A Touch of Disney 2021 Experience - Superthread - Read First Post for Updates - Updated with Full Menus

[Disney Dudette]

I just cancelled a 4:50 Carthay dining reservation for Sunday March 28th for a party of 4 if anyone wants to try to snag it!

 

[sophy1996]

I still have a couple of Touch of Disney maps to send out if anyone is interested. Just send me a private message with an address.

ETA: All gone!

 

[rentayenta]

Hi all. We went to Touch of Disney yesterday; just wanted to share my insights in no particular order.

All in all, I would say it was worth the price of admission because it came with parking and a gift card. If it was $75 per person without any perks, I am not sure....

CMs were very friendly. DCA looked great. It was weird to see construction happening. Usually, Disney hangs those fabric facades but yesterday we could see scaffolding, workers, etc.

To everyone that said mobile order right away, you were spot on. As the day went on, places like Smokejumpers had a two-hour wait between ordering and receiving food. We missed out on some things we wanted to try but now we know better for 4/18! Next time we will try Smokejumpers and a few more booths.

The food overall was good! We had the wings, bacon carbonara mac and cheese, mini meatball sub, pretzel with cheese, popcorn, hot fudge sundae, and beer and Rose. The only food that was a real disappointment was the grilled cheese and tomato bisque (usually from Jolly Holiday). The soup was amazing but the grilled cheese was disgusting and rubbery and had very little cheese. It did not mimic the JH one at all aside from the color and shape- lol.

We saw Max, Goofy, and Pluto. So fun to see them. They were up high but very interactive with the crowds.

It seemed that everyone was following the mask rule. Social distancing aside from designated lines was not feasible; we tried but 6 feet was not realistic in some areas. I have no idea if/how they will make that a reality.

Parking was chaos and Disney missed the boat. They had all the parking kiosks open but then filtered us all into two lines making it long and unnecessary. They have the room and chose not to staff it.

Hope this helps. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[Mathmagicland]

To everyone that said mobile order right away, you were spot on. As the day went on, places like Smokejumpers had a two-hour wait between ordering and receiving food. We missed out on some things we wanted to try but now we know better for 4/18! Next time we will try Smokejumpers and a few more booths.

Thanks for the report! Aside from Smokejumpers, do you recall any of the other places with really long delays (e.g. more than 30 minutes) between order and pickup?

 

[The Expert]

Thanks for the continued reports and info! We're flying out tomorrow afternoon to attend on Sunday. Staying at a nearby hotel and walking in via Harbor. I'll be sure to post a report afterward!

 

[rentayenta]

Thanks for the report! Aside from Smokejumpers, do you recall any of the other places with really long delays (e.g. more than 30 minutes) between order and pickup?

Almost all aside from a couple of booths. I would suggest ordering everything in the first hour or two and then picking it up when you are ready.

 

[The Expert]

Almost all aside from a couple of booths. I would suggest ordering everything in the first hour or two and then picking it up when you are ready.

So how does that work? You just take the receipt to pick-up when you're ready? Or do you need to do something on the app?

 

[MonocularVision]

Attended yesterday and the food situation was a little confusing at first. Here are some random points that might help folks in the future:

• The $25 dining card can be used in the app. But you have to enter it every time you use it, it didn’t save in our app usage.
• You can’t use more than one dining card or gift card in the same purchase. If you are short, you have to pay the rest with a normal credit card.
• The dining cards can’t be used on alcohol anywhere.
• Mobile order is done on your phone, then you end up in a line to wait to pick it up. Some places had a pretty long line, mainly the food festival booth places along the main walkway through the center of CA.
• Rather than use mobile ordering, you can purchase your items at a “Marketplace Cashier” and then take your receipts to the food booths for pick up. We didn’t do this, so can’t speak to the experience but the lines for the first half of the day for the cashier locations were loooong. I believe that is the case because you can purchase alcohol there. You can’t do it with the mobile orders for the booths.
• However, you can use mobile order for alcohol in some other locations, like Rita’s Margaritas. I have no idea why there is a disparity.

Not much else to say other than we had a pretty awesome time (me and the Mrs.) Our kids probably would not have had much fun and our younger kids would have hated it. But for us as adults, it was a really fun getaway. We spent way too much money and enjoyed way too much food though.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Social distancing aside from designated lines was not feasible; we tried but 6 feet was not realistic in some areas. I have no idea if/how they will make that a reality.

I’m curious what you’re referencing here. Maybe people close together watching the characters?

Almost all aside from a couple of booths. I would suggest ordering everything in the first hour or two and then picking it up when you are ready.

Also interesting because people said that on the first day, but then times never moved far ahead for us last Saturday, other than Smokejumpers and the booth with the wings - Golden Dreams? Seems to vary by day. Definitely good to keep an eye on the return times.

So how does that work? You just take the receipt to pick-up when you're ready? Or do you need to do something on the app?

If you buy from the marketplace cashiers for the booths, you get a receipt that you can take anytime. If you mobile order from anywhere, you pick a “return window” when you order. You can pick a time later in the day. You can also modify your time or cancel it later if you end up changing your plans! Also, if you mobile order but never click “I’m here, prepare my order,” you do not get charged, FYI.

I believe that is the case because you can purchase alcohol there. You can’t do it with the mobile orders for the booths.

• However, you can use mobile order for alcohol in some other locations, like Rita’s Margaritas. I have no idea why there is a disparity.

We used mobile order for alcohol at the booths last weekend. Have used it for marketplace booths in the past, too. So it is usually available.

 

[MonocularVision]

We used mobile order for alcohol at the booths last weekend. Have used it for marketplace booths in the past, too. So it is usually available.

We got a warning screen every single time we went to order from one of the booths that said no mobile ordering of alcohol.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Parking was chaos and Disney missed the boat. They had all the parking kiosks open but then filtered us all into two lines making it long and unnecessary. They have the room and chose not to staff it...

What time did you arrive? Was this the initial opening rush? And were there lines at the gates, too?

...

• You can’t use more than one dining card or gift card in the same purchase. If you are short, you have to pay the rest with a normal credit card...

This may be true with Mobile Ordering (we did not experience it), but you can pay with more than one TOD gift card at TS locations (CCL or LL).

 

[rentayenta]

I’m curious what you’re referencing here. Maybe people close together watching the characters?
.

All over and in general. 6 feet was not feasible due to the amount of people walking around. The food lines had markers of where to wait.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

We got a warning screen every single time we went to order from one of the booths that said no mobile ordering of alcohol.

I wonder if that’s new from now on? We had to show ID when we got there, but we definitely were able to order it that way. I’ll be curious to see if it stays that way.

All over and in general. 6 feet was not feasible due to the amount of people walking around. The food lines had markers of where to wait.

I’m so intrigued by the diversity of experiences! We were seriously never close to anyone for 6.5 hours. Sometimes when big groups were on the 6-ft “markers,” they were only a couple feet away (especially when they had strollers), and when we were watching Goofy and Max, there were just people all along the rail... but that was about it. Photo to demonstrate:


My husband surprised me and the two of us are going back on April 16! So I’m curious to hear people’s reports and appreciate all the intel and perspectives!

 

[midnight star]

We got a warning screen every single time we went to order from one of the booths that said no mobile ordering of alcohol.

I was able to order alcohol on mobile ordering on Sunday (3/21). Maybe they changed the rules?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I wonder if that’s new from now on? We had to show ID when we got there, but we definitely were able to order it that way. I’ll be curious to see if it stays that way.

I’m so intrigued by the diversity of experiences! We were seriously never close to anyone for 6.5 hours. Sometimes when big groups were on the 6-ft “markers,” they were only a couple feet away (especially when they had strollers), and when we were watching Goofy and Max, there were just people all along the rail... but that was about it. Photo to demonstrate:
View attachment 565429

My husband surprised me and the two of us are going back on April 16! So I’m curious to hear people’s reports and appreciate all the intel and perspectives!

Great photo! And what a wonderful surprise! Gold star for your DH!

 

[Mathmagicland]

I am at home practicing on mobile order, checking various return times during the day (this reminds me of getting ready to try for boarding groups for RotR ) and see a message each time that the ToD gift cards cannot be used to pay for alcohol. I’ve not seen any other messages, don’t know if it might be different once on property.

 

[DontSpamMe]

We got there at 2pm. No line to park, but it was packed inside the park. We had trouble finding a place to sit the 1st couple hours. When we did find tables, they were dirty and not cleaned. Thanks to the inefficiency of getting food we ended up staying longer than we expected and by 5pm things were starting to clear out and more seating opened up.

I really don't have any tips, but regarding the marketplace cashiers. You can only order marketplace items from them. So if all you eat is marketplace items, order them all up front and avoid mobile orders you will do well. I left without picking up a pretzel from mobile order. It took 45 minutes from when my time slot came up until that spatula and patty thing stopped and told me my order was ready. I had already moved on to another section of the park and wasn't going back. Our favorites were the carbonara mac n cheese and Walt's Chili.

Overall, it was not my jam. We are a ride oriented family when we go. The food is never the priority. It was weird though, being so close to the ride without being able to get on. The incredicoaster was running and I thought of going Clark Griswold in Wally World on them. I am glad we did it and grateful to the people who gave us their tickets. It just wasn't the same Disneyland efficiency and typical operation I've grown accustomed to.

 

[rentayenta]

What time did you arrive? Was this the initial opening rush? And were there lines at the gates, too?

We arrived about 11:45 am. Just silly to have the capability to make it much smoother and not do it.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

We went on Thursday... had a blast, I do have a tip though, if you have been waiting a long time for the burger flip screen to finally say your order is ready, talk to the cm working the line. Twice we had been waiting over 15 minutes (after clicking, I am here) and hovering near the line, and both times the cm said, you still waiting? And when I said, yeah, the burger flip screen doesn’t seem to be updating, the cm took my name, checked something and pushed a magical button on his iPad and bam, we were ready and got our food.

 

[Kender]

Here for ToD today!

Full lines by about 11am.



We walked over from our hotel. Was going to try for earlier, but it was so difficult to get moving this morning. Didn't get in until almost 10pm last night (I blame my cat).

I would add to recommendations: bring a sun umbrella if you normally use one like me. I forgot mine (but I am slathered in sunscreen), but it's what I would not forget to bring next time if I was coming again. Already added to my list for when the parks reopen.