Finally, rounding out the Gluten Free Guides To Disney World are those for Disney’s moderate and value resorts. On two of our Disney vacations in the past 2 years we stayed at Art of Animation, an amazingly themed resort that offers family size suites and standard rooms. While the four movie themes, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and Cars, are perfectly portrayed in the scenery, pools, playgrounds, and rooms, I have to admit I’m mostly taken aback by a resort’s ability to feed me. Gluten free dining at Art of Animation lived up to the high standards that Disney has set everywhere else on property. From daily breakfast to an occasional dinner or lunch, I certainly never went hungry thanks to the help of the chefs at Art of Animation who I met with before each and every meal. So without further delay, here are my final Disney Gluten Free Guides for Moderate and Value Resorts, split up into four separate guides because there’s just so much gluten free fun that they offer!Gluten free donuts anyone?How about some allergy free breaded chicken tenders? Maybe some BabyCakes gluten free cupcakes? Take your pick in gluten free drinks and ice cream too!
As you can see Disney resorts offer tons of gluten free dining options, and what they can put together with this list of gluten free ingredients is really impressive. So make sure you pick a few restaurants out to try while your on your Disney vacation and use these lists to do just that!
No, sadly we’re not really going back to Disney World, but rather I’m getting in touch with my Disney side, yet again, to finish off my gluten free guides with the resorts. With my Disney theme park gluten free guides so far, you now can find your favorite gluten free products when you’re making your way around any of Disney World’s main theme parks. But what about the resorts? Home to many a character meal, quick service option, and sit down dinner, the resorts make up a large portion of dining options in Disney, so of course a gluten free guide would be coming your way for all of your favorite places to stay and dine in Disney!
For each of our recent vacations as a family of three, we’ve dined in Wilderness Lodge, the Contemporary, and the Polynesian, all of which are home to multiple restaurants that each offer a variety of gluten free dishes. Since we usually call Wilderness Lodge our home for the week though, this is where we predominantly eat breakfast and occasionally lunch. During our stay at Wilderness Lodge, every morning, with the exception of a character breakfast morning, we would head to Roaring Forks for a quick service breakfast. Dan would go straight to the counter and pick out a plate of hot food for little one and he to share, while I would wait with our little girl to place my order with the manager. Sometimes I’d have to wait a bit, especially in the morning as we’re early birds, but never too long, and soon enough my order is placed for whatever gluten free option my heart desires, usually a breakfast sandwich is my breakfast of choice on vacation. Once we pay and pick out our table, I get our little girl started with her breakfast. By the time she moves onto her banana, a delicious plate of gluten free breakfast sandwich arrives for yours truly, a heaping portion of carefully cooked eggs, crispy bacon, and cheese is placed between Udi’s bread. Oh how I wish I was in Disney enjoying one of those instead of the rice cake I just forced down!Quick service meals are not the only dining options available at Disney resorts; in fact, a large portion of their meal offerings come from sit down, table service meals. Usually during our stays in Disney, we use at least one or two of our meals at resorts, either for breakfast or dinner. We love picking out at least one character meal that we can treat our little girl to, but right now, since she LOVES Mickey and his friends we tend to go with Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary for breakfast. The buffet spread at Chef Mickey’s is huge and offers anything you can imagine, from hot to cold to savory to sweet. But for me, even though the chef offered to escort me around the buffet line to point out the gluten free choices, I always opt to have my meal prepped in the kitchen away from the inevitable cross contamination that happens at buffets. For this meal, I usually go a little crazy and request a few different items, including gluten free Mickey Waffles, eggs, bacon, and my favorite, their cheesy hashbrowns. With hardly any wait at all, my plate arrives just as my husband and little girl are starting on theirs and soon enough the stars of the morning make their grand entrance too, bringing smiles all around the table. There’s many a meal at home that I wish Mickey or any of his friends would jump off the tv screen to make my little girl that happy again!After a long day of trekking around Disney theme parks in the hot and humid Florida air, we certainly are well prepared for our dinners. We plan our dinner reservations 180 days out and look forward to each and every one of them. While we love dining in the parks, we usually find ourselves for one or two of our dinners at the resorts. One of our favorite resorts to dine at is the Polynesian. Dan has fond memories of staying here when he was little and we just love walking around the resort and enjoying the greenery and water features. We’ve had great gluten free experiences at both Ohana and Kona Cafe and really love both of them for different reasons. Kona Cafe though, has become one of our more recent favorites, thanks to their gluten free Chicken and Noodle dish, something I can only get while in Disney, not to mention my daughter loved the Mickey shaped raviolis and sweet Hawaiian bread there too! But really whether we dine at Kona Cafe or Ohana, I’ve had some amazing gluten free food with even better company and scenery. For the foreseeable future, I think we’ll probably revisit either Kona or Ohana each time we go to Disney, so we always get our Polynesian fix each vacation. There’s so much in a Disney vacation that makes it as special and amazing as it is, but one of the highlights for us are all of the great meals we get to share and even better food that we don’t have to cook ourselves. Each time, after we get home from a trip, usually within a day or so, and that’s being generous, either myself or Dan asks when we’re going back next with a smile. We love going to Disney and we love even more that our little girl loves it so much too. No sooner having asked the question of when we’ll go back, do we follow it with “well, when we do go back, where do you want to eat?”. After every vacation, we create mental lists of where we want to go back to and where we haven’t yet been, we always like to try one or two new places when we go. We definitely have a growing list of places to visit that we’re slowly chipping away at, a number of restaurants of which are at resorts. Disney dining for us are the kings of gluten free eating in my book, and offer allergy free options flawlessly wherever you go. They really make sure to give each vacationer a great experience from start to finish, and that includes dining. What you eat, as a gluten free guest, is a priority to them and I for one am so glad it is! Thank you Disney for making our vacation dining so simple and easy!
So if you have a Disney vacation approaching or just dreaming of your next one, pin or print these guides so you can spot your favorite gluten free items while you’re out and about. Also, you might have noticed that there’s only the deluxe resorts listed on these guides; since there’s just so many resorts and so many gluten free food options, I had to split them up, so stay tuned for the moderate and value resort guides!
Since I was slowly on the mend from my bout of heat exhaustion, our slower paced day in Animal Kingdom and light dinner at the San Angel Inn Restaurante in Epcot’s Mexico were a perfect fit. By the time we had made our way through all of the scenic and shaded trails of the park, hopped on a few rides here and there, and nibbled on a Gluten Free BabyCakes Donut and Flame Tree Barbecue Pulled Pork my appetite and energy level were pushed pretty close to the limit, but after a little resting at the hotel, we were on the bus again and headed over to Epcot for dinner. On our trip last fall, we had eaten at San Angel Inn and Dan couldn’t talk highly enough about the margaritas and other spicy dishes that he enjoyed. I, on the other hand, was not a huge fan of my spicy entree, even though my dear husband took a bite and swore that it wasn’t spicy at all, for my dainty little mouth it felt like there was a fire in there. So needless to say this restaurant didn’t necessarily take it all for the food for me but for the ambiance it was five stars. We loved the dark, nighttime feel, not to mention the fact that the restaurant overlooks the canal where the ride passes through.
Since Dan loves the food here and I the environment, this trip we had decided to revisit this restaurant. This dinner couldn’t have come on a more perfect day in our vacation either. At our last visit, on top of my too spicy entree, I tried the gluten free Sopa Azteca, a delicious bowl of traditional tortilla soup, hold the pepper. I knew that this would be the perfect light dinner given my sensitive condition at that point in our trip.
San Angel Inn Restaurante in Epcot’s Mexico
After checking in, we were escorted to our table nestled right along the water. It was the perfect table for our family of three with the best view in the house. Soon after being seated, the chef joined us and took my order for my gluten free soup. While we waited for our orders, our little girl couldn’t get enough of the riders passing along below us. In fact she even gave most of them an extra treat, waving and saying hello as the boats passed by, even getting lucky to get a few waves back. She is such a little sweetheart and so friendly too!
Soon enough, after only waiting a few minutes, my bowl of tomato soup with gluten free tortilla strips, avocado, and cheese was placed in front of me. It was just as delicious as I remembered and filled the little vacancy in my stomach. Sadly, I didn’t do the soup justice and left quite a bit behind, but I was incredibly glad that my stomach cooperated so I could enjoy some of it at least. Just as before, our experience here was amazing and our little girl loved every bit of it, food included, so it seems her palate may be more similar to her Daddy’s.
So, if you love spicy food, there are so many gluten free options at San Angel Inn, not to mention some pretty tasty dessert choices too. Make a reservation for this restaurant as far in advance as possible because it books up pretty quickly. Also, if you want to snag a seat like we had, try to get an earlier reservation and request a table along the water when you check in, you’ll have a better shot earlier in the dinner service I think.
Keep me posted on your gluten free selections here and any other Disney restaurant!
After hibernating a bit the day before, I woke up to feel a tad bit better on our Animal Kingdom day. I managed to get down a few bites of breakfast and we were off to walk the wonderfully shaded trails of Animal Kingdom, certainly a great choice in my book for this day in particular. We moved a bit slower and found quite a few benches but we still managed to see all that we had hoped.
With fastpasses for some of the more popular rides, we headed straight back to Dinosaur where our riders barely had to wait. I was hoping to maybe get on this ride this trip as I hadn’t yet been, but instead, I happily sat out with my little non-rider and took advantage of a few more minutes of rest. Once all of the group was out of the Dinosaur ride, we made our way back to the safari for our fastpasses.
Our favorite Animal Kingdom photo spot, great angle for the tree.
In route to Asia, we passed the Allergy Kiosk, you know the one I raved about last trip, that stands conveniently towards the front of the park by the Bug’s Life show. Since this time I was totally not my usual hungry self by mid-morning I wasn’t really in the mood for anything BabyCakes, but since we had some snack credits to use and I hadn’t eaten but two bites of toast that morning I decided to pick up a gluten free chocolate glazed donut like last time (check out my review here from before). Throughout the morning, I nibbled on the donut and managed to eat most of it, that’s how you know the donut was that good seeing as I had zero appetite but managed to convince myself to eat most of the sweet treat.
BabyCakes Gluten Free Chocolate Donut, Spring Disney Trip
Soon enough we had arrived at our destination and hopped on board for the morning safari ride. Our little girl was so tuckered out already that she decided on an early nap for herself (little did she know that Mommy would’ve gladly joined her). The animals were all out and about, grazing along happily and giving us some great picture worthy moments. When the safari came to a close, in the transition from arms to stroller little one woke up after her cat nap and was ready to explore the Pangani Forest Trail, one of our favorite things to do in Animal Kingdom.
Nap time and a safari.
The trail let out near Camp Minnie and Mickey where we decided to stop in since the line was on the shorter side. After some hugs and pictures we were off to experience the Kali River Rapids. This was another ride that I hadn’t been on yet, so Dan and I were excited to maybe get to go on this one together while little one was out with her cousin, Aunt, and Nanny. It’s no surprise that we managed to get ourselves in the wet seats, Dan more so than me, but it was certainly a welcomed cool down since it was so hot. This really was a great ride and I can’t wait to take our little one on here someday.
Another trail walk later and we found ourselves in a rain shower under the awning at Flame Tree Barbecue for lunch. While Dan managed the ordering, I headed down to snag tons of dry seats for our group under some coverings along the river overseeing Expedition Everest, a view that the kids loved. I was kind of disappointed that one of my favorite lunch spots in Disney happened to fall on a day that my stomach was still not right but don’t worry I did manage to squeeze in a little bit of my favorite barbecue dish here. That day I decided to order the pulled pork, sans bun, with the usual accompaniments. The pork was deliciously tender and juicy, just how I remembered, and hit the tiny pang of hunger that I was starting to feel (Sorry no recent picture on this one either, I certainly didn’t want to even look at food let alone take pictures of it.). To give you a little reminder though, here’s a picture from our last trip that certainly portrays just how tasty the pulled pork is.
Flame Tree Barbecue, gluten free pulled pork, Spring Disney trip
After eating some of the pulled pork, enjoying a nice cold drink, and waiting out the rain, we wandered around the park a little while more checking out wait times on other rides and shopping a bit too. After a busy morning I for one was ready to head out and rest a bit before our dinner that night in Epcot’s Mexico. It was a fantastic day in Animal Kingdom, and even though I wasn’t feeling the best, I’m so glad I decided to not stay in and miss out on some great memories. It was just the kind of day I needed to get going again without baking in the sun all day. And may I just say, seeing as the first real bites of food that I managed to squeeze down in my sicky state were at Animal Kingdom, I think it’s safe to say that the gluten free eats that I’m able to get here, from the BabyCakes treats at the Allergy Kiosk to the Flame Tree Barbecue pulled pork, are some of my favorites by far.
As the fourth morning of our summer vacation rolled around, we were up and raring to go for our first full day in Magic Kingdom (well at least most of us, I on the other hand was still a little run down). Our Magic Kingdom days are really some of my favorites. Almost everything we do is for our little girl, from rides and character meet and greets to parades and even special dining, each moment spent here is all about our little one. Just as we had on our previous days, we had our fastpasses all planned out ahead of time with a Be Our Guest lunch reservation smooshed in the middle. To say we were all excited would be an understatement.
Little ones headed the line to the Pirates of Caribbean.
The buses were packed on the way over but thankfully this tired and slightly ill mama, with baby in hand, snagged a seat so I could enjoy just a few more minutes of some blasting cold air. Soon enough though we were pulling up at our bus stop and unloading for our very busy day. Since we had morning fastpasses planned for some of the busier attractions in the new Fantasyland we decided to not follow the herd of people in that direction and head over to Adventureland first to hop on Pirates of the Caribbean. This was such a great idea, especially since we were able to go on it twice in a row with no line each time.
Afterwards, the rest of our group of thirteen decided to talk a walk through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse; while Dan and I love doing this too, walking up tons of tiny steps holding our antsy toddler, or worse her insisting to do the steps herself, did not sound like very much fun. Instead, we decided to catch a ride on a magic carpet, something we’d yet to do since the line for this ride is always insane during the day and very much so in the sun. Not this morning, we waited a grand total of 5-10 minutes and were flying high in the sky. Little one loved this ride and actually put her arms up, I think someone’s been watching her Daddy on rides.
She wanted those gemstones stuck in the ground so badly.
Just as our magic carpets were landing, we spotted a small line forming for Jasmine’s first meet and greet so we decided to scoot in line. We waited only about 10 minutes in the shade and our little girl just loved the queue, with all of the gemstones and other miscellaneous treasures embedded in the ground. And we were up, it was her turn to meet Jasmine, to whom she ran up and gave a huge hug to. Did I mention how much she loves almost every character in Disney World?
By the time we had finished the sweep of Adventureland, in such a short time may I add, it was time to make our way over to Fantasyland for the first of our fastpasses. The plan to start in Adventureland was such a great idea; if you can avoid Fantasyland with fastpasses for the main attractions, especially first thing in the morning, please do, and try to hit some of your other favorite rides elsewhere in the park, you’ll be thankful you did when you’re walking straight onto rides. Anyway, we had arrived in Fantasyland and had a little bit of time before our early Be Our Guest lunch reservation so we took advantage of our first fastpass and met Anna and Elsa and then went over to Dumbo for a quick ride.
A little pre-lunch Dumbo ride.
Finally, it was time for our lunch at Be Our Guest. Even though it was on the early side we had all done so much already that day we were certainly hungry and ready for it. Ordering at the kiosks is pretty easy if you have a food restriction but for me I always ask to speak with a chef, it just makes me feel more comfortable in what I’m eating. I ordered the gluten free Turkey Sandwich that I’ve ordered in the past and you can catch a review of here. We picked out our tables in the Rose room and waited patiently for our orders to arrive.
Gluten free turkey sandwich from our spring trip to Disney.
Unfortunately for me, even after such a short morning I was already run down and feeling sick again with my appetite being nonexistent, just as it had at breakfast and dinner the night before. Once my meal did arrive it looked just as wonderful as always, with two portions of the gluten free version of the turkey sandwich and fries on the side, but I just couldn’t manage to eat very much at all. What I did eat though reminded me of just how tasty this sandwich was in my past visit too, hence why it’s one of my favorite lunches in Disney. On this day though, food was not my friend no matter how much I loved a meal in the past (tear).
Quick shot on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (sorry if it’s a little blurry but it was the best we could do).
After my pseudo lunch, I knew I wouldn’t make it much longer so we headed over to the Mine Train for our fastpass time. We split into two larger groups to watch the too little little ones, which thankfully the downtime gave way to an earlier nap time for mine. Even though I wasn’t really in the shape to go on this type of ride, I decided not to miss out on the rare opportunity to wait only 10 minutes to get on this one. It was really lots of fun, fast and a bit more intense than I thought but fun nonetheless, very glad I didn’t sit out.
Finally we had come to our last fastpass of the day over at Splash Mountain. While my little girl slept, I took advantage of this time for sure and plopped my exhausted and sick butt down in some shade where I could maybe snag a great picture of our family coming down the big drop. Mission accomplished, and with picture in hand we decided since we’d made it to mid-afternoon at that point to call it and head back to the hotel for some relaxation and pool time for little one.
The rest of the day for my little family of three was very mellow and relaxing. By the time we had gotten back to the hotel I was ready to collapse, and collapse I did. I definitely had heat exhaustion and with no food in my stomach I desperately needed to just lay in the cool air. While I did that, Dan took our little girl out for some pool time, moments that I definitely didn’t want to miss but had to. We decided to skip our Mama Melrose dinner reservation that night, I never would’ve made it there, and settled on a night inside with the cool air and soft beds. Our little girl was certainly a trooper and didn’t mind too much with the downtime, thank you my princess! But don’t worry, her Daddy took good care of her and Mommy with a couple walks in the stroller, a trip to the gift shop leading to her coming back with a present in hand, and the best part, a huge Mickey cupcake that made her eyes grow ten sizes. That husband of mine even brought back a small edible treat for me too, not quite as appealing as a huge Mickey cupcake but a necessary evil for me that night, some fresh fruit and a little salad put together by the chef’s at the Landscapes of Flavor.
After 8 hours of laying in the air conditioning and a full of night of sleep to follow, the next day seemed a little bit brighter. The next morning I was still so nauseous with zero appetite and pretty darn sore too, but I certainly wasn’t going to let this heat stuff ruin any more of our vacation plans. Next up, was our Animal Kingdom day and our last dinner in Epcot at Mexico!
After a great day in Hollywood Studios we were off to Epcot for a dinner in Germany. We debated on this one for a little while. We’d been there pre-baby and loved the environment and entertainment but were so so on the food. For me, the cuisine is not really up my alley, but I’m always willing to try new places for my husband who has much more of an adventurous palate than I. Even though our first experience at Biergarten didn’t quite wow us we decided to give it a second try, just the three of us, so our little girl might be able to enjoy a little German music and entertainment.
We caught a bus to head over to Epcot for dinner that night and in route our little one dozed off for her afternoon nap. We crossed our fingers that this nap would stick and hopefully get us through a little bit of dinner, just long enough so we could put some food in our stomachs. After pulling up at the distant bus stop, we began our trek towards the World Showcase. With temperatures in the high 90s and humidity levels off the charts, the walk from the bus to Germany in the World Showcase was brutal, making me light headed and nauseous. Little did I know that this wasn’t a promising sign for the rest of our evening and really for the next few days. The heat certainly got the best of me and made enjoying our dinner very difficult. Thankfully though, my little girl helped her mommy out by continuing napping through quite a bit of dinner, allowing me to relax and attempt to eat some of my meal.
A little Germany love with my little Snow White (this was the day before our dinner in Germany, just had to share how pretty Germany is).
So back to the food. After being seated, we were told that the chef would be over to walk me through the buffet to review my gluten free options. While I waited with our peacefully sleeping baby, Dan went up to the buffet to retrieve a plate full of authentic, German cuisine. It was a busy night at Biergarten with several other food allergy diners so it did take awhile for the chef to come over, but the peaceful relaxation was warmly welcomed on my part. Once the chef appeared, she escorted me over to the buffet and reviewed the can and cannots along the line. After our quick walk through, I requested my menu choices to come from the kitchen rather than from the buffet line where gluten free items were sometimes surrounded by non-gluten free ones making cross contamination an absolute possibility. The chef was so happy to accommodate and promised to give me generous helpings of each of my requested gluten free items (In retrospect, I probably should have forewarned her that the extras might be wasted on this gal that night since I was apparently suffering from heat exhaustion.).
Epcot’s Biergarten in Germany, The Gluten Free Cold Selection
Whilst I waited for my food, the show began and caused a little rustling from inside the stroller, but thankfully our little girl continued to snooze for a little while longer. Soon enough, the chef reappeared with two full plates of almost everything gluten free from the kitchen. Had I had the appetite that I normally have after a full day of pushing around the stroller through Disney’s humongous theme parks, I would’ve been thrilled with the wide selection and overflowing plates. Sadly, the enormous amount of food was somewhat wasted that night.
That being said, I did manage to try bits and pieces of almost all of the dishes, especially since I knew they had come safely from inside the kitchen. On the cold plate above, I had a green salad with their house made dressing, tomato salad, and potato salad. I wasn’t a huge fan of the dressing on the salad so a lot of that remained. But, I really enjoyed the tomato salad which was very similar in flavor to summery tomato salads that I make at home. The real surprise on the plate though was the potato salad. This was deliciously creamy and the red potatoes were perfectly tender. Not quite as wonderful as my grandmother’s homemade gluten free version, but Biergarten’s potato salad was definitely flavorful and tasty just the same.
Epcot’s Biergarten in Germany, The Gluten Free Warm Selections
This next plate was more of a challenge for my sensitive stomach that night, so I must admit I didn’t try everything on there. Okay, so the main gluten free entrees were the German sausages and roasted pork (there was also a fish option in there too that was gluten free but I don’t eat fish). As far as the gluten free sides go, there was a warm potato salad, green beans, and roasted potatoes. I took a few bites of the roasted pork and was really disappointed because it was exceptionally dry. There was a sauce on the buffet that was intended to be paired with the pork but that was off limits to me. Meanwhile the sausages were pretty tasty, actually one of my husband’s favorites on the buffet, but I could only stomach one or two bites of each kind. As far as the warm sides, I honestly didn’t try them, by that point in the meal I was pretty well spent. However, I’m happy to report that my personal gluten free taste tester, aka my husband Dan, happened to really enjoy the warm potato salad, so I’m pretty sure I would have too.
As I had finished my nibbling, I looked to my right to see our little one sitting up in her stroller, looking around with bewilderment. It must be very strange to go to sleep in one place and wake up in a totally new one, not to mention in Disney World where you can essentially wake up in a different country. Needless to say, she wasn’t too pleased with the music and singing going on around her that caused her nap to come to an early close so she was certainly ready to go at that point, cutting our time short in Germany. Afterwards we slowly made our way back around the World Showcase, grabbing dinner for little one and stopping at the Nemo ride and Spaceship Earth to make her night a little extra special.
Hot and steamy nighttime family picture in front of Epcot.
So unfortunately for us it appears as though we were going to hit another little sickness, thanks to the heat, while on vacation. Thankfully though, this one didn’t take Mommy out of the equation for too long. Sadly, the first night of my sick days happen to fall on our Germany dinner night which left a lasting negative impression on me. While the food that I did taste was pretty good, Dan and I both agreed that it just wasn’t our favorite place for dinner in Disney, so I think the ship has officially sailed on Germany for us. However, just like every other place in Epcot, the restaurant was so perfectly authentic to the country and the food was just the same. So if you love everything Germany be sure to stop at Epcot’s Biergarten, they certainly do offer a great experience along with a large variety of gluten free foods.
Stay tuned for more Disney gluten free fun from a Lefou’s Brew to some Mickey Waffles!
So after one of our favorite dinners on our summer Disney vacation, you know the gluten free fried chicken that captured my heart, it was time for our day in Hollywood Studios. We finally survived a full day in this park after a few others in the past that didn’t quite go as planned. Check out my guest post on Sarah’s Gluten Free & Dairy Free WDW blog to hear all about our day, from the Frozen Summer event to our first lunch at Studio Catering Co.!
After a great day in Epcot, we headed over to Hollywood Studios for dinner. On our travels, nestled snug in my arms, little one fell asleep for a much needed nap, and I have to admit that I wished I could fall asleep along with her too. Soon enough though we pulled up at the bus stop and quickly unloaded. It was back into the stroller for our little girl and thankfully the transition didn’t wake her up.
Since we arrived a bit early for our reservation at 50s Prime Time Cafe, we decided to grab a few cups of water (which by the way you can get for free at any stand!) and meander through the air conditioned gift shops. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever been so thankful for air conditioning in quite awhile. It just felt heavenly walking through those stores, not to mention it made nap time a lot more comfortable I’m sure for a certain little girl. After looking through all of Disney’s merchandise, and snagging a Mickey pretzel magnet that our toddler would just love, it was time to head over for dinner.
A short wait later and a table that would fit our group of thirteen was ready. Thankfully, there was enough room to push our stroller in with sleeping baby inside and not interrupt nap time. The chef joined us moments later, took our allergy free orders (gluten free fried chicken of course and the brownie sundae), and politely obliged to our gluten free fried chicken request and in fact shared that the chicken was almost ready, yay!!!! I couldn’t have been happier to be one step closer to tasting the deliciousness of their gluten free fried chicken again.
A little Mommy and Daddy time while little one sleeps.
Now, how did I seem to accomplish the impossible, seeing as last time I was less than successful at 50s? Well I sent my gluten free meal request via email to Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com, 2 weeks before we left for our trip, where they then passed it along to the restaurant. It seems so silly that this is necessary, but trust me, if you want to enjoy this gluten free item I highly recommend doing this. In one of my many discussions with Disney’s Special Diets department I was informed that the restaurant no longer keeps all of the ingredients on hand at all times so they need ample notice ahead of time of a request to get everything. Better safe than sorry and from now on I’ll only ever order this dish in this way, hopefully to always have the success that I did that day!
Aunt Liz’s Golden Gluten Free Fried Chicken
Okay, so now that all of the instructions for ordering are out of the way lets get to the good stuff. Since our gluten free fried chicken was almost ready when we talked to the chef (thanks to my pre-ordering!) our wait was cut down significantly, unfortunately though not enough for our little girl. In fact, just as our meals were arriving our little one stirred, I’m telling you they have amazing timing, and didn’t wake up in the best of moods. Seeing as I have an amazing husband who knows how much I had looked forward to this meal he offered to take our little girl outside for a walk so I could quickly gobble my hot and crispy gluten free fried chicken down. I don’t know how they do it but the crispy gluten free fried chicken with a side of garlic mashed potatoes and string beans hit the spot perfectly and was amazing! The outside of the chicken was perfectly crispy and flavorful while the inside was bursting with juicy flavor. The sides were just as tasty as I remembered too but there’s no denying the star of that plate was chicken.
Gluten Free Dad’s Brownie Sundae
Once my perfect plate of gluten free diner food was almost done, Dan and my little one were back and it was my turn on toddler duty. Thankfully we had gotten our little girl some dinner ahead of time so she happily nibbled on some of Mommy’s green beans, sandwich, and her favorite, apple slices. Before we knew it, the creme de la creme of the dessert menu had arrived, a gluten free version of Dad’s Brownie Sundae, which towered over the table in all of it’s glory! By this time, my little one who loves herself some dessert, had finished her meal, at least as close as we were going to get, and even had a quick change outside and was licking her lips at one look of this masterpiece. We divided the whole sundae for our family of three to enjoy, making sure each of us got to taste all of the fixings, including the homemade gluten free brownie, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, caramel sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles, caramel popcorn, m&ms and a cherry. This dessert is phenomenal, from the delicious gluten free brownie that they make in house to the clever toppings like the caramel popcorn, each bite makes you close your eyes and give a little mmm. A sweet way to end our meal for sure!
So needless to say my faith in 50s Prime Time Cafe has been restored. With some notice ahead of time, they were able to create a gluten free masterpiece and I for one couldn’t be more grateful. After such a rough experience only a few months ago, it was certainly a relief to walk out with such a different feeling this time. Hopefully this method is fool proof and gets you this plate of deliciousness anytime you want! Keep me posted on all of your gluten free experiences in Disney World too, good or bad, I’d love to hear them!
TIP: If you’re contemplating making a dining reservation at 50s Prime Time Cafe and are interested in their legendary gluten free fried chicken, make sure you order ahead as I did by simply emailing your request to Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com. This seems to be the best way to make sure that you get to enjoy what you want.
As the second day of our vacation rolled around so did our time at Epcot. We love our days and nights at Epcot, with the amazing food and drinks, the feeling of all of the different cultures around you, and some fantastic rides scattered in there too. We had big plans for this day in Epcot, an early start at Soarin’, then meeting Mickey and his friends at the Character Spot, then hopping on Test Track, and finally heading over to start the World Showcase, all summed up with a ride on Nemo and a walk through the aquarium in the afternoon before dinner.
Mommy, Daddy, and Little Snow White too!
The highlight by far, as always, was meeting everyone at the Character Spot. My little girl just loves Mickey and his friends. With a running start, she charges over to each of them and embraces them in a huge hug, then quickly about faces and sits down on their lap for a picture. Nothing beats watching her hug each of them so warmly like they’re her best friends and then bid them an equally warm farewell wave. It’s moments like that that make me want to go back to Disney over and over just to let my little girl see her friends again.
By the time we had completed our morning rides, our little girl had drifted off to sleep, so instead of squeezing in the Mexico and Norway rides we took our time meandering around the countries and their stores. By the time we had reached Italy, we decided to have an early lunch at Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar. We happen to really love Tutto Gusto, although it isn’t on the dining plan, it’s a nice alternative for lunch in Epcot. Literally, the moment we pulled the stroller up to the restaurant our little one was in the midst of waking up from her nap, it’s amazing how they have such good timing.
Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar in Epcot
We were given a great table right in the middle of the wine cellar where we could admire the wall of wine bottles behind us along with the gorgeous authentic Italian touches everywhere, all while enjoying the wonderfully cool and dark environment that was so welcomed after baking in the Orlando heat and humidity all morning. Our server quickly met us at our table along with the chef to go over my gluten free options. They have gluten free pasta which allows for any of the pasta options on the menu, however everything on their tasting menu, meats, cheeses, etc. are gluten free too. Much to my dismay though, the chef informed me that all of these other options are kept in a communal case where their paninis and such are stored too, so there is a chance of cross contamination there. I was warned that if I was very sensitive that the case contents were pretty off limits, even though that’s a bit disappointing I was completely okay with skipping out on the gluten exposure. I decided to go with my favorite dish, the gluten free pasta pomodoro with burrata cheese, that they really do so well there.
Tutto Gusto Gluten Free Bread Plate
While we waited for our dishes, the server dropped off our recommended wines, I went with a sweet, bubbly Moscato along with a bonus plate of gluten free breads. There was a raisin bread and two other plain breads. They were all quite good but my favorite was the raisin bread, of which I really only had a bite or two since I didn’t want to ruin my lunch. Meanwhile, our little girl couldn’t get enough of the delicious looking, non-gluten free focaccia bread and crunchy breadsticks that were placed in front of her and my husband. She loved every bit of that bread plate and would’ve taken it all home with us if we could.
Gluten Free Pasta Pomodoro at Epcot’s Tutto Gusto
Soon enough, our lunches arrived, my husband’s Tuscan pork ribs and my gluten free pasta pomodoro that would be split with my little bread monster. When we had visited Tutto Gusto before on our last trip, unbeknownst to me, the chef made me a dinner sized portion of the pasta which was way too much food and too expensive for lunch too, This time just confirmed my suspicions from before, as my tasting plate of gluten free pasta arrived and was just the right size (and price) for lunch and even to be shared with a little toddler. It was just as delicious as I remembered with whole roasted tomatoes scattered throughout, fresh basil, and creamy burrata cheese on top. Not to mention the pasta was phenomenal! It was cooked perfectly al dente and embraced all of the flavors of the sauce and cheese. Such a fantastic lunch option when you’re in Epcot, just gives you a little break from the fries, burgers, and sandwiches.
Gluten Free Panna Cotta
Okay, so what Disney meal is complete without a dessert? Our lunch at Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar was no different. My gluten free choice was the chocolate panna cotta with cherries on top. It was so soft and creamy, just how a panna cotta should be, and matched perfectly with the cherries. Needless to say, this dessert didn’t stand a chance in my group, even though I shared it with little one (who also happen to snag a few bites from Daddy’s dessert too), I’m sure the dish wouldn’t have been empty anyway if it had been left up to just me.
As our meal was coming to a close, I couldn’t help but look around and truly appreciate just how wonderful our vacations are together. Sure my little girl has her moments when her toddler age and impatience shows through but then there are plenty of those other moments too, where she’s all smiles and laughs, making Mommy and Daddy smile too. She’s a precious little gem our little girl and we couldn’t be more happy to share all of these exciting moments with her as she grows up.
So all in all, I can’t recommend Epcot’s Tutto Gusto highly enough. They offer delicious gluten free menu options, and non-gluten free ones too, that are sure to please everyone. The only downside that I did have was that I couldn’t get my hands on their recipes. Sadly, they weren’t really keen on sharing those which was really disappointing for me, seeing as Disney isn’t necessarily in my backyard and on my regular list of Friday night take out options. Even though I can’t recreate these exact dishes at home though, it just makes it that much more exciting and tastier when we get to go back!
Our little Snow White giving her favorite princess some love!
After lunch, we were all refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of Epcot. We headed straight over to Germany to meet my daughter’s favorite princess, Snow White. The meet and greet went just how we expected, a huge hug, followed by being held for bit, and finally a goodbye hug and wave that made the line behind us aww in unison. After her meeting, we took our little Snow White through the rest of the countries and finally to the Nemo ride, which she LOVES! The ride itself is great, but the aquarium afterwards is a great experience that we all love. By the time we finished Nemo, it was time to head over to Hollywood Studios for dinner. Stay tuned for my most exciting gluten free news from our summer Disney vacation! I’ll give you a hint, it has to do with fried chicken!
So I suppose it’s become somewhat of a tradition to spend our first day of our Disney vacation in Magic Kingdom. Right after we do our bag drop off at our resort we head on over to Magic Kingdom to start our vacation off with a trip through Fantasyland’s finest rides. This particular trip was no different, filling our first day with a tour through some old and new rides and finishing it off with a perfect first night’s dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant.
After a long morning of travel and an afternoon of hot fun we were eager to get dinner underway. We had arrived right on time and were shown to our table in the Beast’s West Wing. It was dark and cool, with thunder and lightening causing the lights to flicker on and off, definitely recreating the mysterious and somewhat scary nature of the West Wing. With so much to see and hear we were pretty optimistic that our little one would either be plenty entertained or embrace the darkness of the room and succumb to her heavily drooping eyes. Needless to say our dinner ended up being a bit more chaotic to say the least, and I think Dan and I probably spent a grand total of 30 minutes together the entire dinner. At one point or another each one of us was up and walking with our overly exhausted 1 year old who had bigger and better plans then sitting down to a nice dinner. It had been a long day up to that point with no nap in sight so I kind of knew the probable outcome of the dinner, but still hoped that the castle would enchant her and help us through our dinner.
Well with no enchantment in sight, we made do with our fussy little one and managed to still get in a few bites of semi-hot food. For my dinner I decided to start off with the gluten free French Onion Soup, followed by the gluten free Strip Steak with Pommes Frites, and finish with a gluten free Raspberry Sorbet. I was most excited to dive into a big bowl of French Onion Soup with melted cheese on top, it’s been ages since I’ve been so lucky. Soon after placing my order with the chef, my soup came around the corner and I couldn’t wait to take my first bite.
Gluten Free French Onion Soup at Be Our Guest
The soup was delicious, overflowing with onions and topped with a thick layer of melted cheese. While I’m not the biggest fan of onions in general, I do however enjoy the flavor that they add to this soup and with the melted cheese, it was simply divine. It was an amazing start to the meal and done perfectly gluten free too!
Soon after our appetizers had left the table, our main courses were turning the corner. While Dan started on his dish, I decided to take our little girl on a walk around the castle to give everyone a break from the rambunctious toddler. Soon enough we had made our way back to our dining room and it was my turn to dive into my meal. By this point my steak had turned a little cold so that was a bit disappointing but I wasn’t going to let that deter me from enjoying the great flavors. Unlike our last visit to Be Our Guest, this time around it didn’t seem like they had cooked the steak in the garlic herb butter as there was only a side dish on the plate, none was actually melted on top. It wasn’t quite the same this way, as the flavor of the butter didn’t really have a chance to melt into the steak; however, the butter was just as delicious as before and did make a good dipping side for the pommes frites which were just as perfectly flavored as I remember. All together my meal was pretty good, the pommes frites were the star for me and for my little girl who quieted down instantly after one bite, while the steak just needed to be cooked in the garlic herb butter to absorb that amazing flavor.
Gluten Free Grilled Strip Steak at Be Our Guest
Soon enough the dessert cart was rolling up alongside our table and delivering our family’s amazing sweet selections, with my sorbet quickly following. Normally I order the gluten free Lemon Raspberry Puff but I was in more of a cold treat kind of mood that day. The gluten free Raspberry Sorbet was perfect, a cold and sweet finish to a tasty meal. I highly recommend this dessert as an alternative to their gluten free puff, it was a huge helping and just the right amount of sweetness at the end of the meal.
Gluten Free Raspberry Sorbet at Be Our Guest
All together our dinner on Day 1 was incredibly flavorful and filling, a great finish to a jam packed first day of vacation. After such a long morning of travel and a hot afternoon hopping on and off rides it was just great to enjoy a cool meal in the dark and stormy West Wing of Beast’s castle. With full bellies and an extra boost of energy, we tackled a few more attractions after dinner like Belle’s Enchanted Tales, the carousel, and the tea cups. Soon enough, all of our tanks were close to empty though and it was time to call it a day. We turned in a bit early that night making sure to be well rested for Day 2 of fun at Epcot. Keep an eye out for the great gluten free news that I received on the second day of our vacation!
Gluten free donuts anyone?
How about some allergy free breaded chicken tenders?
Maybe some BabyCakes gluten free cupcakes?
Take your pick in gluten free drinks and ice cream too! 
