One of the must-dos for visitors to Disneyland is to try their irresistibly cute snacks sold all over the resort. Unfortunately, these snacks usually contain egg and milk and are a danger zone for those with these common food allergens
Before we arrived, I knew to avoid these treats would be a problem. I had read about the impressive popcorn buckets and even more impressive popcorn flavors available in both Disneyland and DisneySea Tokyo. These buckets are considered collector’s items and people even pay good money to bid for them on eBay!
I checked out Treats to Try at Tokyo Disneyland and the treats looked soooooo cute and yummy. And as I suspected, most if not all will contain some form of egg, milk or peanuts.
With churros and popcorn stands peppered all over the resort, I knew at some point that I’d have to do the inevitable and tell Corey “No he can’t have any” if he ever asked.
If you are a food allergy mum with similar woes, you know that saying ‘NO’ to a food allergic child is something that happens often. And no matter how many times I do it, it never gets easier 🙁
I never entertained any thoughts of Corey trying these Disneyland popcorn given his serious dairy allergy. I had seen a Lightning McQueen popcorn container online and immediately knew Corey would zero in on this if he ever came across it. I secretly prayed we would not see one (like that was gonna happen) as I dreaded having to turn him down.
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST LIGHTNING MCQUEEN FAN WANTS IN
Of course, as soon as we entered the resort the first day, he saw a small boy carrying Lightning McQueen.
You should have seen the way his face lit up. His eyes followed the Lightning McQueen, and then he looked towards me.
He just had to have one.
And I did what every food allergy mum hates doing. I brushed it off, explained to him that he can’t eat the popcorn because of his dairy allergies and distracted him with pointing out something else to look at.
Oh, that disappointed look on his face. It cut right into my heart and I wanted to cry. (yes I can see you fellow allergy mamas nodding in solidarity, those who have shed these exact tears.)
ALLERGY MUM PRO TIP: IT NEVER HURTS TO ASK
The one thing I learned as an allergy mum is that ‘It never hurts to ask’. I know it sounds so obvious, but I’ve spoken to so many mums who tell me they just can’t do it. And I don’t blame them because I am the same.
I’ve faced rejection, people who belittle the allergies and wonder if I’m joking. I’ve been dismissed and simply told to consume the food at our own risk. It becomes a dreaded undertaking just to explain to others what my son’s allergies entail. So sometimes I just avoid doing it altogether.
But that look of disappointment on his face was too much to bear. I resolved to stop at the next popcorn stand, and buy the Lightning McQueen container and throw away the popcorn if I had to. And tell him he can have it once we finished with the popcorn and cleaned the container.
HONEY POPCORN SAVES THE DAY
So with my trusty pre-written allergen message, we saw the honey popcorn stand next and stopped by to ask.
And guess what, the staff at the Honey popcorn stand said THE HONEY POPCORN was SAFE. Using a method of reading our allergen message and some gestures, they signaled that the honey popcorn was void of milk, egg and peanuts.
I wanted to cry and kiss the staff all at the same time.
Traversed Half way across Disneyland to find Lightning McQueen
So here’s another Disneyland Tokyo popcorn protip: each stand sells different containers so the one you one may not be sold with the popcorn flavour you want.
Lightning McQueen was at another stand far away from the honey popcorn. We traversed half way across Disneyland to find Lightning McQueen.
And boy IT WAS WORTH ALL THE TROUBLE.
Watching his elated face munching on popcorn and playing with the container, I thought my whole trip was worth it in that moment.
The way he rolled that Lightning McQueen, watching its wheels turn intently. He definitely clutched to this container for a good part of our few days in Disneyland.
This lucky discovery also led to us finding that the CORN PORTAGE flavor was also void of milk, eggs, and peanut! This can be found at Star Tours: The Adventures Continue ride. This was where we bought the Darth Vader container for daddy Riley. Get the full guide for these popcorn buckets and flavours at this website: Tokyo Disneyland Popcorn Guide
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