BTW, the store is large & very well-stocked. They carried all of our favorites as well as some new treats we'd never seen before. 

You will not have any problem eating there. That was one of the greatest things because every chef is well aware. Just be sure to start with finding a cashier FIRST and saying you need to talk to a chef because you have celiac disease. It was very easy after I found out you have to deal directly with the chefs and NOT the people directly in back of the counters! 

At buffets, the chef will usually come out and explain what is safe and what isn't. The staff is generally knowledgeable and helpful. Places that serve breakfast have even been able to make GF pancakes. My only word of caution, and I don't know if this is outdated or not, it to be careful of the bread they offer. They used to use a local bakery for their bread and while the bread itself was safe, there was some question of cross contamination in the bread from other wheat products made in the bakery. The stuff was delicious, some of the best bread I've had. 

We went down there for 9 days in Nov. I also took tons of stuff for your daughter to snack on and if needed things that could of been a meal. But I came home with most of our stuff. It was great down there. Just make sure you talk to the chef when you get there. I also called Brenda Bennett at 1-407-824-5967 she is the Executive Chef at Magic Kingdom and she has wonderful info she can e-mail to you the same day you call. Like what's ok to eat at the snack carts and at the eating places. Also can get in touch with other chefs. We did have to leave Mexico at epcot because they were to wishy washy for our liking on what was ok and what was not. We just didn't feel comfortable there and there is tons of other places we can go that know for sure and more then willing to help us. I also have Cheryl Smith at MGM 1-407-560-1230 I called her and let her know what days we would be at MGM and she told us where to go and what she could have. We even eat at the water parks. I would make sure you have your Priority seating arrangements made after you talk to these ladies and also tell then when you make your arrangements and they will mark it on there so the chef knows ahead of time as well. We have a great time and can't wait to go back. Where are you staying? We stayed at Pop Century and they were also wonderful for making her GF food when ever and what ever we needed. They also never change extra for any of her stuff. I hope you have a great time. It was so nice not to have to worry about the food at all. We also had the dinning plan which was great!!!! 



You might want to read our article on Disney World at www.alamoceliac.org Click on Defensive Dining, then On the Road, then Disney World

I love Disney. Any place that takes a reservation in any part of Disney is safe to eat. The food is great. Cosmos in tomorrowland of the Magic Kingdom did a great job accomondating the kids diet with no notice. They had great hamburgers. Made fries especially for the kids and got ketchup in individual packets from storage. Disney has the best gf brownies. The ice cream parlor on mainstreet in Magic kingdom has GF ice cream in the back kept separate to prevent cross contamination. You got to love Disney.


SEAWORLD

We hope you are looking forward to your trip to SeaWorld. We will be more than happy to assist you in your dining options. We have Sharks Underwater Grill,
which is our full service restaurant. If you decide to dine at Sharks, please ask to speak with Chef Tom Lazlo or Chef Bernie Goodman and they can assist you in your menu selection. We have other dining options in the park, I would suggest Seafire, Mango Joes or Voyagers, these restaurants have a varied selection of menu items for you to choose from. If you decide to eat at any of these restaurants I would ask to speak with the restaurant supervisor or ask to speak with Chef Scott. They will be able to assist you in your menu selection. If there is any thing I can help you with please don't hesitate to call.

Leonard Martinsen
Executive Chef/Director
SeaWorld Adventure Park & Discovery Cove
(407)363-2574



Thanks for the help--we look forward to going in May!!

Amy in Iowa

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