Like many Disney fans, I’m a creature of habit. When I visit Walt Disney World, I tend to stick to similar schedules each time, from which parks to do first, to what order I go in once I get to said park. Same rings true for food. I know what places I like to eat, which restaurants are on my must-do list, or which one’s I would rather skip. This is a good thing, but there’s a negative side as well. I am not as eager to try new places to eat, when I know that there are places that I definitely will like. I also really enjoy the Character Dining opportunities. The food is good, the atmosphere is festive, and you get to have your photo taken with your favorite Characters when they come to your table. One of my favorite Character meals would have to be Donald’s Safari Breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. It’s a must do on my list!
Donalds Tusker House is not just a good breakfast buffet, it gives guests the theme of a small outpost in Africa. One great feature is that you can get a group or family photo taken with Donald before you even enter the restaurant. Once you get seated, your server will take your drink order and also bring you Jungle Juice, Tusker House’s signature beverage. It’s a mixture of guava, passion fruit, and orange juices. The buffet area, which sits in a central location, looks like a street market, which adds to the illusion. The food on the buffet is actually really good, and I’m not a huge fan of buffets! The food that is offered is your basic breakfast food, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and waffles, bagels, cereal, yogurt, etc. Honestly, it all tastes pretty good, we have never had a complaint.
In addition to traditional breakfast food, they have fruit and pastries. Fruit selections include strawberries, bananas, grapes, raspberries, and melon. In the middle of the buffet area, there’s a separate station for pastries, which includes small chocolate and plain croissants, fruit turnovers and donuts. The baked goods area is always a hit with my family. Ok, I love it too. The way I see it, is that I’m going to do a ton of walking that day, so why not have some amazing baked goodies!
Aside from the great food, the Character interaction in my opinion is wonderful. Like I said, you get to meet Donald on the way in, but inside you get to meet Mickey and Friends dressed in Safari clothes as you eat your breakfast (did I mention the pastries?). Characters will come over to your table and pose for pictures and sign autograph books for the kids. The Characters seem to take their time at your table, there is plenty of time to get different pics and poses, they’re really good about that. At certain times, kids are invited to come up and join the characters as they form a parade around the room. They’ll be given shakers and other African instruments to play as they go around. It’s a lot of fun, and people at their tables clap along to the music too.
Donald’s Tusker House Breakfast is really a great place to stop and eat before a full day visiting Animal Kingdom. As with other places to eat with Characters, make sure you make reservations ahead of time. If you haven’t tried eating at Tusker House as of yet, try to squeeze it in on your “must do” list the next time you visit the Walt Disney World Resort! You’ll be glad you did!
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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I will never eat there again. The hostess and manager were terribly rude to me and my husband. We arrived 15 minutes early for my birthday lunch. Didn’t get sat for about 45 minutes AFTER our reservation and they kept seating three tops and we were just two people. After me and my husband both kept complaining to the hostess about why we weren’t being sat he manager came out and gave us a complimentary fast pass each for any ride in any parks Yet still didn’t sit us for 10 more minutes. My husband was so upset he didn’t even eat. We told our waitress about it after she brought the check and no one even told her about what happened. The only thing I really liked was the birthday card signed by all four characters. Half the food was empty so I didn’t get to try it.