*This dining experience took place in August 2016.
Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
Blaze Pizza, a well-known pizza chain, opened its latest location at Disney Springs on August 5, 2016. As a quick service restaurant, Blaze Pizza offers “blazing” fast pizza that cooks in 180 seconds.
Recently, I stopped by Blaze Pizza at their Disney Springs location to check out their gluten free and special dietary needs options. I’ve never been to any Blaze Pizza locations, though I had heard the chain restaurant carries gluten free pizza dough and vegan cheese.
Blaze Pizza is located in the Town Center at Disney Springs. They open at 10 a.m. every day, which is pretty darn early for pizza. But, who am I to argue with pizza cravings, no matter what time of day it is!
Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
When I arrived in Blaze Pizza, I noticed that there were two “stations” where Blaze Kitchen employees helped customers build their custom pizzas. As a celiac, this seemed like a major cross contamination nightmare, so I wasn’t sure if this would be a place I could dine at or not.
After arriving, I notified a Blaze Pizza employee of my special dietary needs and asked to speak with a manager. I was greeted by Minnie (what a perfect name!) who assisted me from start to finish during my visit to Blaze Pizza and was a total rockstar.
You can see Minnie in the photo above, where she is preparing gluten free pizza dough on the dedicated gluten free pizza dough press.
Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
Minnie explained to me that Blaze Pizza offers gluten free pizza dough, which is also vegan. She mentioned that it was tapioca flour based, but I did not get the full ingredients list. She let me know that they try to reduce cross contamination as much as possible by using a dedicated gluten free pizza dough press, plastic sheets* for each pizza (that stay with the pizza while it goes in the oven), and even dedicated pizza cutters. NOTE: I will be double-checking this when I dine here next time to confirm what they are using for the sheets (silicon, etc.)
She also told me that for those with allergies or celiac disease that they will change gloves and use fresh ingredients that are not on the main line. This means that you can get fresh sauce that has not touched any gluten on your pizza (this is important, as I noticed that the sauce and spoons for the sauce were touching gluten filled pizza dough immediately upon entering Blaze Pizza).
I watched Minnie prepare my pizza and all of my pizza toppings were pulled from separate areas.
Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
After my pizza was prepared, it went into the pizza oven. This is a shared oven, but they did try to keep my pizza away from the gluten filled ones. If you have any concerns about a shared oven, you may want to speak with an employee to discuss.
Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
I ordered what was essentially the BBQ Chicken Pizza. I removed the banana peppers and omitted the Gorgonzola cheese and added bacon. You can really create and customize your pizza however you want to, which is pretty great.
Check out my full video dining review of this visit to Blaze Pizza on YouTube:
Blaze Pizza does have a list of allergens/ingredients on their website so you can double-check which items are gluten free or cover your special dietary need. For gluten free, the meatballs were the only pizza topping that contained gluten (the meatballs also contain dairy).
If you are vegan or have a milk allergy, you can request vegan cheese. Blaze Pizza uses Daiya Cheese. I’m not sure if they have an upcharge on the vegan cheese, but do note that they charge $2.00 extra for the gluten free dough. For those vegans or milk allergy guests, the gluten free pizza dough is also vegan too.
If you have a nut allergy, Blaze Pizza currently only has one dish that contains tree nuts (almonds) which is the beet and goat cheese salad. Otherwise, the facility does not carry any other nut related products, which is pretty awesome. For more information about allergens at Blaze Pizza, check their website FAQ.
Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
I really loved the pizza that I got at Blaze Pizza. The dough has to be the best gluten free and dairy free pizza dough I’ve ever had. Though I enjoy Udi’s Gluten Free pizza crust, I have to say that this version from Blaze Pizza was a huge step up. It was also a bit bigger than the Udi’s pizza crust, making it a good value for the price (around $12).
I loved the toppings and found everything to be of high quality and very fresh. I also love that I have a ton of choices of toppings and sauces.
Add to it the fact that Blaze Pizza went above and beyond to ensure that I had a safe meal, this was definitely an impressive experience. I really appreciated the time that Minnie and the team took to answer all of my questions and to prepare my pizza safely. It’s a rare treat to get gluten free pizza out that’s not super expensive and also really tasty.
Blaze Pizza is definitely going to be a new quick service favorite for me when I visit Disney Springs. When I visited there were three of us right in a row that have special dietary needs, so it’s pretty amazing to see Blaze Pizza step up to the plate and offer safe options for everyone!
Are you looking forward to visiting Blaze Pizza? What kind of pizza toppings would you like on your custom pizza?
Are these the standard procedures for EVERY single restaurant in their chain, or just at Disney? This is the quote on their webpage – “*We work with wheat based dough and share equipment with our gluten-free dough. Some cross contact may occur.”
I have never been to a Blaze Pizza outside of the one at Disney Springs; however, feedback I’ve gotten from other readers is that this is not standard for every Blaze Pizza location, and in fact, some locations are better than others. As I noted, the location at Disney Springs does use dedicated gluten free dough press, but there are other shared spaces, such as the oven. I would recommend contacting your local Blaze Pizza location before visiting to find out more information. There is a Blaze Pizza close to where I work, so I hope to check out that location as well.
Do they accept the Disney Dining Plan?
At this time they are not accepting the Disney Dining Plan, but this may change. I recommend checking before your next visit.
The pizzas are cooked on “plastic sheets”? That doesn’t sound very healthy!
I will double-check the next time I visit to confirm what the sheets are made of. My guess is any plastic would be a food-grade oven safe silicon, but of course, will double-check.
This place is not safe for celiacs. I went there tonight and the share all equipaments.
Hi Samira, Unless things have changed, when I visited they had a dedicated gluten free pizza dough press and upon request with celiac disease, they would change gloves and prepare your pizza with fresh ingredients (not used on the main line). The shared space was the pizza oven, and the restaurant uses mats for the gluten free pizza. Of course, cross contamination is always a possibility in a shared environment. I recommend speaking with a manager to discuss options and safety.