The Zimny family planned a trip to Disney World with the help of a travel agent to make sure their daughter's food allergy needs were met.
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Alexis Zimny, 8, is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame seeds while her mother Darlene is allergic to fin fish. Their allergies factor in to how they vacation.
Zimny said it's requires a lot of planning no matter whether it's for a trip to Disney or a weekend getaway on the west side of the state.
"Where are we going to stay? Does it have a kitchen or somewhere we can cook?" Darlene Zimny said.
Zimny used Nina Fabinski, a magical vacation planner with TMC Travel to book her family's trip. Fabinski plans vacations for anyone, but specializes in families with food allergies. She understands because her family has food allergies too. Fabinski's son is allergic to dairy and eggs and used to be allergic to peanuts. She has also developed allergies that include dairy, walnuts, pistachios and some fruits and vegetables.
"We think and worry about everything, exposure, cross contamination," Fabinski said. "I think it really helps to talk to someone who's been, who knows what it's like to be scared to death that your child or you yourself is going to get exposed."
Fabinski will book accommodations, restaurants, contact chefs and line up menus so that families with food allergies can feel confident when they go on vacation everything is taken care of for them. She also makes chef cards the families can present at restaurants that carefully outline the allergies.
"She knew our allergens, she kind of talked me through this place is really good, this place you don't want to even think about going, here are some of the quick service places, here are some of the snack places that you might have good luck at , so she helped point us in the right directions with finding out which restaurants we wanted to go to," Zimny said.
Fabinski said people with food allergies often need their hotel rooms deep cleaned prior to their arrival and she will arrange that too.
There is a lot of pre-planning involved including airlines. Before booking a flight, research needs to be done on an airline's allergy policy. Then the airline should be notified about your allergy so that the information can be passed onto the personnel connected with your flight. Fabinski said only flies on flight where there is no meal offered so she can worry less about her son being exposed to his allergy.
Part of her job, Fabinski said, is building confidence because a lot of families have never vacationed before and are scared, so she helps them plan every detail to get from point A to point B. She also said it's about letting kids with food allergies just be kids, especially while on vacation. She remembered how special a moment it was for her children to receive dessert on a recent Disney cruise because desserts are often off limits because of allergies.
"To have an actual cupcake at a restaurant that someone made for you is just amazing. There are no words. Other families would be like, 'Oh we have cupcakes all the time,' but for us it's different because usually baked goods are the one thing you can't eat at a restaurant," Fabinski said.
To learn more about the services Fabinski offers as a travel agent, click here.
She also puts together helpful videos for traveling, including this one on packing with food allergies. View it here.
FARE, Food Allergy Research and Education, offers a comprehensive guide for traveling with food allergies. To learn more, click here.