Upsetting experience at baby care center

[caitlinx]

Hi everyone,

I just had a very upsetting experience at the baby care center at Disneyland. Two of the cast member had extremely poor attitudes and refused to let me microwave some grilled chicken for my 13m old and 3 year old. They said it was not "baby food" and that it needed to be purees/porridge/something soft. I tried to explain that babies can eat solids like a whole chicken drumstick! They then started to cite some BS reason about allergies/contamination. I could go on about how the whole situation was poorly handled. I'm so disappointed. :'(

 

[FreeTime]

Poor attitudes are certainly an issue but don’t beat them up for following the policy. Food that is or could be served by in park restaurants is not baby food. Neither of your children are babies by definition either.

 

[PalmettoPath]

I don't know the specifics of the situation, but generally speaking, from a food safety (for which culinary workers must be certified/aware) chicken from an unknown source in their appliances would legitimately be cause for concern with respect to potential cross contamination and so on. Even if it were previously cooked, I would not know if it is fully cooked, if it has been outside of the food safety temperature zone for more than 2 hours etc. Because it is not their protein, they are obligated to err on the side of public safety. I would not take it personally, they are following food safety protocols and chicken in particular is one that we have a heightened awareness of. They may not have handled it perfectly but calling it BS with respect to chicken and cross contamination is unfair. In the culinary world, precautions like this are extremely important.

 

[piccolopat]

For purposes of the baby center, baby food isn't anything that you might feed to your toddler (which both of your children are) that you can buy for them in a restaurant. Baby foods are things like the Gerber stuff you get in the jars in the market or if you to need heat up a baby's bottle. The staff in the baby center has rules to follow and this appears to be one of them.

 

[starlite_]

Good for them, cross contamination is a serious thing. A chicken drumstick isn't baby food.

 

[Donald - my hero]

calling the comment about allergies and cross contamination BS is uneducated and potentially harmful to others. I am highly allergic to any poultry and the fact remains that any food item can be deadly for others. I'm sorry you didn't get the service you were hoping for but as others have mentioned, the assumption is the microwave is for what is considered "standard" baby food/bottles

 

[mom2rtk]

Welcome to the DIS.

 

[Malcon10t]

Hi everyone,

I just had a very upsetting experience at the baby care center at Disneyland. Two of the cast member had extremely poor attitudes and refused to let me microwave some grilled chicken for my 13m old and 3 year old. They said it was not "baby food" and that it needed to be purees/porridge/something soft. I tried to explain that babies can eat solids like a whole chicken drumstick! They then started to cite some BS reason about allergies/contamination. I could go on about how the whole situation was poorly handled. I'm so disappointed. :'(

I'm sorry you don't understand about cross contamination. The CMs were 100% correct. They do list the microwaves are for "select use". If you need a microwave, there is one in California Grill in the GCH just outside DCA exit.

 

[nancipants]

The microwave is to heat up milk, not heat up outside food you made at home. Otherwise every single person who packs a lunch would demand to warm it up at the baby care center. My kid eats cold/lukewarm food at Disney all the time.

 

[Her Dotness]

People often are unaware or don't think that steam from heating food contains particles and oils which are then circulated throughout the microwave's interior.

I'd not thought of this until we stayed once in a kosher bed & breakfast. Food had to be put into a covered container or on a paper plate and covered by another paper plate with the entirety completely enclosed by plastic wrap. Then, it could be heated.

Once done, the microwave had to be thoroughly cleaned inside. This was done to keep meat and dairy foods strictly separate. Plates, plastic wrap and cleaning supplies were provided

I thought this excessive until I read the explanation which said that minute particles and oils are deposited on interior surfaces when food is heated. Hadn't occurred to me until then how that might be an issue for Jews keeping kosher or for anyone with food allergies.

That this occurs is undoubtedly partially why the care center microwave is restricted to certain foods and other uses not permitted.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Also, how can the CMs be sure that those drumsticks contain no peanut or shellfish products, to which people can have life-threatening allergies? The first time our daughter ate shellfish, which was at Universal (bad idea, I know) we found out she was allergic and had to dash to First Aid for Benadryl.

 

[Astylla]

When using facilities that are offered anywhere there are standards and policies in place to protect all guests/customers , etc. It is not rude to enforce such , while you are allowed to disagree with it please realize that it's not personal against you and it's unfortunate if you felt that way or were made to feel that way.

In shared environments such as this I absolutely agree with the policies set forth. I have years of experience in restaurant and hospitality and cross contamination is something they and everyone should take VERY seriously.
I worked in a casual full service restaurant and often was asked to have a child's food they brought in would ask to be heated up in the back kitchen. Because we have no idea where this came from or what possible cross contamination could be present , we cannot do so and would offer to prepare something off menu if necessary that aligned with their needs as an alternative.

I find that overall talking to others and from personal experiences that Disney as a whole is one of the most accommodating to those of all needs , but there must still be rules and regulations.

 

[Keeblerelf928]

At 13mo and 3 years both your children are capable of eating the food offered in the parks or leaving the parks and grabbing food outside the park. We've used the baby centers for an 8 month old to warm formula and for a 1 year old to warm milk. Otherwise, even with our food allergies, disney has been the easiest place to navigate food wise. I would have been annoyed if I knew people were heating allergens in the microwaves. I even had to wipe out the microwave (actually they did it for me) for my child with a dairy allergy just to be extra safe. (we use non-dairy milks)

 

[Chrisizzle]

Is it wrong that I laughed when I read "refused to let me microwave some grilled chicken" ?

 

[sweethannah]

Hi everyone,

I just had a very upsetting experience at the baby care center at Disneyland. Two of the cast member had extremely poor attitudes and refused to let me microwave some grilled chicken for my 13m old and 3 year old. They said it was not "baby food" and that it needed to be purees/porridge/something soft. I tried to explain that babies can eat solids like a whole chicken drumstick! They then started to cite some BS reason about allergies/contamination. I could go on about how the whole situation was poorly handled. I'm so disappointed. :'(

I saw you post this on another social media platform and the responses weren't in your favour. There is a difference between microwaving an entire chicken leg and a container of soft baby food. It's not for non-baby food. Yes your baby might eat a chicken leg but most do not. It's to stop people from abusing the microwave and heating up food for their 3yr olds, 10 year olds, or adult food. It would drastically cause long lines to access the microwave. Further, the chicken might not be fully cooked which could be a health and safety concern. If your children can eat chicken legs they can eat kid meals in the Parks. Disney is very tolerant about bringing in outside food but you cannot use the microwave to heat up food you bring into the Park.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Am I the only one wondering where the chicken leg came from and how it was stored all day? I didn't think we could bring coolers and whatnot into the parks. Or was it purchased in the parks at a meal time and saved?

I just have so many questions.

 

[Minnie1222]

This reads like something that would be posted on April Fools, lol.

 

[DLgal]

Everyone knows chicken is better cold anyway.

Glad the CMs held firm with the policy.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Am I the only one wondering where the chicken leg came from and how it was stored all day? I didn't think we could bring coolers and whatnot into the parks. Or was it purchased in the parks at a meal time and saved?

I just have so many questions.

You can bring coolers into the parks.

Who knows how the OP stored their chicken but this rant is over the top in my opinion. The Baby Care Centers are such a great service for guests with little ones, and in my experience the CMs there have always been wonderful. We are living in sad times when people react with outrage to simple rules and policies that are put in place for health and safety reasons.

 

[limace]

I am always befuddled about folks who have their first post on a site be something like this. Is it just trolling or ?