Disney and Food Allergies

One of the reasons I initially wanted to take the kids to Disney World was I had heard they accommodate food allergies.  This is always a huge stress for me when we travel.

Disney has food allergy policies in place that really keep there guests safe and relieve some of the stress.  I made restaurant reservations on Disney's website.  When making the reservation I was asked to check off which allergies are in my party.  Then I was told to contact Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com and they sent me forms to fill out.  Those forms were sent to each restaurant.  They then sent a confirming email and asked that when we got to restaurant to mention the allergies once again and the chef will come out and talk to us.  Here is the lowdown on our experience.

The first full day of our vacation we decompressed at the hotel pool and then headed over to Downtown Disney for a late lunch and a little shopping.  We had a reservation at The Rainforest Cafe

Rainforest Cafe had a really fun atmosphere for the kids.  You were surrounded by lifelike jungle animals and huge fish tanks.  Every 20 minutes or so there was a "thunder and lighting storm."

We informed our server, Shawn, that we had two kids at our table with food allergies.  He send the chef out.

Chef Richard assured us Nolan could have the chicken tenders and that he would make something special for Sean--two plain hamburgers and fries that would cooked in a separate part of the kitchen.

After a long day at the pool, these boys cleaned their plates---so did the adults, the food was good.

One of the main reasons I wanted to check out Downtown Disney was Babycakes NYC.  This wonderful bakery is peanut and tree nut free, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, sesame seed-free.

Sean could pick whatever he wanted... 

Sean ended up with two cupcakes, some chocolate chip cookies and chocolate frosted donut.  He has never had a donut!

We brought the box of treats back to the hotel and he saved one for each day.  He was so happy.  Mumma was so happy.

The first day in the parks we went to lunch in Magic Kingdom at The Plaza Restaurant.

This time two chefs came right out, armed with a book of everything they served and all the ingredients.  Nolan settled on a grilled cheese and Sean once again had a hamburger.  We were again assured that it would be cooked safely in a separate part of the kitchen.

sliced apples to start

Nolan with one of the chefs

 Sean could even have dessert.  They had Rice Dream ice cream, a dairy-free treat that he loves, with Enjoy Life cookies for ears!

The next day we had lunch in Hollywood Studios at The Backlot.

The Backlot was an express type restaurant, which I was apprehensive about.

When placing my our order with Cody, I informed him of our food allergies.  I have to say it was one of the best experiences.  Cody was so helpful and then Chef Christa came out with that magic book.  This time there were chicken tenders and natural cut french fries that Sean could have.  And more Enjoy Life cookies :)

Every restaurant, express and sit-down, has a food allergy book, as well as every snack stand.  Even the popcorn stand had a book.  Sean and Nolan could have the popcorn too.

All-in-all we had great experiences eating in Disney World.  Sean and Nolan eat like kings!


I received two complimentary Disney World Park Hopper passes to facilitate my reviews.

A Fun Way to Countdown to Disney

With 20 days to go, we told the kids that we are going to Disney World!  They were so excited.  Nolan got on the Disney website to look at the Star Wars attractions and these were his questions:  "can you buy Star Wars stuff there?  what can we buy?" (oh God).  Sean, my 4 year old was a little more clueless..."are we going today?" "No buddy not for a few weeks."  Sean: "tomorrow?"  I started to think maybe I should've told them yet, but I couldn't wait any longer!!  I knew I needed to do something so they would get the concept of how many days to go...maybe it might teach them a little patience?? Anyway, we make a paper chain at Christmas time (my husband's family tradition) they kids tear off a link to the chain each day leading up to Christmas.  So I thought I would make a Mickey countdown paper chain.

I "cut and pasted" a little picture of Mickey from the Disney website and shrunk it down...then I copied and pasted him a bunch of times and made numbered Mickey rows.

I cut them into strips on my paper cutter...

And then stapled together a chain.

Each day the boys take turns (they love taking turns LOL) tearing off a link to the chain and then they count how many days are left.

It's amazing how time flies.  I booked this trip 90 days ago!  I downloaded a "Disney Countdown" App on my iPhone (yup there's an App for that ;) that's how I've been counting down.  Can't wait!

Bunnies, Puppies and Wrestling with the Holidays

This past weekend was full of kid's Christmas fun!

My office has a great Holiday party for the kids every year.  Pictures with Santa, treats and games.

It's only 2 hours which was great.  In and out and no gets hurt.  With the way my kids were wrestling on the floor, I can't believe no one got hurt!  Ugh, why do boys do this?  Although...no one else's boys at the party were doing this.  While everyone else was doing the hokey pokey, my two were rolling around on the floor killing each other.  I got lots of  "I see you've got your hands full."  *sigh*

The next day my brother invited us to a family Christmas party at Dorchester Yaht Club.

This company called Barn Babies brought puppies, bunnies, kittens, a pig and a baby goat.  The kids got to hold all the animals.  They loved it.

This little piggy was exhausted

 warning:  the goat likes to eat hair

(Nolan really thinks he is getting a dog for Christmas, God help me)

They had pony rides.  Nolan wanted no part of it, but Sean loved it!

Then Santa came in by boat.

Thankfully there was no wrestling on this day.  Everyone was on their best behavior.  The animals certainly helped and I had lots of back-up - Nana, Papa and Uncle Billy. 

The holiday season is in full swing and I love (most of) it!

The Eric Carle Museum

Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?  Polar Bear, Polar Bear what do you hear?  The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  The Grouchy Ladybug.  My kids love these Eric Carle books.  When my sister-in-law, Sheila, suggested that we meet at the Eric Carle Museum, I thought how perfect! 

My husband's brother and his family live in South Carolina.  Last month they were making a trip to the Berkshires for a wedding.  We each drove 2 hours and met in the middle, in Amherst, MA at the museum.

I was so great to see each other!

The museum was really cute.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures in the exhibit hall.  The kids were given a hunt and find list that kept them busy, giving the grown-ups a chance to catch up.

It was really interesting to see how Eric Carle created the illustrations for these books.  It's a collage technique, using hand-painted papers.  He cuts and layers them to create his bright and cheerful characters.  I little bit like decoupage!  This video shows his unique technique.

There is craft room and a gift shop.  We went to the gift shop but never made it to the craft area because we were all starving! 

If you are visiting the western Massachusetts area this museum is worth a visit.
www.carlemuseum.org

A few more pictures from our visit.
My boys Nolan and Sean are their cousins Bridie and Molly - (this was outside the museum, pretty sure they were not suppose to me picking those apples...oops!)

   

Great day!