Hi Kay! Welcome to planDisney, and thank you for reaching out with this important question. I know when food allergies are involved, planning a vacation requires extra care and attention, so I’m here to help you navigate your role in planning for food allergies on your Walt Disney World Resort vacation.
The first thing to know is that Disney takes food allergies very seriously and works hard to offer both variety in dining options and protocols to help ensure safety. I personally know families who deal with serious food allergies, and they have shared with me that they always feel an extra layer of comfort and reassurance when they visit Walt Disney World. Many restaurants will be able to prepare meals that are free of the most common allergens listed by the FDA, including eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat. They can also often accommodate requests for meals that include lesser common allergens such as gluten, lactose, and corn, just to name a few. I encourage you to read over the procedures in place for
Special Diets Requests and the important role you will play in the process.
Since you mentioned that your daughter has multiple food allergies, it will be important to reach out to Disney 14 days before your arrival to communicate her specific allergies. This step is especially helpful for families managing multiple or complex allergies. You can send an email to
Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com to request a Special Diets Request Form. By communicating this important information, the Special Diets team can help you plan for your dining experiences and may even decide to communicate your needs with the restaurants in advance.
When you are at the resort, it will also be important to communicate your daughter’s dietary needs with your server (table service restaurants) or the Cast Member taking your order (quick service restaurants) and ask for an allergy menu. Even if you’ve communicated in advance, this step is essential. This is also a good time to ask to speak with a Special Diets-Trained Cast Member. You can often also speak directly with a chef. After your needs have been communicated, your daughter’s meal should arrive with a special marker, indicating the food has been prepared accordingly. If you don’t see this marker, be sure to ask. It is also important to verbally confirm one last time that the food has been prepared without those allergens, as an added safety check.
Kay, I hope this helps provide some reassurance about the process in place for food allergies at Walt Disney World. Be sure to reach out to the Special Diets team when you reach that 14-day window, and stop by back and see us at
planDisney if there are any other parts of your visit we can help with. We are always here to help add a little extra magic to your Disney vacation planning!
With faith, trust, & pixie dust,
Casey