How & When to Mobil Order

[EMHDad]

We have planned to do QS meals for many of our Lunches and Dinners. I have practiced MDE and gained an understanding of mobile ordering. However, I am not sure when I am supposed to. For example...

I go the MK. Can I mobile order my lunch at 10am at Pecos Bill for the time window of 1pmish and Tomorrowland Terrace for a time window of 6pmish? and Can I do it from anywhere in the park?

Or do I have to be at the location to order the meal? Do I have to wait to order for the timeframe that I want it in?

I hope I am making sense with this question. Thank you for the help.

 

[cdoc29]

From what I have read you can pick a time slot first thing in am and order right at park opening. Many stories on how people wait till lunch time only to find the slots are 90 minutes or even 2 hours out. When we visit end of February this is the strategy we plan to use.

 

[Skywalker3]

Go ahead and pick your time in the AM. We had very good luck eating at our usual off times. You do not need to be at the dining location to pick the time slot or place the order. You only should be at the restaurant (on on the way, a little early,) to hit the "I'm here, prepare my order,"
Ex. at AK, while kids rode Dinosaur, around 9:45 ish, or so, I placed our order for Satuli. I chose 10:30 for arrival window. We hit we were there when we got into Pandora. Food was ready as we walked up to Satuli, Showed the CM outside our screen, and they directed us inside for pickup

But another day, around 12:30 in HS, I wanted to try a treat at Backlot express. The first available order window wasn't until 1:30 . then when I said 'I was there,' waited another 20 mins, just for a treat. So don't plan to be ordering something quickly at peak times at certain places.

Otherwise, we really enjoyed mobile ordering, didn't have any issues w payments, food, etc. was very easy, and no standing in those awful QS order lines. Used it at Docking Bay 7 2xs, , Pizzarizzo, Satuli 3xs, Pecos bill (again very early in the day, 10:45) Milk stand 2xs, Ronto's Roasters, Backlot, Beach club marketplace, Sanaa 2 xs, Pinochio Haus (only for a treat,) Restaurantosaurus. We didnt' use it at Epcot, as we did food booths, and Katsura Grill, which doestn' have mobile order.

 

[morganms22]

Just as heads up that Tommorowland Terrace has been closing at 4PM. We were going to get that for dinner yesterday and had to choose something else.

 

[CarolynFH]

DD and DSiL ordered their lunches first thing on arrival at the parks last week so they could get the time they wanted. I’m not sure you even need to be in the park to enter a mobile order.

 

[kristenabelle]

Definitely pre-order in the AM if you want an earlier slot/typical lunchtime or dinnertime slot. It was great walking into Pecos Bill's to pick up my food while folks stood outside trying to figure things out.

 

[Vacation44]

Very informative thread as I do not know the first thing about mobile ordering. Thank you all.

 

[js]

Wow, thanks for this information.

 

[Jon16]

Awesome info. I would have never thought to do this! Thank you!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Wow! I didn't know that Mobile Ordering was so hard to get at "common" times I guess the solution for me will be to eat at "off" times

 

[wdw&sonny]

Wow! Also stunned by this news. I expect mobile ordering is here to stay, even post-covid. Mobile ordering is going to be like FP and ADRs. Many people still don't know about or understand FPs and are frustrated when they wait standby, watching the FP line move along.
I have witnessed many, many times, people walk up to a table service podium requesting a seat, only to be turned away because they did not make an ADR (180 days in advance).
Now, we'll have the same situation with mobile ordering. If you don't know to place your order in the morning, you are out of luck....NO SOUP FOR YOU!

 

[CarolynFH]

Wow! I didn't know that Mobile Ordering was so hard to get at "common" times I guess the solution for me will be to eat at "off" times

If you order (and choose your time) first thing in the morning, it's easy to get "common" times. It's just if you wait until the "common" time that you may or may not have to wait beyond your desired time. On Christmas Eve at DHS, DD and DSiL placed their lunch order for 11:00-11:30 AM at 9:00 or something like that. But when DH and I decided at 10:45 that we wanted to eat too, multiple (maybe all) CS restaurants had the 11:00-11:30 slot available.

 

[Meriweather]

We placed our order and time first thing in the morning.
It was our first time too.
It worked really well. When our time frame started it, we started walking over and hit the I'm here button. It didn't take long to get the it's ready message

 

[sparkle78]

A few tips we found on our nov/dec trip.
Have everyone look at the menu , outside of being in the mobile order area of the app, We got locked out twice because it took us over 10 minutes to decide and place our order.
You can use a gift card , but it does NOT save the number Or leave the leftover amount there, so keep the gift card handy in your backpack
scroll down to the very bottom of the menu and you can often find allergy friendly and vegetarian menus
hope this helps

 

[Julie Amber]

We were there the first week of December and placed our order at around 10:30 am for a noon lunch time. We frequently ate with a party of around 10-14 guests and didn't have an issue getting the times or restaurants we wanted at all. Orders were ready within about 5 minutes of arriving at the restaurant. I love mobile ordering and hope it stays forever. Way better than waiting in forever long QS lines and food taking 30 minutes after ordering to be done. We found it super convenient and just place our orders while we were waiting in line for rides.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Wow! Also stunned by this news. I expect mobile ordering is here to stay, even post-covid. Mobile ordering is going to be like FP and ADRs. Many people still don't know about or understand FPs and are frustrated when they wait standby, watching the FP line move along.
I have witnessed many, many times, people walk up to a table service podium requesting a seat, only to be turned away because they did not make an ADR (180 days in advance).
Now, we'll have the same situation with mobile ordering. If you don't know to place your order in the morning, you are out of luck....NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Considering mobile ordering has been around for a few years now, even pre-Covid, I wouldn't see any reason why it wouldn't stay. I've been pretty much exclusively using mobile order for a couple years (obviously only at the places that offer it), and part of me is kinda sad that sooo many people seem to just now realize that it's a thing and how great it is. It wasn't used much before and you could just walk right in order and pick up in minutes.

 

[Simba's Mom]

After you go in and get your food, can you eat inside or do most people take it outside and find a place? And more importantly, if you choose to eat inside at a busy time, how's social distancing and how's table availability? When I've tried to eat at "Prime"lunchtime preCovid, it was always packed, with almost wall to wall people And since I'm usually solo, there's no one to look for a table while I get the food That's the main reason that I usually eat QS at off times

 

[CarolynFH]

After you go in and get your food, can you eat inside or do most people take it outside and find a place? And more importantly, if you choose to eat inside at a busy time, how's social distancing and how's table availability? When I've tried to eat at "Prime"lunchtime preCovid, it was always packed, with almost wall to wall people And since I'm usually solo, there's no one to look for a table while I get the food That's the main reason that I usually eat QS at off times

Yes, you can eat inside. Also, there are CMs outside checking to be sure you have a mobile order that's ready. If it's not ready, you can't enter - so only guests who have picked up their orders are inside looking for tables. At Docking Bay 7, I think they even had CMs stationed inside to guide you to an open table. At all the QSs, they had removed tables (if possible) or blocked off tables with "Reserved for social distancing" or some other label. That's another reason the mobile order makes you choose a time to eat as the very first step - not only does it keep the kitchen from being overwhelmed, it pretty much makes sure there's adequate seating for everyone ordering food for that specific time period. (But no, you're not required to leave when your time is up!)

 

[Dakota731]

I’ve never used mobile ordering before but guess I will this trip. So can you just choose a time in the morning or do you have to know what you want to eat and order then? Do you pay with your credit card when ordering?

 

[CarolynFH]

I’ve never used mobile ordering before but guess I will this trip. So can you just choose a time in the morning or do you have to know what you want to eat and order then? Do you pay with your credit card when ordering?

You choose a time, place your order and pay all in one process. The only thing left to do is to click I’m Here, Prepare My Order when your time comes and you’re there (or within a few minutes of being there).