Why some don't like to mobile order?

[fairygagamother]

Two reasons for me: 1-I like to pay cash
2- my last phone wasn’t a model new enough to download the app & that made me mad! My phone worked perfectly well for everything else I needed it for. My only option was to buy a new phone before I took my next trip, which was ridiculous that I had to invest in a new phone just to be able to download the app. Not only could I not do mobile ordering, I couldn’t use the My Disney Experience app at all!

 

[Meglen]

Two reasons for me: 1-I like to pay cash
2- my last phone wasn’t a model new enough to download the app & that made me mad! My phone worked perfectly well for everything else I needed it for. My only option was to buy a new phone before I took my next trip, which was ridiculous that I had to invest in a new phone just to be able to download the app. Not only could I not do mobile ordering, I couldn’t use the My Disney Experience app at all!

Was it a space issue? or a google/apple store issue? Just curious so I can look into it for my older dad for his trip.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

Two reasons for me: 1-I like to pay cash
2- my last phone wasn’t a model new enough to download the app & that made me mad! My phone worked perfectly well for everything else I needed it for. My only option was to buy a new phone before I took my next trip, which was ridiculous that I had to invest in a new phone just to be able to download the app. Not only could I not do mobile ordering, I couldn’t use the My Disney Experience app at all!

What were you carrying? A Nokia 3310?

 

[DisLiss]

For me, there are four reasons why I like to order in person rather than via mobile order. (Mind you, it's not that having to use mobile order upsets me. And sometimes I would opt to use mobile order even if they were not requesting guests to use it.)

1. I often need to request to see the allergy binder. The items I need to avoid are not the more typical ones, so the binders are my friends.

2. Somewhat related, but different: In "normal" times, we could sometimes ask for substitutions even at counter service locations. We specifically spoke to someone in the dietary department ahead of time about specific items on counter service menus that don't work well for some of us. (For example Caesar salads come with so many things, and don't work for some in our family; and we were told we could definitely ask for a side salad instead.) But you need to actually talk to someone about that.

3. I just really like having the interaction with cast members.

4. Sometimes I just like to put my phone away for awhile when on vacation. So ordering in person is one less thing I need to pull out the phone to do.

 

[fairygagamother]

Was it a space issue? or a google/apple store issue? Just curious so I can look into it for my older dad for his trip.

I never knew the exact model other than it was an I phone & when attempting to install the app, it said the phone had to be at least an IOS 13, which apparently mine wasn’t!

 

[Meglen]

I never knew the exact model other than it was an I phone & when attempting to install the app, it said the phone had to be at least an IOS 13, which apparently mine wasn’t!

ah ok so a software issue.

 

[DisLiss]

...my phone is frequently dead.
...maybe if I was attached to my phone 24-7, I'd get on board Google Pay (although I doubt it), but I use my phone about once a week in normal life. ....so if I'm not on my laptop, I'm not on the internet

my last phone wasn’t a model new enough to download the app & that made me mad! My phone worked perfectly well for everything else I needed it for. My only option was to buy a new phone before I took my next trip, which was ridiculous that I had to invest in a new phone just to be able to download the app. Not only could I not do mobile ordering, I couldn’t use the My Disney Experience app at all!

I hear you both. We do not carry smart phones around with us in day to day life and it blows peoples minds, LOL! We just keep an ancient flip phone in the car for emergencies. If I'm online, I'm using a desktop or laptop computer.

Our one son has an older smart phone, though, so we do have that for WDW. But he'll probably have to take a bunch of stuff off of the phone to run the app given how old his phone is. But now we have another son old enough to want to use a phone while at WDW, so we'll buy one more inexpensive smart phone before we go, so that way if we split into two groups, both groups will have a phone for the app, as well.

 

[HopperFan]

There are many reasons some folks don't want to use Mobile Ordering and many of them are quite valid. Many are listed here. I started using it the minute they brought it out years ago but I have also found it to be very glitchy at times, even repeatedly telling me that restaurants are closed that I am standing in front of and they are clearly open. Another issue is internationals or people with very limited data are being forced on to the Disney wifi and may find that they get no where. I often have to close the wifi so I can actually get something done.

Last week we had some issue with it. Our group was diverse, one didn't have nor wanted the app, two were using gift cards for all their meals and it was a pain to not have it saved in phone. Our very first meal at Disney we had issues so that night we left to eat at Disney Springs, the next three days we packed lunches or ate outside park, only eating in one more time.

It does take longer having my family hanging and scrolling on the my phone instead of just looking at the menu (I was paying for all of them) and then me having to deal with the order. Much slower than in person ordering. Note: We don't know what we feel like eating hours ahead. We decide what we want, when we want and then place the order. If it gets to a point we are having to "reserve" a time to pick up fast food .... we will eat even less.

Universal also was forcing it. We had wifi issues at Universal where dining in is our only option since we can't bring in food. We had nothing but problems there with their overloaded wifi and their app was very glitchy.

It's great for some and a pain for some, and some like me just tolerate it. I think Disney could be a bit more guest friendly when it comes to those who wish to order and pay in person.

 

[DisLiss]

I thought of one more reason why we like in-person ordering. Part of why we do CS in the first place is that then we don't have to decide on just one place to eat a meal. And something my kids get a big kick out of once they get a bit older has always been being able to run off to one spot and to buy food without their parents being with them. But, again, since we're not phone people, we don't have 4 phones, so if we had to mobile order from several places at once, it might make that situation less convenient with only 2 phones between us.

 

[fla4fun]

Gift cards can be used for mobile order. I know some people may not have returned since this was added to MDE. You do have to enter the number each time, but creating a note you can copy and paste containing the card number is an easy workaround. Also, if you have multiple gift cards with small balances, you can consolidate the balances onto one card on the Disney gift card website. I would recommend doing that whether you use it for mobile order or not.

I like mobile order because I no longer have to stand behind large clueless parties in the queue while they all decide what they want to eat. That is the biggest positive for me.

I would not use it if I had to use a cc for payment. I hate reconciling a lot of little transactions on my cc bill. If they could figure out a way to bill it back to the resort room, I would consider that option, but again, that requires a lot of reconciling. Using the gift card, I just check the balance before and after ordering to make sure it only hits once, and that’s it.

I also have concerns as the parks continue to add crowd capacity that there will simply be too many people who need to place manual orders, and the kitchen won’t be able to keep up with the volume of both manual and mobile orders. Mobile ordering wasn’t a huge thing prior to the closure, so it hasn’t been tested in high crowd conditions. How Disney handles that will be a huge factor in whether I continue to use mobile order. Also, considering they have eliminated mobile order at Sunshine Seasons, based on what I have read, it is possible that they may eliminate it at some other locations as well.

 

[Jennasis]

I don't care what others do. We love mobile order.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

I didn’t hate it. Found it easy to just order what I want on the phone. Took like 30 seconds. Card is preloaded on there. Food was usually done quickly. I liked not waiting online to order. The only time I can see it being a problem is when the times are not available, which can definitely happen during prime times and prime lunch spots. There are still many people who don’t know how to use it though. ESP ones who don’t use the app much.

 

[Skywalker3]

I agree w OP. We used mobile order, pre-pandemic, as soon as it was rolling out. I LOVE mobile order. I hope they'll keep it in as many places as possible. I cant' stand waiting in QS queues. we started eating lunch at 10:30 or 11, as soon as places opened, just to avoid all the craziness. So I don't mind ordering/eating at off times. I hope they'll add more places too. Like Friar's nook. but I also understand why folks don't want to use it. My in-laws like to use cash, and so far, none of us have needed to allergy menus. So I also hope they'll keep options open for everyone, mobile and in-person.

 

[hedg12]

My experiences with mobile ordering have been less than stellar. The app has been glitchy and cumbersome to navigate, the description of menu items is often incomplete (for example Pizza Rizzo includes sides with your meal but doesn't specify that in the app, Pinocchio village haus doesn't include them, again not specified in the app.) We've had the system glitch and not notify us when our food was ready twice - once at the Contempo Cafe and once at Cosmic Ray's - resulting in cold meals when we did finally get them. Not a fan. I'll not use it again unless I don't have the option.

 

[kc51570]

We have to order in person when the allergy menu is not available on Mobile order (the resorts for some reason don’t have allergy menus loaded) and sometimes the online allergy menus are more limited than they need to be hitting all of the most common allergies at once vs. just one issue. Otherwise I liked it for the most part and wish the resorts would load in the allergy menus.
The one other negative for me-I was fooled into thinking we were spending less on meals than we were in the beginning since Mobile Order hits your credit card right away as opposed to your room. I wish there was a way for it to hit your room so I could see all my charges aggregated in one place. I also like to use GCs to pay off the room charges as much as possible.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

I don't see well enough to use a smart phone or I phone. I do have a flip phone I carry for emergencies. Mobile order is not an option for me.

 

[Meglen]

What if they added kiosks out front the QS places.(or all around the park like the old fast pass kiosks) This would have to have all the allergy menu items and multiple payment options even cash. I feel this would solve so many things folks find wrong with mobile order.

 

[DisLiss]

I don't see well enough to use a smart phone or I phone.

That's an issue for me as well. I wear large regular sunglasses over prescription glasses, and I need to remove both to try to read the phone, but I also need to hold the phone nearly to my nose, which makes actually using it a bit tedious!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I hope it is okay for me to ask this question. I am not trying to create an argument. I just cannot help but wonder why the thought of mobile ordering would turn some people off. Instead of having my own assumptions, I would like to pose the question here to get some real feedback. Moderator, if this post is not appropriate or too controversial, please feel free to delete the post.

For me, I would mobile order whenever I can. The pressure of having the cashier and people waiting behind me all waiting for me to place my order and to get out of their way is too much for me to handle. I would rather stay in my hotel room or a quiet corner in the park to place my order on the app and pick it up when it is ready. During my recent trip, I would order my family's breakfast when I wake up. Then I brush my teeth, wash my face, get changed, and leisurely walked down to the cafeteria where my breakfast is already waiting for me. Same thing for my orders at Ronto Roaster and at Docking Bay 7. I ordered at 9am for a pickup time between 12pm-12:30pm. I rode my rides, walked over to the restaurants while bypassing all people who were trying to order their lunch but had to wait for a long time. Once I stood in line for the Joffery's coffee cart at DHS. There were 8 people in front of me and there was no shade. I really wished that mobile order was available for that location so I could wait in the shade instead of under the sun..

That's just my take on the mobile order. I hope the mobile order is here to stay.

for me mobile ordering has major problems as I have reflux issues with a number of triggers. lots of times I have a few things that I need left off of meals. if I eat sometimes that sets off my reflux I may or may not make it to restroom in time and it is not something I want to expose others to if you understand in that it comes back up almost as fast as it went in and I walk with a cane so I am not that fast. I assume you would not want to be eating near me if that happens

 

[WickstarRunner]

I would prefer not to use it as it is based on an IT system that has thus far been proven to not be up to the tasks that were already assigned to it (ADRs, FP+, Room Reservations), but if it's there and can save a significant wait then I'm ok with it (This happened twice to us in '18, once at Casey's once at Aloha Isle and worked fine back then).

The problem circa '21 is that the system wasn't designed to handle the amount of orders that it currently has to now that it's the only way to order QS, thus causing time windows to sell out. It was designed as an alternative, not a primary. Caused us multiple problems this past April on a near daily basis.