Disney World is currently promoting many new health and safety measures in its newly reopened parks. From face masks to temperature screenings and physical distancing, several elements are now mandatory for guests.
Magic Kingdom
But other procedures, while strongly encouraged, are still considered optional. One of these enhancements is Mobile Order, a contactless way to pre-order and pre-pay for your food using the My Disney Experience app.
While many of us already know how convenient and handy the Mobile Order feature can be for skipping long lines and walking right up to the pick-up window when we’re ready to eat, some guests are having a harder time adjusting to using this new method to get their food.
Pinocchio Village House
Right now, most Quick Service locations are strongly encouraging guests to use Mobile Order. Guests CAN enter locations and order in person but they’re trying to limit that to guests with dietary concerns, no smartphone, or those paying with cash. We’ve seen Cast Members stationed at entrances to dining locations discouraging guests from entering without a Mobile Order.
Pinocchio Village Haus Cast Member
But we know even pre-closures, many guests still weren’t using Mobile Order as a regular part of their park days. So how can Disney entice guests to make the change? If Disney World really wants to make Mobile Order more appealing to a broader audience, they might want to consider offering an incentive — like a discount!
Ordering Area
Disney World has been adding more and more locations to its list of restaurants that utilize Mobile Order. But due to the size of some popular dining locations, not every counter service restaurant can accommodate a Mobile Order pick-up window. Smaller stands or kiosks would have a hard time operating Mobile Order pick-ups and regular order pick-ups from the same window, BUT…
Mobile Order Pick Up Area
…if more guests could get acclimated to using Mobile Order, Disney might be able to offer it exclusively at smaller places such as Storybook Treats or Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom! Those are a few spots we think could benefit from having it since the wait times can get REALLY long at these spots.
Mickey Waffle at Magic Kingdom
This might sound scary to you if you’re never used Mobile Order, but we promise you, it’s extremely accessible and easy to use — not to mention, it’s totally free!
Disney World is currently offering a higher than normal merchandise discount for Annual Passholders — 30% as opposed to the standard 20% — in gift shops around property, so we know that extra discount incentives are very much something they COULD offer. A tiny discount, say as little as 10% off, would go a long way towards helping more people get more comfortable using Mobile Order.
Mobile Order Your Dole Whip!
Once many guests saw how much easier it is to use the app instead of waiting in a line, they might be more inclined to continue to use Mobile Order. A kiosk or alternate ordering method for guests needing further assistance or for those without a smartphone could easily be implemented away from the actual counters where other guests are receiving their orders.
Pecos Bill Meal
We’ll continue watching for new restaurants appearing on Disney World’s Mobile Order feature (including this one which just showed up!), and we’ll continue dreaming our discount dreams! ;-D
Click here to see how Disney World is breaking the theme park reopening mold!
Disney Park Reopening Details and Info
Click HERE for the All Latest Updates
Click HERE To See FULL LISTS of the Rides, Attractions, Shopping, Entertainment, and Restaurants Opening in Disney World!
TUTORIAL: How To Use Disney World's NEW Park Pass Reservation System
ALL Disney World Reopening Procedures
Disney World Hotel and Ticket Booking Information
We’re Visiting ALL the Reopened Disney World Hotels and Have All the Need-to-Know Details
We’re LIVE in Disney World's Magic Kingdom For the FIRST Time Since the Closures
We’re LIVE in Disney’s Animal Kingdom For the FIRST Time Since the Closures
We Got a FIRST LOOK at Disney World’s New Character Cavalcades and Entertainment!
Everything You NEED To Know About Wearing Masks in Disney World
Join the DFB Newsletter To get all the latest Disney Park Closure News Delivered Right to Your Inbox Click here to Subscribe
Have you ever tried using Mobile Order? Let us know if you’d be willing to give it a shot on your next Disney World trip in the comments below!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
There are two reasons why I never used mobile ordering:
1. Doesn’t allow payment by magic band, i.e. charge to room. As international visitor I don’t want dozens of credit card transactions, just one charge from Disney at the end of the stay where I might have been able to pay off most of the account beforehand anyway my gift card or cash.
2. When paying by Quick Servoce Dining Plan, it doesn’t allow substitutions of dtinks by desserts, making it more expensive to use mobile order if wanting a dessert.
I don’t need a discount to persuade me to use it, just those above fixes would be nice!
As a DVC member, I qualify for a 10% discount on food purchases. Unfortunately if I use Mobile Order, I do not get my discount. They need to fix that.
A discount would be nice, but we don’t use it because you can’t pay with a gift card. To budget we load each person’s gift card in the morning and that’s what you spend for the day. And the receipts give you your remaining balance so you know if you need to slow down or can get that new shirt. If they would allow gift cards as a payment method i think they would get more people.
With food allergies it’s almost impossible to mobile order because you can’t make modifications to anything. Not to mention the discount issue….
At DLR the AP discounts are included with mobile order. That is the reason AP won’t use it @WDW. If they added AP & DVC discounts, ability to pay with room or gift cards, the number of guests using it would go up exponentially without adding an additional discount. I don’t understand why this is not included.
Not sure why WDW doesn’t allow AP or DVC discounts on mobile order? At Disneyland they have already programmed their mobile order to deduct AP discounts when applicable. Why can’t they just add the coding to the WDW app too?
When we arrive we take our US cash and put it on gift cards. Until the system accepts gift cards we won’t be mobile ordering. I don’t need an incentive to use it. I would love to use it, but being from Canada I prefer not to use my cc on vacation.
Jessica, Mobile Order now takes gift cards.
Stephanie, Disney added gift cards to Mobile Order in (I believe) late-May.
I use Mobile ordering, before and after closure. Some places won’t let me (D-Luxe Burger) because I have an allergy, but most places have the allergy menu on mobile ordering now. My problem is that now because of mobile ordering you have a lot of people congregating at the entrance to restaurants while waiting for their order to be prepared. We didn’t have this at Aloha Isle when getting dole whips on Saturday, but on Sunday we had ordered lunch at Satuli Canteen there were A LOT of people all around that area waiting to get their text. We avoided it by going in the Avatar store but if it was raining that would have probably been an issue too. Not sure what they can do, but it is an issue. I’m pretty sure that may be why Columbia Harbor House hasn’t opened. That would be a hot mess to have a bunch of people waiting outside of the entrance in that high traffic area.
We have used Mobile Order for a couple of years now. There are some limitations, as others have noted. No AP or DVC discounts available, although most quick serve do not offer those discounts. Some restaurants have better availability of substitutions and allergy menu items than others. It would be nice to be able to charge the order to your room account when staying on property. Another feature that would be nice mimics other mobile order apps by non-Disney restaurants. Allow people to select the time they want to pick their food up and have it ready for them by that time. As with most things related to Disney IT and websites, they need to upgrade all of it.
Hello! Is charging it back to your room account an option for mobile ordering? We’ve always been on the dining plan when we’ve used mobile ordering in the past. Thank you!
Can I ask which restaurants on Mobile Ordering offer a Passholder or DVC discount? We always use it because we thought most, if not all, of the restaurants that give us the 10% discount are table service and not available for mobile ordering.
I tried it once and found it very discouraging to be a two step process, first you order and specify a pick up time then in addition when you are ready to pick it up you need to open the app again to tell them you are there to pick up and to start preparing your order. In my one and only attempt, I arrived at my pick up time and the app glitched and wouldn’t load for me, asked at the quick-serve if they could just check me in because the app wasn’t working on my phone and no, they can’t do that.
So 40 minutes wasted, and because we were leaving I never did get the food I ordered and while they reversed the charge it left a sour taste and until they can fix their technology I won’t be using mobile order.
I won’t use mobile order due to not being allowed to use a gift card. Gift cards is how I save up for my Disney trips. I don’t want a huge credit card bill at the end. Gift cards allow me to pre pay my trip and stick to my budget.
We also had an issue that you could not use your Tables in Wonderland discount at Flame Tree which offers the discount there. The CM’s were adamant about using mobile ordering, but when we said we couldn’t get our discount with the mobile ordering, they let up. Also sometimes the pickup windows are too far outside what you are interested in. I literally wanted another Coke and had to wait 15 mins for the next pickup window timeframe which is too long for a coke.
Those of us that want things plain or without certain ingredients can’t use mobile order- if we could we would use it every single time. We love mobile order but without modifications for non “typical” allergies it’s a no go for us usually for meals
DFB Sarah, thank you for letting us know about gift cards are allowed. I was with Jessica and Stephanie.
We are planning on being there for Fall Break. I’m praying mask restrictions will be relax by then. We missed two trips this year so far.
I see you replied with the news that gift cards can be used, but that AP discount would also be nice! I’d use it more often too, if that was added to it.
Mobile order a Dole Whip to New Jersey please !😃 They should of did this long time ago lined were always to long and congested ! My wife and I do it now it is great !😃 I do not mind
it keep it !I can live with it a large amount of people was never a great idea !
We don’t use Mobile Order 95% of the time because we cannot get our AP/DVC discount. We also cannot use our Disney gift cards that we purchase all year so that meals are technically already paid for before we go. We would mind being allowed to use our Magic Bands as then we could use the gift cards to pay down our room charges, thought that is not ideal.
Valerie, lots of readers agree with you!
Many comments note that theta can’t get AP or DVC discounts using Mobile Order. Mobile Ordering is designed for the counter service dining locations and, except for Joffrey’s, AP and DVC discounts aren’t available at counter service locations. Only table service locations.
Shannon, gift cards can now be used with Mobile Order! Disney made the change in late-May, I believe.
Theodora, as far as I know, discounts are not applicable in Mobile Order.
Emily, at this point charging it to your room is not one of the payment options on Mobile Order.
I really don’t want to use my phone any more than absolutely necessary (for FastPasses) while in the park. Being glued to my phone while vacationing with my kids really bums me out… maybe Disney isn’t for me.
I would use it if it does indeed take gift cards now. That’s how we pay for our food. I don’t know why it wasn’t included to begin with. Anything you can do to save time is good. I also agree with others even a small 5-10% would also encourage more use. However, I wonder if they could handle a much larger amount of orders.
Sarah, thank you. I guess my point is that I don’t know of any counter service restaurant that offers an AP discount even if you walk-up. Are there any?
One of the issues that I have had with mobile order is that I go through the process and at the very end when I’m trying to complete it, the Wi-Fi drops and that’s it. Wasted time and now I have to go in and stand online anyway. This has happened at least three times, especially in Animal Kingdom. When I spoke to the cast members about this, they said it was not unusual.
Theodora, it looks like the official list includes a few places in Disney Springs, unless I’m reading it wrong. Here’s the link!
Theodora thank you for the link I copied it great 👍 for you to do it for all of us !😃
It seems the only quick/counter service restaurants that gives an AP discount are in at only restaurants that are not on Mobile Order (Blaze, Erin McKenna’s, Cookes of Dublin, even Earl of Sandwich plus Joffrey’s). Deluxe Burger is on Mobile Order and gives no AP discount even for in-person orders. If the Mobile Order is for quick/counter-service only, then we are missing out on no discounts by using it.
Please make this clear in articles on Mobile Order, as you can see so many comments focus on that “problem.” I appreciate Alan explaining this in his comment and frustrated nobody else seems to understand.