Mobile Ordering – One of the biggest timesavers at Disney
This is an amazing timesaver at Disney. Since the pandemic, it’s necessary to learn how to use Mobile Ordering. It is required in many if not all quick service restaurants right now. And really, the learning curve on this part of the app isn’t all that tricky.
It currently only works with certain Quick Service Restaurants (with the exception of Disney Springs). You can also set up an alert on your phone that notifies you when you are within range of a place that offers Mobile Ordering. You will see an icon like this on your mobile map. That lets you know if a restaurant offers Mobile Ordering.
You’ll find the Mobile Ordering section on the Home Screen of the My Disney Experience (MDE) app.
<— You’ll click on “Order Food” and be taken to a list of restaurants that offer the Mobile Ordering option. 
You can select the restaurant if you see it here: —>
Or you can go to the map and find restaurants that are close to you in whatever park you’re in.
Once you’ve selected your restaurant, you’ll select the food you’d like. For purposes of this demonstration, we’ll go with Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe (one of our favorite Quick Service (QS) Restaurants at Magic Kingdom.
Select “Order Food” from the screen that looks like the picture on the left. If you’re not currently logged into your account, it will ask you to do that.
Then your screen will look something like the picture on the right. Here is where you choose the items you would like to order.
*Don’t forget beverages! I’ve heard far too many people forget that and have to go through the whole process over again or wait in the long lines just to order drinks.*
When you’re finished adding items, click “View My Order” at the bottom of your screen. Modify anything that doesn’t look right and then 
click “Review Order Summary.” If you don’t have a payment method set up, or you’d like to use a different card, you can do so from this screen. You can also add any discount codes (i.e. military discounts or Tables in Wonderland, etc.). You can also use the Disney Dining Plan with this feature of the app, the restaurant will tell you if it accepts the Dining Plan and how many credits it will cost you.
Scroll down the screen and if everything looks correct, tap “Purchase.”
You can do this at any time before you head to the restaurant on the day of your visit. We like to do it while we are waiting in one of the ride lines in the morning. You will get a screen that says they are preparing your order, but don’t worry, they won’t actually prepare it until you are physically close enough to the restaurant and tap the “I’m Here, Prepare My Order” button. Your app will then notify you when it’s time to come to the pick up window and which window to go to.
Just be sure to bring your phone with you when you go to pick up your food in case they need the order number or have questions.
We love Mobile Ordering for a number of reasons and think it’s totally worth using. There is sometimes a small line at the pick up window, but it’s nothing compared to the huge lines of people waiting to order. And we have found that we can go and find a table while we are waiting for them to make our food and then some of our party can save our seats while some of our party goes to pick up the food. But it’s something you’ll have to try for yourself to see if it’s right for you.
But we think you’ll find that it really is a great addition to the app, and we highly recommend taking advantage of it!
Other Disney Conent
Along with tips about how to use Mobile Ordering at Disney. We offer other advice for traveling to Disney. If you’d like to see our other food related Disney advice, check it here: Treats and Eats.
And if you’re interested in making Disney food at home, we’ve got a lot of Copycat Recipes on our site that you can check out. Once you’ve tried Disney food, you’re gonna want to make Disney Treats and Eats at home too. A lot of people don’t realize how much great food Disney has to offer. But we are here to right that wrong. We obviously love Disney, the rides, the atmosphere, the magic, but the food, oh my Disney, the food! So if you’re in love with the food as much as we are, you aren’t gonna want to miss all our copycat recipe videos. Wait, you didn’t know about the epicness of Disney’s food? Then you need our videos even more so you can check out what all they have to offer.
We’ve got a lot of other great Disney content too besides food. We also have DIY cute Disney Crafts that you can make at home too. So if you enjoy craft time as much as we do, you’ll love making our fun Disney crafts.
And you can’t forget our Tips and Tricks for visiting the parks. We’ve got a lot of great help that can make you next Disney vacation the best one ever! Along with advice about Disney food, we’ve got other great info you won’t want to miss.
There’s also our YouTube channel that is positively bursting with Disney happiness. So be sure to check it out and join our YouTube family!