Disney with Diabetes

[jqualls]

Hi all,

First time poster, so please forgive me if this is out of place on the forum. My youngest sister was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of four. She is seven now and just went back for a checkup with an A1C of 6.1. Needless to say, we were all pretty excited. Although here health is great, it was a really difficult transition for her. For a while, she didn't want to get four shots a day, and then it turned into her not wanting to do some of the physical activities that she did before because she didn't want finger checks and more shots...it got the best of her. It really hit home, though, when she turned down a trip to Walt Disney World because she was afraid that she would not be able to eat and play like her other sisters without worrying about her DM. This seriously killed me inside. I'm a college student focusing on pre-medicine, so I have taken a very large interest in DM and endocrinology in general after her diagnosis. I have done some research on the Disney theme parks, and have found that they do not easily and readily make their carb counts/nutritional information at your finger tips, and this was a large reason why she did not want to go on the trip as well. This inspired me. I am about to launch a kickstarter (no, I am not here to ask for donations, so sorry if that's what it looked like) to e-publish a work on this exact topic....Disney with Diabetes. I have gotten a board certified endocrinologist to mentor and oversee the project, plus to help with carb counts and I really just wanted to spread the word here, especially if any of you have ever experienced what I did with my little sister. I'm on facebook at Disney with Diabetes, so if you're interested go and check it out! This isn't to make money...in fact, I will probably lose a ton of it...but I want to help those who suffer from DM make a vacation to WDW as stress free as possible, and to highlight all the great qualities that you can still find there. Thanks for reading my rant...look forward to posting again soon.

jqualls

 

[mrburden]

Hi all,

First time poster, so please forgive me if this is out of place on the forum. My youngest sister was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of four. She is seven now and just went back for a checkup with an A1C of 6.1. Needless to say, we were all pretty excited. Although here health is great, it was a really difficult transition for her. For a while, she didn't want to get four shots a day, and then it turned into her not wanting to do some of the physical activities that she did before because she didn't want finger checks and more shots...it got the best of her. It really hit home, though, when she turned down a trip to Walt Disney World because she was afraid that she would not be able to eat and play like her other sisters without worrying about her DM. This seriously killed me inside. I'm a college student focusing on pre-medicine, so I have taken a very large interest in DM and endocrinology in general after her diagnosis. I have done some research on the Disney theme parks, and have found that they do not easily and readily make their carb counts/nutritional information at your finger tips, and this was a large reason why she did not want to go on the trip as well. This inspired me. I am about to launch a kickstarter (no, I am not here to ask for donations, so sorry if that's what it looked like) to e-publish a work on this exact topic....Disney with Diabetes. I have gotten a board certified endocrinologist to mentor and oversee the project, plus to help with carb counts and I really just wanted to spread the word here, especially if any of you have ever experienced what I did with my little sister. I'm on facebook at Disney with Diabetes, so if you're interested go and check it out! This isn't to make money...in fact, I will probably lose a ton of it...but I want to help those who suffer from DM make a vacation to WDW as stress free as possible, and to highlight all the great qualities that you can still find there. Thanks for reading my rant...look forward to posting again soon.

jqualls

Hi,
Have you actually been to Disney with a diabetic? Eating as a diabetic in Disney parks is no different to eating in any restaurant in any town or city.
We've been there many times over that last 20 years and found the restaurant staff/servers to be VERY helpful when I've asked them to get the carb content of meals/dishes from the kitchens. Every chef will have an approximate nutritional value of every dish they serve.
You can call the food management office for each theme park too - they have a person assigned to arranging special dietary requests, and they cater for all diets to the highest standards.
What we all need to remember is that potatoes or burger buns in Disney are the same as potatoes or a burger buns anywhere else. They don't use special versions of foods, so what counts as a portion of carbs at home also counts the same in Disney. They do of course make some unusual things, like their breakfast lasagne for example, which is crammed full of fruit and sugar, with custard on the top. I can't remember what the answer was when I asked for the carb content of that, but it was available within a few minutes.
Here is a link to the AllEars.net special dietary section which has some great info, compiled by Disney staff and guests:

http://allears.net/din/special.htm

I can't say I've ever come across any problems with obtaining information on WDW meals either in the parks or in the resort hotels. In the past I got talking with an American family whose young daughter was injecting in the hotel restaurant. We all agreed that Disney go the extra mile to ensure that they cater for diabetics. They will even supply a free-of-charge refrigerator in the room to store your insulin and supplies. You only have to ask and nothing is too much trouble.