T-shirts

A shipment of T-Shirts just arrived. T-Shirts are $15. Shipping is free

T-shirts are in limited supply and selling fast so
Contact me at Matt@firehousefamilyvacations.com to place your order today

Available in Black, Red, or Navy

Front with small Logo

Back with large logo

Traveling with someone with a food allergry

When you have someone in your family that has a food allergy, your dining options tend to become limited. Disney on the other hand works with that person to make their dining experience is as pleasant as possible while addressing the food allergy. My wife has a food allergy that tends to make dining difficult. She is allergic to onions. Onions, in all of its various forms, are in more foods than most people realize. So to help people understand how Disney goes out of their way for food allergies, my wife has taken over the blogging duties for this post.

Anyone with a food allergy will tell you that it isn’t easy to go out to eat; you never know what you can and cannot eat. Most servers when I tell them that I have an allergy are pretty good and will go talk to the cooks, or look on the packages of the food to find out whether I can have something or not, then come back and tell me. Sometimes no one at the restaurant can tell me what I can eat or not, this is not the servers fault but the restaurants’;that is truly inexcusable.

This is where we celebrated our anniversary

Last spring when we were making a few of our dining reservations for our trip to Disney I was worried about which restaurants I would be able to eat at, and what they would do so that I wouldn’t go hungry.So when making Advanced Dinner Reservations, I let the person on the other end of the line know I had a food allergy.  They assured me that they would put that on the reservation.  At our first dinner at The Magic Kingdom, Cinderella's Royal Table, I made sure that the hostess was aware of my allergy and when we got seated, on our ticket in big red capital letters it said “ALLERGY” when the server acknowledged it and told me that I would not be able to order my dinner until the chef had come out to discuss what on the menu I would be able to eat. When the chef came to the table, he knew every ingredient in every dish, 

so she knew exactly what I could have; I was very impressed and relieved, but this was for a plated meal.

My goofy hubby

The dining room is beautiful

 I had fears about eating at a family style meal, which is a wonderful option at Disney. When we got to this meal at the The Good Turns Restaurant at the Land in EPCOT, I was informed there were numerous dishes I wasn't going to be able to have but the chef asked me what I would like and put together a plate with just about everything that was on the regular menu specially prepared for me minus any ingredient that would have onion in it. . There ended up being so much food on that plate I couldn't eat it all. I did learn the hard way though, that even if you do tell them when you make the reservation that there is someone with a food allergy, you still have to make sure you tell the hostess when you get there; it doesn't get put on your ticket without doing that, there is a small communications error in the chain there. I was very impressed by how out of their way the chefs at Disney went, and how serious they took my allergy.

Not only did I have a great meal, I got to meet Pluto also.

I am looking forward to our next trip to Disney, not only because of the parks, but because I know, I will be able to go into a restaurant and say “I’m allergic to Onions” and know that I’m going to have an enjoyable meal. I would highly recommend to those of us with food allergies or other dietary requirements to eat at Disney. It was annoying to not be able to choose 100% of what I wanted to eat, but it was a huge relief to know that the food I was eating was not going to cause me problems.

My Top 5 Favorite "Stock" Rides that are non-rollercoasters

In Celebration of Opening Day of Amusement Parks across the country, I present my top 5 amusement park rides. In a previous post, I highlighted my top 10 roller coasters, but most coasters are unique to the park they are built in. The other rides tend to be "off the shelf rides" or "stock" rides that several parks can purchase to give guests thrills.  Here are some of my top 5 "stock" rides, most still can be found across the country, but one is now a ride that is quickly going into extinction.

Rest in Pieces

5)  The old school Rotor - This great ride would spin and have centrifugal force stick you to the wall. When ride got up to speed, screams would fill the air as the floor was dropped out from beneath you. This would leave you stuck to the wall a good foot or two off the floor. If you can find one of these, take the chance to give it a whirl. These are becoming quickly extinct from amusement parks across the country. The last one I rode was the Cajun Cliff Hanger at Six Flags Great America, it has since met it's demise. Now there are some rides that travel with carnivals that are called Gravitons, these work on the same concept but in no way compare to a Rotor.

Viking Fury at Kings Island placement over the water gives it more character

4) The Pirate Ship or Swinging Boat-  A classic ride usually themed to a ship of some sort, designed to make you "loose your stomach".  Back in the day, and occasionally nowadays,  rides would ended up with one end of the boat at it's pinnacle declaring "Taste great" then the other at it's pinnacle "Less filling". Fans of this ride, like myself, will seek out the the bow or the stern of the ship to get the most height and thrill from this ride.

Simple yet fun

3) The tilt-a-whirl- This ride can get you dizzy and make you giggle at the same time. Once you get that sweet spot and start spinning you will be hooked. Watch out for protein spills(google it), especially if spinning rides do you in.

The octopus  lights up a midway nicely

2) The Octopus (also known as The Monster or The Spider). The thrills of losing your stomach from sudden dips combined with the spinning you get from a tilt-a-whirl equals great times. Many of these rides have nice lighting packages that add more character to them at night.

1) The S&S Screamin' Swings- A twist on the pirate ship concept. This is a swing on steroids, nice open air ride experience, and it is a LOUD ride that is powered by large air compressors. Cedar Point has the largest, SkyHawk, towering in at 125 feet with two giant arms, each holding 20 riders, swinging at 60 mph. Dollywood has heavily themed one, that slices through a barn. They start out tame and then ramp up taking you to extreme heights. This ride is definitely not for people who like tame rides.

What are your favorite Amusement Park Rides? 

Coming Soon....My Top Central Florida rides.