Mobile ordering food through the My Disney Experience app is the best way to dine at many quick-service locations at the Walt Disney World Resort, including the resort hotel food courts.
Standing in line to order in person is still an option and talking with Cast Members can be fun. Just be advised, at peak dining times, the waits can be very long, so ordering ahead is definitely the way to go!
Mobile ordering saves you time, stress and frustration. If you want to give it a try on your Walt Disney World vacation, and I suggest you do, here’s how it works in just 5 easy steps.
While you could enter your payment information in each time you place a mobile order, I suggest having your credit card saved into the app to help speed up the process and make things a whole lot easier. To do this, open the My Disney Experience app. On the bottom right, click on the icon. Scroll down to MY PROFILE, then select PAYMENT METHOD. Add up to six credit cards into your app.
PRO TIP: If you plan to use gift cards for food purchases (these cannot be saved in the app at this time and will need to be manually entered for every order) or you don’t wish to save your credit card information into the app, save yourself some time and save the card info in a Notes app on your phone. When you are ready to check out, just copy/paste the information into the app to complete your purchase.
When you’re ready to place a mobile order, click the plus sign at the bottom center of the My Disney Experience app and then select “Order Food.”
You will be asked to choose a restaurant and arrival window. The app defaults to begin at Magic Kingdom, but if you scroll down, you will find every restaurant that supports mobile ordering.
You will be asked to choose an arrival time window and cannot proceed further until you do. It’s important to note, there are only a limited number of slots available each half hour. While eating lunch at noon from Woody’s Lunchbox might be ideal, at 12pm, the first available arrival window might be 2:30pm. If planning to eat at peak times, check what the current arrival window is up to about two hours before the desired eating time. It’s not uncommon for the wait to be 90 minutes or more, especially at the more popular restaurants. Alternately, schedule afternoon and evening meals each morning ahead of time. Simply select MORE TIMES to see all the available arrival windows for the day. Mobile Order Arrival Windows can always be modified throughout the day via the app if your plans change.
After an arrival window is selected, a menu will appear. You can navigate to the different menus via the category icons at the top or simply scroll down the long menu. Add items to the cart, review the order summary, select a payment method and complete the purchase. At this time you can change the arrival time or cancel the order.
Return to the My Disney Experience app when the arrival window time comes. Click once again on the three bar “hamburger” icon and select Mobile Food Orders.
Find the order placed, click on View My Order Details and tap on I’m Here, Prepare My Order. The order will then be prepared. Alternatively, the arrival window can still be modified or the order canceled. Once the order is ready, a notification will be sent to the app with instructions on where to go to retrieve it. There are designated Mobile Order pick up locations in all quick-service restaurants. Just look for the signage.
It’s a good idea to practice and play around in the app ahead of go-time. Look at menus, place mock orders and just get a feel for where everything is located. When hunger strikes in a hot and crowded theme park is definitely not the moment to try out new technology for the first time.
One last note and this is particularly true at Resort Hotel quick-service locations…not every single thing available is on the app menu. If nothing is sounding appealing, take a walk in person to browse selections in the grab and go sections.
As your Travel Advisors, we are here to make your Walt Disney World vacation as magical and stress free as I possibly can. If you have any further questions or need more clarification on Mobile Ordering, we’re just a text, email or phone call away!