A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to spend a week in the most magical place on earth — Walt Disney World! I wasn’t worried at all about finding food to eat that was gluten free, because in the past, there has never been a place that I have visited that addresses food allergies as well as Disney does. I do, however, have a couple of tips.
- Make sure you note the food allergy in your dining reservation either by phone to Disney Dining or through the My Disney Experience app and website.
- Confirm when checking in at the restaurant and with your server exactly who has the above mentioned food allergy.
- If eating at a quick serve restaurant, make sure to ask for the allergy friendly menu to order from. Note that as of January 2018, you cannot order from the allergy friendly menu when pre-ordering quick service meals through the My Disney Experience app.
Now that we’ve got all the particulars out of the way, let’s get to the food! 🙂
Our first stop was to Trail’s End Restaurant at the Fort Wilderness Resort for Sunday brunch.
Note: If you are driving there, don’t do what I did and think you can drive all the way back to the restaurant. There are no roads that go there and no car parking there. Instead, park in the parking lot near the check-in area (the Outpost). Walk over to the bus stop and take the bus to the Settlement. Trail’s End Restaurant is a short walk straight in front of you on the left when you get off the bus. We had no idea and ended up being about *ahem* 35 minutes late for our reservation time.
Trail’s End is a buffet, so I have to be more careful about what I eat. I mostly ate the breakfast usuals — scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and fruit.. lots of fruit.
You can also request certain items to be prepared in the kitchen and brought out to you. I requested some Mickey waffles. They were delicious!
The next day, we were in the Animal Kingdom and stopped for lunch at Flame Tree BBQ.
I would love to show you a picture of the gluten free pulled pork sandwich with fruit that I ate, but after spending two and a half hours waiting in line for the Na’vi River Journey, I was starving and completely forgot to take a picture of it. If I had remembered, it would have looked something like this. Also, it wasn’t on the allergy-friendly menu, but my husband ordered the french fries with pulled pork and cheese which we were told could be made gluten free. (And, if I had remembered to take a picture of those, it would have looked something like this.) However, that dish couldn’t be made gluten free that particular day because one of their fryers was down and they were frying the french fries in the same oil as the onion rings. Oh well.
Before leaving the Animal Kingdom, I was sure to stop and get a Mickey Bar!
On Wednesday, we had breakfast at Boma – Flavors of Africa, one of my most favorite restaurants on the Disney property.
In the past, a chef has come out and given me a tour of the buffet pointing out all of the gluten free options. This time, they had a handy allergen guide with a map of each station. This new guide made it easier to have something to look back on for reference.
On the back of the allergen guide was a list of the gluten free items that could be requested from the kitchen and brought to your table. And once again, I ordered some gluten free Mickey waffles! What can I say? These are amazing and I don’t get waffles that often!
From the bar, I ate mostly eggs, meat and fruit — much the same items that I ate at Trail’s End.
Our next park stop was a big day at the Magic Kingdom! I am a huge Beauty and the Beast fan and my number one priority was to get reservations at Be Our Guest!
We went for lunch and immediately upon walking in, I was awestruck! Even before eating any of the food, I knew this was going to be my favorite place. The ambiance was spot on and it really felt like you were in the castle — an absolutely immersive experience!
For food, Be Our Guest is one of the table service restaurants that you can pre-order your food (even allergy friendly). So, I got the gluten free version of the French Dip sandwich with pomme frites (fries) which just meant it came on different bread and without the dip — so, more like just a roast beef sandwich. It was good – a little drier than I would prefer – but that is usually true for gluten free bread.
Now, of course, you can bet that before we left the Magic Kingdom I had a Dole Whip!
For dinner that night, we went to Beaches & Cream Soda Shop over at Disney’s Beach Resort.
This was our first visit to Beaches & Cream and it did not disappoint! We had a great server who was really knowledgeable about recommending things I could eat beyond what was written on the allergy friendly menu.
I had the Angus Beef Burger with fries and my husband and I split the No Way Jose for dessert. “Oh My!” is all I can say. They were both amazing! We’re still trying to figure out how we can re-create the No Way Jose at home (mostly that peanut butter sauce)! Yum!
Our last day was our Hollywood Studios day, so before heading over there, we had lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge.
This is my husband’s favorite Disney restaurant, so we always try to make at least one visit when we come (he’s a big fan of bbq). For this meal, I ordered the All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Skillet with gluten free cornbread. It was, as usual, pretty awesome. But, to be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a meal at Disney World that was bad. They’ve gotta be doing something right!
At Hollywood Studios, I picked up another Mickey Bar and a souvenir bucket of popcorn. I don’t feel like I can ever leave Disney without a souvenir bucket of popcorn!
And, then we headed home the next morning. 🙁
What’s your favorite restaurants at Disney World? Any amazing gluten free finds that you’d like to share? I’m always open to trying new things. I’m looking for an Epcot recommendation. I’ve tried La Hacienda de San Angel and the Biergarten, but I’d love to try like Restaurant Marrakesh or Nine Dragons Restaurant! Let me know if you have any experience with their gluten free selections!
