Why some don't like to mobile order?

[Disneylover99]

If that is the case, then I think I'd have an equally valid complaint to levy against mobile order. Eating at 4pm is not something I would enjoy--and I can tell you right now my kids would pick at their food and be hungry again at 7pm. If it works for you great, but going from being able to eat at normal times to being locked into "rope dropping" restaurants does not sound like an improvement to me.

I’m not saying it’s an improvement. It’s just a strategy we’ve been using for years, to avoid lines, crowds and table seating issues at counter service locations.

If we want to eat at a specific time, we’ll book a TS restaurant.

 

[freshmanjs]

Sorry, this crossed paths with some edits I was making to my post above because I realized after I posted you were talking about mobile order specifically, rather than pre versus post covid. To summarize: once you mobile order and click "prepare my food" (which happens before you're allowed to enter the restaurant), you're stuck. This not only is problem at a personal level (since it's pre-paid and there is no way to cancel after you select prepare order, you'd be out a lot of money if you cancel), it's a problem because crowds can't self-regulate. If the line to order is going out the door, people see that and switch plans, and the lines even out around the park at QS (just like with attractions--that's why you never see a 4 hour wait for Splash and a 10 minute wait for big thunder--the wait times even out because people can see and adjust). Once everyone has paid for a mobile order, they aren't going to do that.
.

Sure but with mobile ordering the line regulation is done by the company. Only a certain number can order in a given time frame. It's impossible for a huge pile up to form. And again, we are mixing issues here. If your issue is the policy regarding letting people get tables before they get food, I agree, I preferred when that was allowed.

 

[mom2rtk]

We have eaten QS on MANY disney world trips, including four times at Satuli Canteen in the past few years before covid, and every single time my husband would find a table with the kids while I got the food, or vice versa. It also looked like most other people did the same thing, based on the fact that usually it is only teens and adults waiting at food pickup, not a bunch of toddlers and babies crawling around. Not once (pre-mobile order) have we been told we needed to have our food to sit down, nor have we ever been asked to vacate a table we occupied while waiting for the food.

Edited to add: I realized after posting I was misreading your question a bit. What mobile order specifically does to make this worse it is locks guests in to a miserable situation that they won't find out until it's too late. Before, crowds could self regulate. Before mobile order, there were several times we walked into a QS restaurant, saw the size of the line and the lack of empty tables, and left to try somewhere else, or shoot for a same-day TS ADR (which used to be much easier too). Now, you can't even see the inside of a QS restaurant until you've bought and paid for an (expensive for a family of 5) meal. Not to mention, I'm sure part of the reason my youngest ran away is that he was tired and hungry and hot and overwhelmed from being forced to wait a long time outside in a crowd--exactly the reasons we have a DAS pass for him, but that doesn't do any good for mobile orders.


If that is the case, then I think I'd have an equally valid complaint to levy against mobile order. Eating at 4pm is not something I would enjoy--and I can tell you right now my kids would pick at their food and be hungry again at 7pm. If it works for you great, but going from being able to eat at normal times to being locked into "rope dropping" restaurants does not sound like an improvement to me.

Yes, previously the policy of not allowing anyone to get a table before food was in hand was only applied in a couple of peak weeks during the year. When we were there last month they were doing that at Pinocchio Haus. No entry unless mobile order was ready. Then we went in and 75% of the tables were empty. People were standing outside in the heat dying for a place to sit and cool off while their food was being made, and instead they had to stand outside in the heat.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

The best part about mobile ordering so far has been that there is always seating available once I get my food. What a pain in the rear to get the food and then stand there while it gets cold looking for a table while NO ONE is getting up to leave.

 

[shawthorne44]

What was just posted was the worst of both scenarios. They couldn't sit without having food in hand, BUT there still wasn't available seating. Seems like a small tweak could have been to let people with the "Food is ready" be allowed to get a table.

 

[mom2rtk]

The best part about mobile ordering so far has been that there is always seating available once I get my food. What a pain in the rear to get the food and then stand there while it gets cold looking for a table while NO ONE is getting up to leave.

Yep. Lots of cool empty tables sitting unused while desperately hot people stand outdoors in the heat.

 

[shawthorne44]

The upside to this mess. Bringing food in is looking better and better.
Then the upside to that upside is that the more people that think like me, the more room there is for other people at QS.

It also bugs me that Disney can supply half the staff and still get 90% of the money as before. Pulling numbers out of the air.

 

[HopperFan]

The upside to this mess. Bringing food in is looking better and better.
Then the upside to that upside is that the more people that think like me, the more room there is for other people at QS.

It also bugs me that Disney can supply half the staff and still get 90% of the money as before. Pulling numbers out of the air.

It is exactly what we ended up doing our four days. Day one was AK and since they have so many QS options we were planning to eat in both meals. After meal one was a big run around with mobile order we opted to leave park early and just eat back at "condo".

Rest of week we packed big lunches (and had snacks) to make it easier and then (1) table service dinner due to lack of QS good options and mobile order, we did waitlist (2) mobile ordered dinner splitting up party (3) eat off property. It is not unusual for us to pack a lunch then do a TS dinner if staying late but this trip the number of other people also packing their meals seemed much higher than we've ever seen before. Perhaps it is because they were now banned from picnicking inside a QS location (we never did that) so we were all at the open tables. But I noticed.

In four full days at parks Disney got 1 TS and 2 mobile order meals out of us. We did dole whips one day and we had a few Joffrey's donuts with drinks. That was it. If they want our food money they need to make dining and snacking easier. Even the snack kiosks had very long lines.

 

[jimmymc]

Apple Pay and Google Pay are FAR more secure than using a regular card because the card number is changed for every transaction and can only be used once. Seems like you are not educated on mobile payments.

Does Disney use either? We're talking about paying through the Disney app, not Apple or Google.

 

[freshmanjs]

Does Disney use either? We're talking about paying through the Disney app, not Apple or Google.

Yes

 

[jimmymc]

Multi-allergies are impossible, especially if 1 is not top 8.
Mobile order is twitchy and unreliable (never forget my phone and the Universal app refusing to believe it was after 11am, so I could order b/c their mobile order required the restaurant to be open).
Putting in multiple orders one at a time takes forever.
Who wants to use their CC on their phone? I know how to secure my laptop - I hardly have a clue how to secure my phone while still letting it be functional with 100 apps b/c they all ask for personal permissions. So, I'd much rather give a CC than have my phone pay. I get my identity stolen every 12 months as it is (my spouse is a gov worker and we're both vets, and somehow that makes us easy targets and we get new CCs every 12 months from one of our companies)...

I could keep going...I hate mobile order. I like face time with people who know how the ordering and adjusting works and can do it at warp speed for me and just take my CC at the end. Just like I don't want to bag my own groceries unless a store rewards me (hi, Aldi's, with ridiculously cheap prices and fast checkouts), I don't want to cashier for myself unless Disney/Universal rewards me (maybe I'd try it more if they kicked 30% off the bill, or the amount they probably save in reduced front of the house labor)...

If you're actually having issues with cards being stolen, you might want to try Apple or Google pay. Long story short is that in 2018, Android required higher security than most websites or credit card terminals for all apps, and Google Pay is probably the most secure way to send money in the world.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

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.

Yes! There was nothing more frustrating than standing in line behind another family for 20+ minutes just for them to get all the way to the cashier to THEN start deciding what they all want to order. So annoying.

Yep. Lots of cool empty tables sitting unused while desperately hot people stand outdoors in the heat.

I would much rather wait outside for my order and be guaranteed a seat once I have food.

 

[honeymo78]

Does Disney use either? We're talking about paying through the Disney app, not Apple or Google.

I have Apple Pay and on the order summary page, I could either click to checkout with Apple Pay or continue to regular checkout.

 

[MeridaAnn]

I don't think the question is offensive at all. I'll share my experience since it is different from others reported here. The thing that made me HATE it was they won't let you in the restaurant until your order is ready. This means that instead of our usual practice going in, getting the kids settled in the AC at a table with my husband, then having me go order the food and bring it back one tray at a time to the table, this is what happened:

• 7am in the hotel room discuss the menu with my family and place the Pecos Bill order for a noon pickup time. Kind of annoying to navigate the menu and put in all our picky kids' special orders, but not minding it all so far.
• 12pm, having read online that you need to press "I'm here" a little while before heading to the restaurant, I did so waiting in line at magic carpets in Adventureland. 15 minutes later, we arrive in front of Pecos Bills, only to see what looks like a mosh pit at a concert. Except angrier.
• I fight through the sea of shoulder to shoulder people bunched up at the restaurant entrance dragging three small kids in tow. No line, no waiting area, just people blocking my way to get to the door. I wait while the CMs argue with frustrated guests until I get a chance to talk to one and show my mobile app showing they are preparing my food. No go, have to wait outside until food is ready. Now I understand why the mosh pit is so angry.
• It's 90 degrees, no shade available, no seating available. We walk away a bit back into frontierland and find a spot to sit on the street curb in the hot sun (all the shade was taken). Then we wait, and wait.
• At one point, I go battle my way back to my way to the entrance to find out if they have an updated ETA. Nope, I just have to wait, ended up waiting around 45 mins.
• Finally, our order dings, and we again have to squeeze through to the entrance, wait for a CM to finish turning away all angry customers trying to talk to them at once, and then finally show our app and gain precious admittance to the AC. I start to walk off toward the tables and a CM snaps at me I need to pick up my food first. Okay... I guess. We go to the pickup area where, HAHAHA my food is not actually ready after all. We wait there with the kids, eventually get our food, then go to try to find a table in the packed restaurant.
• Rooms are all completely full after a first pass through so DH and I split up to stalk different seating areas and hope something opens. I'm holding a tray packed to the brim with food and drink so can't hold my youngest son's hand or carry him--he's holding on to my legs because it's crowded and noisy and wants to be carried. My husband calls, presumably to tell me he found a table and I realize I have nowhere to set to the tray to take the call. I find a trash can, set the tray down on it, call my husband back, play a game of "WHAAT? I CAN"T HEAR YOU! WHERE ARE YOU?" In the noisy restaurant, I finally figure out he is saying he's upstairs, hang up the phone, and then realize my young son is nowhere in sight.
• I start to half run around the different rooms of the restaurant, trying to balance the tray of wobbly drinks with no lids, sloshing drink on the food (WHY no lids?!?!?!) but I don't see him. So now I'm yelling his name in a panicked voice at the top of my lungs begging him to come to mommy (he is autistic so doesn't always follow instructions) literally sobbing and hyperventilating. NO-ONE comes to help (I'm shocked that happened Disney World as I've seen "lost parent" protocols before the pandemic-- guess the CMs are just so dang overworked apparently that a missing child is not a priority, and the guests are probably unwilling to get up after waiting ages for their food). My older son who was with me (and is heroically carrying a tray of his own despite it being about as wide as his arm span) is doing the same thing, and finds my youngest first.
• Of course, by this point, our food is cold and splashed with soda from those dang unlidded cups, we're all too miserable to enjoy a bite, and our kids are whining they want something different to eat because it was so long ago when we ordered and they changed their minds.

Never again.

Oh, gosh that is awful! I'm so sorry!

I've definitely faced the frustration of searching and searching for a table to no avail, even just as a solo visitor - I can't imagine trying to figure it out with little ones in tow.

This is and has been a serious issue and I really wish Disney would have CMs stationed to help find seating when it gets crowded like that, the same way they direct parking. It's fine to have a choose-your-own-seat option when there are plenty of choices, but when it's packed to the gills, they should figure out a more systematic approach. Especially right now while they have everything on mobile order, meaning that they can control how many people are in the restaurant at a given time - if they don't have enough tables, they need to adjust the available time slots on the app accordingly.

 

[robinb]

Sure but with mobile ordering the line regulation is done by the company. Only a certain number can order in a given time frame. It's impossible for a huge pile up to form. And again, we are mixing issues here. If your issue is the policy regarding letting people get tables before they get food, I agree, I preferred when that was allowed.

IMO, the restriction on not allowing people to monopolize a table with no food while the "food runner" stands in line, orders and waits for the the food and *finally* brings it back is one of the best things current mobile ordering system. Now people only occupy a table for the amount of time it takes them to eat.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

I'm pro mobile order, but the 2 issues we face are
1. We take cash away and I separate it out into daily envelopes to force us to spend responsibly (we both have got carried away in the past so only taking the daily cash into the parks works for us)
2. I am a picky eater so for example the loaded fries that they used to have at flame tree bbq, I would ask for the bbq pork on the side and my husband would eat that and I would have the cheese fries. I appreciate though that this is more hassle for the CMs...

 

[OhDannyBoy]

If there is a long line and the mobile is available, I use that.

If there is not a long line, and mobile is available, I still might use it, or might not. Some times I prefer using cash.

I like having options.

I do find if I want something special for whatever reason I'll avoid the mobile.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I don't think the question is offensive at all. I'll share my experience since it is different from others reported here. The thing that made me HATE it was they won't let you in the restaurant until your order is ready. This means that instead of our usual practice going in, getting the kids settled in the AC at a table with my husband, then having me go order the food and bring it back one tray at a time to the table, this is what happened:

• 7am in the hotel room discuss the menu with my family and place the Pecos Bill order for a noon pickup time. Kind of annoying to navigate the menu and put in all our picky kids' special orders, but not minding it all so far.
• 12pm, having read online that you need to press "I'm here" a little while before heading to the restaurant, I did so waiting in line at magic carpets in Adventureland. 15 minutes later, we arrive in front of Pecos Bills, only to see what looks like a mosh pit at a concert. Except angrier.
• I fight through the sea of shoulder to shoulder people bunched up at the restaurant entrance dragging three small kids in tow. No line, no waiting area, just people blocking my way to get to the door. I wait while the CMs argue with frustrated guests until I get a chance to talk to one and show my mobile app showing they are preparing my food. No go, have to wait outside until food is ready. Now I understand why the mosh pit is so angry.
• It's 90 degrees, no shade available, no seating available. We walk away a bit back into frontierland and find a spot to sit on the street curb in the hot sun (all the shade was taken). Then we wait, and wait.
• At one point, I go battle my way back to my way to the entrance to find out if they have an updated ETA. Nope, I just have to wait, ended up waiting around 45 mins.
• Finally, our order dings, and we again have to squeeze through to the entrance, wait for a CM to finish turning away all angry customers trying to talk to them at once, and then finally show our app and gain precious admittance to the AC. I start to walk off toward the tables and a CM snaps at me I need to pick up my food first. Okay... I guess. We go to the pickup area where, HAHAHA my food is not actually ready after all. We wait there with the kids, eventually get our food, then go to try to find a table in the packed restaurant.
• Rooms are all completely full after a first pass through so DH and I split up to stalk different seating areas and hope something opens. I'm holding a tray packed to the brim with food and drink so can't hold my youngest son's hand or carry him--he's holding on to my legs because it's crowded and noisy and wants to be carried. My husband calls, presumably to tell me he found a table and I realize I have nowhere to set to the tray to take the call. I find a trash can, set the tray down on it, call my husband back, play a game of "WHAAT? I CAN"T HEAR YOU! WHERE ARE YOU?" In the noisy restaurant, I finally figure out he is saying he's upstairs, hang up the phone, and then realize my young son is nowhere in sight.
• I start to half run around the different rooms of the restaurant, trying to balance the tray of wobbly drinks with no lids, sloshing drink on the food (WHY no lids?!?!?!) but I don't see him. So now I'm yelling his name in a panicked voice at the top of my lungs begging him to come to mommy (he is autistic so doesn't always follow instructions) literally sobbing and hyperventilating. NO-ONE comes to help (I'm shocked that happened Disney World as I've seen "lost parent" protocols before the pandemic-- guess the CMs are just so dang overworked apparently that a missing child is not a priority, and the guests are probably unwilling to get up after waiting ages for their food). My older son who was with me (and is heroically carrying a tray of his own despite it being about as wide as his arm span) is doing the same thing, and finds my youngest first.
• Of course, by this point, our food is cold and splashed with soda from those dang unlidded cups, we're all too miserable to enjoy a bite, and our kids are whining they want something different to eat because it was so long ago when we ordered and they changed their minds.

Never again.

I think maybe this is more of a Pecos Bills problem and not a mobile order problem. I haven't heard anything like this happening at the vast majority of QS locations. The seating there is always a nightmare and it sounds like they need more staff controlling the flow. They shouldn't be taking more orders than they have seats for if the MO process was working as intended.

 

[DizKids2]

I personally love mobile ordering; but I don't like that it is the only option. I love that I can send my teenage kids off with their magic bands, but now I also need to make sure they have an MDE with a credit card on it to get food.
Some people really prefer cash and I think they should be able to use it.
Sometimes phones run out of battery. After a long, rainy day in the parks I sat down at a restaurant, and realized that neither my nor my son's phones had enough battery for us to look at the menu. If we were planning on QS and had to use mobile order, it would have been added stress I don't want on vacation.
I do find the CC thing annoying. I had a Rewards Card on our last trip, and although the app would keep my CC information stored, I would have to enter the rewards card info every time I wanted to use it for mobile order. Not a major deal, but again, an inconvenience on what should be vacation.

 

[robinb]

I think maybe this is more of a Pecos Bills problem and not a mobile order problem. I haven't heard anything like this happening at the vast majority of QS locations. The seating there is always a nightmare and it sounds like they need more staff controlling the flow. They shouldn't be taking more orders than they have seats for if the MO process was working as intended.

It makes me wonder if the extended wait that MomOTwins had and then not being able to find a table once she had her food was because people were lingering after they were finished because it was so hot. Perhaps Disney needs to adjust the number of orders allowed in the middle of the day to account for that.