Mobile Ordering & Character Dining News

I wasn’t sure if this had been posted anywhere; if it has it’s buried in a thread somewhere!

First up, Disney has confirmed there will be no character dining when the parks (and resorts) re-open:

Second, they have added Apple Pay and Gift Cards as options for Mobile Ordering, as well as an arrival time:

https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/mymagicplus/news/29may2020-my-disney-experience-mobile-order-adds-arrival-window,-apple-pay-and-gift-cards.htm

I really hope they will soon add a Magic Band option. When you pick it up, simply have the reader there. Maybe for now they are trying to eliminate the need to enter your PIN, but it’s used for shopping and TS dining it just seems a no-brainer. It’s a pet peeve of mine because of foreign transaction fees.

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Gift cards is good news for a lot of people! I haven’t seen this shared in the other threads so thank you.

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I agree. Easy enough to get a gift card to use for mobile ordering.

But allowing magic bands makes so much sense too.

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Yes I don’t really understand why they don’t already. But gift cards is what people always ask about.

I have not seen it here. In case people do not click the link, Disney rewards cards can also be used.

It is funny because I follow a lot about Universal and everyone is complaining that the Universal app does not allow AP discounts when it is so easy to do and “Disney does it”. We all know that is not true. I want my AP, DVC, and TiW discounts to be applied without a card and ID.

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How would they ensure only those entitled to the discounts get them though?
Easy enough to swap bands with the AP holder and bingo!

I think they are looking in the app, not the MB.

In reality, moving forward decisions will be made. Will a CM have to handle a blue card/TiW and an ID, or will the guest “flash it”? Will that expose the guest (handling those cards)?

To me, it is like many things these days. Is the potential for saving Disney a few dollars “worth” exposing loyal customers?

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Not surprised by this news. It doesn’t make sense to have characters going around to people - it defeats the purpose of social distancing. I suppose I did wonder if they might offer some kind of little show or something, periodically throughout the dining period. But that might be hard to do with lack of space to do so.

Anyway, I think the important thing to remember is that all of this is temporary, even if we don’t know how long it will last.

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Disney actually does allow for your AP discount with mobile order, and has for years at Disneyland. Not sure why WDW won’t do the same.

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That must be why everyone thinks it is for both!

I will admit I put the DL app back on my phone to grab the free photo pass pictures!

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Yes, I think there is a lot of confusion over it since it clearly is easy enough to add to the digital platform. The photopass pictures are amazing!

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At work we use Microsoft teams for meetings. I know there is a work around to personalize backgrounds but they are supposed to do an update to make it easier. I can’t wait to use all these backgrounds!

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But if there are no dining plans, and no characters, then the “character” meals don’t seem to be worth the price. I’m fortunate to be able to make some of the early dining plans when they re-open. But I don’t know of any plans I want, since pretty much all our original ADR’s were character meals! I’m not sure what to do.

You’re right.

Except there won’t be any dining plans until after 9/2021, so maybe you mean ADRs?

But all we can do is wait, unfortunately.

No Dining Plan until 9/2021, how did I miss this? Well, I’ll miss the ease, but we will eat healthier and spend less money.

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END of 9/2021.

I think this info came after the fact. It seems to reflect both the end of the fiscal year, and the latest rebook date that was offered to those initially impacted by the pandemic closure.

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I also heard someplace it would align with not offering a UK free dining plan?

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Also possible!
So many moving parts for them to consider!

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I think it’s to do with EU consumer laws which say once a deal is offered it cannot be changed for some and not others.

Because they had already started selling the dining plan up to September 2021, they couldn’t change the deal whereby some people had it cancelled and others not or could book it for later dates, say Jan 2021 onwards. The only solution was to cancel it for everyone.

A bit like the parking fee. UK and EU people got it for a year longer because it had already been offered to people booking that far ahead, so they couldn’t impose a fee on others booking under the same T&Cs.

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Wow, so that’s why UK guests got free parking, hmmm, interesting.