Cinderella's Royal Table

The epitome of Disney. The apex of the trip. The highlight of my Christmas vacation.

Breakfast in Cinderella's castle.

With princesses.

Magical.

Ever since I was young, I've wanted to eat in Cinderella's castle, and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to have breakfast with Walt's leading ladies themselves on my last morning in Disney.

Me, excited to have been cordially invited by Cinderella. Expensively invited, but invited.

A chef came to speak with me as soon as we were seated, letting me know about their gluten free breakfast options. There really wasn't much of a choice, and he seemed a little tired and annoyed to be discussing it, but at least he was polite, and assured me that I would have a great breakfast. I did.

Morning Florida light streaming in from all directions, Disney began to make its magic.

A beautiful fruit cup replaced the pastry tray to start the breakfast, as well as fresh squeezed orange juice and plentifully flowing coffee.

Soon after, I was face to pale face with Snow White.

My breakfast was a small vegetable quiche, spicy potatoes, and a pile of sausage and bacon.

I really liked the quiche. It was light and fluffy, and nice for breakfast. The rest of the meal was standard breakfast fare, although it was good. The food being tasty was just a perk, though. If you're going to Cinderella's Castle for a 5 star breakfast, you're doing it wrong.

I met Jasmine....

Aurora...

And Belle.

In all honesty, I'm not delusional. This was a breakfast for children, as evidenced by the entire rest of the room.

But this wasn't about acting like an adult, this was about spending a few hours in a different reality. This was about wish fulfillment. And what better place for wish fulfillment than Disney World, where all of your dreams can come true?

"They will remember that special moment for the rest of their lives." How right you are, Cindy.

This concludes both my Disney trip, and my series on eating gluten free in Orlando. Thanks for tagging along on my days in the House of Mouse.

Happy travels!

Orlando's Carrabba's Italian Grill

In lieu of glamorous New Year's Eve plans, my family went out to dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill. The descriptor "Italian Grill", combined with the fact that Carrabba's is in fact a chain restaurant would seem to portend bad gluten free circumstances, but they actually have a thorough GF menu and the staff is well educated.

A link to their gluten free menu (PDF): http://www.carrabbas.com/menu/pdf/GFmenu.pdf

To start, we ordered the Insalata Johnny Rocco, a salad filled with grilled shrimp and scallops. As a recent seafood convert and diehard salad-ophile, this was revolutionary.

The only change that had to be made was to request the seafood be grilled without baste, but the quality was so high, the food was so fresh, and there were so many other flavors in the salad that it didn't matter at all that there wasn't a marinade.

For dinner, I ordered the Pollo Rosa Maria with mashed potatoes. A huge double portion!

The sauce was creamy, along with the garlic-y potatoes. Salty prosciutto and pungent fontina cheese was melted throughout the chicken breast. It's unusual to find stuffed poultry that is gluten free, so this was a nice surprise and a definitely delicious dinner.

Overall, Carrabba's is a good choice for a nice dinner out. It's pricy, but you are getting big portions and great quality for your money, as well as wide gluten free selection. As well, Carrabba's is a national chain, so there's probably one near to you.

Ciao bella!

my cousin AJ and I

Disney's Hollywood & Vine

Hi all,
After a long hiatus, I'm finishing my reporting on being gluten free in Disney, based on my vacation earlier in the year.

Tower of Terror

For lunch one fine day, my family decided to try Hollywood & Vine, a buffet style restaurant in Disney's Hollywood Studios park (formerly MGM). Part of this decision was swayed by the fact that dining there secures a special pass to sit in a reserved section of the bleachers for the amazing lights and water show Fantasmic.

a float from the show Fantastmic

Usually buffets are a hotbed of problems for a Celiac, but this is Disney we're talking about. After letting the server know about our intolerance (we also made a note of it when making our reservation), a chef came through to lead my GF mom and I through the line, pointing out all of the gluten free options along the way.
We made up a plate together to share:

If I recall correctly, this consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, various bean salads, and veggies. A pretty wide variety of choices, and there was even more that we didn't try.

As well, the chef sent out a tray of gluten free tapioca rolls. I wasn't a fan of them. A little too hard and tasteless (reminiscent of the very early days of gluten free bread when I was diagnosed 10 years ago) but it was still a great gesture.


Hollywood & Vine is a nice choice for lunch if stopping through Hollywood Studios, as its dinner prices are a little expensive, especially if you're feeding a family. Definitely make a reservation (even with one, we waited about 20 minutes for our table). It's also a good spot for young kids, as there are appearances made by characters from Playhouse Disney shows throughout the meal.
Another great Disney experience!

A Celiac in The Magic Kingdom

Happy new year to everyone!
It's been some time since I was able to update this site, but my gluten-free 'adventures' definitely didn't stop.
I apologize for the long hiatus, but one of my resolutions is to become more faithful to you, dear readers.

I thought I'd start the new decade out with a bang, and discuss the fantastic experience I had while eating in Orlando, Florida.
I was able to find tremendous places to eat in the Disney World parks, as well as Universal Studios and the greater Orlando/Kissimmee area thanks to online friends and resources, including @GFLifeIreland and @gfregistry.
Every meal was perfect from start to finish, beginning with well-informed wait staff, visits from the chef, and feeling completely reassured about my choices thanks to specially marked gluten free menus.

I began my family trip with a day in the Magic Kingdom. I hadn't been there for over 10 years, which was way before the word "gluten" even entered my vocabulary. I had been doing some research online about the Celiac Disney experience, and had only heard positive things. My day definitely did not disappoint!
Instead of making a reservation, my family had chosen a more "spontaneous" approach to lunch that day, so I made a call to the Disney Dining hotline for a recommendation. The woman who answered the phone could not have been more helpful in locating information about quick-dining restaurants, and directed me to the Pinocchio Village Haus, located in Fantasyland, directly across from the Peter Pan ride and Dumbo's flying elephants.

The restaurant didn't seem promising as we approached, because it seemed to feature pizza and sandwiches. I approached the young woman at the front entrance and asked her about the gluten free menu. To my surprise, she knew immediately what I was talking about, and informed me that the restaurant served both gluten free mac and cheese and pizza.
We ordered both!
When our order was taken (during a very busy afternoon) the manager came out and personally took it to the kitchen, where she supervised the entire preparation and separation of ingredients, then hand-delivered it to our table. Talk about service!
The macaroni and cheese was hot and melty, just the way it's supposed to be, and the pasta wasn't mushy at all.

The pizza crust was a little bit undercooked, and the cheese wasn't totally melted, but that didn't really interfere with the taste at all.

I felt totally confident about lunch!
Talk about the happiest place on earth.