The latest (April/May 2008) issue of Living Without magazine contains an interview with manager of special diets at Walt Disney World.  It’s quite an interesting read and covers many different special diets in addition to gluten free dining.

  Here are a few excerpts:

What food allergies do you see most?
We see a lot of people with celiac disease, a gluten intolerance. We get many visitors with a single food allergy, like peanut or tree nut allergy. We see a lot of allergy clusters, especially in children; the most common is kids with milk, egg, peanut and tree nut allergies. We’re also seeing a lot of casein and gluten intolerance. There’s been an increase in families coming with autistic children and they’re requesting that specific diet.

If someone on a special diet wants to visit Disney, what’s the first step?
Contact us ahead of time. Pre-communication is vital. We want to get information into visitors’ hands before they arrive so they can educate themselves about what we do. This is especially important if someone is traveling for the first time or if they’re new to Disney. Repeat guests pretty much know what to do. Even so, we like them to contact us ahead of time.

The most important point mentioned is to contact Walt Disney World ahead of time (at least 72 hours) and let them know you will be coming.  Call the Disney Reservation Center at 407-WDW-DINE (939-3463).  Your special diet needs will be documented, and you will be assigned a food and beverage representative who can assist further.

An excerpt of the article is available. 

 There is also an older excerpt about gluten free dining at Disneyland (in California).