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trilliumB · 09-02-2003

goofyguy1958,

Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic experience! (I love the part about your DD and the "guy with the big hat"!) I agree, disneymaverick, that kind of story really does make you love WDW even more (if that's possible!). Other restaurants could sure learn a few things from Disney (OK, how about the entire service industry!).

I've also felt like such a pain in the tuckus at non-Disney restaurants (plus it feels so dangerous), we pretty much never go. I did just try again, and employed some techniques I'd refined :p at the Dis --specifically, I talked to the hostess when we checked in, and just said (after friendly hellos), "I've got some really terrible food allergies, so I need to talk with someone who knows about all the ingredients in each dish." The instant response was: "Sure. I'll have my manager come talk to you while you're waiting for your table." I think bringing up the 'ingredients' really helped avoid a response like 'your server will help you'.

Plus, all this got taken care of before we were seated, so the server was not involved; I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the server may well be the person who is least likely to be helpful with your allergies at a restaurant. I think from the server's point of view, there are a couple of issues that are going to make them more stressed about your requests, and less inclined to fulfill them. One is just having their table ask to speak to the manager-- normally, the server goes for the manager only after they have failed at solving a customer problem, so the server will probably try hard to 'solve' your problem themselves, and may see you as being unreasonable when you continue to ask for a manager/chef after they've already sworn up and down that there are absolutely no {whatever} in any of the food. They may interpret this as you getting them in trouble. The other is that while you wait for the manager/chef, they can't take your order for much longer than usual, and that also makes them look bad, and they worry about you getting hungry, tipping less, complaining more, etc.

Luckily, at WDW, restaurant staff seemed overall very well educated as to how to handle food allergies, but outside... It just makes me want to go back even more!

Best of luck, and safe eating!
--CAT

09-02-2003	#11 (permalink)
trilliumB Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Rhode Island, USA Posts: 326	goofyguy1958, Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic experience! (I love the part about your DD and the "guy with the big hat"!) I agree, disneymaverick, that kind of story really does make you love WDW even more (if that's possible!). Other restaurants could sure learn a few things from Disney (OK, how about the entire service industry!). I've also felt like such a pain in the tuckus at non-Disney restaurants (plus it feels so dangerous), we pretty much never go. I did just try again, and employed some techniques I'd refined :p at the Dis --specifically, I talked to the hostess when we checked in, and just said (after friendly hellos), "I've got some really terrible food allergies, so I need to talk with someone who knows about all the ingredients in each dish." The instant response was: "Sure. I'll have my manager come talk to you while you're waiting for your table." I think bringing up the 'ingredients' really helped avoid a response like 'your server will help you'. Plus, all this got taken care of before we were seated, so the server was not involved; I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the server may well be the person who is least likely to be helpful with your allergies at a restaurant. I think from the server's point of view, there are a couple of issues that are going to make them more stressed about your requests, and less inclined to fulfill them. One is just having their table ask to speak to the manager-- normally, the server goes for the manager only after they have failed at solving a customer problem, so the server will probably try hard to 'solve' your problem themselves, and may see you as being unreasonable when you continue to ask for a manager/chef after they've already sworn up and down that there are absolutely no {whatever} in any of the food. They may interpret this as you getting them in trouble. The other is that while you wait for the manager/chef, they can't take your order for much longer than usual, and that also makes them look bad, and they worry about you getting hungry, tipping less, complaining more, etc. Luckily, at WDW, restaurant staff seemed overall very well educated as to how to handle food allergies, but outside... It just makes me want to go back even more! Best of luck, and safe eating! --CAT __________________ --CAT ...the Wild Sculptress...