Hi there, Barbara, and welcome to
planDisney!
I'm so glad that you found us and decided to stop by with your question today. We love helping Guests just like you plan magical
Walt Disney World Resort vacations!
Walt Disney World strives to be a place where
all Guests can have magical experiences, regardless of the accommodations they may need to do so. In your specific case, I have a few suggestions that might make meal-time a more positive experience for your crew.
In general, there are only a handful of dining experiences where each Guest seated for the reservation is required to participate. These are usually prix fixe set menus or buffets, and usually involve Character Dining or some form of entertainment. Examples include
Biergarten Restaurant at
EPCOT and
Boma - Flavors of Africa at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. For other traditional Table Service restaurants where you order the items of your choosing from a regular menu, there is not a formal requirement for every Guest at your table to make a purchase.
That being said, you may want to reach out to a couple of teams at Walt Disney World Resort prior to your visit to ensure all of your needs are able to be met.
The Special Diets team can be reached at SpecialDiets@DisneyWorld.com, and given that they are the primary point of contact between Guests and needs at dining locations, they may be able to provide additional information based on the restaurants you plan on visiting. Alternatively (or in addition), you may want to reach out to the
Disability Services team at 407-560-2547 or disability.services@disneyparks.com via email. While it may seem a bit odd, I believe this would be the right place to request an accommodation if you plan to attend one of those dining experiences I mentioned earlier which
do normally require all Guests to participate.
Lastly, you may want to consider letting the host and/or your server know about this family member's needs. In my experience, Cast Members always want all Guests to have the best possible experience, and regularly go above and beyond to do so. If, for example, you feel it would be beneficial for the server
not to ask this family member about placing a food order, you could make that request known.
I hope this information is helpful to you as you plan your upcoming trip -
please let us know if you have any additional questions!
Ryan J.