Food Allergies and the MAGIC of Disney!

Last week I took my son to Disney World for the first time. He is only 7 months old and beyond the worries of diapers, strollers, packing, etc; he has a milk protein allergy. Since I am nursing, it is pretty much like I have a milk protein allergy. You think, just skip milk and cheese right? Wrong, milk is in many products like spaghetti sauce, bread, fried foods, processed foods, buttery toppings, and many other items. Over the last 3 months of being dairy free, I have struggled with restaurants not being able to accommodate the allergy, servers guessing on if milk was an ingredient, and having cheese mixed into my meal due to sloppy kitchen procedures. Needless to say as much as I love Disney, I was pretty nervous about the allergy. Well due to the magic of Disney, the food allergy was handled perfect and we had a great trip! Now let me talk you through the “Disney Difference”.

Planning ahead. You can note food allergies when you make your dining reservations (up to 180 days in advance). That way the restaurant is already aware of your special needs when you check in at the location. If someone you are traveling with has very severe allergy issues or multiple food allergies you can also email Disney ahead of time to get more information. However, for the common top 8 allergens, this is not necessary.

Quick Service meals. If you are dining at a quick service location, you can simply ask to speak to a chef about your options. The chef will come out and explain everything you can and can’t eat and will also offer to make the allergy meal special for you. I had a chef make my fries in a separate fryer so I could still have them! Many locations also had a host of dairy free snacks from my favorite brands back home.

Snack carts. If you are craving a Turkey Leg or other snack, but have a food allergy, no problem all the locations are stocked with allergen books that you can ask to review. I knew this from working at Disney in college, but being on the other side of this was so helpful! You simply ask to see the book, and ALL the ingredients of the product are listed. No guessing, no worries, and no fuss! I was surprised how many things I could eat!

Table service meals. These experiences were by far the most magical! Right when you are seated, the chef comes out to speak to you. They explain what you can and cannot eat, walk you through any buffets, and offer to make modifications to the items you can’t eat so they are safe! The meal comes out with an “allergy” stick in it so you know it was prepared correctly. I think the best part was how nice the servers and chefs were. I am so used to apologizing for being a pain, asking for the few items I can eat, or having people get annoyed by the allergy. The chefs were so nice and treated me like a princess! They even made me a dairy free shake at Sci Fi!

As a vacation planner, this trip was very educational. Like I said, working there you learn the procedure, but as a college kid I had never had any personal experience with food allergies. I feel confident sending my clients with food allergies to Disney, knowing their experience will be first of all safe and second of all magical! As a first time mom, this trip was amazing! It was like the food allergy was not even an issue!

Are you interested in learning more about a Disney vacation? My services are 100% FREE!

Make it a magical day!

Julie Hauck *o*
Authorized Disney Vacation Planner
MickeyTravels, LLC
1-513-313-9531 (cell)
julie@mickeytravels.com
www.mickeytravels.com
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Baby Care Centers are the BEST at Disney World!

I recently took my 7 month old to Disney World and I have to admit that this trip my favorite thing was the Baby Care Centers! They are located in all four theme parks and make a trip truly worry free for parents. I have been to Disney a every year for over 25 years and have never stepped in one (even while working there), so I was surprised how equipped they were. Here are some common concerns of traveling with babies and how Disney addresses these is a magical way!

Common Concerns:

Dirty Changing Stations – This was my biggest concern about traveling with a baby. Before the trip, I had only changed him once in a restroom. I was prepared with garbage bags as a barrier, lysol, wipes, etc. Little did I know that the changing stations are amazing! They are large like what you lay on at the doctors office and they put paper down for each kid. Many of the cast members cleaned between kids as well. Not only were they clean, but you had a ton of room so one person could easily change the baby with room for the diaper bag up on the station.

Where to nurse – As a nursing mom, I found it easier for me to use a cover and a bench in the park with an active 7 month old. However, for younger babies and if you are not comfortable on a bench, they have quiet nursing rooms equipped with plenty of rocking chairs. I did use this once and it was great.

Forgetting something – The centers were stocked with all the essentials! Beyond formula and baby food, they also had bibs, supplies for mom and dad, diapers, binkys, everything really. Luckily I didn’t forget anything, but if I did I would have been covered.

Where to feed or take a break – Something else I thought was great was the room with a tv and a bunch of high chairs. It was a great place to unwind and refuel with little ones. Another room was available with microwaves to warm up food or bottles.

We joked that this was our son’s favorite part of the trip. For some reason he was obsessed with the paper lining on the changing stations and kicked his feet and laughed the whole time.

Are you interested in learning more about a Disney vacation? My services are 100% FREE!

Make it a magical day!

Julie Hauck *o*
Authorized Disney Vacation Planner
MickeyTravels, LLC
1-513-313-9531 (cell)
julie@mickeytravels.com
www.mickeytravels.com
Read my Disney Blog!
“Like” my fan page on Facebook!

Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party

One of my all-time favorite things to take in at Walt Disney World is Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.  A magical firework show above Cinderella Castle, it is a must see on each trip. Unfortunately, thousands of people agree with me….Which can make for big crowds.  I am not a fan of crowds.

So how is a crowd-hating Disney-lover supposed to enjoy one of her favorite things when it consistently draws tons of people?  I think I may have found the perfect solution: The Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party.

So what is this exactly? Well it is a party where you can watch Wishes from under the canopy at Tomorrowland Terrance with a limited amount of other guests (the seating area can hold 50 people). But wait, I haven’t told you the best part yet! There is a buffet of desserts at your disposal throughout the evening! According to Disney’s website it currently costs $14.99 per adult and you cannot use Disney Dining Plan meal credits to pay for this experience.

Because seating is so limited at the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert party, advanced reservations are highly recommend, although walk ups are permitted if space is available.

Seating opens and hour before Wishes begins. The night we attended we were running more than 15 minutes late, but they had kept our table open for us, and we were seated after waiting in a short line (with other parties that were late!).

As soon as we sat down a Cast Member came to our table to direct us to the buffet.

Our mistake was that we had finished dinner less than an hour prior to the dessert party. So we were full! Luckily the desserts were small so we were able to take some small tastes and I enjoyed a cup of coffee to keep me awake after all the food I had consumed that day!

There was an assortment of baked goods and my favorites were the peanut butter chocolate tart, mango shooter (a little mango juice mixture in a shot glass), crème brulee and a cannoli. But there were at least a dozen items to choose from. The buffet stayed open all evening, with the Cast Member coming around to let us know it was last call about 15 minutes after the Wishes finale.

We were lucky to be seated on the edge of the pavilion nearest the castle. There was still a good amount of space between the table and the rail. The Cast Member let us know that people would be standing up in that space as soon as the show started. This concerned us. While this did happen, it wasn’t overly crowded and we were easily able to find a space to stand at the rail with a perfect view.

The most magical part of the show? When Tinkerbell flew down from the castle, RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS!  It was the closest I had ever been to her during Wishes and it took my breath away!

The only drawback was that there were a few kids really afraid of fireworks. They were not having fun, and some screamed. It wasn’t too bad, but I felt bad for the kids and it did take away a little from the fun. My kids weren’t with me on this trip, and I had just been thinking that I want to do party at least once every trip. But when I saw the terror some kids had, I remembered that my little guy was also afraid of fireworks. So I will wait a few years to take him so we can ALL enjoy this great party.

And as we departed there was a Disney PhotoPass photographer that was able to capture some great shots with the Castle as backdrop. The perfect end to a magical evening!

Contact MickeyTravels to learn more about the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party!

Devene Godau
Guest Blogger
MickeyTravels, LLC
www.mickeytravels.com

Making Magic One Vacation at a Time…