Featured Review

August 2009

Magical Gluten-Free Dining In and Around Disney World

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5.0 Palms	Walt Disney World Resort, Including Restaurants Inside and in Close Proximity to the Parks
Review Type:	Resort and area Restaurants
Location:	Orlando, Florida
Phone:	(407) WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463 for reservations at any of Disney's restaurants
Website:	http://disneyworld.disney.go.com
Trip Type:	Family vacation
Travel Dates:	Several times a year over past few years
Review Posted:	July 2009

Our family travels to Orlando several times a year to visit the Disney theme parks. We typically stay in a pool home or a townhouse with our own private pool – yes, they do exist! -- in a resort community just outside of Disney so that we can have our own kitchen and our own private pool. We cook some of our meals in, eat others at the Disney-owned restaurants, and also dine at some of the Celiac-friendly restaurants outside the Disney property.
 
Disney World, as you probably know, accommodates the gluten-free diet very well. We NEVER have any problems with them accommodating our daughter even if we don't have advance reservations.

Be sure to email the Special Dining department or call the following Special Dining numbers for each Park. They will send you a list of the gluten-free menu items at that Park's restaurants in advance of your trip.

Magic Kingdom: (407) 824-5967            Animal Kingdom: (407) 938-3288

EPCOT: (407) 560-6395                         Hollywood Studios: (407) 560-3551

We have also found that many restaurants in the Orlando area accommodate the gluten-free diet as well. Here are some of our favorite places to eat gluten-free, both inside and outside the parks.
 
EPCOT

Typically we park at the Boardwalk Hotel and eat breakfast at Spoodles when we are planning to go over to EPCOT. They are never crowded, and it’s nice to start the day at the Boardwalk. At Spoodles, you can get gluten-free pancakes, waffles, French toast, etc. They have an "All American Breakfast" that our daughter loves. It comes with two eggs any style, breakfast potatoes, bacon, fresh fruit and gluten-free French toast. You can then take the boat or walk over to EPCOT. We choose to take the short walk because it’s great exercise after a big breakfast. From the Boardwalk Hotel, you enter through Epcot’s World Showcase. In EPCOT we have eaten dinner at most countries in the World Showcase, and they all accommodate our daughter with great gluten-free meals. Our favorite restaurant in EPCOT, however, is LeCellier Steakhouse in Canada.

Magic Kingdom

When we plan on going to Magic Kingdom we typically eat breakfast at either Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Hotel, Ohana's at the Polynesian, or 1900 Park Fare at The Grand Floridian. All these locations have a breakfast buffet, but the chef still always comes to our table to take my daughter’s order. They will make her anything she wants and more! They ALWAYS go above and beyond to please her. Eating at any of these three restaurants for breakfast also enables us to leave our car at the hotel and take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  

As for eating in Magic Kingdom for dinner, we have eaten at all the restaurants there, and they all accommodate us. However, we are not thrilled about the food, so we usually leave and go to Outback, Longhorn, Smokey Bones, or one of the many other Celiac-friendly restaurants just off the Disney property.  

Recently I have heard about a restaurant at The Grand Floridian called Narcoossees. It is located on the water of the Seven Seas Lagoon. It is a “Signature Dining” seafood restaurant and is expensive, but the amazing thing about it is they have a water show at night on the Lagoon that you can see from the restaurant. You can also see the fireworks for the Magic Kingdom from the restaurant. Just ask the person taking your reservation what time they'd recommend you make your reservation in order to see both the water show and the fireworks. We are definitely going to check this restaurant out next time we visit.  

Animal Kingdom

When we plan on going to Animal Kingdom we typically eat at The Character Breakfast Buffet which is now at the Tusker House Restaurant. We enjoy eating dinner at the Rainforest Café on the way out of the park or we leave and go to the Outback, Longhorn, or Smokey Bones nearby, depending on what we’re in the mood for. It is so nice to have so many options for us to choose from.    

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

When we plan on going to Disney’s Hollywood Studios we usually eat at Spoodles on the Boardwalk and then take the boat ride over to Hollywood Studios.

For Dinner at Disney’s Hollywood Studios we usually choose a restaurant that offers us a “Fantasmic Package.” The package is for dinner and tickets to the Fantasmic show. The tickets allow you to enter the show separately from the rest of the guests, and you’re seated in a reserved section. This option is nice because you don’t have to try and get into the show an hour or so before it starts in order to get seats. We just go in right before the show starts and sit in the area already set aside for guests with the “Fantasmic Package”.

We enjoy all the restaurants at Hollywood Studios. However, we do favor The Brown Derby which is another "Signature Dining" restaurant and one of the restaurants that offers the “Fantasmic Package.” At The Brown Durby, like all of Disney’s restaurants, they offer many gluten-free options for dinner. They also offer warm gluten-free dinner rolls with our daughter’s meal.

Other Restaurants in and Outside the Disney Property

We also enjoy eating at T-Rex in Downtown Disney. It is new and our kids love it. The food is better there than at the Rainforest Café. However, it is noisy, and you need reservations unless you're going off-season.  

I also recommend Maggianos if you like Italian food. The chef will come to the table to talk with you, and they have really good gluten-free pasta. They are located on International Drive in Orlando.

FYI                                                                                   
Disney World finally offers on-line dinning reservations on their website. I have been waiting years for them to do that and they finally did it! When you go to each restaurant's web page, there is a link on the right to check availability and make reserations. You can even input your food allergy information when you make your reservations online.

Special Note from GlutenFreeTravelSite.com: If you'd like help comparing rates and packages for a Disney World vacation, we can recommend Travel Agent Doreen Costa with Travel Leaders Boston office. Disney trip planning is one of her specialties, and she can also help you book reservations at the best restaurants for gluten-free dining. Don't forget...using a Travel Agent costs you nothing (usually it even saves you money), and it can save you considerable time. Take advantage of her expertise by emailing her at dcosta@travelleaders.com or call her toll free at 800-487-6110.