Planning Disney Vacation

[MaryM]

I know on the old board there were threads about Disney and  I know one of our members recently went and posted about her wonderful trip!  DH & I have decided that the big jolly elf will be bringing a family vacation to Disney this year.  We are gathering opinions and I value yours greatly, so any advice from where to stay (or not), where to eat, etc would be appreciated!  I know we will be doing a Princess Breakfast at Norway in Epcot and the Hoop de do Review.   Not sure where to stay - thinking about Animal Kingdom but concerned about distance to the parks.  We also plan to hit Legoland on our last day in Florida.  I think that the best part of this trip for my kids will be eating at restaurants - I may just cry when we sit down for our first meal there!  I am so excited!!

[Mezzo]

One of the best things I did to prepare for our Disneyworld days was to use the Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld book.  I checked the current issue out from the library and brought it with!    It was SO, so useful for understanding the details and making plans.  Way better than Birnbaums and others.

Disney is great ahead of time and at the restaurants for figuring out food allergy concerns.  Disney made me love them with that. 

[SweetandSour]

We went on our Honeymoon! I will dig up that thread.

They are just wonderful! Also, make sure to email special diets close to your trip. They send a form, you fill it out, then they make sure the places you have reservations for get a copy. Tickets for meals are stamped, there are allergy books everywhere. It was wonderful!

Here is the link: http://allergy.hyperboards.com/action/view_topic/topic_id/19431

[MaryM]

Thanks for the info & the thread!  I booked our vacation this morning! 

[Jimsmom]

Did anyone else see that AllergyEats just launched an entirely new microsite dedicated to Disney World?  (I don't exactly know what a microsite is, but it seems to be a regular web site.)  I wasn't sure how much this was needed since Disney seems to do a great job everywhere, but I was surprised that not all the restaurants have positive ratings.  Must have something to do with some not being operated by Disney itself.  Oh, the site is link removed please post links in the commercial section.

[SweetandSour]

I think it's all about the planning, you know? Check the box when you make a reservation , and fill out the special diets form.

Also, I didn't make plans to go anywhere that seemed like they were nutty.

Within reason of allergies, you could eat pretty much anywhere.

[MaryM]

We are going to the Hoop De Do Review, Breakfast at Cinderella's castle, Le Cellier in Epcot & Sci Fi in Hollywood Studios.  Just checked the box, sent the email and asked about qucik service.  I think we are all set.  Was hoping to do Chef Mickey but I think 7:00am may be a tad too early for my kids and that the only time I could find.  Have to check with DH and see what he thinks.  So very excited.

[SweetandSour]

I loved the palace for breakfast! So yummy, and amazing chance to meet the princesses.

If you want to see Micky and everyone, I would do Chef Mickey's. They all go to every table, and meet and greet.

I would do the Crystal palace if Chef Mickey's it too early. It's Pooh and friends, and they had a huge breakfast bar.

[MaryM]

Disney is just amazing!  My kids are having a blast and just love eating at the restaurants!  They have never eaten food from any restaurant except BK fries. The wait staff at the restaurants are so knowledgeable and the chef's are wonderful.  I was able to get a reservation at Chef Mickey - we go tomorrow before heading home.  I sure hope they can make dairy free, egg free Mickey waffles.   I know we will be coming here for vacation again.  DS got a bit tearey eyed when we left Magic Kingdom yesterday. 

[GingerPye]

   That's truly the best part of Disney, isnt' it!  For those of us with FAs, anyway.

[MaryM]

It really is.  We will definitely be returning to Disney.  DS said during his first meal that Disney makes him feel like he doesn't have allergies.  It has been a wonderful experience.  May be hard to go back to reality..,

[SweetandSour]

So glad you are having fun! Reality is tough to return to!

[Mookie86]

It really is.  We will definitely be returning to Disney.  DS said during his first meal that Disney makes him feel like he doesn't have allergies.  It has been a wonderful experience.  May be hard to go back to reality..,

Awwww, what a wonderful experience.

[hezzier]

Love that the chef comes out and talks to you before you order food!

We ate at:  Chef Mickey's for character breakfast, Flying Fish (Boardwalk), Coral Reef (Epcot), Le Cellier (Epcot), Portobellos (Downtown), Yachtsman (Yacht Club).

Quick Service was: Flame Tree BBQ (Animal), Pecos Bill's Cafe (Magic), Sunshine Season (Epcot)*, they would sub out the unsafe cookie for a 2 pack of enjoy life cookies.  Also the good news is the PB&J sandwich they served was an Uncrustable so it was pre-packaged and not made fresh around other foods.

*was a little disappointed in kid friendly main dishes since all bread is considered cross contaminated.  They did have lots of a la carte items such as chips, whole fruit, grapes, carrots, enjoy life chocolate bars.

For breakfast we grabbed quick things to eat like cereal and yogurt at the market in our hotel complex.  I did see a few allergy safe items for sale...divvies popcorn (this was the only place I saw any divvies), surf sweets jelly beans, and there was some sort of gluten free brownie (didn't read ingredients on this one).

[Macabre]

The Orlando airport has a Qdoba on the gate level in B and in the food court level in A we saw: Krispy Kreme (ate some), Quiznos (ate there--I with a sesame allergy had a yummy salad), McDs.