A September Gluten Free and Magical First Trip, Disney and Beyond - UPDATE 12/12

maryr1oz

Down Under Disney Lover x
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Hi everyone,

We just returned from our month away from home on vacation - and we certainly had a great trip. We travelled from Australia to NYC, DC, Orlando, Atlanta and LA. It wasn't our first trip to the USA, but it was our first trip since DH was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Of course as many of you who have special dietary requirements know, travelling requires so much more planning and research if you want to not waste time on the ground. That said, I did ALOT of research and as a result we had an amazing time filled with great food. DH was not sick once the whole time, which is really special as he is super sensitive to gluten cross contamination.

Of course, and as usual, i'm only reporting on our experiences at that particular point in time so absolutely check with chefs and servers before you order any food anywhere (as I know we all do!).

Even though I don't need to eat a gluten free diet, we love to share food and try different things, so in this report i'll only post the items that we ordered as gluten free.

I'll also start with the Disney portion of our trip, but after I get through those posts I will go back and post about the food we ate in other cities in case it helps others who are travelling in those areas.

As I said, DH didn't get sick on this trip at all - but i'd love to know if any of the items i post are ones that others have had problems with.

We stayed in Orlando for 10 nights - all on rented DVC points. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for 7 nights, then moved to Saratoga Springs for 3 nights. We rented a car for the whole time, although we didn't use it all that much.



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Happy reading :)
 
We arrived at MCO from DC on Saturday 15 September around 10am, and after what felt like a very long wait we finally boarded the Magical Express for AKL. We had rented points for a studio room, which allowed us a fridge and small kitchenette. We headed to The Mara for lunch after settling into our room.

The Mara has a great allergy menu, that is provided on request from the counter staff. They have a dedicated counter area that you can approach to place an allergy order, and a manager always took our order and followed it through to delivery.

On this occasion we ordered the Mixed Tomato Flat Bread. It was great, the rice crust was light and crispy and the tomato was fresh and flavourful.

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We picked up a refillable mug which shared easily as we don't usually drink much other than water (and alcohol ;) .

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After our lunch we collected our rental car and made a pit stop at Target to stock our fridge for the week with snacks for the room...


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After spending a couple of hours at the hotel relaxing, it was time to make our way to Disney Springs for dinner. We had a reservation at Raglan Road at 8pm. We did arrive a little early so as we wandered around we grabbed a couple of margaritas.

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As it was Saturday evening, Disney Springs was pretty busy. The wait at Raglan Road was close to 30 mins, and while we waited we grabbed another drink, this time a wine from the outside bar cart and listened to the music on the patio stage.

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Much to my dismay when we were seated we were sat in a corner of a side room with no view of the stage, and as it was so loud and busy we didn't really get to experience great atmosphere, the food however was great.

We started with some drinks - a Redbridge GF beer and the Strawberry Fields Mimosa.

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We shared the Dalkey Duo for an appetizer - it was really good.

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We then shared an entree and side - we weren't all that hungry.

We got the fish and chips, and the herbed mashed carrots and parsnips - yum!

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Sunday morning was spent relaxing at the Kidani pool (as Jambo pool was drained for maintenance).

Before heading back to Jambo we stopped at the Sanaa lounge for some lunch. We made it just in time to take the last two seats, after we sat down a line for seating quickly formed.

We ordered the Odwalla lemonade with wild berry foam

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Bread service with nine accompaniments and gluten free naan. The bread was a little dry, but overall it was great to be able to have it available and to try all the sauces.

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Boerewors and Spiced Eggs - this was super good. So flavourful and fresh, it was my favourite thing we ate in the lounge.

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Sunday evening saw our first ever visit to the Magic Kingdom, especially for MNSSHP. We arrived about 4.30pm, and entered via the bypass beside Main Street. DH was not very into trick or treating (very foreign to us Aussies) and was not interested in collecting allergy tokens for allergy treats, so we both grabbed normal candy as we went along.

Our first stop was to check in for the Hallowishes Desert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace. This process was painful, and we were literally shuffled back and forth between 2 podiums about 4 times until they worked out our booking. (It was even more painful when we returned later to actually enter). Once we were checked in we went off to explore the park, and grab a bite to eat.

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We ended up at Pecos Bills and had was was actually our worst encounter of our whole trip. We lined up for quite awhile to order, and I asked the cashier could we get the Hades Nachos GF (i'd read on the boards that it was possible). He wasn't sure, but extremely friendly and interested in finding out for us, he got up to go and ask someone. However, the woman on the other side of the podium whose turn was next started rolling her eyes, huffing and puffing and even said across to me in a snarky tone 'it would be marked as gluten free if it was gluten free'. I got so flustered and upset that when the cast member returned to tell me that it should be fine, I told him not to worry about it and that we would just have the allergy burger and the chicken salad instead. The woman was still there rolling her eyes so I insisted that was fine and paid for the order. As a result the burger was probably the worst thing we ate at Disney. We both felt so upset when we sat down that it really killed our mood at that time.

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Later on we returned to Tomorrowland Terrace for the dessert party. We got a great table at the front railing and enjoyed some sparkling apple cider.

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I barely touched the buffet as once they served DH his plate, it was more than we could both eat. We shouldn't have had dinner earlier, it was just too much food. I did think it was a bit of a shame however that despite several of the special Halloween treats being served in the parks being gluten free, he didn't get to try them on his platter (apart from worms in dirt). They had smaller versions of these items on the buffets so I thought it would have been nice to have had some of them on his plate.

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As we were some of the people who booked early and benefited from the accidental included parade viewing I thought that it was worth it for the price, but we wouldn't do it again.

 
On Monday we visited Hollywood Studios. We spent the morning at the resort swimming, then around 4pm we caught the bus to DHS. After using our fast passes for TSMM and RRC we were in desperate need of a drink and a heat break, so we headed to the Brown Derby Lounge. We got a great table outside in the shade and an excellent server.

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We both started with a margarita flight - all flavours were great!

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We couldn't resist ordering the famous Cobb Salad

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We paired it with the braised beef arepas

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The food here was great - we really enjoyed the atmosphere, service, food and drinks here and we would love to return!
 
Tuesday began with a PPO breakfast reservation at Garden Grill. We arrived and were seated immediately at a booth on the lower level, which was perfect.

We both ate from the gluten free menu, as otherwise it would have just been too much food. We never got any fruit, i'm not sure whether that was an oversight? :confused3

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The juice is great, i had to repeatedly stop the server refilling my glass or I would have drank gallons :drinking:

The GF muffins were a bit hockey puck like, maybe warmed up they would have been better, but there was plenty else to eat so we just left them and moved on.

The character interaction was good, and the (relatively) short wait for Soarin' post breakfast made the price worth it.
 


My husband and I are also gluten-free; Disney is the best for food allergies! Great reviews so far, we also love the Brown Derby Lounge : )
 
I am really enjoying reading your reviews. I am doing a solo trip in February and will be staying at AKL for the first time. This will also be my first trip eating gluten free, so I am really excited to see what else you enjoyed. I have to say that those margarita flights look yummy!!!
 
Great reviews! I’m looking forward to the rest!

Thanks so much :)

My husband and I are also gluten-free; Disney is the best for food allergies! Great reviews so far, we also love the Brown Derby Lounge : )

We definitely loved the options available at Disney World! :)

I am really enjoying reading your reviews. I am doing a solo trip in February and will be staying at AKL for the first time. This will also be my first trip eating gluten free, so I am really excited to see what else you enjoyed. I have to say that those margarita flights look yummy!!!

I hope you have a great trip, the margarita flight is definitely worth stopping for :)
 
Rewind...

I just noticed the photo of our candy haul from MNSSHP - like I said, we didn't do the allergy treat bag, but I think out of all these, the only things DH couldn't eat were the Twix bars and maybe some of the Ghirardelli squares (I haven't opened them yet to check)?

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After our breakfast at Garden Grill we headed out into EPCOT to explore. Being September, we snacked around the world for lunch at the Food and Wine Festival booths. Although there aren't GF options available at every booth, we had done research of where and what DH could eat so we didn't waste time finding out on the day.

We started in the Festival Center, and headed for the Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar

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The Fromosa Frozen Mimosa was fantastic, I really enjoyed it. DH went for the Key Lime Mimosa.

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Next up we stopped at the Active Eats booth for the Verlasso Salmon with Lentil Salad - it was really good.

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Over to Australia and we picked up the Sweet and Spicy Bush Shrimp - DH loved this!

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In Japan he grabbed the Beef Nigiri - I didn't like this at all, but DH didn't mind it

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Over in Italy we needed refreshment, so we stopped at the drink cart for some prosecco :)

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A little further around we got to the Africa booth and stopped for the Berbere Beef Tips and Pap

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Lastly in China, at the Joy of Tea, I picked up this Mango Gingerita - it was super strong but nice and cold.

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That night we had dinner at Animal Kingdom Lodge, at The Mara.

Again the manager was great in taking our order and then delivering it to our table.

DH grabbed an Angry Orchard cider

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Then we shared the rotisserie chicken dinner

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As well as a burger - the fixings bar at The Mara helps to customise your burger

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On the way out we grabbed some Zebra Domes to take back to the room - these were AMAZING! They were just right there in the grab and go fridge with the regular version, didn't have to ask specially for them or anything.

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Wednesday we visited Typhoon Lagoon.

We rented a Getaway Glen umbrella area, although it was pretty quiet at the park that day.

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I went to Typhoon Tilly's in the hope of getting some lunch, but was told the only place to get GF food at TL was over at Leaning Palms. They did have an extensive allergy menu over there, but it was a bit of a schlep from where we were seated.

Here we chose a pretty standard lunch meal of a hotdog on allergy bun, and the allergy chicken tenders. Both were great after a morning of swimming and fun.

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After a day in the sun at Typhoon Lagoon, on Wednesday evening we took the car over to the Florida Mall for some shopping. On the way back we stopped at Coopers Hawk for some dinner. It's on International Drive and Sand Lake Rd, right on the way back to Disney.

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This place was FANTASTIC! They have a large GF menu and their servers are well trained on dietary requirements. The atmosphere was great, we tried some nice wines and we ate some great food. The manager also came out to check in on us too, i'd recommend this place for sure.

We started with the Mexican Drunken Shrimp - Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp, Tequila Lime Butter Sauce, Fresh Guacamole - YUMMMMMMMM

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Then we shared a couple of salads - the BBQ Ranch Chicken

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The Mediterranean with Shrimp

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For dessert we tried the Salted Caramel Creme Brûlée

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Thursday was Animal Kingdom day. We both loved this park, as I knew we would.

We grabbed a couple of drinks during the morning, the first was an iced latte at Starbucks

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Then, at 11am we found ourselves right outside Nomad Lounge when they were opening for the day, so in we went

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We ordered Jenn's Tattoo and an Annapurna Sling - both drinks were really good, and the service was great.

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Of course, we ordered the GF churros as well - HEAVEN! DH loved them.

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Unfortunately we had to drag ourselves away from the air conditioning as we had a lunch reservation at Yak and Yeti.

We had to wait about 25 mins for a table, and we were seated upstairs - the restaurant was chaotic.

DH ordered the Tofu Tikka Masala, and really enjoyed it

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Later on, before we left the park I stopped for a Night Blossom at Pongu Pongu - very sweet but also refreshing

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