Disneyland recently removed popular vegetarian items from its menus, including the fan-favorite Three Cheese Monte Cristo, much to the dismay of repeat guests. Some of these items did not receive replacements, reducing offerings at a few restaurants to just one vegetarian option per location.
I recently dined at Disneyland to see what the experience was like with dining modifications for vegetarians, and I was surprised by the complicated modification rules. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including an upcoming Disney app change and this year’s changes to Oogie Boogie Bash.
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Our Experience With Disneyland’s Dining Modification Rules
In a menu update three weeks ago, Disneyland removed multiple vegetarian options across menus at the resort. The most upsetting of these, one which received many disappointed comments from our readers, was the Battered & Fried Triple Cheese Monte Cristo from the Cafe Orleans menu.
The Battered & Fried Triple Cheese Monte Cristo is one of my favorite menu items at Disneyland, and it’s become a tradition for my family to eat at Cafe Orleans on our last Disneyland day. My disappointment was shared online by many Disneyland frequent visitors, including those who aren’t vegetarians, who were also disappointed by the removal. Many have wondered if it is still possible to order this menu item.
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When we first reported on these menu changes, our understanding was that guests could seek out assistance from cast members to inquire about modifications or substitutes. For vegetarians, this seems like a reasonable middle ground, especially since many items can be made vegetarian quite easily.
So during our most recent visit on August 13, we decided to dine at Cafe Orleans and see if I could still get the cheese sandwich as a modification. After all, the turkey and ham option is still on the menu, so we thought it couldn’t be too tricky to ask for it without meat. This was also something that many in our comments suggested and the rest of my group wanted to continue our tradition.
Here is a step-by-step recounting of how the experience of trying to modified sandwich actually went.
First, I tried to order the regular Monte Cristo without meat. I was cut off mid-sentence by my server, who told me that no modifications were allowed. I kindly explained that I am a vegetarian and asked if I could get it without the meat. She told me no, and that the cheese-only option had been discontinued.
I asked if she would consider checking with the chef to see if there was anything they could do. She said she would ask and then returned with another no, explaining again that there are no modifications allowed.
I tried one more time, mentioning Disney’s guidance on dining modifications, particularly for vegetarians and guests with allergies. She then said she would bring out the allergy expert.
At this point, nearly 15 minutes had passed with all of the back-and-forth between our server and the kitchen. When the allergy expert finally came out, he explained that they are not allowed to make modifications to any menu items unless it is for an allergy.
I asked, “Even for vegetarians?” and he said no, only for allergies.
To this particular Cast Member’s credit, he ultimately said, essentially, “I’ll make it, but we’ll just treat it as an allergy modification, right?” And I said, “Sure, let’s go with that.”
So, after nearly 20 minutes of back-and-forth, I was finally able to get a modification to the Monte Cristo. It’s also important to note that I wasn’t looking for a discount on the sandwich.
Here she is, in all her glory. The sandwich was delicious, and it was great to be able to enjoy it. However, the back and forth was not worth it. The effort to convince the cast members took away from our otherwise favorite restaurant at Disneyland. It made me not want to return.
I am sharing my experience to highlight how strict the dining modification rules can be for vegetarians since it’s technically not an allergy. We also know that there are many vegetarians visiting the parks so we decided that this experience was worth sharing. We considered whether this story needed to be shared and decided that there was value for our audience.
While being a vegetarian or a vegan is considered a lifestyle choice, it’s not one that people typically switch up at mealtimes just for convenience. Personally, I haven’t had meat in over 25 years, and if I’m served it accidentally (say, a veggie burger grilled on the same surface as meat), I will end up sick with symptoms similar to food poisoning.
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So keep in mind, dining modifications for any reason that’s not considered an allergy, including vegans or vegetarians, are not always a sure thing at Disneyland. This is disappointing, especially in light of how many menus have been reduced to just one sole vegetarian option at many locations.
After this experience we decided to cancel our Blue Bayou dining reservation and any other table service meals to just eat quick service for the rest of the trip.
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How to get around this: hi can I order ______, without meat as I am allergic to animal proteins. You can in fact be allergic to animal proteins, it covers all forms of meat. And the underpaid staff can tell their bosses they did their job. Everyone’s happy and ot only has to be difficult once, and she already did that for you.
Except animal milk, butter, and eggs are animal proteins, so that wouldn’t fly. You’d need to say “I have an allergy to pig meat and bird meat” and therefore you’d still be permitted to consume the animal milk, butter, and eggs. Yes, once you say you have an allergy to a thing, Disney will no longer serve you that item no matter how hard you try to explain it away as a preference. In their mind an allergy is an allergy, end of story. A preference/lifestyle choice, however, leaves room for wiggling. Is it annoying that you have to lie to get your way? Yes. Is it just how things are at the moment? Also yes. Since it’s easy enough to just be dishonest in this situation, it isn’t a massive issue in the big picture. If you’re concerned about being a bad influence to your children, it’s just time to have a conversation about how some people can’t respect boundaries due to rules that they can’t control, but that just means you need to figure out clever ways around said rules.
So I guess when asking for a modification, it’s best to start by mentioning a meat allergy right off the bat. Even if you don’t technically have one, the fact that you get sick if your food gets cooked on the same surface……that screams allergy to me.
When talking about things like the Monte Cristo anything that is battered and fried is typically pre prepped not made to order. Because the batter normally needs to rest before it’s put into a fryer or grilled either way. So asking for modifications on something that’s already been dipped and breaded and then refrigerated isn’t really possible and they don’t normally prep in the same kitchen that they serve out of. So when they’re telling you no modifications that generally means no modifications if you have a dietary need then you should accommodate that by bringing something into the park with you cuz you’re allowed to. Or know that you can no longer get that item and you need to go somewhere else. No means no in every aspect of life it’s a complete sentence. When somebody tells you no it’s not a personal attack or something to be worked around it’s just the way it is. Things change they don’t always stay the same except it and move on. It’s not necessary to make everybody else’s job harder.
I suddenly have Alpha Gal. Those darn ticks!
Alpha gal is a real allergy to meats. Disney should know better! This isn’t some obscure, weird allergy! People get it from ticks.
Thank you for sharing this. The veg Monte Cristo is the only thing I like to eat at Disneyland. Disneyland is now dead to me. I will not go to the parks until the veg Monte Cristo is back on the menu. I might still do Downtown Disney.
I will just say that reducing this to lying about an allergy is what causes those of with true allergies that could kill us to be treated with skepticism at restaurants. I’m sorry a lifestyle choice (I am flexitarian with egg, fish and shellfish) doesn’t cut it when others of us are literally going to die without a modification.
Disney already directly does this to people with celiac disease- it’s not an allergy, it’s an autoimmune condition. Calling it an allergy kind of reduces the severity of it in a lot of ways and causes skepticism in servers while increasing danger to people with true food allergies. There’s no such thing as an allergy to gluten. A true shared definition would probably help as well as education about food allergies.
Who do we complain to directly? I’m a vegetarian as well. I guess you could say for religious reasons: Buddhist. If anything, there should be more options for people with such dietary restrictions, not less.
You could absolutely send a note directly to Disneyland. I know that they read all the feedback.
Via their website I assume?
Disney has been accommodating in sooooo many ways, so I’m gonna guess there’s a reason they don’t accommodate for that sandwich. I definitely think they need more vegetarian options! I get why they can’t have a separate grill in every restaurant to cook meat on one and veg on the other. Most places don’t, and if I needed that, I’d bring in my own food, but they definitely need more vegetarian options.
True, but with them cutting back vegetarian options on menus at numerous locations, it sounds more like a cost-cutting measure to me than just logistics. Which is especially frustrating considering they just increased food prices again.
Disneyland is becoming a lot less accomodating, there are fewer and fewer gluten free options and they’re rarely willing to do anything “off menu” anymore when you speak to a chef.
When needed to have meat removed from an item always state it as an allergy (there is a growing number of folks with that Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a tick-borne allergy to the sugar molecule alpha-gal found in mammalian tissues that makes one horrifically intestinally and stomach sick). Plus, my gastroenterologist told me my issues digesting beef, pork, and buffalo are that I do not make an enzyme needed for this so I state I have a doctor issued restriction in regards to meat…with pushback I state it is an allergy sometimes alluding to a Texas tick bite…the servers usually glaze over as begin my description of AGS syndrome caused by this by bite from the lone star tick. 👍🏻