Tusker House
Going to Tusker House for breakfast (or lunch) is now somewhat of a tradition for us. I think we’ve been there on all of our trips so far! It is a Character Dining experience called Donald’s Safari Breakfast where you can meet Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy all dressed up in their safari gear. Of all the Character Dining this is by far our favourite – it’s a lot of fun (if not a bit loud!)
It is a popular restaurant, and as such, you will need an Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) as walk-ups are unlikely. Tusker House is an all-you-care-to-enjoy buffet, and food has got an African flair to it. If you’re not too keen on that, don’t worry as there are plenty of familiar breakfast favourites too.
The buffet area – some of which you can see in the photo above – is a large space, with plenty of room. I think it is one of the better laid out Disney buffets. It goes around in a large, almost semi-circle, and you don’t have to line up per se, if there is a crowd around a particular station, you can move over to another one and come back. The carts in the middle are usually desserts (yes, pudding for breakfast is where it’s at!)
I took photos of a lot of the food (and the food signs) this trip, so I will list out as much of the breakfast buffet as I can. In my experience the menu doesn’t change that much, not even after 6 nearly annual visits!
Regular breakfast foods like Cereal, Fresh Fruit, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Sausages, Sausage Patties, Biscuits and Gravy, Breakfast Potatoes, Frittatas, and of course Mickey Waffles sit alongside more exotic dishes like Bobotie, Spiced Corn Beef Hash with Cornbread Topping, Coconut Sweet Potato Casserole, Sweet Plantains, and Mealie Pap.
You’ll also find a carving station – when we visited it was Spit-Roasted Bone-In Ham with a Sweet and Spicy Honey Mustard on the side – delicious!
There’s more to come yet! You’ll also find a cold station with Smoked Salmon, Arugula Salad, Capers, Onion, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Vegetable Cream Cheese and a variety of salads, which on our visit were: Trek Power Salad, Black-Eyed Pea Salad, and Assorted Bean Salad with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette.
And finally, there is a huge assortment of breads, pastries, and cake including: Jalapeno Corn Bread, Mealie Cornbread, Bagels, Croissants, Zebra Coffee Cake, Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl, Blueberry Bread, Chocolate Twists, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Holes, Banana Bread Pudding with Vanilla Anglaise. Plus Cream Cheese, Assorted Jellies & Jams for aforementioned breads.
The Banana Bread Pudding is yummy – so make sure you save room for that!
Drinks are also included in the price of your meal (the price of which depends on the season, and the day of the week): Fountain Beverages, Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Jungle Juice, Milk, Chocolate Milk, Coffee, Decaff, Tea (iced and hot), and Ginger Ale. There are additional beverages that can be paid for separately, but no alcohol is served at breakfast.
I have written this a bit backwards, as I’m about to tell you what happens when you first check-in for your ADR! Most of the time you will have to wait for your table to become ready. An ADR isn’t a guaranteed time slot – just that you have a table reserved around that time. You could be waiting as short as 1 minute, or as long as 60 minutes – or more – yes, it’s happened to us! So it is something to bear in mind when booking your FastPass+ slots.
The waiting area is a little bit shaded, which in the Florida sun and heat is a good thing, but when it’s cold like it was today… not so much! There were some awesome African inspired garlands hanging around in the waiting area, and inside was a lovely decorated Christmas tree topped with exotic feathers.
There are two seating areas inside Tusker House. As you go in through the main doors, the smaller of the two areas is to the left, while the bigger (busier and louder!) area is to the right. We have sat in both areas over the years.
I went through all of my Character Dining Tips in Day 2, so much like the Security Tips, I won’t go through them all again. But a quick recap – all of the Disney Characters will work the rooms – two in each one, then they switch – and you should meet them all by the time your meal ends. If you find that the server has left the bill for you to pay, don’t panic – they often leave them early, and you have paid for the experience, so make sure you meet them all!
At some point you will likely see the characters do the Jambo Jambo dance parade around the rooms which is a lot of fun when kids (and grown-ups too!) join in. Donald danced his socks off on our visit – no one wanted to join in with him! He was so funny – video will be added once I’ve compiled it all.
Once you have had your fill of breakfast, and met all of the characters, you can pay your bill and go about your day at Animal Kingdom!
Tusker House » Animal Kingdom
Bill: $102 + Tax: $5.31 + Tip: $18.36 = $125.67
TiW Discount: $20.40
Total Paid: $105.27