Food Allergy and Your Kiddo

Disney’s New Food Allergy Policy: What Families Need to Know

• Alice Hoyt, MD • Episode 88

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In this episode, Dr. Alice Hoyt dives deep into Disney’s recent and surprising change to its food allergy policy. After releasing an episode outlining how her family safely plans for Disney, the policy shifted — servers are no longer required to ask diners if they have food allergies.

To get clarity for food allergy families, Dr. Hoyt traveled to Orlando for a speaking engagement and then headed straight to Disney Springs to get firsthand insight. She shares what she learned from cast members, managers, and her own dining experience at Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar.

This episode gives you the real, updated picture of what to expect at Disney with food allergies, and how to stay safe while still experiencing the magic.

Resources

📖 Navigating Food Allergies: A Parent’s Guide to Care, Coverage, and Confidence by Dr. Alice Hoyt - preorder from Amazon and more

For Parents ➡️ Office Hours for Parents

For Providers ➡️ Food Allergy Pediatric Hub

For Schools ➡️ Code Ana

For Potential Patients ➡️ Hoyt Institute of Food Allergy

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This podcast is the official podcast of the Hoyt Institute of Food Allergy. Information on, within, and associated with this site and Food Allergy and Your Kiddo is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to Food Allergy and Your Kiddo. I'm your host, Dr. Alice White, coming to you from the kitchen. Because it is the first day back to school after the Thanksgiving holiday, which was lovely. I hope that y'all had a great holiday. And what I wanted to talk about today, because I talked about it on the last episode, was Disney World. And the last episode, oh my gosh, I loved it because really distilled down how my family plans for Disney. So even if you don't have a food allergy, it's really a great way to 40,000-foot view, plan your trip. Start to plan your trip, pick your theme, right? Prioritize what you want to do, plan out your days, and then really how to dine safely and leave it to Disney to keep me on my toes. Kind of as soon as I published that episode, and we did actually go back into the episode and update it. Um Disney changed its policy of it the servers no longer ask, are there any food allergies? Um and so why this is a big deal is because, well, a few reasons, right? So it is really nice to have somebody ask you, um, are there any food allergies in case you know you're sitting down or going to a quick service, whatever the case may be, and maybe you just forget, right? Like you're on vacation, you're you're managing all of these things. So it is nice to have that. But it's certainly nothing that food allergy families that, you know, we have in the real world, right? Like when we go to McDonald's, they're not asking about food allergies or Chick-fil-A or um even a lot of nice sit-down restaurants. Like they're just not. We don't like when when we have some sort of accommodation, we feel um, and it it kind of gets walked back. Like, we don't like that. So that might be how you're feeling when you heard about that change, or maybe you haven't been to Disney and weren't really even expecting much of that anyway. But I did some in investigatory journalism. So I happened to be in Orlando um like the week after I published that episode, like last week. Yes, was it last week? No, two weeks ago. It was very recently. Um and I was in Orlando a week and a half ago because I was at an early childcare professionals conference, um, speaking on the importance of being prepared at your early child care center to recognize anaphylaxis and respond to it promptly. Um, speaking to this really amazing group of early childcare professionals who, oh, the, you know, the stories that they shared about kiddos having food allergies and really just working with families to be best prepared for an emergency. Um, really, just so many of these early childcare professionals, they are true professionals. And so I was there. And after I spoke, I said, I'm gonna go to Disney and figure out what's going on. Because of course, my team, we had reached out to Disney to say, okay, well, what's the policy now? And it was a very kind of canned response of, well, it all starts with you. Like you let let the hostess or host know, you let the server know, um, which is what we're used to doing, right? But it's not what we're used to doing in Disney World. And so I really wanted to gather what was really going on. So, you know, I had a couple hours after I spoke before I had to hop back on a plane to come home. And so I went to Disney Springs, and there is one restaurant at the time of this recording that is owned by Disney at Disney Springs. And that is Jock Lindsey's hangar bar. And so I know, right? So I get in line, it's like 10:55. They don't open until 11:30. Whatever. I'm committed. I'm in line with my little luggage. Like, I'm getting the answer to this, right? So um wait for 30 minutes. Um, I think I I sent y'all an email from then um saying, hey, I'm in Orlando, and just had this amazing opportunity speaking to these child care professionals. And I was literally in line to get more information for you, my amazing listener, my amazing viewer. And so I I went, sat down, and I just wanted to have the experience. So I didn't say um, but I'm an allergist, I didn't say I have a podcast, I didn't say any of that stuff. I just wanted to have the experience. My waiter, perfectly lovely. And at Doc Lindsay Lindsay's hangar bar, like they open up at 11:30, and then you just go in and sit where you want, because it is more of a like, I mean, they have food, right? But it's more of like a themed bar, lounge kind of thing. It's on the water, it's really fun. Um, and so sat down and waiter came over, and the menu, I think, was already on the table, looked at it, and it it wasn't an allergy menu. I didn't ask for an allergy menu, and I just ordered from the menu. I was by myself and there aren't any allergens that I avoid. So I just ordered from the menu. Um, and I asked if that was the if that was all, because I I thought they'd have a little bit more of a menu, but I was just missing the food part. But what did I expect? It's it's a bar. I mean, so it was mostly like cocktails and stuff, but they did have some some food. I got some sliders, they were pretty yummy. Um, also had a Coca-Cola. Uh, you know, sometimes that just a good fountain coke just hits the spot, right? Um, so that's what I had. Finished up, got a little to-go box. And as I was walking out, so I didn't didn't ask anything about allergies, but nothing was asked of me. And that's really what I wanted to see. I wanted to see what is the experience now if I am just I'm just going. Um, so when I was walking out, I talked with who I think may have been one of the managers, and asked, hey, you know, if I if I had had an allergy, do you guys ask about it? Or, you know, what's the situation? And the manager said, Well, you really need to let the server know. I was like, okay, or the cast member know, right? So in Disney, everybody's a cast member. Um, I was like, okay, you know, thank you so much. I didn't, I didn't have any allergies, but I just, you know, there had been some changes lately. So then when I walked out out of out of the restaurant, um then I I spoke with two of the um hostesses that were there and was like, hey, you know, are y'all asking about food allergies or what's the deal? And um they were both very nice. And one in particular I spoke with a little bit more in depth, said that they're not asking about it, that you as the diner need to ask about it, need to say, hey, I have this food allergy and really take a lead on the conversation. And I was like, well, you know, why is that? Are y'all not allowed to? And this particular cast member seemed to think that they're not allowed to, and um said that a few months prior. Again, I don't know how accurate this is, but this is I wanted to hear from a cast member since the response from Disney was not as robust as I would have liked, right? Like I want to read the actual policy. What are cast members being advised as their policy? And it sounds like they're not permitted to ask about it, that at least it was explained to this cast member that it would be like asking, are you pregnant? And so um really that's a big faux pas. Um, and I can understand where they're coming from about asking about medical conditions. Do you have a medical condition? And I can also see from one side how if you're asking, oh, do you have this medical condition or you this or you that, then that could open the door to actually discrimination. Um, so you know, I don't I don't know the motivation behind it. Um, but what I do know is that the current state is if you are dining at Walt Disney World and you have a food allergy, then you need to do what you do at every other place for the most part, um, when you're dining, is you need to be very proactive and say, I am allergic to or my child is allergic to, fill in the blank. And may I see your allergy menu? Um, if they don't have an allergy menu, can you point out what is safe on this menu? Um, you know, and I mean, be nice about it. And and most people are, right? I mean, especially I think that this podcast, from what I gather from emails, um, it attracts nice people. So um just, you know, lead with kindness, clarity and kindness, right? Those are those are some of the some of the most important, um, most important characteristics we can have, is to be honest and to be clear about what we're trying to say, even though I've probably said um 20 times right now, such as life. I need to work on that. But when you're dining at at Disney, be very clear of what you're allergic to or what your child's allergic to. And you want to start that, like I talked about in that other episode, with your reservation process. So some of the restaurants at Disney, a lot of them, the sit-down restaurants in particular, you can get reservations for. And you want to do that 60 days out. So you want to, you know, go back to that other episode, really plan out your trip, and at least two months before your trip, be ready to go with what day you want to eat at what restaurant. And you can look at their menus online and they have the allergy menus online. So none of that has changed where they're still very allergy friendly. They have just put that initiation of the discussion more on the diner as opposed to the server. And I can also see, you know, going back to that, um, where there could be some liability there, you know, let's say that the server forgot to ask. I'm sorry, the cast member forgot to ask. And then, you know, you get your child's food, and you're like, oh, I forgot to say you had a peanut allergy. And I think we've all done that before. Um, and so then they don't know if it was prepared safely, or maybe you just never said it and the conversation never happened. And then your child has a reaction and and it's like, oh, well, you were supposed to ask. And it's like, oh, well, you were supposed to say it. So for whatever reason, I do not know what the reason is, but this is the path Disney is walking now. Um, but they still have their allergy menus, they still have delicious, delicious food. Um, and the cast members are the same cast members. So when you're planning out your trip, go back, listen to that episode where I talk about like how to how to plan out your trip. And really like at that 60 day mark, whatever reservations you want to make, be ready to go at what is it, 6 a.m. central, I think. So 7 a.m. Eastern time. I don't know. They'll they'll they'll they'll let you know as when you can when when you can do that. Um, but it is 60 days before I just don't know the exact time. And be ready to go and have looked at the menus and see in general, like what you like, what you think your kiddo is going to like. And when you're making that reservation online, it will ask about any allergies and you put it in there. And then, okay, it's there, it's in their system, but we never trust systems, right? Like we never we never trust like a computer system. Um, you as your as your child's parent are the strongest, best advocate for your child. So never trust. This goes when you're like at the emergency room, when you're at a restaurant, never trust that it's somewhere in a system that somebody's gonna see and that you don't have to say it. You always have to say it. So you say it when you make your reservation online, and then when you're checking in, say it. And this is where there's been still some confusion about like, are are the hosts, hostess, cast members, are they telling you to say if you have any food allergies, tell them to the server, bring it up to the server. And that's where I I still couldn't really get that they're required to say or not required to say. I don't know. But so all the onus is on us. That's you know, we're used to dealing with that anyway. We just don't like when stuff is kind of taken away from us, right? Who does? So day of when you go up to the host stand to check in, host the stand, tell them my child has a food allergy. They'll probably tell you, okay, tell your server. And then when your server comes, tell your server and ask your server to help you navigate the menu, bring the allergy menu, blah, blah, blah. If your um, and then when your food comes, confirm with whoever is bringing the food that it is allergen-free. That is very important. A lot of times they'll use like a little like allergy flag, like a little wooden steak thing. Um, but confirm that. Um, you can also talk with the chef. You know, the chefs at Disney are amazing. So you can do that. Absolutely. All these things you can you can still do. It's just the responsibility of initiation, initiating that discussion is on you, is on you as the parent. So that's how you're going to do it when you're at a sit-down restaurant, when you're at um like some of the snack carts, the quick service where you can order online. You can still order online. And if it's a peanut allergy, you can usually feel pretty good about ordering from the allergen safe menu that's online and it being peanut free. But if you don't feel comfortable online, fair enough. Then you can go up and talk to a human and order what you want from a human and tell that human, that cast member, my child is allergic to fill in the blank. Um, and make sure that that they understand that and that they're putting that in so that the people in the back who are preparing the food are preparing it the way it should be prepared. Um, and then with some of the little like snack stands and stuff, they might even have a binder that has all of the ingredients, especially if you have allergies that are not in the top nine. Um, so you can check all of the ingredients. That stuff has not changed. What has changed is that the responsibility is more back on us that we have to say, excuse me, my child has a food allergy. Um, and so, you know, I mean, we're we're used to that. It's just we don't like stuff being kind of like taken away. We really liked being asked about it. It was very hopeful. In my opinion, I don't know. Maybe some of you didn't like being asked about it. Maybe you did feel like it was violating, you know, like, oh, they're asking me about a medical condition. Um, but hopefully, if if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, then you know that this is a medical condition that we actually want other people to know that your child has. Because at any point, you know, I'm not a fear-mongerer person either. Like this is like less stress, more joy podcast, right? Like we're not getting into fear-mongering. But I think you know that at any point your child could accidentally eat something. And you want whoever is responsible for your child at that time, their teacher, their coach, their babysitter, whomever, to know that they have a food allergy and how to how to treat your child. And so even though it can be awkward, you know, talking about a medical condition with a cast member that you've never met before, um, it's still very, very important to do so. And I hope that listening to this podcast empowers you to do so and gives you the tools to very clearly say, we're so excited to eat here. My daughter has a peanut allergy. Can you please bring us the allergy menu? Or can you help us find what is safe for her that she'll still enjoy? Um, and just being very clear and very kind will get you um a very safe, fun meal. You know, I mean, it is Disney. They they they want you to have an amazing time, a magical time. Um so that's it. That is the episode because I went there for you. I went, I went to Jock Lindsay hangar bar for you, and I had sliders and a coke for you. I sat next to that beautiful water on the back deck for you. I did though. Um, and it was very fun, I'll say. Um, since I've been a mom, I have not been in Disney without my children, and I miss them. Even though I was just at Disney Springs, it still felt like I miss my kids, I miss my husband. Like we have such a good time when we go. And we do go. Um, I think we average maybe once a year. And a part of that is that we can eat safely and still enjoy eating there, um, have lots of options there. Um and and just have really a wonderful time and and be kind of in a bubble for a while on vacation, because that's you know, when you're on vacation, you want to have less stress, you want to have more joy. And I hope this episode will help you do that. I think it will. Um, and if when you have questions, reach out. Um, go to foodallergyandyourkiddo.com, subscribe to the email, and um just email me your question, and I would love to answer it through the podcast. Okay, y'all have a great day. Thanks so much for tuning in. Remember, I'm an allergist, but I'm not your allergist. So talk with your allergist about what you learned today. Like, subscribe, share this with your friends, and go to foodallergy in your kiddo.com where you can join our newsletter. God bless you and God bless your family.