Matt Hochberg over at StudiosCentral.com, highlighted a new interactive special diets menu at the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This menu is currently being tested until February 28, 2012.
The interactive menu will enhance (not replace) the experience that a guest with a Special Diet has with the restaurant’s culinary team. A chef will still visit your table to discuss dietary concerns if you’d like.
Check out this great walk-through video of the new menu!
Read the full article on the new interactive menu here. Thanks, StudiosCentral!
Okay, I am seriously loving this idea. My husband has a tomato allergy and I’m a vegetarin (and eat vegan when I can) so this would come in SO handy!
That is pretty cool.
As a vegetarian, this is really exciting to see.
I love how Disney takes the extra steps to make everyone feel comfortable and attended to.
Really hope this stays and spreads throughout the parks.
Jayme — Perfect! I think this will be great for you guys! If you try it out, let us know what you think!
JoAnn — Seriously!
Mel — I hope it spreads as well. I would surely use one as a picky eater if that counts! 😉 That’s why I love the new ordering kiosks at the counter-service restaurants.
I was very impressed by this and think the cool factor alone is worth asking for a special needs menu. Love to see Disney testing stuff like this, hope it sticks around!
This is totally cool!!! As a father to a child with food allergies it is always difficult to know what is ok, and then you just settle on the hamburger and fries. This will make going out that much easier for me and better for my son. I hope this catches on!!!
We just used this last night at the Brown Derby. It only covers the top 8 allergens but is a great place to start. Unfortunately, my son has a lot of allergies so it doesn’t replace the chef for us, but it’s a great start for us! I have to say that my son (who’s 4) is completely spoiled by the Disney chefs. The chef at Brown Derby made him huge shrimp but every chef we interacted with (Sanaa, brown derby, wave, Olivia’s , crystal palace and Le Cellier were fantastic at catering to him. It’s such a pleasure to vacation and not worry about my kid being hungry or having to haul food with us!
Also, the manager said it was being tested at Brown Derby but would be rolled out to the other restaurants in about 300 days as part of the 2nd gen updates Disney was doing.
I try to eat plant-based as often as possible, so I love this new option. It would be fantastic to see it deployed to all locations to ensure smooth communication with the kitchen. When we were last at WDW, I made the mistake of entrusting the waitperson to transmit my requests to the chef… not the best idea.
My geek side really admires this nice little bit of programming. And, the Twelve South iPad case (they call it a “BookBook”) is the icing on the proverbial cake.
This looks so cool! I wonder if “I don’t like cilantro, so can you bring me the awesome iPad menu pretty pretty please?” would work…
Maybe I could take some extra time “deciding what to order” aka playing Angry Birds. Haha, just kidding.
Matt — I’m totally trying it.
Kevin — I hope so, too! These would be a great addition to any Disney restaurant, and would surely cut down on chef-in-the-dining-room time.
Andie d — Awesome review!! Thank you SO much for chiming in with your experience and the news that this will be rolled out extensively!
Ellen D — I agree!! the iPad case is a very cool Disney touch — not necessary, but definitely adds to the atmosphere.
Jennifer — Ha ha!! I’m totally doing that! I hate cilantro! 😉
This is amazing! Disney has always been so accommodating to my vegan diet, but it can definitely make me feel like a bit of a burden on the staff. This will make dining so much easier! I wish they would implement something similar into the counter service restaurants because it can be much more difficult/time consuming to get answers about the food there. Super excited to see how this works out!
Wish this applied to those who had stomach surgery, and can only eat small amounts of food. I carry a card asking for child sized portions, but Disney has never accommodated me. I will be there again in 2 weeks, so we shall see if anything has changed.