Tuesday 7 August 2012

Gluten Free in Orlando, Florida - Part 4: Universal & Kennedy Space Center

and so the gluten free Florida journey continued!

Universal Studios
We spent a day at Universal studios, whilst we all absolutely loved it the food options here are pretty terrible. A google before we went told me we might be able to find gluten free food at the World Expo. So we headed there and were really disappointed to find disinterested (even rude) staff who had no knowledge of gluten. We had chicken and chips and were definitely gluttoned, I spent the afternoon in and out of the toilet whilst Seb complained of feeling nauseous all afternoon. All I can say here is if you're going to Universal studios, leave the park to eat and go to Universal City Walk instead!


Universal City Walk - Margaritaville
Wow - I *loved* this place, they had a seperate gluten free menu! A great atmosphere and really knowledgeable, helpful staff. Definitely the best (non Disney) dining on our trip. I had mushroom Cheeseburger and fries (with a gluten free bun) and Seb had their volcano nachos, followed by brownies and ice cream sundae (or as they call it chocolate hurricane) for desert. The food here was really good and SO nice after a terrible gluten free day in Universal Studios. Thank you Margaritaville for making us feel normal!

Universal Islands of Adventure
We made ADRs at Mythos restaurant well in advance, it's supposed to be the no.1 theme park restaurant. It was pretty good and nice to eat 'proper' food instead of burgers and chips! They were knowledgeable about gluten free food and helpful. I had their chicken caesar salad and Seb had their pad thai. Both were really good. We skipped desert as we were so full. Later in Harry Potter land we had some pumpkin juice (the butterbeer topping contains gluten and they won't make it without). Although we didn't eat there we did notice another restaurant, the Confisco Grille, had a seperate gluten free menu.


Kennedy Space Center.
Although this was a great day out the food was awful, I had enquired in advance if food would be available. We had booked their 'dine with an astronaut' package and I had emailed in advance to enquire if there would be gluten free options available. I received this reply:


Sarah,
We can't wait to have you join us for Dine with and Astronaut, the lunch takes place only at 12:00 pm. This is a wonderful experience because the astronaut will go to each table for a brief discussion and then they will discuss their experience in space.  When you arrive just let the server know about the restrictions, and we will be more than accommodating to your families needs. We are very excited to have your family join us. I will also suggest that you sign up for the Up Close Tour, this is a once in a life time experience. If you wanted to purchase snack at out concessions just ask for the manager and they will be able to suggests the different items that your family can have.

Thank you,

Aina Wukits, C.S.C.
Executive Sous Chef
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts
Mail Code: DNPS
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
321-449-4295


In reality though it was absolutely terrible, there were no special provisions, all we could eat from the buffet were the mixed vegetables and the salad. They prepared us a grilled chicken breast each (no sauce or seasoning) so we had a plain chicken breast and a few pieces of carrot and brocolli and lettuce. I wasn't too bad, but Seb was really upset. For desert they bought us out 2 packets of plain gluten free cookies (2 small cookies in each pack). It was possibly the worst gluten free dining experience of our trip. All I can suggest is if you are a fellow coeliac/celiac that you DON'T eat at KSC and instead take your own food. We were soooo hungry in the afternoon and after searching for a snack all we managed to find to eat there was a snickers bar each. Not good.


Part 5: Gluten free Florida outside of the parks & Wholefoods gluten free heaven: http://glutenfreechild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/gluten-free-in-orlando-florida-part-5.html

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