Gluten Free at Animal Kingdom!

​For 8 years the Scott family has traveled extensively after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. We've spent countless happy hours dining Table Service, Quick Service, frequent Snacks and during special events at Epcot and we have formed definite opinions on the best (and worst!) places to dine. Do you dine gluten free, too? Here is what we recommend for the Magic Kingdom!*

​​​For 8 years the Scott family has traveled extensively after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. We've spent countless happy hours dining Table Service, Quick Service and enjoying snacks at Animal Kingdom and we have formed definite opinions on the best (and worst!) places to dine. Do you dine gluten free, too? Here is what we recommend for Animal Kingdom!*

​Dining at Animal Kingdom takes a bit more planning than the other three parks at Walt Disney World resort, when you're gluten free. You'll definitely want your 3D Agent to help you plan ahead!

Snacks

• ​Animal Kingdom has an allergy kiosk with snacks and a cast member ready to give you recommendations for dining.  
• The same popcorn and Mickey Bars can be found here at Animal Kingdom, along with treats from Goofy's Candy Company found in various shops.  We haven't found any special gluten free treats while spending our long days at Animal Kingdom.  
• I'm going to give a shout out to the fruit carts here at Animal Kingdom.  I very much enjoy the fruit and warm tea options throughout my Animal Kingdom day.  I know those are inherently gluten free, but they weren't always there and I am definitely grateful!
• There is now a Starbucks in Africa - pop by for your favorites from home!
• Kiosks are sprinkled all over Animal Kingdom with very few gluten free snack options available.  If we had to guess, we'd think that's the reason Animal Kingdom was the first to debut a dedicated allergy kiosk.

• ​Flame Tree BBQ is the go-to place for our family to dine gluten free.  However, last month when we dined there they'd taken the large fruit platter off of the menu and this was a highlight of our entire day!  We hope to see the return. In the meantime, you can check out their roasted chicken, bbq ribs and yummy sides.  
• Pizzafari is our other lunch location.  Gluten Free pizza is served at the same (theme park) price as regular pizza.  It's also pleasant and air conditioned.  If you need AC, head to Pizzafari.  

• There is a Rainforest Cafe at the entrance of Animal Kingdom with the same great gluten free choices as other locations, but we never dine there because we'd rather have the unique dining options available only on Disney property.
• ​Yak and Yeti didn't have good options when we checked it out.  We chose to go somewhere else.
• Tusker House is an interesting buffet and they offered many options for our gluten free diners, but the sheer size of the restaurant and what appears to be a far-flung kitchen (only way we can explain the consistent and extremely long delay for any refills of allergen food) has kept us from returning.  

*Disney chefs and managers are very well trained. People will actually know what gluten is when you speak to them! "What, is that dairy?" doesn't happen here. We haven't been glutened anywhere in Epcot's World Showcase and we don't expect you will, either. You'll find you can relax the most at Table Service locations, as a chef or manager greets you with obvious knowledge, then departs to prepare your food in a dedicated area. This happens at quick service locations, too - the dedicated area. But if you come at a busy time, you may feel rushed and stressed and the wait will be very long on your tired feet. My best advice for any allergy diner is to try to eat quick service during "off" times. Never dine at noon and 5:00 - go at 2:00 and 7:00.