Mobile is unreliable, have a back up plan

[mamacatnv]

Couple of things:
We were in DL/DCA 12/26-30/2022
Three Android users - Me, DH and DS
Two iPhones - College Kid and DIL
Same Credit cards: Disney and a Costco Visa
DH, DS, DIL and College kid had NO issues with mobile ordering, my phone however, would never cooperate. We installed, uninstalled, made sure updates were current etc. Went to guest services whose response was "we are seeing a lot of that but we don't have an answer".

I was beyond frustrated. I could not use the ordering or shopping and there were times throughout the days that I could not see the LL's we had reserved or that were available. I had to either track down one of my people or wait in ridiculously long lines since walk up is discouraged and cashiers/open windows are few compared to mobile.

Meanwhile, my DIL could not use the mobile tickets on her phone for herself and her 3 kids. We had all tickets loaded on all our devices for ease with LL's, park entry etc. Her park tickets never updated and when she tried to use them on our last day, her tickets still showed 4 available days but they would not scan at the ticket booth. She had to track down my son who was in the park with me and college kid to come to the gate so she could get in.

For the cost associated with a visit to Disney, I expected better tech, better support and better answers than, "Ya, we see that a lot but don't know how to help you, sorry".

Have a back up plan!

 

[2tinkerbell]

Tech at Disneyland leaves a lot to be desired. It is frustrating to say the least. I lost at least 2 hours on our 1st day because of their tech. On our 3rd day, it started again and I found a suit who connected me with a tech guy who fixed our problems. All this to say, I can totally relate.

 

[DLgal]

Whenever this happens, do the following:

UNINSTALL THE APP

Reinstall the app

This always works. I don't understand why Guest Relations doesn't just advise this course of action.

The issue is with the app cache.

This happens to us all periodically at different times. Uninstalling the app and reinstalling ALWAYS works.

 

[mamacatnv]

Whenever this happens, do the following:

UNINSTALL THE APP

Reinstall the app

This always works. I don't understand why Guest Relations doesn't just advise this course of action.

The issue is with the app cache.

This happens to us all periodically at different times. Uninstalling the app and reinstalling ALWAYS works.

My post did note that we uninstalled and reinstalled the app. We tried everything that anyone, including guest relations could think of and it DID NOT WORK.

 

[DLgal]

My post did note that we uninstalled and reinstalled the app. We tried everything that anyone, including guest relations could think of and it DID NOT WORK.

Missed that, sorry. The app sometimes gets like that on really crowded days. It's definitely annoying.

 

[cmph]

So frustrating! The app is annoying enough to use when you have no issues. I'm really sorry you had such problems. It is a huge disadvantage to not be able to mobile order. DH has food allergies and has no choice but to talk to a CM/chef, which is no biggie for table service but a pain for quick service. Consequently he mostly brought his own snacks and protein bars last week, when we knew it would be super-busy. The one time he got quick service, it took him as long as it took me to mobile order and pick up at THREE places (in the wharf area); the only reason it wasn't longer was the the person in front of him had the exact same allergy.

One thing I would advise is to keep the paper ticket stubs they give you on day 1. They can be used instead of the phone. (My kids misunderstood and thought the paper stubs were the only way to get in after that, actually.)

 

[ter-moo]

Just wondering (since I ALWAYS use my paper ticket, so that I don't have to get my phone out and go through all the rigmarole involved), does it work to do a screenshot of your ticket on the app and then just show the picture each time, so you don't actually have to USE the app?

I do this with lots of other tickets, just to simplify the procedure. Always can pull up a picture, even without wifi, or having to go through several steps.

 

[Wesley815]

It's not always the app alone- cell towers are frequently overloaded around Disney area on busy days. Similar to large sporting events or concerts.

 

[starlite_]

Do you have an older phone? I find that older androids don't work well with the app.

 

[BGinCali]

Just wondering (since I ALWAYS use my paper ticket, so that I don't have to get my phone out and go through all the rigmarole involved), does it work to do a screenshot of your ticket on the app and then just show the picture each time, so you don't actually have to USE the app?

I do this with lots of other tickets, just to simplify the procedure. Always can pull up a picture, even without wifi, or having to go through several steps.

This has worked for me.

 

[Bossy22]

In the summer we actually had to buy gift cards with our credit/debit cards and put the gift cards in the app as they would not load any of our cards! I think this problem was pretty common for Canadian visitors!

 

[LizzyS]

So frustrating! The app is annoying enough to use when you have no issues. I'm really sorry you had such problems. It is a huge disadvantage to not be able to mobile order. DH has food allergies and has no choice but to talk to a CM/chef, which is no biggie for table service but a pain for quick service. Consequently he mostly brought his own snacks and protein bars last week, when we knew it would be super-busy. The one time he got quick service, it took him as long as it took me to mobile order and pick up at THREE places (in the wharf area); the only reason it wasn't longer was the the person in front of him had the exact same allergy.

One thing I would advise is to keep the paper ticket stubs they give you on day 1. They can be used instead of the phone. (My kids misunderstood and thought the paper stubs were the only way to get in after that, actually.)

I totally use the paper tickets and never my phone for entry and LLs.

 

[mamacatnv]

Missed that, sorry. The app sometimes gets like that on really crowded days. It's definitely annoying.

There were 5 phones in our group, DH, DS and I's are identical, mine was the only one that would not work. Ever

So frustrating! The app is annoying enough to use when you have no issues. I'm really sorry you had such problems. It is a huge disadvantage to not be able to mobile order. DH has food allergies and has no choice but to talk to a CM/chef, which is no biggie for table service but a pain for quick service. Consequently he mostly brought his own snacks and protein bars last week, when we knew it would be super-busy. The one time he got quick service, it took him as long as it took me to mobile order and pick up at THREE places (in the wharf area); the only reason it wasn't longer was the the person in front of him had the exact same allergy.

One thing I would advise is to keep the paper ticket stubs they give you on day 1. They can be used instead of the phone. (My kids misunderstood and thought the paper stubs were the only way to get in after that, actually.)

We had them all except for DH's - no idea where his went and the time my DIL got hung up, my DS had all the paper tickets. IF we were going to have to rely on the paper tickets, that should have been made very clear when we were at the gate where the cast members took all our photos etc. it was not.

It's not always the app alone- cell towers are frequently overloaded around Disney area on busy days. Similar to large sporting events or concerts.

I would buy that if it wasn't for the fact that my Mobile Ordering/Shopping never worked in the 5 days we were there. We eventually got the LL and Genie+ to work with the re-install but never anything that had to do with the pay/ordering apps.

Do you have an older phone? I find that older androids don't work well with the app.

DH, DS and I all have the same phone, mine was the only problem child.
I think that park visitors need to be aware that those apps we rely on so heavily, don't always work and when the response from Guest Services is, "we see that a lot", it is more common than anyone wants to admit. I said this before, I expected more given the price point of our visit.

 

[DLgal]

There were 5 phones in our group, DH, DS and I's are identical, mine was the only one that would not work. Ever

We had them all except for DH's - no idea where his went and the time my DIL got hung up, my DS had all the paper tickets. IF we were going to have to rely on the paper tickets, that should have been made very clear when we were at the gate where the cast members took all our photos etc. it was not.

I would buy that if it wasn't for the fact that my Mobile Ordering/Shopping never worked in the 5 days we were there. We eventually got the LL and Genie+ to work with the re-install but never anything that had to do with the pay/ordering apps.

DH, DS and I all have the same phone, mine was the only problem child.
I think that park visitors need to be aware that those apps we rely on so heavily, don't always work and when the response from Guest Services is, "we see that a lot", it is more common than anyone wants to admit. I said this before, I expected more given the price point of our visit.

It sounds like a problem with your specific phone. Do your DH and DS use your login for the Disneyland app, or do they have their own accounts?

 

[mamacatnv]

It sounds like a problem with your specific phone. Do your DH and DS use your login for the Disneyland app, or do they have their own accounts?

We all have our own login. We surmised early on that its an issue specific to my phone. I am sure that somewhere there is a setting that was on/off that needed to not be. I was really hoping that guest services would have some suggestions but they didn't.

Since the issue came down to the ability to process payments, we think it may have something to do with some of the securities due to other apps I have on my phone for work. I am an accounting manager and have banking access for our corporation, tied to my cell for authentication. We think that perhaps, having those apps threw up some sort of security for the mobile credit card processing. At this time we will never know, this was our first trip in 10 years and while it was a wonderful trip, it is not something I will be repeating any time soon.

 

[MonocularVision]

It’s possible there is MDM (Mobile Device Management) on your device that caused your network traffic to be directed through a VPN. Or perhaps they proxy your traffic for inspection. Regardless, I would bet money it’s related to you using your phone for some work activities.