Disneyland and DCA really need to rethink their mobile ordering / cashless system. It's now counter effective

[Tedwash]

Returned to the parks this past weekend. So great to be back. However after spending time at DCA yesterday we realized the food experience is really bad in many instances.

1. The Tropical Hideaway, DL I had to wait 2hrs just to order a Dole Whip. Does that make any sense? A lever of soft ice cream into a cup? Waiting 2 hours for that???
2. Studio Catering Co, DCA When mobile app notifies you the food is ready for pick up, why is there a separate cue to wait another 25 minutes to pick up the food? We walk up to window to pick up food then a CM tells us there's 30 people ahead of you in that line over there for pick up.
3. Award Wieners, DCA Some venues have both mobile and standby capability. But if there is no standby available for that venue then please have a sign that says so! Felt bad for numerous patrons that were standing in long lines only to learn at the window they'd have to order via mobile order. Then the availability was 1-2hrs away. Watched that happen to at least 5-6 people in line while we waited for our mobile pick up. 15 minutes.
4. Hollywood Lounge, DCA, Mobile ordered from the menu, michellada's, beer, tacos, nachos, and soda. Waited about 15 minutes to pick up food. Not a problem. When we get to the window, we're handed our michellada's, and beer but then told to go over to Studio Catering, Co to pick up the food. (See item number 2 above) That's 40 total minutes waiting to pick up food that's supposed to be ready. You're better off waiting 10 minutes for the popcorn or churro carts to eat.

Now not all of the eating experience was bad. However when you're mobile ordering unless you knocked it out in the morning you're usually 1-2 hours out from pick up.

1. Jolly Holiday Bakery, DL. Most if not all menu items are available for walk up without waiting or mobile ordering. Grilled Cheese, tomato soup, sandwiches, and pastries. Personally it's always been my best kept secret of the park to go eat.
2. Gibson Girl Ice Cream, DL ordered all of our sundae's without much issue. Even was able to buy an additional item at the window that wasn't part of the mobile order.
3. Stage Door Cafe, DL Food ready with no wait when mobile order says it's ready.
4. Ship to Shore Marketplace, DL There's moderate line since its where the Turkey Legs are sold. But at least its orderly and you can buy and pay for what you want. (fruit, drinks, chips etc)

For Galaxy's Edge, if you don't have your mobile order placed for Ronto Roasters, no other choices for food. No walk up or stand by to pay for food. Gotta leave GE to find something else for food. We found that out waiting 20 or so minutes for our ROR boarding group so late lunch was afterwards.


That's a few thoughts from our experience from the weekend. Our day at Disneyland was far better than our visit at DCA. Collectively, we thought we'll make plans to head back in the fall. Hopefully park will be back to normal operation then.

 

[DLgal]

I fully agree with you. The food situation is abysmal right now at both parks. DCA does seem to be worse though.

 

[amyg1975]

I waited 50 minutes at Flos. The Cocina was bad too, but not as long. I reallly hope this gets fixed.

 

[DLgal]

I waited 50 minutes at Flos. The Cocina was bad too, but not as long. I reallly hope this gets fixed.

I waited almost 15 at Flos and then 20 at Red Rose Tavern (for ONE hamburger and fries).

The whole "mobile order is ready for pickup" followed by "stand here in this line and wait even longer" just makes me scratch my head. What are they even doing?

 

[DLgal]

On the other hand, we mobile ordered a green milk in GE with an immediate return window and it was handed to us within 30 seconds. Why can't the Dole Whip stand do this? It's the same thing.

 

[Tedwash]

DCA food experience is definitely worse from Disneyland. Only positive thing are the stand alone food carts.

 

[EpcotNerd]

Does eating off hours help at all? Like 11am lunches and 4pm dinners? Or are these problems all of the time?

 

[VandVsmama]

That’s pretty horrible! I’m glad that we’re waiting to go.

 

[dieumeye]

I love mobile order. I hope every single food service place down to each popcorn & pretzel cart has mobile order some day.

BUT something seems to have gone terribly wrong with the current setup. No reason you should be required to wait another 10-30 minutes once you arrive and click “I’m here”. I mean, they know what orders are coming due when. Isn’t that what the return windows are for in the first place?

Do they not have enough staff working in the kitchens? Are they taking too many orders per window? Are there simply not enough dining locations open? I don’t get it.

I went to Universal last weekend (I know it’s not the same as DL, but) they had all their restaurants open, snack and drink carts everywhere, and the longest wait I had was 10-15 minutes to order at Krusty Burger. They were limiting the number of people who could order and wait for their food at the same time, so a line formed. A sticker on the floor indicated the line was 15 minutes at the point I got in it. So they seemed to figure out how to operate with modifications.

I don’t understand where/how DLR miscalculated that has led to the crazy mobile order jam that seems to still be happening.

 

[midnight star]

Does eating off hours help at all? Like 11am lunches and 4pm dinners? Or are these problems all of the time?

When I had a 30 minute wait at Cozy Cone it was at 11:30am..didn’t get my food until a few minutes after 12pm. An hour before that I ordered a churro from Cozy Cone at 10:30am, and it was ready within seconds after clicking “here”.
So maybe, maybe not? I’m wondering if it’s a staffing issue?

 

[JWelch62]

On the other hand, we mobile ordered a green milk in GE with an immediate return window and it was handed to us within 30 seconds. Why can't the Dole Whip stand do this? It's the same thing.

The problem with Dole Whip (IMO) is that it's not being served from the Tiki hut. It's only available at the Tropical Hideaway ATM. I'm sure this is to limit crowds around the Tiki Room. Anyway, you are competing for return slots with folks ordering full meals. That's really what is driving the return times. Hopefully once more restrictions are lifted we will be able to get them at the hut.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Can you still walk up and get dole whips inside the tiki room waiting area? May have to rethink our food strategies.

 

[JWelch62]

Can you still walk up and get dole whips inside the tiki room waiting area? May have to rethink our food strategies.

No, not when we went last week.

 

[midnight star]

Can you still walk up and get dole whips inside the tiki room waiting area? May have to rethink our food strategies.

No it is closed. Only the tropical hideaway had the dole whips.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

Ack! My wife was wondering if I was going overboard booking sit-down reservations for our 1-day trip to California Adventure in a week, but looking at the current "counter service" situation, I'm kind of glad I did.

 

[BrianL]

I hated Mobile Order as well at WDW. Sometimes it worked okay, but why should I have to order my lunch at 8 AM? They're jsut keeping us glued to our phones, which I prefer not to be when in the parks (or anytime really). One thing is very clear though, demand is outstripping supply on both coasts right now...it's only going to get worse too. We are reaching a critical mass here. Maybe when capacity is back up to full it won't matter as much, but the cracks were showing before the pandemic.

 

[Tedwash]

Think about how that would effect planning your day. You're planning your day based on ride wait times, etc. Then when you plan on grabbing lunch, the food you want may not be available for another 1-2 hours depending on the next reservation window. So you turn around and plan what ride(s) can you squeeze in before getting food. Then when you show up for your food location, BOOM! Another unanticipated 30+ minute wait.

At Award Wieners, the wait was so long to get my Corndog and Cheese stick that my cheese stick was lukewarm and inside was solid again.

 

[BrianL]

Think about how that would effect planning your day. You're planning your day based on ride wait times, etc. Then when you plan on grabbing lunch, the food you want may not be available for another 1-2 hours depending on the next reservation window. So you turn around and plan what ride(s) can you squeeze in before getting food. Then when you show up for your food location, BOOM! Another unanticipated 30+ minute wait.

At Award Wieners, the wait was so long to get my Corndog and Cheese stick that my cheese stick was lukewarm and inside was solid again.

Yeah, and add Boarding Groups of unknown return time into the mix - oh, I can FINALLY get that burger - oh, they just called my group to ROTR. It's deeply problematic.

 

[Tedwash]

I hated Mobile Order as well at WDW. Sometimes it worked okay, but why should I have to order my lunch at 8 AM? They're jsut keeping us glued to our phones, which I prefer not to be when in the parks (or anytime really). One thing is very clear though, demand is outstripping supply on both coasts right now...it's only going to get worse too. We are reaching a critical mass here. Maybe when capacity is back up to full it won't matter as much, but the cracks were showing before the pandemic.

Nailed it. I think that's exactly what's happening right now. Demand out doing supply. Possibly demand even outdoing man power.

 

[BrianL]

Nailed it. I think that's exactly what's happening right now. Demand out doing supply. Possibly demand even outdoing man power.

Yeah, I eman, I was jsut at WDW and even at "reduced capacity" it didn't feel reduced. Maybe getting more manpower could help and the CP is starting back up. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time, but there were definite pitfalls. I can't imagine someone less in-the-know than I am trying to navigate. It felt like things were precarious, like something has to give, especially at HS where ROTR is. It felt like they need something...something BIG. I think, once Epcot is done with Transformation, they may really start looking at the 5th gate. The problem is, in Anaheim, a 3rd park will be harder to do, though there are some expansion plans making the rounds, they're a little weird though. I guess we'll see!