Food Allergy & Celiac Convention

I am so excited for the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention that is being held at Walt Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort on Saturday, November 22nd.  This event is for people with food allergies and celiac disease, and features a vendor expo, speakers, demonstrations & workshops, and allergen-free catered meal experiences.

General admission tickets to the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention are available for purchase online for just $10 for adults ($15 at the door), and $5 for kids ages 3 to 9.  General admission ticket prices include entrance to the expo, speakers, workshops & culinary demonstrations.  

Separate tickets for the following meals and special experiences can be purchased here:

• Brer's Breakfast Buffet - breakfast pastries, fruit carving station, Mickey waffles and pancakes with all the fixings, gluten-free oatmeal station, and the Three Caballeros' Fajita Station (all completely free of the top 8 allergens and gluten).  I already bought my ticket for this buffet, which is 9:00-10:00am on the day of the convention.  The menu looks amazing!  
• Be Our (Dinner) Guest - after the expo, enjoy a magical meal, free of gluten and the top 8 allergens.  6:00 to 7:00pm on November 22nd.  
• Supercalifragilistic Sundae Bar - features non-dairy ice creams and loads of allergy-free and gluten-free toppings.  3:00-4:00 on November 22nd.  
• A Spoonful of (Allergy-Free!) Sugar (pre-event experience) - cookbook author Laurie Sadowski will discuss baking your way through the holidays, and how you can modify and adapt recipes.  3:00 to 5:00pm on Friday, November 21st.
• Sunday Funday at Splitsville (post-event experience) - bowl (shoes included), play billiards, then stay for a special lunch (optional).  10:00 to noon on Sunday, November 23rd.  

The keynote speaker for the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention is Gary Jones, the Culinary Dietary Specialist for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.  Other speakers include Matt Maslowski (Disney chef - Contemporary Resort), Elizabeth Barbone (Gluten-Free Baking), Anne Roland Lee (Schar), Kate Hufnagel (The Diary of Ana Phylaxis), Joel Warady (Enjoy Life Foods), Amy Wicker (AllergySafeTravel), Dr. Kendra Baker (4A specialist), Caitlin Brady (chef), Amy Brown (WellAmy.com), and Sue Weber (The Artisan Tavolo).  You can view the speaker & demo schedule here.  

The Vendor Expo runs from 9:00am to 5:00pm.  If you're not sure what a vendor expo is, check out my blog post about my experience at the Gluten-Free Living Conference.  I got to sample so many amazing gluten free products!  You can view the vendor list for the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention here.  

If you are traveling to Disney World from out of town, Destinations in Florida has special group discounts for the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention at a variety of Walt Disney World Resorts.

I hope to see you at Walt Disney World on November 22nd for the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention!

Gluten Free in Orlando for Gluten-Free Living Magazine

I wrote this post for Gluten-Free Living magazine for their conference in Orlando in April of 2014.  It is no longer posted on their website, so I decided to publish it on my blog.

There is so much to do in Orlando, and early April is a great time to visit.  With average daily highs around 80 degrees, I am sure those of you who have experienced the crazy winter I've read about and seen on TV are happy that Gluten-Free Living chose Orlando as the destination for its first conference.

Gluten Free Events in Orlando in 2014

Last night, I received two separate messages from two different people asking if I was going to the Gluten-Free Living Conference and the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention, so I thought it might be a good time to write a short blog post about these upcoming events in Orlando.

The Gluten-Free Living Conference is taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton at the entrance to Universal Studios Orlando from April 4th to April 6th.  On Friday, April 4th, the Gluten-Free Living Conference is conducting a Blogger University, with classes for bloggers on how to improve and refine their blogging skills.  The $75 tuition fee includes two-day admission to the Gluten-Free Living Conference show floor.  Speakers at Blogger University include Amie Valpone (The Healthy Apple), Jules Shepard (Jules Gluten Free), Amy Leger (The Savvy Celiac), Amy Ratner (editor of Gluten-Free Living) & Aubrey Everett (managing editor of The Writer).



If you are not a blogger, you can purchase a one or two day pass to attend the Gluten-Free Living Conference on Saturday and/or Sunday.  A one day pass costs $15 if you pre-register, or $20 at the door.  A two-day pass for April 5th and 6th is $20 if you pre-register, or $30 at the door.  Children ages 3-12 are just $5.  You can view all the great speakers and events being held at the Gluten-Free Living Conference here.  This is the first large-scale gluten-free show to be held in Orlando.  I look forward to seeing you there!

I was asked to write a guest blog post for the upcoming Gluten-Free Living Conference.  You can view it here.

I am also super excited to be attending the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention at Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort on Saturday, November 22nd, 2014.  Designed for those with food allergies and Celiac disease, this event was created to highlight and celebrate awareness, while providing samples, demos, workshops, information and more.  If you purchase tickets online, the prices are $11.24 for adults, and $6.12 for children, including fees.  At the door, if available, tickets will be $15 for adults, and $5 for children.  One of the hosts of this event is my friend Sarah from Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW.  You can view more information about the Food Allergy & Celiac Convention here.

I hope you all are as excited about these events as I am!  Here are some other helpful links for you:

Gluten-Free Living Conference on Facebook

Food Allergy & Celiac Convention on Facebook

Food Allergy & Celiac Convention on Twitter

Update -- The Gluten-Free Living Conference was so much fun!  You can view my blog post Gluten Free Food Finds at the Gluten-Free Living Conference here.