The catering supplier for Virgin Australia needs a lesson in allergy awareness.
For eg. lets feed a lactose intolerant child - yoghurt and the same child who is fructose intolerant - honey, watermelon and peas. I do realise that it is a big ask to know what foods are unsafe for people with this condition, but when you provide them safe food lists in multiple emails and phone calls - it should not be that hard?
So the child did eat her plain chicken and her GF bread roll but had to forgo some of the vegies and selected fruit.
This is the part where I mentioned bringing on board your own prepackaged food to supplement the mistakes.
Mistakes will happen but how comforting is it to know there is a back up plan. Small problem solved.
How much stress is it for allergy sufferer or parents of a allergy child to survive such a long flight without eating much at all?
Also the last thing you want to do when you get off the plane is forage for food.
Tip One: Have lots of small change in the local currency for tipping.
Once off the plane we waited for our shuttle to take us to the hotel. A friend had a great tip : if you are one of those people who could rip someones head off after a long haul flight and cannot wait the extra time while the shuttle meanders along the highways going to everyone elses hotel and leaves yours to the last - adding another hour or so to your holiday transport time - hire a private driver.
We were lucky - we arrived after midnight and we were the only ones in the shuttle - so we went direct to the hotel - The Howard Johnson. This hotel was recommended by a friend and she was not wrong it was fantastic in many ways - location - only 500 metres from Disney gates, clean, tidy, several pools and water parks for kids, best beds I have ever slept in and cheap $588 for a week. Beds and towels changed daily and in room safe for your passports. Friends of ours stayed in the Disneyland Resort within the Disney precinct - but very expensive per night.
Here is the link for hotel: http://www.hojoanaheim.com/
Food Foraging
Strangely enough, after seeing the email photos of Walmart, my daughter wanted to see the store and see if the myths were true. There is one a short taxi ride from the hotel. It is really large with a combination of supermarket and general goods. When I asked the staff if there was a health food aisle or a dedicated allergy aisle like here in Australia at Woolworths or Coles - there was none. The answer was - you will have to check each individual product ingredients! Now I like to shop - but no spending all day in a supermarket to try to seek out suitable products. Our plan - stick to the basics - fruit, vegies, chicken or meat, corn tortillas, corn chips. Everything was loaded with high fructose corn syrup from tomato sauce to even ham. No wonder we have a health epidemic. No rice crackers in sight.
Remember buy some plastic plates and some cutlery, cling wrap or bags as your room has a microwave.
An upside to the store was they will call you a cab back to your hotel for free from the customer service desk - store policy.
Tip Two: Get your Disney souvenirs at Walmart - Half Price
food foraging at Walmart. Yes, all the foods are integrated and you do need to read labels, however, Walmart was one of the first big companies to indicate Gluten-free on their private label items. It is the "go-to" store support groups take beginning celiacs.
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