IMG_7921My daughter (who is 3) is a cancer survivor (it will be 2 years in May since she was declared cancer free!).   We went on her Make-a-Wish trip in December 2014, to Disneyland! She had the best time.  One thing that was kinda hard for us was finding places to eat that were good, not terribly expensive, and healthy – with options to change items on the menu if we had to.  Let’s just say, it was overwhelming and hard to know where to eat! We ate one too many corn dogs.  (This is my little princess posing with Minnie Mouse just before Minnie took her on a special tour of her house).
I’ve been trying (though at times not very successfully) to keep my daughter on a healthy diet.  Some days it feels impossible.  But I try my best! She isn’t on a very strict gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and sugar free diet, but I try the best I can to limit food from all those categories.  Knowing they cause inflammation in her gut (a healthy gut is essential to a healthy immune system) we really try to stay away from those foods as much as we can.  With April being Autism Awareness Month, I was thinking about the families who have kids on special diets and how hard it is to find good options when eating out – especially at the happiest place on Earth.
Many of the kids I’ve worked with and are diagnosed with Autism or other special needs, require special diets that severely limit or completely avoid gluten, grains, dairy and sugar.  I have seen the positive effects of changing diets for many kids.  I’m sure you have all heard of the popular blog “Against All Grain” written by the lovely and inspiring, Danielle Walker.  I just discovered her You Tube channel and loved these videos on eating at Disneyland.  They are SO helpful! If you know anyone who is gluten free please share these with them! If you are considering taking your child who is on a special diet, has special needs or has Autism to Disneyland, please use these videos as a great resource so you can plan ahead of time where to go! It will save you hours of wandering when your kids (and maybe even the grown-ups) are feeling stressed and hungry!!  Believe me, next time we are planning a Disneyland trip, I am going to be ready in advance for meal time and feel confident that I know where we will go and what to expect.

Leave a Reply