Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom is an all-you-can-eat family style meal. It includes roasted turkey, carved beef, sliced pork, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and much more. The kid menu goes well beyond the typical options: Pasta with Marinara Sauce, Macaroni & Cheese, Oven-roasted Turkey, Barbecue Chicken and Pineapple Flat Bread. My 4-year old food-allergic son is extremely limited in his dining options. He is allergic to poultry, eggs, pineapple, and many other foods and is anaphylactic to milk.
The Special Diets form that Disney has asks for specific allergens and that information is forwarded to the chefs once the reservations are made. I received an email from the chef at Liberty Tree within two days after submitting our special diets form. He was concerned that since Liberty Tree serves over 300 pounds of turkey a day it would be more than a little difficult to prevent cross-contamination. Upon further discussion about preparation areas, equipment, and ovens, we determined that it would only be the vapors in the oven where such contamination could occur. I decided that the risk was acceptable and we went ahead with the reservation. Though I was a little irritated that the chef suggested that we eat elsewhere, I was glad that we had the in-depth conversation that we did. It was good for him as well as for me. Chefs need to know the concerns of their food-allergic costumers.
The meal that my son ultimately had was amazing! It included salad, dairy-free mashed potatoes, seasoned vegetables, carved beef, sliced pork, and a delicious sorbet with fruit dessert. He doesn’t like all the attention we give to his food, even when we’re excited about what he actually can have. My wife and I tried hard to simply sit back and smile at each other over this wonderful experience.
Thanks to David for sharing his experience. You can read more about his family’s Disney trip at their blog.
