Going to Florida Gluten-Free Part 4

at Hollywood Studios

If you have children, don't attempt to do three Disney parks in one day. We had one-day Park Hopper tickets and we wanted to make the most of that one day. Here are some of the highlights:

Animal Kingdom
You HAVE to ride Expedition Everest. It is really fun and scary. You go backwards! In the dark! And there is a yeti!

Hollywood Studios
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is fun but we had a better queue experience at the ride in California. The workers in California were more into their characters than the workers in Florida.

The Studio Backlot Tour shows you how movies make special effects and puts volunteers and you in different scenarios. You also get to see movie props and learn some Disney history.

gluten-free turkey club at Studio Catering Co.

The American Idol Experience was actually pretty cool. It's a show, set up just like American Idol. Earlier in the day, visitors to the park can audition to be a contestant on one of the day's several shows. At each show, three contestants sing and then the audience votes on who should be the winner. The winners of each show come back that night for a finale show and the audience votes again for the winner. The winner of the finale show gets a golden ticket, which means they go front of the line at any American Idol audition in the country. If anyone remembers Aaron from last season, that kid was one of the American Idol Experience winners and he made it to the top 5 on American Idol, so that's pretty cool. We attended one of the daily shows and the three contestants were good, but we didn't go back for the finale.

At Hollywood Studios we ate at the Studio Catering Co. How did we know what restaurants had gluten-free food? We emailed Disney (WDW.Special.Diets@disney.com) and they sent us a TON of info, including gluten-free menus from the restaurants that served gluten-free food. At Studio Catering, Mike had a turkey club sandwich on an Ener-G Foods bun. Instead of fries, he got apple slices. The manager came out to help when we were ordering and made the sandwich herself.

Cinderella's castle at night

Magic Kingdom
Carousel of Progress - I love this stupid old ride, but chances are your husband probably won't.

We Fast Passed Splash Mountain to cut down on the wait time. Fast Pass is free to use at Disney, so use it!

For dinner we ate at Pecos Bill. Again, the manager came over to help as we ordered. My husband's hamburger on an Ener-G Foods bun and fries (which have their own cooker) was prepared by one person and brought out to us. The manager at Pecos Bill was knowledgeable about what my husband could and couldn't eat, which we really appreciated.

Because we were there at night, we got to see Cinderella's castle all lit up. It looked really cool. That's always a sight to see. The castle at Disney Land doesn't hold a candle to this one.