UOR Newbie with Questions

Universal Orlando Resort
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Okay, so both my husband and I have major dietary restrictions and allergies. Some foods can send him to the hospital and make our stay very, very miserable. Me, I’m on a very special diet for my T2D that restaurants in WDW and UOR don’t seem to cater to very much. I’m also allergic to peanuts and a lot of tree nuts. There are some things DH can have a little of, but I cannot afford to “cheat” on high-carb items at all. I also can’t cheat on nuts and peanuts. Of course, there are things DH absolutely cannot have, like spices, FODMAPs, etc. It makes meal planning difficult.

So, at WDW, we prefer to eat at TS and always talk to a chef beforehand. In the past, staying away from my allergies was pretty straightforward, but now that I have additional things to avoid, I’m not sure how well QS at UOR is. Does anyone have any experience?

I’m sure I’ll have other questions, but right now I can’t think of them.

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About 10 years ago (maybe things have changed since then) I was at UOR with a family member who has significant food restrictions (though different than yours and your husband’s).

We had good success asking to speak to the chef at TS (Mythos at IOA, Lombard’s at Studios and various restaurants at Citiwalk and the UOR resorts) and they were very accommodating. QS, on the other hand, was a challenge.

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Thanks for the insight.

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I wrote an article about food allergies & dietary restrctions on the blog!

My suggestion is to email Food.Allergy@universalorlando.com with questions and any lists of restaurants that comply with your needs.

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Thanks! I did read your blog post last night.

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As mentioned it is possible to talk to the chefs at the TS restaurants - just like WDW.

When in doubt, leave it out!

If I remember correctly, you are only going for a single day and not eating outside the parks?? No CityWalk or hotels??

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One day at each park and one time at City Walk (Toothsome). The main issue is that DH will need downtime on such long days because he can’t leave to go back to the resort. There will be one TS at both USF and IoA and I’m thinking a stop at a QS at each, as well. I’m just trying to figure out the best place to go.

I am definitely going to email special diets so that we have a better idea of where we can go.

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Have you considered any of the TS restaurants at the premier hotels for meals and rest?

All the hotels have amazing restaurants that beats anything in the parks / CityWalk. You would have access to a chef at a smaller venue instead of trying to get it right at a much busier place in the parks.

Plus, they all have great campuses to stroll around and/or lobbies to rest in. (Hard Rock is my favorite to doze in)

My favorite hotel eateries:

Hard Rock - The Kitchen
Sapphire Fall - Strong Water (even if you don’t drink the food is amazing1)
Portofino - Mama Della’s

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Hmmm. I’ll talk with DH to see what he thinks. I’m not averse to leaving the parks to visit the hotels.

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It’s really easy as you get to take the Water Taxis to the hotels directly from the CityWalk lagoon

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Hard Rock is a 5 minute walk from the entrance of studios. The boat ride to Portofino is absolutely gorgeous.

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We did UOR in 2022 with my son with food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, soy protein, soy flour, most legumes, most seeds.

We didn’t do sit down meals though. Each QS meal slowed us down because I hadn’t done much prep work other than print off dozens of menus.

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I’m assuming that DS did well with the things he chose. I’m a bit afraid of QS, though.

Gregg is already going to be vulnerable and on the edge with his neurological issues; we don’t want to compound that with him being miserable from hidden things found in foods. I’m not so afraid of eating peanuts or tree nuts. I think these places are pretty good at keeping things straight, but I worry about the weird things I’m not supposed to eat that aren’t on the normal list of restrictions. I’ve finally gotten my BGs steady and my A1C down to pre-diabetic levels (from a 9.1 two years ago). Plus, I can’t eat grains, including corn, and soy is definitely out. This lifestyle has helped me not only with my T2D, but it has done wonders for my auto immune disorder.

I have emailed Food.Allergies @ universalorlando.com, and hope to get more details for the places/dishes we really want to try.

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Yes. I was mostly meaning the QS wasnt a breeze. I expect better luck with TS. We didn’t want to lose time though. We were not gentle-tourers. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.

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You can also bring food into the park if it will make your trip easier. I’ve done it before where I packed a cooler and rented a locker in the front of the park. That way I didn’t have it with me all day, and then when we were hungry, we just went to the front of the park to eat. Just make sure it’s within the rules and you should be good to go.

All the trips I’ve taken, I’ve brought food into the park, and it hasn’t been an issue.

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