Walt Disney World Feb 2007

Careful, it's a long one.....

Well, we just had our first "magical" trip to the Magic Kingdom! If I hear "have a magical day" one more time though, I might scream [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] My sons are 6 & 4. My 6yo is P/TN allergic, and the 4 yo is avoiding, but still negative so far. We did the Disney meal plan, which was worth it for us. We also opted for a taxi to the hotel rather than the free bus for two reasons - I had friends that took the 3-hour tour getting to their hotel via the Disney bus, and by taking the car service, it included a complimentary grocery store stop, so we picked up a gallon of milk, bagels, yogurt, oj, etc. so we could eat breakfast in the room some of the days. I had also requested a microwave in the room, which they gave us w/no hassle. Voila - instant oatmeal. Worked out great to have snacks back in the room - all that walking makes kids hungry at night!

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge & loved it. Boys had bunk beds & it was close to the Magic Kingdom (by boat). They have a musical light show on boats go by the hotel every night at 9:30.

I had made reservations for 7 of our meals, and the rest we played by ear. When you make reservations (407-WDW-DINE), they put in the reservation who has food allergies, and then the chef comes to the table to talk to you. So, I did not feel compelled to speak to each chef before we arrived (although it probably would have helped a couple times). I think that WDW should try to expand the options for kids on the meal plans, b/c I felt that they ate chicken fingers, fries & pizza all week (but they are not adventuresome eaters at all). Also, the deserts are not always safe, so I had packed a box of Pepperidge Farm Mini Chocolate Chunk cookies (box w/9 bags), and Rice Krispy treats as stand-by deserts. My kids don't eat desserts after every meal, but Disney meals come with desserts, so be prepared for them to be upset when they say they're not safe. If you avoid cross-x items, you're like us & there are some things to watch - mostly baked goods. If you don't avoid the cross-x's then you'll have a pretty easy time.

Here's where we ate:
The Contemporary: Concourse Steakhouse. Chef was very nice, but breads were Cross-x. 6yo very upset (he's Italian & loves bread). Also, it was a long day (1st night there), so carbs are a comfort. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] He had the grilled chicken & was able to have ice cream w/hershey's syrup, so he ended up happy.

The Contemporary: Chef Mickey's - character buffet breakfast. Chef came to our table, walked me through the line. Baked goods cross-x, plus a pb pizza! So, she offered to make my boys fresh waffles (Mickey heads!) and deliver them to the table. They also had Krispy Kreme donuts, so the boys were ecstatic (our local location closed a year ago). Great experience.

Wilderness Lodge: One of their restaurants, Whispering Canyon Cafe, couldn't guarantee the safety of their baked goods (cross-contamination), so we actually didn't eat there. Their Roaring Fork Snacks (counter-service) was ok - the boys got pancakes & had no problems w/them, we got egg-croissant sandwiches.

Magic Kingdom: Tony's Town Square - breads were safe - no problem. Ice cream ok too. I think they had pizza for dinner. We also ate at Peco's Bill Cafe (boys had sloppy joe's) no problems here, either. One really friendly place was Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe - I asked about the nuts before we ordered & they gave us a special table reserved for the "family of the day". I forget the name of the ice cream parlor at the end of Main Street (close to the castle), but we ate there & had no problems. The ice cream cones were Keebler waffle cones, and the ice cream was Edy's. I'm usually not comfortable w/store-bought ice cream, but the mgr. assured me that Edy's makes it specifically for Disney & it's nut-free - we could pick from chocolate, vanilla, strawberry & I think something else. We did the vanilla w/out incident.

Epcot: Garden Grill w/Chip & Dale - chef came to table, was really nice. Bread made there, safe, gave us 4 extra rolls to take w/us for other meals (ie. dinner that night). They had cupcakes for dessert, with icing & sprinkles to decorate themselves. My 6yo said the icing make his throat tickle. I asked about it - it was homemade whipping cream icing? He didn't eat the rest of the icing - just the cupcake & was fine. Lunch was family-style & was really good. The extra rolls came in handy that night at Le Cellier steakhouse (Canada). Bread was not safe there - so they ate their rolls & were happy. Food was great there!

MJM: Who can resist Pizza Planet w/2 boys? Pizza was pretty good. Desserts not safe though. We also had reservations at Hollywood & Vine (which gave us preferred seating for the Fantasmic laser light show at night - worth it!!). Food here was buffet, no peanuts but a few tree nuts. Chicken nuggets & fries for kids, mac n' chees. No problems.

Animal Kingdom: Donald's Breakfastosaurus - fun place & it's all dinosaur-themed - my boys loved it. Buffet - all pretty much safe except for baked goods. Had KK donuts though [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] We had lunch at Pizzafari - kids had, you guessed it, pizza. They did have Pb&j there - but pre-wrapped & made off-site. I just had one of their staff wipe our table down. Sandwiches were good for the big kids (me & dh).

Animal Kingdom Logde: Ate dinner at Boma - awesome experience. Head chef, Tjepjet, TJ for short - was so nice & very very helpful. Most of the food there was African, and he was so helpful to explain it all to me to tell me what was safe, etc. They had the fries, chic nuggets, mac n cheese stand-by for the kids. He didn't want my boys eating the desserts, and asked if he could make them a special dessert - if they liked chocolate...I said sure, why not? At the end of dinner, he presented this tower of a dessert - the base was about a 1/3 of a pineapple w/ a large skewer sticking in it. On the skewer were 6 big puffy things with choc. sauce drizzled all over it, and a couple yo-yo's & fake snakes at the base of the plate. The puffy things turned out to be batter-dipped oreos, which were then deep fried. Unbelievable. It was a lot of fun.

I think that's everything. Not the most interesting post, but I thought it might be helpful if you're traveling there this spring or summer. Have fun! By the way, we flew USAIR w/no problems.

Edited to add:

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we went to Downtown Disney & wanted to eat at Wolfgang Pucks EXPRESS (not the sit-down rest.) b/c it was on the dining plan. The chef told me about 98% of the food they prepare is done so using peanut oil. Draw your own conclusions. TJ from Boma couldn't believe it [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] So, that left us w/McD's for lunch. The Earl of Sandwich is there too, but my kids aren't big on sandwiches.

Have a great trip!!! We'll definitely be back someday.

[This message has been edited by MJMD (edited February 21, 2007).]