Even Disney doesn't always get it right - food allergies - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Even Disney doesn't always get it right - food allergies
I am a big proponent of how Disney handles food allergies, and happily sing its praises to others.
However, our recent trip to WDW and on the Disney Dream demonstrated that even Disney can make mistakes and it is still important to be vigilant and always "inspect" the food you are given to make sure it "looks" safe.
Two incidents drove this home to us.
I have anaphylaxis allergies to milk (dairy), tree nuts, peanuts, and seafood (shellfish and fish). We have traveled to WDW and on DCL multiple times and are familiar with how both handle allergies.
While on the Dream this trip, one of the nights I ordered a salad that normally comes with Parmesan cheese and a dressing that is not safe for me. I ordered a modified version that would be safe. Unfortunately, the assistant server grabbed a non-safe version plate and brought it. When it was put in front of me, I and the server both looked at it. It appeared to have parmesan cheese on it. I asked "Is that cheese?" at the same time the server realized an error had been made. He took the plate and politely admonished the assistant server for grabbing the wrong plate, told him where to get the proper one, and then apologized to me while the assistant server went to get the safe plate. In this case, the server would have caught the issue even if I had not. But it reminded me to always look and check if the food you are given looks ok (e.g. no cheese present).
The second incident happened at a resort quick service restaurant (AoA's Landscape of Flavors). I spoke to the chef and ordered the breakfast platter, noting it would have to be modified for my allergies. The chef brought me a plate with scrambled eggs, a slice of bacon, a sausage, and a chunk of a potatoe bake.
I looked at the potatoes and broken them apart a bit with my fork and decided it didn't look right -- clearly the potatoes were baked with some kind of milk or milk-like substance. It looked just like the ones my sister got. it smelt not like pure potatoes. So I decided to play it safe and not eat the potatoes. While I cannot confirm that they did in fact contain milk, I highly suspect they did (the normal ones at AoA *do*).
Once again: look, inspect, and if it seems wrong do not eat it.
While I am more used to McDonalds screwing up my orders (e.g. putting cheese on the "no cheese, I have a dairy allergy" hamburger) this experience shows even disney, who sets the Gold Standard for handling food allergies, can make mistakes too. Just not so often :-)
We still love Disney, and are planning our next cruise(s), but I will be more vigilant in the future both there and elsewhere.
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