Walt Disney World with Food Allergies and an Anxious Mama Heart

As a family with multiple food allergies to manage, vacationing and eating out in general is no easy task. As a mama with anxiety, specifically regarding my kids and allergies, it is not just challenging but panic inducing. Now, before we get too far into this, I feel I need to preface this article by stating this is mine and my family's personal experiences and how we manage things. I know full and well that my anxiety plays a huge part in how cautious we are and that not everyone feels the need to manage their allergies in this way. Believe me, I have heard more than enough times from well meaning family and friends of how I could (and should) relax. If you feel the same, this article might not be useful for you. But, if you are looking for options on how to manage food allergies and anxiety and still enjoy time at Walt Disney World, keep reading and I hope you'll find this article helpful.

Allergy friendly Mickey waffle - the first food my daughter ever ate that was not made by myself or my husband.

The Backstory

For a little background, our youngest daughter was diagnosed with an egg, peanut and chickpea allergy around 9 months old. By 18 months, although she was testing negative for an IgE egg allergy, we discovered after a failed food challenge that she has a not as common type of food allergy called FPIES, which mostly affects her gastrointestinal system and has a delayed reaction time. FPIES does not respond to epinephrine and we know that for her, the reaction is so severe that she always needs IV fluids and hospital monitoring if she ingests eggs in any form, including baked. Her other allergies continue to be there as well and she does carry an Epi Pen for those.

Without going into too much detail, after my daughters failed food challenge, I felt the only way to protect her was to remove all possibilities of a reaction. And so from 18 months on, my husband and I cooked all her food from scratch - no packaged foods, no fast food, no restaurants, not even home cooked food from family or friends. This was also right around the time of Covid so it wasn't hard to adopt this way of life, but unfortunately, doing this just added to my anxiety. Once it was time to live life again, I couldn't do it. I wanted to continue keeping her safe at home, with us cooking for her, always. It was working, so why change it? But of course, she was getting older, it was time to send her to preschool and it really wasn't fair to her or her older sister to continue this way. And, by about 4 years old, she was asking to go to Disney World - a lot! I began going to therapy for my anxiety and started researching if visiting Disney World could be a possibility for us. We had gone to WDW with our oldest before she was diagnosed with food allergies and it was one of the best family vacations we had ever taken. I really wanted our youngest to experience that too!

Making It Work

I love research, so I dove into finding out everything I could about visiting WDW with food allergies. I knew I did not want to eat many meals there, but was hopeful to at least try one character dining experience. After a ton of research on food options, discussing budget with my husband, how many days we wanted to spend there, how we (really, how I) was most comfortable managing meals while there, I began researching resorts that would work for us.

This is how we make it work:

• We drive down to Orlando. We pack a cooler with a few days worth of frozen dinners that we make at home, along with some snacks.

• We order grocery delivery to the resort for perishables like fruit, milk, cheese.

• We always do a split stay. This is when you stay at multiple resorts during one vacation. This helps us with our budget.

• Our first resort is always a Deluxe Studio so we are guaranteed a mini fridge and microwave in the room. Most rooms at Disney World now have beverage coolers instead of actual fridges, which means it would not be a safe space to store food. We might try a family suite at All Star Music (which is a Value Resort) some day, since those rooms have a full size fridge and a microwave.

• Our second resort is always a 1 bedroom, which has a full kitchen. We bring our own pot and ingredients to make something easy like spaghetti - this way I know we're using brands that we've previously used.

  • DVC rooms (the deluxe studios and 1+ bedrooms) have real silverware, plates, etc. to use. They do get washed, but not necessarily sanitized, so we prefer to use disposable silverware and plates. The 1+ bedrooms and the Deluxe Studios at the new Polynesian Tower do have dishwashers though!

• We buy limited snacks in the park and always check the allergy binder at every location, every time. We do avoid eating at Animal Kingdom because peanuts seem to be prevalent there.

  
  

Her first non-homemade ice cream. Always check the ingredients list on the packaging to make sure it's safe for your allergies.

• We preplan and have reservations for just 1-2 table service dining locations at Disney owned restaurants. Many food locations at Epcot and Disney Springs are not Disney owned and their protocols may be different. I try to make dining reservations at non-peak times so hopefully the Cast Members are able to focus on our needs. I always contact Special Diets prior to our vacation and inform them of our allergies as well as where we have reservations. We tell the hostess and the waiter/waitress of our allergies, and we ask to speak with the Chef at the restaurant. For the most part the Chef's are wonderful about coming out and going over what would be ok and what wouldn't be based on our allergies. It's always best to review the allergy menu on the My Disney Experience app and have an idea of what you would like to order so you can inform the Chef and confirm if it is ok or ask if there is a modification that can be made. I always try to keep the orders pretty basic. At restaurants with a buffet, I always ask that my kids foods be brought out directly from the kitchen, instead of getting it from the buffet line. Always make sure the food arrives with an allergy stick in it. With character meals, there is always the added concern that everyone else is eating (possibly our allergens) and then hugging the same characters my kids are about to hug - which leads me to my next point.

• I bring a ton of hand sanitizing wipes with us. I am constantly making my kids wipe their hands - especially at meals, but also after rides and just in general throughout the day.

• We bring a small cooler with sandwiches, snacks and cold/frozen drinks into the parks. You can bring food in - just nothing that needs to be refrigerated or heated up, no loose ice in the cooler, and no glass containers.

• We carry 3 sets of epi pens for each child (and Zofran for my youngest). One set stays in the hotel. I carry one set and my husband carries another - this way, if we split up with the kids for any reason, we're not scrambling to remember the epi pens.

• Always trust your gut, ask questions and advocate. If the food item you receive doesn't look like what you asked for or what you expected, ask about it. Mistakes do happen, even at Disney, so don't lower your guard when it comes to food allergies.

I understand the fear and anxiety that comes with managing food allergies, especially when traveling. But please know that you're not alone. With careful planning and a proactive approach, you can create a safe and magical experience for your family at Walt Disney World. I hope reading about our experience helps you embark on your own adventure with confidence and joy. If you would like an extra hand with planning your Disney vacation, please reach out to me at: Treasures Untold Travels.