How to order food and drink with allergies at a Disney quick service or festival booth is a top priority when you have serious allergies. Eating out with allergies can be risky for those of us who have severe allergies to certain foods. You have to worry about mistakes being made in the kitchen, miscommunications with the kitchen, cross contamination…It can be nerve wracking for sure. That’s why we usually choose to eat at a sit down restaurant where we can talk to servers, chefs, or managers to have our allergies addressed safely and with confidence. Sometimes, we don’t want to take the time for a sit down nor do we want to miss the festival booths at Epcot!
Cast members are happy to help and want to keep you safe, so don’t hesitate to ask. First, we review the menu items either on a menu board or in the festival booklet.
Some menu items are marked with “G” in a colored circle that represent ‘Gluten/Wheat – friendly”. Our allergy is very serious so we always double check the gluten free aspect, when it says “gluten friendly”.
We usually say “Hi, I’m interested in “menu item”, and I see it’s gluten friendly, but we have a serious allergy that we were wondering if you could check on?” One of us is also allergic to xanthan gum, so we add that to our request.
Normally, the cast member will consult the Manager or the Chef to verify ingredients for your allergies. It’s always best to speak with the Chef directly if you can, but they are not always available and a manager will help you. By speaking directly with the manager or chef, sometimes they can offer menu items not normally listed as gluten free.
At Satuuli in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, they have an allergy specialist cast member who will help you with ingredients listed on an ipad. This is one of the easiest and most reliable quick service restaurants to order food with allergies. Be sure to tell the cashier, before ordering, that you have multiple allergies and would like to speak to someone to order.
If at any time you don’t feel confident in the cast members to provide an allergy free food item, just say “No thank you, I don’t feel safe eating that item.” Or it may not be worth purchasing the item if they have to leave on too many components that will affect the overall taste and experience.
Next time you head to Disney, stop by a quick service or Epcot festival booth and try out ordering some allergen free food!
