The food situation at DCA is rough

[DLgal]

That’s great! As I mentioned in the OP, it is very dependent on crowd levels. A random Wednesday in mid-September isn’t going to be a “busy day” the way that Labor Day weekend was. But on weekends, I’m going to go back to scheduling some mobile orders in the morning!

Very true. Now that passes are back, weekends will likely always be busy and it will be smart to mobile order in advance.

 

[Sephrina]

Pym's was the one mobile order I planned ahead just so I was sure of the timing. I checked in right at the beginning of my window and it still seemed like I waited forever, but not as bad as for two coffees at Red Rose that weren't ready when they said. I had to wait at the window while they made them and set them in front of us.

 

[l4dyj8]

I think the mobile ordering at some locations isn’t clear. Like there isn’t a clear line. I found some people standing in the mobile order pick up line didn’t know it was a mobile pick up or were ordering while standing there. Or worst yet, just waiting around

at Pym’s Testing Lab, they at least had a cast member there to make sure people were in the right line. But then the confusion as others start to move around.

 

[LilyJC]

I would also piggyback on the OP, and say that breakfast in DCA is way rough currently. We were there Saturday of Labor Day weekend and passed up breakfast in DTD and instead headed into DCA. Big mistake. The only viable option was the SB (Fiddler, Fifer and Practical), and that line was out the door. It took ages to get through! The standby line for Pyms for a later lunch was not even as lengthy.

 

[wildekatza]

So, food service was pretty dreamy on our August trips (with low crowds). Mobile order spots were plentiful, pick-up times were quick, walk-up reservations were often an option… the early-summer advice to “put your mobile orders in early” was thankfully unnecessary.

FYI, this is not the case today at DCA. I was surprised to open the app at 10:30 and find that most places that serve lunch were showing time slots starting at 11:30 or later (some, like Pym’s, were already later than 12:30). There have been zero walk-up spots anywhere except Goofy’s or Storyteller’s “due to high demand.” At least a few of the Halloween food items have sold out. We were able to pick up our Smokejumpers 11:30 order with only about a 10-minute wait, but when we left, there were at least 30 or people standing in the mobile order return section outside the restaurant, waiting to be let in to wait in another line to pick up food. Standby food lines are pretty nuts everywhere we’ve walked by.

This is not a complaint, but a warning to visitors that, at least on busy days, I’d go back to putting orders in early and being prepared for a wait when you’re picking up. Have some snacks on hand if your group gets hangry.

Ugh! Thank you for the heads up. Today is our 1st day in the parks ,Tuesday, and I had such high hopes it would all be awesome. I should have known when the Disney Springs area and all of the pools were packed at Disneyland and also at our hotel GCH. A cm told me crowd's were here for Oogie Boogie Bash and it just didn't hit me.

 

[wildekatza]

So, food service was pretty dreamy on our August trips (with low crowds). Mobile order spots were plentiful, pick-up times were quick, walk-up reservations were often an option… the early-summer advice to “put your mobile orders in early” was thankfully unnecessary.

FYI, this is not the case today at DCA. I was surprised to open the app at 10:30 and find that most places that serve lunch were showing time slots starting at 11:30 or later (some, like Pym’s, were already later than 12:30). There have been zero walk-up spots anywhere except Goofy’s or Storyteller’s “due to high demand.” At least a few of the Halloween food items have sold out. We were able to pick up our Smokejumpers 11:30 order with only about a 10-minute wait, but when we left, there were at least 30 or people standing in the mobile order return section outside the restaurant, waiting to be let in to wait in another line to pick up food. Standby food lines are pretty nuts everywhere we’ve walked by.

This is not a complaint, but a warning to visitors that, at least on busy days, I’d go back to putting orders in early and being prepared for a wait when you’re picking up. Have some snacks on hand if your group gets hangry.

Ugh! Thank you for the heads up. Today is our 1st day in the parks ,Tuesday, and I had such high hopes it would all be awesome. I should have known when the Disney Springs area and all of the pools were packed at Disneyland and also at our hotel GCH. A cm told me crowd's were here for Oogie Boogie Bash and it just didn't hit me.

Do mobile food orders code as restaurants for Chase or Amex cards? When I first used them just as they were coming out (2019? 2018?) they sadly did NOT code as restaurants…. That’s a lot of bonus points I missed out on…

We have Barclay MC and ours do, but they always did because "food" at Disney on ours falls under "entertainment" so it counts the same. The restaurants, we learned from our Barclay rep are owned by outside companies so they process just as a Red Lobster or McDs, etc. would. Good luck!

 

[wildekatza]

Just waited since 4 am CA time to online order breakfast that didn't open mobile order til 6...6:11 am and all slots for mobile ordering breakfast at GCH grill/quick service are booked thru past park opening.

 

[wildekatza]

Ok. A bit late getting back on here, but we came home to a lot of mess and have been playing catch up ever since. Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that we had Lamplight Lounge and not only was our food horrible/subpar but the service was even worse! We arrived at the door and the woman at the door told us we needed to check in on the app. Okay. We had so far eaten at 3 other reservations only and had not been required to check in on the app, but I am willing to follow the rules. I go to check in on the app (it is now time for our reservation) and it says that I am not allowed to check in yet. Our reservation was for 11:10 and it was 11:12 by this point. I walk back to her and she barks back at me, "It is there. Keep looking." Eeek! So I close the app, restart it, same thing. It says I can't check in yet. I walk over to another CM and show them and they walk over to the woman with the tablet and ask her to check us in. She says, "I TOLD YOU TO CHECK IN ON YOUR APP FIRST!" and refuses to let the other CM have the tablet to check us in. Wow! So now my husband says, "I guess we are at an impasse here, yes? You refuse to look at the app and see where ..." She puts up her hand as if to shush him and takes the next person. We are not talking a lot of people waiting. 2 families. And they are both waiting for someone to NOT claim their reservation. Finally, the other CM motions behind the woman with the tablet to follow and we did. Once inside, she tells us she is sorry about the mix up and can seat us now. Ok. We are seated facing the ferris wheel at a kind of bar? That is fine. It is just us 2 and we can sit next to each other. We aren't picky. So we order a couple of drinks, the waitress asks if we are celebrating anything and I mention we are celebrating my bday. She wishes me happy birthday and takes our food order and we literally never see her again. Our food was delivered by a different person who was working another table. Then we have to keep going to the bar to ask for someone to bring us utensils, another drink,etc. finally the bar staff gets onto my husband because they don't want people walking around the restaurant. Ok. We get it. One of the things we ordered was the lobster nachos everyone raves about and the potato skins. Delivered cold and the little bit of cheese was like a paste it had sat for so long. More tomatoes on the nachos than anything else. I should have taken a pic. It had hardly any lobster at all and that was in a small mound on top! We left most of it. It was just such a let down. The potato skins came out cold and were burnt to a crisp. Finally, after we were done being ignored, we ask the person who had brought us our food for our waitress and he says, "Oh. She went on lunch. I can get you the check." Really? What a mess. I know everything is goofy because of the pandemic, but that was just awful. We have both waited tables in our past and we know the golden rule is to let your table know you are leaving for your break and "x" will be taking your place. But "x" delivered our food and never came back! Cocktails were ok and that was about all that I could say positive. I am sad that it turned out so poorly but I guess they were having a bad day?

 

[GatorChris]

After reading this, I have a pretty BIG concern. My wife has Celiac disease, which means no gluten, not even cross contamination...or we're off to Orange County Medical Center. When we order, she Always goes up and asks for one of the chefs to make sure that her order remains gluten free. If we're being required to either order online (which my wife won't) or stand in a stupid-long line for those not using the app, meals at Disney are going to be very difficult two weeks from now. I sincerely hope crowds aren't too crazy. Otherwise, she will undoubtedly go all Beverly Goldberg on someone.

 

[cruisehopeful]

After reading this, I have a pretty BIG concern. My wife has Celiac disease, which means no gluten, not even cross contamination...or we're off to Orange County Medical Center. When we order, she Always goes up and asks for one of the chefs to make sure that her order remains gluten free. If we're being required to either order online (which my wife won't) or stand in a stupid-long line for those not using the app, meals at Disney are going to be very difficult two weeks from now. I sincerely hope crowds aren't too crazy. Otherwise, she will undoubtedly go all Beverly Goldberg on someone.

I have found the wait in lines to be about the same as they always were, perhaps even less time. They are encouraging people to mobile order and I think that's helping keep the normal lines down.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Ok. A bit late getting back on here, but we came home to a lot of mess and have been playing catch up ever since. Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that we had Lamplight Lounge and not only was our food horrible/subpar but the service was even worse! We arrived at the door and the woman at the door told us we needed to check in on the app. Okay. We had so far eaten at 3 other reservations only and had not been required to check in on the app, but I am willing to follow the rules. I go to check in on the app (it is now time for our reservation) and it says that I am not allowed to check in yet. Our reservation was for 11:10 and it was 11:12 by this point. I walk back to her and she barks back at me, "It is there. Keep looking." Eeek! So I close the app, restart it, same thing. It says I can't check in yet. I walk over to another CM and show them and they walk over to the woman with the tablet and ask her to check us in. She says, "I TOLD YOU TO CHECK IN ON YOUR APP FIRST!" and refuses to let the other CM have the tablet to check us in. Wow! So now my husband says, "I guess we are at an impasse here, yes? You refuse to look at the app and see where ..." She puts up her hand as if to shush him and takes the next person. We are not talking a lot of people waiting. 2 families. And they are both waiting for someone to NOT claim their reservation. Finally, the other CM motions behind the woman with the tablet to follow and we did. Once inside, she tells us she is sorry about the mix up and can seat us now. Ok. We are seated facing the ferris wheel at a kind of bar? That is fine. It is just us 2 and we can sit next to each other. We aren't picky. So we order a couple of drinks, the waitress asks if we are celebrating anything and I mention we are celebrating my bday. She wishes me happy birthday and takes our food order and we literally never see her again. Our food was delivered by a different person who was working another table. Then we have to keep going to the bar to ask for someone to bring us utensils, another drink,etc. finally the bar staff gets onto my husband because they don't want people walking around the restaurant. Ok. We get it. One of the things we ordered was the lobster nachos everyone raves about and the potato skins. Delivered cold and the little bit of cheese was like a paste it had sat for so long. More tomatoes on the nachos than anything else. I should have taken a pic. It had hardly any lobster at all and that was in a small mound on top! We left most of it. It was just such a let down. The potato skins came out cold and were burnt to a crisp. Finally, after we were done being ignored, we ask the person who had brought us our food for our waitress and he says, "Oh. She went on lunch. I can get you the check." Really? What a mess. I know everything is goofy because of the pandemic, but that was just awful. We have both waited tables in our past and we know the golden rule is to let your table know you are leaving for your break and "x" will be taking your place. But "x" delivered our food and never came back! Cocktails were ok and that was about all that I could say positive. I am sad that it turned out so poorly but I guess they were having a bad day?

Wow, while generically poor service is a bummer but not something I'd make a complaint about, the woman who dealt with you at check-in sounds like she was completely out of bounds. I'd consider sending in an email about that kind of treatment so that she does not continue to berate guests who are having tech issues.

I'm sorry your meal was a disappointment!

 

[pharmama]

After reading this, I have a pretty BIG concern. My wife has Celiac disease, which means no gluten, not even cross contamination...or we're off to Orange County Medical Center. When we order, she Always goes up and asks for one of the chefs to make sure that her order remains gluten free. If we're being required to either order online (which my wife won't) or stand in a stupid-long line for those not using the app, meals at Disney are going to be very difficult two weeks from now. I sincerely hope crowds aren't too crazy. Otherwise, she will undoubtedly go all Beverly Goldberg on someone.

Most (not all) have the allergy selections loaded in the app for mobile order. Our experience was that when you mobile order one of the allergy selections, they will have the chef come talk to you when you pick up (but before actually preparing the food) and then will prepare your order. This does delay the process and somewhat defeats the idea behind mobile order (though honestly the same workflow of not preparing the food until you are there for pickup- not just clicked "I'm here" but actually at the window-seems to happen with non-allergy orders too at some locations) but just wanted to mention that you do still get the 'consult with the chef' opportunity with mobile ordering.

 

[midnight star]

Wanted to add. I am grateful I read through this before my last 2 trips. I went on the 18th and 25th to use the last two days of the resident ticket. I ended up pre-ordering all of my food at 7am while on the toy story bus. I started at DL, so my afternoons were at DCA. I don’t think pre-ordering is 100% necessary, but it did help. I randomly checked the app and noticed that food times were about 45-90 minutes ahead, so nothing immediate.

 

[l4dyj8]

Most (not all) have the allergy selections loaded in the app for mobile order. Our experience was that when you mobile order one of the allergy selections, they will have the chef come talk to you when you pick up (but before actually preparing the food) and then will prepare your order. This does delay the process and somewhat defeats the idea behind mobile order (though honestly the same workflow of not preparing the food until you are there for pickup- not just clicked "I'm here" but actually at the window-seems to happen with non-allergy orders too at some locations) but just wanted to mention that you do still get the 'consult with the chef' opportunity with mobile ordering.

Good to know. Just to clarify, does this mean you first placed a Mobile Order from an Allergy Menu... And then walked up to the regular order window? or the Mobile pick-up line to talk to the chef (prior to the "I'm here")? Or whatever window had then shortest line?

(In Sept) We only did mobile order once for my child with severe allergies. It was a burger kids meal for Tangoroa Terrace. Their mobile allergy menu directed us to Trader Sam's menu (which has her other unlisted allergen). :/ I still placed the order and my husband spoke to someone. But this area isn't as busy as a DCA quick service.

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Ok. A bit late getting back on here, but we came home to a lot of mess and have been playing catch up ever since. Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that we had Lamplight Lounge and not only was our food horrible/subpar but the service was even worse! We arrived at the door and the woman at the door told us we needed to check in on the app. Okay. We had so far eaten at 3 other reservations only and had not been required to check in on the app, but I am willing to follow the rules. I go to check in on the app (it is now time for our reservation) and it says that I am not allowed to check in yet. Our reservation was for 11:10 and it was 11:12 by this point. I walk back to her and she barks back at me, "It is there. Keep looking." Eeek! So I close the app, restart it, same thing. It says I can't check in yet. I walk over to another CM and show them and they walk over to the woman with the tablet and ask her to check us in. She says, "I TOLD YOU TO CHECK IN ON YOUR APP FIRST!" and refuses to let the other CM have the tablet to check us in. Wow! So now my husband says, "I guess we are at an impasse here, yes? You refuse to look at the app and see where ..." She puts up her hand as if to shush him and takes the next person. We are not talking a lot of people waiting. 2 families. And they are both waiting for someone to NOT claim their reservation. Finally, the other CM motions behind the woman with the tablet to follow and we did. Once inside, she tells us she is sorry about the mix up and can seat us now. Ok. We are seated facing the ferris wheel at a kind of bar? That is fine. It is just us 2 and we can sit next to each other. We aren't picky. So we order a couple of drinks, the waitress asks if we are celebrating anything and I mention we are celebrating my bday. She wishes me happy birthday and takes our food order and we literally never see her again. Our food was delivered by a different person who was working another table. Then we have to keep going to the bar to ask for someone to bring us utensils, another drink,etc. finally the bar staff gets onto my husband because they don't want people walking around the restaurant. Ok. We get it. One of the things we ordered was the lobster nachos everyone raves about and the potato skins. Delivered cold and the little bit of cheese was like a paste it had sat for so long. More tomatoes on the nachos than anything else. I should have taken a pic. It had hardly any lobster at all and that was in a small mound on top! We left most of it. It was just such a let down. The potato skins came out cold and were burnt to a crisp. Finally, after we were done being ignored, we ask the person who had brought us our food for our waitress and he says, "Oh. She went on lunch. I can get you the check." Really? What a mess. I know everything is goofy because of the pandemic, but that was just awful. We have both waited tables in our past and we know the golden rule is to let your table know you are leaving for your break and "x" will be taking your place. But "x" delivered our food and never came back! Cocktails were ok and that was about all that I could say positive. I am sad that it turned out so poorly but I guess they were having a bad day?

We recently had reservations at Goofy's Kitchen and Oga's Cantina. Both times I checked in on the app and received a message we were ready to be seated. We then approached the CMs only to have it seem like they had no idea who was being called and having me wait to the side longer before they let us in and seated us.

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Most (not all) have the allergy selections loaded in the app for mobile order. Our experience was that when you mobile order one of the allergy selections, they will have the chef come talk to you when you pick up (but before actually preparing the food) and then will prepare your order. This does delay the process and somewhat defeats the idea behind mobile order (though honestly the same workflow of not preparing the food until you are there for pickup- not just clicked "I'm here" but actually at the window-seems to happen with non-allergy orders too at some locations) but just wanted to mention that you do still get the 'consult with the chef' opportunity with mobile ordering.

This was our experience. They didn't start making a gluten free pizza until the chef came out and spoke with us.

 

[pharmama]

Good to know. Just to clarify, does this mean you first placed a Mobile Order from an Allergy Menu... And then walked up to the regular order window? or the Mobile pick-up line to talk to the chef (prior to the "I'm here")? Or whatever window had then shortest line?

We followed the regular Mobile order process- order, click I'm Here, go to pickup window once app notifies you the order is "ready" (but it's not actually ready at this point). Then at pick up window they would get the chef. When we placed orders off the allergy menu we would often get the "ready for pickup" shortly after clicking I'm Here...I think that was in part because they knew they would have to do the chef consult part once we got to the window so they call Allergy orders in quickly.

 

[tenneycjt]

So im going in dec with my mom who is in a wheelchair and i dont have a smart phone, dont need one because its just me and my mom and she cant use a smart phone, how hard of a time am i going to have?

 

[VandVsmama]

So im going in dec with my mom who is in a wheelchair and i dont have a smart phone, dont need one because its just me and my mom and she cant use a smart phone, how hard of a time am i going to have?

When in Dec are you going?

 

[tenneycjt]

When in Dec are you going?

dec 5th thru 9th