Mobile ordering strategy during busy times

[naslew]

Will be going to DL for the first time, in the middle of December. I know it's going to be BUSY. Many on this forum suggested exploring the app in order to prepare, so I've been doing that. I noticed many of the mobile order times are wild... like 8:30 this morning, Jolly Holly order time was 2 hours out. Last night around 8:30 pm, many of them were 2 hours out.

Wondering what are your strategies? Do you just try to plan ahead and anticipate when you'll be hungry? or do you just skip the mobile ordering and wait in line if you really want something?

 

[amyg1975]

On this past Friday Jolly Holiday was 4 hours out! I was shocked!!! That was the only one that I saw was that bad, the others were pretty instant.

 

[crystal1313]

I wonder if jolly holiday is bad because everyone wants the gingerbread Mickey?

If we know it’s crowded, we sometimes will mobile order lunch as soon as we enter the park. It’s weird to decide what you feel like for lunch that early. Lol. But we have teens who get HANGRY, so we have to think ahead. Lol. We go Saturday and we want to try a lot of snacks. So I hope it’s not too insane. But we will see.

 

[amyg1975]

Beignets are usually a longer wait too, at least right now with their candy cane beignets.

 

[pharmama]

Sometimes the long lead times for Mobile Order at certain locations is driven by high demand seasonal items. Jolly Holiday in particular is susceptible to this, especially earlier in the day as seasonal treats (which tend to be popular there) will sell out by afternoon at times.

 

[chezcurrie]

The first weekend of any holiday offering is usually the worst for mobile order. All the instupiders and cloggers have to get their seasonal treats to the gram first. (Apologies, my bias is showing.)

That said during busy times I usually will place an order for when we think we will eat, and modify the time. I did that this weekend while we were in the parking garage and simply moved it up to a better time.

Also remember if you don’t show up on time (ie click “I’m here prepare my order!”) you will not be charged. I had two orders during Oogie Boogie Bash I completely forgot about because we were having so much fun. They simply go away.

 

[TheLyinKing]

We always place a mobile order as early as possible for when we think we'll be hungry, or if there's availability to modify we do that if we're not ready to eat yet. Better to place the order and have to cancel than not place it at all!

 

[cmph]

Like others above said, I think you witnessed an oddity due to certain menu items. We went the week between Christmas and NYE last year, and we didn't see anything like that for Jolly Holiday. We got instant returns for nearly everything we mobile ordered - the only exception was beignets, which was like 30min out. We did not attempt to do super early pre-orders and really didn't have an issue.

I would NOT advise that you plan to wait in line as an alternative. Some of the lines were just bonkers. Ex: Alien Pizza Planet was way out the door, even though it had an instant return. (Many people during busy seasons just aren't in the know, I guess.) I would suggest planning to be flexible about where you'll eat, b/c they aren't all going to have far-off return times. Being flexible on the "when you eat" part is key for getting seats, I'll add.

 

[irlandaise]

Also remember if you don’t show up on time (ie click “I’m here prepare my order!”) you will not be charged. I had two orders during Oogie Boogie Bash I completely forgot about because we were having so much fun. They simply go away.

How long before or after your assigned time can you click "I'm here"?

 

[chezcurrie]

How long before or after your assigned time can you click "I'm here"?

It has to be during your window. Usually I click it while we are approaching the venue but not quite thwre. Usually allows us enough time to find a seat. this past weekend I did that and we still waited 25 min once we arrived (this was at Flos V8, which always has longer return times for some reason.)

Also if you are a dole whip fan I would place that order and choose/move it to the time you want. Nothing worse than wanting a dole whip while watching the tiki room and it’s an hour wait for one.

 

[heatherleigh]

Tiana palace had the longest wait for us last month. I placed the order at 810A and pickup wasn’t until 430P. We waited an additional 30+ mins after pressing “I’m here make my food” because of the beneigts.

 

[naslew]

The first weekend of any holiday offering is usually the worst for mobile order. All the instupiders and cloggers have to get their seasonal treats to the gram first. (Apologies, my bias is showing.)

That said during busy times I usually will place an order for when we think we will eat, and modify the time. I did that this weekend while we were in the parking garage and simply moved it up to a better time.

Also remember if you don’t show up on time (ie click “I’m here prepare my order!”) you will not be charged. I had two orders during Oogie Boogie Bash I completely forgot about because we were having so much fun. They simply go away.

Seems like you were right. I've been checking recently and most of the mobile order times are down to "now" or just a few minutes... with the exception of Tiana's and Mint Julep. Note to self - never go on the first weekend of the holidays!!

 

[Pluto468]

Also if you are a dole whip fan I would place that order and choose/move it to the time you want. Nothing worse than wanting a dole whip while watching the tiki room and it’s an hour wait for one.

One thing I didn't realize until our last visit is that we couldn't walk up for Dole Whips anymore. We went to get some and there was literally nobody in line, but the CM at the counter told us we had to mobile order anyway. It was just silly, because I stood at the counter and mobile ordered, and within a minute got a message that my order was ready. I'm assuming it's because they don't want to deal with the cash registers or something. That was the only place we had that happen.

 

[starry_solo]

Will be going to DL for the first time, in the middle of December. I know it's going to be BUSY. Many on this forum suggested exploring the app in order to prepare, so I've been doing that. I noticed many of the mobile order times are wild... like 8:30 this morning, Jolly Holly order time was 2 hours out. Last night around 8:30 pm, many of them were 2 hours out.

Wondering what are your strategies? Do you just try to plan ahead and anticipate when you'll be hungry? or do you just skip the mobile ordering and wait in line if you really want something?

Plan ahead at least an hour or so when you think you'll be hungry and order.

 

[DLandgirlie]

I plan ahead about 1.5-2hrs.
This Friday, waiting 2 hours for the 6:30pm Christmas parade, allowed my fam to stake out a spot, while I went for my snacks via Mobile Order. I started with Docking Bay for their Life Day specials. Headed down main street towards Galaxy's Edge, rode Millennium falcon single rider, clicked 'I'm here' afterwards. I had simultaneously ordered beignets from Mint Julep, however Docking bay was backed up. I was able to get the beignets and head back over to main Street after about 1 hour before the parade. Originally had planned for Jolly Holiday but it was backed up for 1.5 hour wait.
Long story short, plan ahead and have alternatives.

 

[Brandonius]

Keep one eye on the times throughout the day, weird stuff happens. If you guys have an idea where you want to eat, just order while in line for the ride before the meal. Expect times to "bump forward" a bit in the 2.5 hour lunch/dinner rush windows, but in general you'll be fine once the seasonal item hype dies down. Good job planning ahead though - the gap in mobile order times catches many people totally off guard.

Anyone remember back during covid where mobile order times were all 3-4+ hours out? I heard so many conversations with CMs... "we just want to eat and literally can't order anything until this evening" lol... glad we are past those days.

 

[pharmama]

One thing I didn't realize until our last visit is that we couldn't walk up for Dole Whips anymore. We went to get some and there was literally nobody in line, but the CM at the counter told us we had to mobile order anyway. It was just silly, because I stood at the counter and mobile ordered, and within a minute got a message that my order was ready. I'm assuming it's because they don't want to deal with the cash registers or something. That was the only place we had that happen.

Walk up Dole Whip is at the Tropical Hideaway around the corner next to Jungle Cruise. They did transition the Dole Whip 'hut' outside the Tiki Room to mobile only a while back I think largely to manage the ridiculous lines that would develop clogging the pathway. Tropical Hideaway has more space for lines as well as several more machines which allows them to both move the line along more quickly and offer additional flavors of Dole Whip (plus some yummy snacks like lumpia and bao). Tropical Hideaway is walk up only (no mobile order).

 

[Pluto468]

Walk up Dole Whip is at the Tropical Hideaway around the corner next to Jungle Cruise. They did transition the Dole Whip 'hut' outside the Tiki Room to mobile only a while back I think largely to manage the ridiculous lines that would develop clogging the pathway. Tropical Hideaway has more space for lines as well as several more machines which allows them to both move the line along more quickly and offer additional flavors of Dole Whip (plus some yummy snacks like lumpia and bao). Tropical Hideaway is walk up only (no mobile order).

Thanks! Good to know for next time

 

[crystal1313]

You can start mobile ordering at 7am. I mobile ordered the gingerbread cookies at 7am in our hotel.

Wednesday (11/22) was the least crazy for mobile ordering. I was shocked. I could get an instant return to jolly holiday, even at 10am. Most other places too. All the other days I was there, jolly holiday was into the afternoon for mobile order in the morning.

I just constantly checked mobile ordering when we were near stuff we liked.