MNSSHP Alternative Treats??

[Matt's Dad]

Thinking about going this year (Sept 21), but I have a question. My son (6 autistic) is on a restricted diet (No dairy, wheat, nuts, soy, eggs, .... and the list goes on) so most candies are not allowed. When trick or treating, do they have alternative items to the chocolate and candies that are normal offerings?

At Pirates and Princesses there were enough stands that had beads that it worked out ... and Christmas had apple juice and apple slices instead of the cookies and hot chocolate (thank you Disney). I am hoping that they have trinkets or something to be given away in place of candies. If the answer is no, I probably will just not go. I know there is much more to the event, but I just don't want to take a child to a trick-or-treat function and tell him its not for him (too much of that already).

Hope someone knows the answer.

[glenpreece]

We went last year and didn't really notice any other options, just choc bars and candy. You could call disney and ask them, they might be able to help you.

[DDuck66]

I have gone the last two years and have never noticed anything else. My DW is borderline diabetic and cannot have any candy except for Sugar Free, so I get her portion too.

[Mickey'sGirl]

When trick or treating, do they have alternative items to the chocolate and candies that are normal offerings?
I haven't a clue -- We are going to our first MNSSHP this year.

Have you considered making up some baggies of treats that are ok for your son and taking them with you? You could take stickers or raisins or little toys, and slip them to the CM handing out the treats to give to your son? It might be a way to go!

[Texas Tinkerbell Too]

I can totally relate to your situation. Our youngest has multiple allergies, too. May of the ones you mentioned. Disney has always been Fantastic with their chefs preparing special meals for him. He even ate spaghetti at Mama Melrose ( no wheat).

I would think they would have an alternative to candy since food allergies have become so common in children these days. I would call Disney and ask them what their plan is for this situation.

I don't think you should need to bring your own "goodies." Afterall, this is vacation... no worries... let Disney help you out.:mickey:

[KAJUNKING]

i agree, i would make a call to disney and see what they have to say

[mickey&missy]

I definitely agree with the others who said to call Disney. See what they say. Good luck!

[thrillme]

Maybe he can treat the treats as "money". I don't know how many "treats" a child gets during this trip so you'd have to figure that one out and adjust their value. So instead of "eating" his "money" he trades them with Mom for REAL $$ so he can buy something special at the Disney Store that he wants. If he gets 50 "treats" then he trades them in at .25 cents each and he's got $12.50 to spend on a cool toy (you can adjust the cost of each treat in correspondence with your budget).

Now when he looks in his bag instead of seeing NAUGHTY treats...he sees $$'s.

[Natazu]

Have you considered making up some baggies of treats that are ok for your son and taking them with you? You could take stickers or raisins or little toys, and slip them to the CM handing out the treats to give to your son? It might be a way to go!

Jenn, that's brilliant. Will you be my mom?

[Mickey'sGirl]

Jenn, that's brilliant. Will you be my mom?Hey...I've already made up a little baggie for you. :party:

[MushuGrl]

Just curious, since this will be my first one - what kind of candy is given out?

[Momof2boys]

We've been to MNSSHP the last 2 years and going again this October. Our DS9 is Type 1 diabetic so we don't want him to overload on the candy (since they get enough treats while at WDW to begin with). Last trip I was talking to a CM while we were waiting to buy our pins, and I was asking her about this exact thing. She had us wait for about 10 minutes and came back with a big goodie bag of Sugar Free treats for my son. She traded bags with him and he was thrilled because the treats in his new bag were much nicer than the chocolate pieces and Laffy Taffy that he traded her. I never expected it to happen, just had questioned why there wasn't other alternatives.

[jclightchasr]

Maybe he can treat the treats as "money". I don't know how many "treats" a child gets during this trip so you'd have to figure that one out and adjust their value. So instead of "eating" his "money" he trades them with Mom for REAL $$ so he can buy something special at the Disney Store that he wants. If he gets 50 "treats" then he trades them in at .25 cents each and he's got $12.50 to spend on a cool toy (you can adjust the cost of each treat in correspondence with your budget).

Now when he looks in his bag instead of seeing NAUGHTY treats...he sees $$'s.

This is an excellent suggestion.
I do think Disney may be able to help in this situation somehow.

[Matt's Dad]

Thanks for all the great replies .... still on the fence on this one ... may give Disney a call and see what if anything could be done.

Wow, same advice I've given a lot ... ask politely, never demand, count on the kindness and training of the CM's, and see what can be done.

In our case sugar free is not an answer either ... apple slices, stickers, even a banana would work ... but I get the message.

Thanks again for the comments. If I call, or go, I'll let you all know what happened.

[thrillme]

Keep us posted...hmmm...wouldn't it be cool if they could collect halloween "coins" instead of candy and trade them in for something like a special halloween pin or other treat? Maybe something that blinks? Kids get really pumped at arcades collecting 200 tickets to buy a bouncy ball.

Keep a mess of kids from getting hyped up on sugar. Eliminate the "dietary" issues all together.

[robyn221]

I also have a kid with autism and, although we're not doing the nutritional therapy, he's still a picky eater (doesn't do chocolate and only certain types of sweets). We're doing MNSSHP on Sunday 30 Sept. I think I'm going to take MickeysGirl's excellent suggestion and prep some alternate treats for him to be discreetly passed on to the CMs to give him as he trick-or-treats. If you do decide to call, I, for one, would be very grateful if you could let us know what you find out.

Thanks!

Robyn (AKA Rhys' Mom):mickey:

[Matt's Dad]

Ok ... I promised an update, so here goes.

Called Disney a few days before the event, and was transferred a couple of times as CMs understood my question .... but didn't know how to answer. Finally made it to Guest Services at the MK itself.

They told me the candy normally given away is chocolate bars (one company's product - Nestle I think) or some hard candies. I explained my situation one more time (6 year old Autistic son, can't have nuts, dairy, eggs, chocolate, wheat, ..... and it keeps going) and the CM was very supportive. I told her we were planning for Sept 21, and she told me no problem.

She took down some of my info (name, address, phone #) and "entered it into their file". Told me to stop by Guest Services when we entered the Park, and a CM would be able to escort us to a Confectionary Store and see if they could pick out a few things for my son to have that night (she mentioned under $20 or so). That is way more than I could have hoped for. Not sure what we would have found, but even an Apple or Banana or two would have helped. Acutally thought I might see if I could pick up a Snow White and the 7 Dwarves figure set (about $15 I think - either my money or theirs) and then slip one piece to a CM at the candy line right before my son go there so he could "colllect" them through the night. I am always amazed how Disney tries to work with young kids who need some special help.

Unfortunately, the story sort of ends there ... we couldn't take Disney up on the offer. My son had a doctors appointment that morning, testing, exams, treatments .... somedays things go well, other days they dont. That day was not so well, so downtime and sleep were better for him than the party. It was the one day we could have scheduled the party ... but it just didn't work out. It happens that way sometimes, and we knew it might from the start.

But the thing I still am impressed the most about is the CM's at Disney who thought it was important that every kid get a chance at trick or treating at the party. Thank you Disney for the effort.

- Matt's Dad

[kathiep]

Sorry to hear you didn't get to go. But you're right, you have to do what's best for your son.

And, just for your information, I don't know if your son can have these or not, but there were quite a few stations giving out little boxes of raisins.

[crltkcagle]

well there's always next year. thanks for keeping up posted