Pearl #3: Gluten-free at Disney World

Ok. Let’s flash back to the last time I was at Disney of any sort (Disneyland). I was in 5th grade, rocking an awesome tie-dye shirt that matched the rest of my Girl Scout Troop and lookin’ pretty hot.

Now flash forward a decade or so…the fam and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Orlando and hit Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and….drum roll, please…the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Basically, a dream come true, if you’re wondering).

Since the trip was so impromptu, I didn’t have much time to do any gluten-free meal planning. However, I got the lowdown on GF at Universal from a friend who had recently visited and did quite a bit of Disney research of my own.

Frankly, the Disney dining hotline was of no help. They told me they didn’t have access to gluten-free menus. So, I contacted the Special Diets Hotline at Disney, but didn’t hear back before we left for our trip. Luckily, however, there’s quite a bit of info out there about eating gluten-free at Disneyworld.

All in all, I was very impressed by my Disney dining experience. I’d found a few websites prior to the trip such as Glutenista that had old menus that were good for a reference starting point. So, here’s a recap of my gluten-free experience at Disneyworld:

One of the key spots for any gluten-free gal was the fine Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, near Space Mountain. I let them know at the order counter that I had a gluten allergy, and they called a manager over promptly to take my order personally. She started to walk me through the menu and explain the various options, but I stopped her in her tracks as I had my heart set on a menu item already.

One gluten-free cheeseburger and fries later (brought out on a separate tray to avoid cross-contamination, I might add), I was a happy camper. Word on the gluten-free blog street was that you could also order a GF dessert there, but I did not see any of that.

Cheeseburger was good. Bun was fine – very likely Udi’s. Dry, so I only ate a half of the bun, which cuts down on calories anyways. Fries – well, I can’t ever complain about receiving fries since going GF, so they were obviously delicious.

For all the non gluten-free folks out there, there was a fabulous looking topping bar…which I avoided because of cross-contamination. If I’d done some research and confirmed the GFness of the nacho cheese beforehand, I would have gladly drowned my fries in cheesy wonder.

After a hard day of riding rides and the sort, we needed a little treat. Word on the street is there is a cupcake store, Babycakes NYC. However, that’s on the Disney property, so we didn’t get a chance to check it out.

I did, however, stop for a Dole Pineapple / Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream dessert from Aloha Isle. Let me tell ya – this was an island dream. Perfect treat for a hot day. No confirmation on whether the orange-flavored variety is gluten-free, but the Dole Pineapple soft serve was listed as gluten-free.

I needed to rot my teeth further, so I had to sample the gluten-free brownies from Main Street Bakery available. Nothing earth-shattering here, but it did taste pretty decent when warmed in the microwave.

I’ll be back for you someday, Cosmic Ray’s.

Until next time.