Disney Character Meals

[HJK]

Has anyone had experience with the Disney character meals like those at the Crystal Palace, 'Ohana, etc...? How does it work for allergies since most are buffets?

[hezzier]

We did Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary.  It was buffet style breakfast, but the chef made special order waffles (gluten free, egg free, dedicated waffle maker) for DS.  There were no peanuts or nuts used in anything so the only allergen we were dealing with was egg and DS can do baked egg.  He got to have donut holes for dessert at breakfast!!  We didn't do any dinner buffets.  I would call and see if they have your allergens in the buffet to start and if so, can make a special dish in the kitchen for you child.

[SweetandSour]

We did. The chef came and took me.on a buffet tour. If something was around bad stuff, they made a special new plate. Disney is great for allergies,and the character meals are a blast!

[starlight]

I was just at Chef Mickey's for dinner this month. The chef came out and he knew which things I should avoid and why (same equipment, same facilty info).

I gotta say though, as an adult, I did really appreciated Disney's attentiveness but NOT the fact that I nor my friend could order until the chef came out to talk to me. At Sci-Fi, the chef didn't make it out until a family that was seated with us had already been served their meal! Certainly PA/TNA is common enough and the menu is not so extensive that they could have a list or put stars by their menu items that are ok and the wait staff could inform the kitchen to take extra care. It didn't need to take a chef to tell me at the Biergarten that they don't use nuts at all but the desserts were made in a facility so eat at your own risk. It should be an option to talk to the chef, definitely, but I wish it wasn't a necessity.

[hedgehog]

WE have never had a problem about the chef coming out promptly.  I mean, yes, maybe it took a few extra minutes waiting, but not long enough to feel inconvenienced at all.  Sorry it took so long for you, but I can say, that is not the norm.

[hezzier]

WE have never had a problem about the chef coming out promptly.  I mean, yes, maybe it took a few extra minutes waiting, but not long enough to feel inconvenienced at all.  Sorry it took so long for you, but I can say, that is not the norm.

This was our experience as well.

[MaryM]

WE have never had a problem about the chef coming out promptly.  I mean, yes, maybe it took a few extra minutes waiting, but not long enough to feel inconvenienced at all.  Sorry it took so long for you, but I can say, that is not the norm.

This was our experience as well.

Same for us.  We love Chef Mickey for breakfast!  We were there a few weeks ago.  Everything does take a bit longer bc of allergies but we felt it more at the quick service places than at sit down restaurants.  We ate at Le Cellier in  Epcot and we were given the option of letting our waitress speak to the chef or speaking to the chef ourselves.  We went with the latter. 

Our 2 favorite special meals were Chef Mickey for breakfast & The Hoop Dee Do Musical Review dinner show!

[HJK]

Thanks everyone! We are so looking forward to our character meals. It is nice to hear that overall everyone has had a good experience.

[SkyRibbons]

We just booked for end of August.  We won't be doing character meals; my girls will be 21 & 18.  But how have you been planning which restaurants to go to?  We need to start making reservations.  My daughter is pa only. 

[SweetandSour]

Dh and I don't have kids yet,but we do character meals. Lol. Pooh and friends is my favorite.

Honestly,we plan a dinner every night. Pretty much everywhere will accommodate pa. As for lunch, we'll get something quick service. Pizza at Pizza Planet,Nachos in Mexico, turkey leg in MK are three we do every trip. They are really good about having knowledgeable staff and notebooks.

Eta: when you make online reservvations, you can mark allergies. You also can email special.diets to get a form that you fill out and they send to all your reserved restaurants.

[SweetandSour]

As for dinner, we have eaten at here is a list by kingdom.

Downtown- Raglan Road Irish Pub, Fultons Crab House(nut free cake), and the Disney Quest food bar

Magic Kingdom- Breakfast: the crystal palace, Cinderellas table
Lunch: The liberty tree tavern, turkey legs, chicken tenders from somewhere in adventure land
Dinner: Tonys Italian restaurant

Epcot-Nachos in Mexico quick service, Beergairtan German buffet, Rose and crown English pub

Hollywood studios- Sci fi dine in theater, Hollywood and vine( allergy free brownie) ,pizza planet

We also do chef Mickey, and breakfast at the hotels. Bring on the Mickey waffles. Shulas steakhouse was crazy good, but expensive.

[hezzier]

We loved Le Cellier Steak House (epcot), The Flying Fish (Boardwalk), and Coral Reef Restaurant (epcot).  We opted out of Teppan Edo because was unsure of the sesame situation.

For breakfasts, we just picked it up each morning at the hotel market.  One morning we did Chef Mickey's (it was great).

For lunches, I know we went to Pico's Bills and Flame Tree BBQ, not sure where else.  They were fine, nothing to write home about.  The one bad lunch option for DS (not much he was interested in eating) was Sunshine Season (epcot).

[joshsmom]

We ate at a character breakfast at the Contemporary. The chef came out and pointed out 2 things ds couldn't eat. He enjoyed everything else. It is the only place I let him eat the buffet. At the time he was allergic to peanuts/tree nuts.

[SkyRibbons]

I've been doing a lot of reading about which restaurants to choose at Disney, and quite a few people mentioned that you have to be careful of the fur on some of the characters.  One child broke out on his face after hugging Pooh.  Apparently, residue from an allergen could potentially stay on the fur.  I never would've thought of this.

[MaryM]

My DD has very sensitive skin.  She is contact reactive to dairy.  She got into a big tangle and hug fest  with Chip & Dale at Magic Kingdom last year and got itchy and rashy. Benadryl helped.   We had no problems at Character breakfasts and no issues on the most recent trip.