I am confused about the counter service meals. I assumed this includes places that you just walk up to and order, meaning you would not need a reservation, but then I see Be Our Guest listed as a counter service restaurant. So do you make reservations for the counter service restaurants or not?
You only make reservations for BOG, all other counter service you walk up. BOG is only counter service for breakfast and lunch.
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Like @missoverexcited said, Be Our Guest takes reservations for all meals, yet is considered Counter Service for Breakfast and Lunch.
Be Our Guest is a weird one… I’m fairly sure it’s the only one like that. Ordinarily, you don’t make reservations for counter service.
What I do recommend, though, is to do mobile ordering, and avoid standing in the CS lines.
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Yes @MouseGirl42 is right about preordering. This is not mobile ordering which you can do at many counter service restaurants. At BOG a link appears next to your ADR 30 days beforehand, and you can order any time up to 30 minutes before. You’ll check in with a CM and they will check your order.
And I’ve just realised I misunderstood! Definitely mobile order for all other CS restaurants. You do it on MDE, hit a button to say you’ve arrived, and payment is taken by credit card (not room charge) or dining credit.
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So, you can’t pay with cash if you are mobile ordering?
I suppose I understand why not. But it just means we won’t be taking advantage of mobile ordering when we go.
No you can’t. That would somewhat defeat the purpose of it, which is to avoid waiting in a line.
No cash, no gift card, no magic band.
No Disney gift card. Though I haven’t tried it, if you have a gift card with a major CC logo (e.g. Visa or AmEx), you should be able to use it to pay.
Yes. But I’ve also heard you can’t preload cash onto your Magic Band or MDE account. You HAVE to use a credit card, which I don’t like. I wouldn’t mind it if I could show up and give them $300 that I can then spend via the MB/MDE.
Actually, though, I’m not really sure I get Mobile ordering. McDonald’s is doing it now, but it appears the people who I’ve seen use it end up waiting (in their car) longer than it takes to hit the drive through or even go inside yourself. And I used it at Little Caesars recently due to a party (needed a lot of pizza!), but when I arrived, the system only partially worked properly.
So, rather than wait in a line and give your order to a person, you instead spend that time giving your order to an app and then hit that you’ve arrived, at which point you still have to wait? I need to see it in action, I guess.
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If it’s linked to your MDE, yes I guess you could.
You can’t preload cash.
You do have to consider the timing wihen in the real world, but I have not found that same issue with it in WDW
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Sorry. I MEANT to type can’t, not can. I’ll fix it up above!
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Since we always go to WDW during low periods (first week of September, or early October) crowds are generally low. Wait times for many of the food places have been minimal…and usually the wait longer for picking up the food than ordering the food. I suppose it would matter more when they are busier.
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I would agree with @OBNurseNH, you will not wait nearly as long using mobile ordering at WDW compared to standing in line.
The upshot, also, is that if you’re standing in line, you don’t get a break from being on your feet. If you’re waiting for a mobile order, you can sit down at a table, and only stand and head to the counter when you get the message that your order is up. Which means that you get a somewhat longer break, even if your wait is the same.
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Great! Thanks everyone, this was helpful info!