not a fan of mobile ordering food

[robinb]

I actually love the mobile order for counter service. I use it all the time and prefer it to standing in line to order. It's so much easier to just hand the phone around to everyone in my party than it is to all crowd into the line (often behind groups that never seem to look at the menu until they actually get to the front of the line) and have everybody try to say their order to the cast member.

With mobile order, I'm also more likely to get exactly what I want, including special requests, because I can see precisely what I wrote down and not have to rely on the understanding between me and the cast member, which doesn't always translate.

I also think mobile order is WONDERFUL for helping to find seating in counter service dining areas. My pet peeve is when there is a single kid sitting at a giant table holding it for their family ordering food, while people who actually HAVE food are walking around desperately trying to find somewhere to sit down. The restaurants are designed for a certain throughput, and when people do that me-me-me table-saving routine, they gum up the works for everyone. With mobile order, not as many people are accessing the dining areas until they have their food, so there's a better chance of actually having somewhere to sit.

When it comes to whether I can get what I want, over Labor Day in Disneyland there were long waits for mobile order, but I learned my lesson pretty quickly and started putting orders in well in advance, and then I just planned my touring so I'd end up in the right place when the food was ready.

So in a nutshell, I love it!

I love it also for all of those reasons. PLUS, I can basically save my place in line for my counter service meal hours in advance. Stand in line forever at 12:00 or mobile order at 10:00 and press the "I'm Here" button while walking over so I can just about waltz right in and pick up my meal? But THE BEST part of mobile ordering is there are no more table vultures. In my last 2 trips there were ALWAYS open tables even at places where I used to endlessly roam looking for a table with quickly cooling food because half of them were filled with people waiting for their families and THIER hot food.

 

[mgarbowski]

for fun I was checking different restrauants and unless you wanted to eat dinner at 8 or 9 at night you were out of luck

During the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day I did Mobil order 15-20 times and only once had to choose a return time more than 5 minutes away.

 

[Pens Fan]

We've found that mobile order works really well. Even so, most QS place will let you walk up and order, though there may be a line. We almost always mobile order and have pretty much found food available whenever we wanted it. IMHO, the whole idea that you have to order your food hours before you want to eat has been way overblown. We were there in Oct and again in Dec and never once did that and had no issues finding food. There may be a few places (I've heard Woody's can be tough) where you might have to wait a bit, but it's just not been our experience. We've never waited more than 10-15 minutes for our food and most times it was less than that.

There are plenty of things I'm not happy about with Disney these days (Genie +, ILL$, getting up at 7 to book rides), but mobile order is a plus in my book.

 

[WDW Lover]

Finally! Someone has said it! I HATE mobile ordering! I have Disney Gift Cards that I want to use... I want to walk up and order when I am hungry and see that menu on the wall and decide what I want! I also like to take a gander at what others have ordered and see if it truly is what I want to eat! That being said, everywhere that had mobile ordering also had walk up ordering as well. They make it seem like you have to do the mobile order, but you don't. I had one pain in the a$$ cast member who was standing there trying to MAKE us do the mobile order and we said our phone was dead. She said, well you can go charge it for a few minutes at the wall and come back. I was like "um...... no! I don't have my cord with me".... that was when the person at the cash register said "I can take you right here". I had a conversation with her and she said that everywhere has the option to use the cash register, but they prefer you use the mobile app.

 

[robinb]

Finally! Someone has said it! I HATE mobile ordering! I have Disney Gift Cards that I want to use... I want to walk up and order when I am hungry and see that menu on the wall and decide what I want! I also like to take a gander at what others have ordered and see if it truly is what I want to eat! That being said, everywhere that had mobile ordering also had walk up ordering as well. They make it seem like you have to do the mobile order, but you don't. I had one pain in the a$$ cast member who was standing there trying to MAKE us do the mobile order and we said our phone was dead. She said, well you can go charge it for a few minutes at the wall and come back. I was like "um...... no! I don't have my cord with me".... that was when the person at the cash register said "I can take you right here". I had a conversation with her and she said that everywhere has the option to use the cash register, but they prefer you use the mobile app.

You can use Disney Gift Cards with mobile ordering. I kept the number in a note on my phone and copy and pasted it in the Disney app when ordering.

 

[Sandiz08]

I think I prefer my food made to order fresh and not possibly sitting around. I’ll reserve judgement but mobile order for everything doesn’t sound appealing.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I'm not sure I understand all the pushback on mobile ordering (definitely get some of it!) as it's a HUGE timesaver and when you are literally paying by the hour you're in the park, I'd prefer spending it enjoying the park and not in line. I think it's one of the best things Disney has implemented (it was around pre-COVID) and we've used it hundreds of times.

Today we were at Epcot. It was crazy crowded and we specifically ate at Regal Eagle because they had mobile order. All the (permanent) booth lines were backed up beyond their queues by 11am. The Mexico QS line was backed up almost to where the mariachi band plays.

Regal Eagle line was down the side of the building and they were only letting people in to order in person a few people at a time. The line at the register inside was back to the condiment station.

I placed my order while my toddler watched the trains in Germany. Hit "I'm here" as we walked through Italy, walked right past all the line and got hot, fresh food immediately.

I guarantee we had eaten and were on our way before the people at the back of the "in person ordering" had gotten food.

You can order in person if you'd like, just be prepared to wait the majority of the time.

 

[gharter]

I get why some don't love mobile ordering, but adore it! while waiting in a line in the morning, we can put in our order. More important, when we go to pick up our food, we are not walking all over looking for a table as people cannot enter and hold a table until their food is ready. This is HUGE!

 

[imbelle]

I don't mind that mobile ordering exists for those who choose to utilize it but I personally despise it and only use it when I'm vacationing with others who want to use it. For one, I prefer to reserve my credit card for major expenses only. The mobile menu doesn't list all of the ingredients. I don't know how many times I've gotten something that came out with onions on it (which I loathe). I want to see all of my options at once side by side, not scroll up and down several times to compare. If I'm doing counter service, I want to eat now and the entire mobile order process takes longer that if you had just walked up and ordered from a register. Not to mention that this is touted as a covid measure and yet people are standing elbow to elbow staring at their smart phones, watching the burger flip, waiting for their food to be ready. If there aren't enough tables them maybe the seating needs to be expanded to match capacity. I don't like being told mobile order is the only option and having to be argumentative if I want to force the issue when I know they are supposed to have a cash option.

 

[Farro]

Two things I dislike mobile ordering - there are soooooo many people crowded around the restaurant just waiting for their order, and I wish you had an idea of when your food might be ready when you click I'm ready for my food/start preparing(or whatever it says).
One time after we clicked it, our food was ready almost immediately and we had to practically run to the counter , the other time we waited almost 45 minutes. We wanted to cancel and leave, but it turned into this huge thing where they had to get a manager and by the time they found someone to cancel it, our food was ready.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We were there in the beginning of October and didn't use mobile order once. The QS places we went to all had walk up. Went to Casey's one day, a mob of people waiting for their food (mobile order). I was second person in line. Ordered my food and got it quickly and all those other people were still waiting. Even got a table.

 

[LiteBrite]

I think I prefer my food made to order fresh and not possibly sitting around. I’ll reserve judgement but mobile order for everything doesn’t sound appealing.

Your food isn't made until you hit the "I'm here" button, it isn't made ahead of time.

That being said, we have had a couple of times when our order did sit around before the app notified us that it was ready, but that was a only couple of times out of dozens of orders that were hot and fresh.

Mobile ordering isn't everyone's cup of tea, and it doesn't work perfectly all the time, but in my experience it works well most of the time, and I am a fan.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

I had one pain in the a$$ cast member who was standing there trying to MAKE us do the mobile order and we said our phone was dead. She said, well you can go charge it for a few minutes at the wall and come back. I was like "um...... no! I don't have my cord with me".... that was when the person at the cash register said "I can take you right here". I had a conversation with her and she said that everywhere has the option to use the cash register, but they prefer you use the mobile app.

The PITA CM is in need of retraining or removal. I hope you made a note of the name and left a guest comment.
If you don't, then the next people are just going to have to suffer the same issues as well.

 

[1lilspark]

Mobile order at Aloha Isle was the worst the other day …. Hit “I’m Here” found a bench and sat 15 minutes still didn’t turn blue to say order was ready… went up and was told it would be at least another 10 minute wait…. Finally turned blue and after another 15 minutes finally got our food… one of our floats was melty but we didn’t dare go back …

CHH on the other hand same day CMs we’re telling guests it would be a 20-30 min standby wait if they didn’t mobile order and we got a table and got our food within 5 mins of hitting we were there

 

[minie_meese]

I understand why some people like mobile ordering but I am not one. I've not seen this discussed before but when I go out for shopping or to the parks I tend to travel light. I use use my phone to just answer calls so I don't bring my reading glasses. I have trouble reading text on my screen without them. In October I wanted to go to a quick service restaurant but was told I needed to mobile order. Trying to order and pay on your phone when you can barely see the screen is a royal pain. I had to enter my payment information 5 times before I got it right. Yes, the answer is to bring reading glasses but I'm not always thinking about ordering lunch at 7 AM. I'm barely awake.

 

[WDW Lover]

The PITA CM is in need of retraining or removal. I hope you made a note of the name and left a guest comment.
If you don't, then the next people are just going to have to suffer the same issues as well.

I would have but I totally forgot her name. If I would have had my phone, I would have kept it there and then reported her. But you are right.... she just kept saying that to everyone that walked up. Basically you must mobile order... blah blah blah.... some people left! My mistake for not memorizing her name and leaving her to be rude and not let others walk up and pay!

 

[Lilsia]

What you said are two different issues. The food quality and choices are just horrible right now. They do need a better variety, but we can also recognize that production and distribution is an issue for everyone right now. So I can't in good conscience, blame Disney for that. Now for mobile order. I actually really like it. I would love to see an option for more personal customizations, but that is my only complaint. As someone who travels solo, I love that I am able to not have to wait in line, and then do the whole walking around with my food getting cold looking for a table. I know that they are more lax in letting people into the restaurants recently, but most are only letting you in if your food is ready. This makes the whole dining experience so much better knowing that I will have a table. I also love being able to order my food from wherever I am, and know that I can get food when I want it, without a huge line to wait in. We wait enough in the parks, and cutting down the line waiting for food is a bonus.

 

[lfcfan]

This is the truth. We were apprehensive about it, but wow. The quickserve at GF became an easy pickup point for us during out stay. Never waiting. It was great. The parks were the same.

Can you add any details about the GF QS mobile ordering? Did you have to order ahead of time? Or was it ready quickly right before? Also--when you pick up, can you still walk up to purchase something from a pastry or to go case ( I realize you will need to pay again)? We are staying there in May and I imagine we will be utilizing it a lot. Thank you!

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I like mobile ordering. Never had a problem with food items not being available but with supply chain issues perhaps that will become a bigger issue now moving forward.

One thing I didn't know about mobile ordering that I learned on my last trip is that you can ask a CM to push the mobile order in sooner. For example, my DW wanted a Wookie Cookie from Backlot Express in HS. It gave me a window 1 hour out for a cookie. I asked the CM standing at the front of Backlot Express and she took my order number and pushed it through immediately. Same thing happened when I bought a spork at GE.

 

[x93nelson13]

Can you add any details about the GF QS mobile ordering? Did you have to order ahead of time? Or was it ready quickly right before? Also--when you pick up, can you still walk up to purchase something from a pastry or to go case ( I realize you will need to pay again)? We are staying there in May and I imagine we will be utilizing it a lot. Thank you!

We ordered at most 20 minutes ahead of time. They then ding you on the app that it's ready. The app generally said 20-25 minutes, and it was always on time. We could have ordered ahead of time and told them when we wanted it, but we never did that. We were there in December during a somewhat busy time, and it was never a problem getting food quick.

You CAN pick up things like pastries or soda, but they do not make it super obvious that it is available. But you can. There was one cashier who would spend most of their time helping get orders ready or cleaning, so it is not readily apparent there is a cashier at all. You could even order hot food from this person, but you would be costing yourself time to do so. People who did not order their Mickey Waffles on the app did not appear to be having a nice time with this ordering at the counter.

I was generally happy with most of what I saw at GF, this included. I always stay there, so I have a bit of a frame of reference. Still have room service, lots of kids activities like crafts and whatever, and with word the spa is about to reopen, it's good,. But they gotta get maid service back. That is key.

I like talking about the GF.