If you’re anything like me you have an intense distrust for anyone or anything you haven’t known for at least a decade. New things are scary and often disappointing. Scarily disappointing. Disappointingly scary. That being said you can imagine there are more than a few things I have yet to try. In this series, I’m going to try new things that aren’t really new at all and in reality have probably been around for years.
Few places offer disappointment more consistently in my travels than fast food restaurants. How difficult is it to put a ketchup packet in a Happy Meal? Very. It’s very.
Combine fast food and technology and I’m out pretty much immediately. I can’t get the request for ketchup through a microphone to a guy 30 feet away without it getting screwed up so the thought of using an app to order is no bueno. Sure I can use a touch screen in like a Wawa or whatever (it is 2019) but I can see that dude/dudette putting that quesadilla together. I can stop the construction if I see chicken making its way toward that CHEESE quesadilla (if I’m paying attention, sorry Jul).
It’s for these reasons and a few others I’ve never taken advantage of mobile ordering in a Disney park. I don’t like risking the mobile order on a 4 dollar Happy Meal so using it on a 15 dollar chicken sandwich wasn’t going to happen.
I did try it though, for the BLOG (albeit on a 5 dollar Dole whip but it still counts).
So how’d it go? Let’s take a look…
Ease of ordering
Mobile ordering is done through the My Disney Experience app. I have a few pictures that pretty much lay out exactly how it works. It was super easy (at least with Dole Whips).
After ordering you’re presented with a confirmation and a button that basically says “Hey I’m here make my food”. Once I clicked the button (I clicked it before taking the screen shot. I’m a simple man and when i see buttons I click them) I started the timer and got in the Mobile Order pickup line.
This was a line separate and off to the side of the normal line, clearly marked and much shorter.
Need for speed
The time from button click to Dole Whip:
Not too bad!
In the interests of JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY, I immediately got in the standby line and started the timer.
While I was waiting, I noticed that the sign at the stand didn’t present me with all of the same options as the app. Most notably missing was the least expensive plain Dole Whip in a cup. I mean you could still get it it seemed, you just had to ask.
Standby time :
Not CRAZY longer but longer AND I had to stay in line the whole time and with a toddler in tow I’m looking to save line time wherever I can.
Mobile Ordering, to me, was the clear winner here. The whole process was noticeably quicker and the fact that I was presented with more options without having to awkwardly quiz a cast member on if there are less expensive options than what I’m seeing on the sign was a huge bonus.
I know its ice cream and how hard can it be to deliver a quality ice cream experience (I’M LOOKING AT YOU DAIRY QUEEN). That being said, I’ll definitely be trying mobile ordering again.
Maybe I’ll even order soemthing with more than 1 component.
Maybe.