There are places you can eat where you don't need to mobile order.
Fear of missing out is driving very unrealistic expectations here misinformation is causing a lot of bad takes.
Sure, a select handful. Until those cut their registers, too.
But your continued attempts to try and create some false reality where
everyone is capable of enjoying themselves without a phone isn't going to work. Because, realistically, not everyone is interested in the same things. At the very best and giving you as much benefit of doubt as possible; it still must be conceded that not everyone is going to have an enjoyable time and that certain, basic elements of many Guest's days now require a smartphone to access.
You mentioned other places that don't require a cell phone to eat at. Sure, I acknowledge they exist. Rancho is one of them and it's one of my favorites. But what about someone who doesn't like Mexican food? Or someone whose options dwindle considerably due to the mobile ordering requirement? Or what if a Guest visiting for the first time didn't know how quickly demand for something they were interested in would fill up at 8am and arrives hours later hungry only to be told they either a) can't access what they were interested in or b) is told they must now wait upwards of an hour for a plate of spaghetti? Also, because certain dining locations (like Rancho) are some of the only places folks who didn't order in advance are able to even consider, their lines become longer as a result. On my last trip, I waited longer for Rancho than I ever had before.
Also, unrealistic expectations? Is a family of four, whose children are Star Wars fans and super excited to ride Rise of Resistance's expectation that they would be able to ride after paying upwards of $600 to enter all that unrealistic? Sure, that family can soon access the upcoming Lightning Lane and pay $60 to access something that other lucky Guests got for free (until it runs out, too).
But in which scenario (either the purposefully extended dining queues or the having to pay extra for something others got for free), are the Guests enjoying themselves, exactly? Sure, I admit and concede; if all a Guest wants to do is ride Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Thunder and isn't there to eat or doesn't care what they eat, then sure, that Guest will likely have an enjoyable time. But that's an absurdly small and specific group of Guests and you know it.
The idea that the answer to a Guest who is upset that they can't access something after entering is to tell them to "just do something else" or be okay with missing out on something they came to see after paying a king's ransom just to enter, dumbfounds me.
Again, even if we concede that all of these issues can be worked around, you still end up with Guests whose day will be indisputably less enjoyable than those who used their smartphones to plan everything in advance. Guests
will be left out without one, unless they conform to your listed attraction interests or don't mind waiting in longer queues for a meal. -and any Guest who leaves the park with any level of regret about something they were unable to do, has had a factually less enjoyable time than others (either because something was unavailable to them or because increased wait times reduced the offerings they could experience). Smartphones and Disney's push to utilize them for more and more things is increasingly becoming one of the only ways to lower the amount of Guests who feel this way leaving the park.
Smartphones = required for your best possible time in park. Sure, you can construct a "good" day without one, with an open mind and with lower expectations. But at Disney's price point, asking people to have low expectations or settle for a lesser experience in any way, is an insult to the Guest.
