Tusker House Character Lunch - Good Choice?

[Wendy31]

Hi!

We recently shortened our 10-night/11-day Disney trip to 6-nght/7-day in order to add some beach time to our trip.

I sooo loved our 10-night/11-day ADR schedule! I had to give up our 'Ohana dinner, our CRT dinner, Yak & Yeti dinner, Mama Melrose's Fantasmic Lunch Package, & Grand Floridian Café breakfast. We will miss 'Ohana the most probably, & this will be the first trip we've ever done w/o eating at CRT. If I didn't think DH would kill me, I might try to add CRT in somewhere. LOL!

Anyway, we had 'Ohana scheduled for our arrival night dinner, & I'm trying very hard to get another 'Ohana dinner ADR for our new arrival night.

However, in the meantime, I've scheduled a lunch at Tusker House on our arrival day, so we still have something "special" for our first day.

Our new ADR schedule currently looks like this:

Wed, 9/18 - We plan to arrive between 8:30 & 9:00 am & then go to the AK.

Lunch - Tusker House
Dinner - Flame Tree

Thurs, 9/19 - MK

Breakfast - resort
Lunch - Crystal Palace
Dinner - Columbia Harbor House

Fri, 9/20 - DHS

Breakfast - resort
Lunch - Sci-Fi
Dinner - counter-service in DHS or at our resort

Sat, 9/21 - EPCOT (World Showcase)

Breakfast - Chef Mickey's
Lunch - counter-service
Dinner - Chefs de France

Sun, 9/22 - EPCOT (Future World)

Breakfast - resort
Lunch - Cantina de San Angel
Dinner - Garden Grill

Mon, 9/23 - MK

Breakfast - Kona Café
Lunch - Tortuga Tavern
Dinner - Be our Guest

Tues, 9/24 - MK & Departure Day

Breakfast - resort
Lunch - Liberty Tree Tavern

So, how does it look?

Is the character lunch at Tusker House a good enough "first day in Disney" meal that will it substitute for dinner at 'Ohana?

Years ago, we ate breakfast at the AK character meal when it was at Restaurantsauras, but we've never been to Tusker House. So this is a new experience for us.

Also, right now, we're at the Beach Club, and I'm thinking about switching our Chef Mickey's breakfast to the Cape May character breakfast, which would be another new experience for us. I'm excited about the possibility of trying Cape May, but, since Chef Mickey's has also always been one of our "must do" restaurants, I'm afraid we'll miss it.

However, since we're talking about switching to the Poly, I'm leaving it at Chef Mickey's for the time-being. If we don't switch to the Poly, I'll also cancel our Kona Café breakfast. Also, if we do switch to Poly, I may try to get the 'Ohana character breakfast, another new experience for us, if I can't get an 'Ohana dinner ADR.

 

[deakam]

Standard check in is 3pm. The Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm latest maybe 6pm. You are going to eat lunch and dinner in about 3 hrs? Seems a bit tight to me but.....

 

[tony609]

Standard check in is 3pm. The Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm latest maybe 6pm. You are going to eat lunch and dinner in about 3 hrs? Seems a bit tight to me but.....

I was thinking the same thing? We also very rarely eat 3 meals a day at WDW and were big eaters ( I think) that would take up way to much park time. We prefer the AK Donald's Safari Breakfast to the lunch. The breakfast is a must do every trip. In fact were going to AK twice this fall trip and eating there both mornings. We also loved restaurantasoarous. Cape may is an awesome breakfast, much quiter and I think better food then Chef Mickey's.

 

[Wendy31]

Thanks for the replies!

Sorry - I just re-read my OP, & it's wrong! LOL! We're driving in from St. Augustine & plan to arrive at our resort between 8:30 & 9:00 am. We'll leave our luggage w/ bell services, get our park tickets, & then drive to the AK. We should get to the AK around 9:30 am - well before check-in time! LOL!

Our Tusker House lunch ADR is for 11:35 am.

I kinda wanted Tusker House breakfast instead (maybe around 10:00 am), but DH prefers to ride the safari, get fastpasses for Expedition Everest, etc. before lunch.

We'll eat at Flame Tree for dinner around 4:30-ish.

We prefer lunch at Flame Tree, but I was trying to schedule some kind of special "Welcome to Disney!" meal, &, since I can't get an 'Ohana dinner ADR, I thought the Tusker House character meal might be fun.

We've never eaten at Tusker House, & I'm hoping it's a good experience.

We like Boma at the AKL, so I thought we might like the Tusker House lunch buffet as well.

Tusker House normally gets pretty good reviews too, but most of the reviews I've read have been for breakfast. I was hoping to get some feedback on the lunch.

Would a late brunch - maybe around 11:00 am - be better?

Thanks again!!

 

[ajfd]

We did Tusker House lunch in April and had a great time. There was a nice selection of normal and specialty items in the buffet.

Getting seated took a little longer than I would have expected... just shy of 30 min from getting in line until we got to our table. Note that there was a character meet with Safari Donald in that time though. That might have also been due to the our ADR time being 1p (ie, just after the lunch rush)

When we got to our seats, the other characters were just getting to our area which worked out well. In under 10 minutes we had finished with Goofy, Daisy, and Mickey. Thus we were able to complete our meal without having to stop for pics.

The entire family had a good time and we would go back again.

 

[DEA]

Tusker House is one of my very favorite in-park restaurants, and is great for either breakfast or lunch. You get the same characters at lunch as at breakfast, and I think the lunch has more interesting food available. Including all-you-care-to-eat baklava, which is very handy. And dangerous. They have some more adventurous selections, but they also have stuff that's very middle-of-the-road. Everyone should be able to find something.

Enjoy!

 

[rteetz]

Great choice I love Tusker house I've never had a bad experience to for it.

disney lover at heart

 

[Kaykool101]

My DH and I ate at Tusker House before it was a character meal. We chose to eat here because we enjoy ethnic food. However, we would not go back. We also tried Boma and it is much better than Tusker House. However, we were not huge fans of either. The food at Boma was fresher. Tusker House was loud and the ethnic food did not fair well on the buffet.

That being said, characters can make up for substandard food. And maybe someone who is new to the cuisine they are serving will not miss the lack of flavor. Also, we generally do not care for buffets, so that is tainting this review as well. We prefer the AYCE family style experiences to the buffets.

Between Tusker House and Yak & Yeti, Yak and Yeti is much better in our opinion. However, I understand that Yak & Yeti does not have the same "Welcome to Disney" appeal.

Can you get lunch at Sanaa? That is better food and has the animals for a cool, "Now our vacation has really started" vibe.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We really enjoyed our Tusker House lunch buffet in September. The food variety was impressive, and we enjoyed most everything we tried. There were a lot of non-traditional options, but everyone in our group found something to enjoy.
In our case the character interaction wasn't the best, as it was quite crowded right at noon. Going a little earlier might help in that regard. I think your plan of following up with a Flame Tree dinner sounds great.

 

[FairytaleBelle]

My little brother and sister (8 and 5) loved the Tusker house lunch, especially my sister. For me and my mum, however, it had a school canteen feel, was very loud, and where we were seated meant that it took a long while for the characters to get to us, we ended up leaving and missing out on Mickey. Characters also seemed rather rushed- this is taken in comparison to the 1900 park fare character experience.
Having African family, the good was tasty, but not authentic, I speak in particular of the jeloff rice and plantain.

This sounds very negative, it wasnt that bad!! In the end, I didn't leave hungry and didn't regret going. It just wast what I was expecting (it was my first character meal).

 

[katt789]

I really loved TH lunch! They had a little more variety in the dishes, a little more African Flair to them that made lunch delicious!!

The adr schedule looks great!

If youve done CM before I'd suggest going with Cape May! I've heard more good things about it than CM!

 

[sunflowerfields]

We had lunch at Tusker House June 5th. I believe our reservation was for 11:20 and there was both breakfast and lunch items on the menu. We all thought it was very good and really enjoyed the characters too. It was a good experience and fun for our family but also our first trip so have nothing to compare too.

I thought all the food was very good.

 

[MinnieLee]

Great choice for Tusker House. We really loved it.

Also, I would definitely change your Chef Mickey's to Cape May especially since you are spending the day at EPCOT and are already staying at Beach Club. From BC to World Showcase it is a 10 minute walk. We love BC and Cape May has a really nice buffet and the characters in their "beach" outfits. No Mickey but you will have Mickey at Tusker House with his safari clothes.

 

[phdhycster]

We loved,loved, loved the Tusker House buffet for lunch. Great variety but it is a tad loud however that does not stop us from eating there every trip!

 

[bumbershoot]

Tusker House Character Lunch - Good Choice?

YES.

Tusker House was loud and the ethnic food did not fair well on the buffet.

Oh wow, I disagree so much! I think the foods there are terrific, and don't suffer at all. But maybe we're just eating different foods; I'm vegetarian, so maybe it's the meat that isn't doing well sitting there? Everything else is delicious.

I've only been to Boma for breakfast, and it was possibly the most boring Disney breakfast I've had (including Chef Mickeys in the comparison), but I can't compare lunch to lunch, obviously.

 

[Wendy31]

We did Tusker House lunch in April and had a great time. There was a nice selection of normal and specialty items in the buffet.

Getting seated took a little longer than I would have expected... just shy of 30 min from getting in line until we got to our table. Note that there was a character meet with Safari Donald in that time though. That might have also been due to the our ADR time being 1p (ie, just after the lunch rush)

When we got to our seats, the other characters were just getting to our area which worked out well. In under 10 minutes we had finished with Goofy, Daisy, and Mickey. Thus we were able to complete our meal without having to stop for pics.

The entire family had a good time and we would go back again.

I hope we don't have a long wait! Our ADR time is at 11:30, but I'm thinking about making it for a little earlier.

It will be our first day in Disney, &, since we've shortened our trip by 3 days, I know we're not going to want lengthy wait times at restaurants.

That's good that the characters all came by your table quickly!

We've had both kinds of experiences at Crystal Palace - some times where we were in & out quickly & other times where we were waiting on characters to come by.

Tusker House is one of my very favorite in-park restaurants, and is great for either breakfast or lunch. You get the same characters at lunch as at breakfast, and I think the lunch has more interesting food available. Including all-you-care-to-eat baklava, which is very handy. And dangerous. They have some more adventurous selections, but they also have stuff that's very middle-of-the-road. Everyone should be able to find something.

Enjoy!

Oh good! DH & I like to try new things, & we both enjoy the dinner buffet at Boma. I was worried about our kids finding things that they'll like to eat which is one reason why I thought about changing it to breakfast; however, DH said the lunch buffet sounded better to him. Plus, he didn't want to take up valuable "park touring time" for a breakfast.

And I love baklava!

My DH and I ate at Tusker House before it was a character meal. We chose to eat here because we enjoy ethnic food. However, we would not go back. We also tried Boma and it is much better than Tusker House. However, we were not huge fans of either. The food at Boma was fresher. Tusker House was loud and the ethnic food did not fair well on the buffet.

That being said, characters can make up for substandard food. And maybe someone who is new to the cuisine they are serving will not miss the lack of flavor. Also, we generally do not care for buffets, so that is tainting this review as well. We prefer the AYCE family style experiences to the buffets.

Between Tusker House and Yak & Yeti, Yak and Yeti is much better in our opinion. However, I understand that Yak & Yeti does not have the same "Welcome to Disney" appeal.

Can you get lunch at Sanaa? That is better food and has the animals for a cool, "Now our vacation has really started" vibe.

We really enjoy the dinner buffet at Boma, so I hope we like the lunch buffet at Tusker House.

We love Yak & Yeti! In fact, before we changed/shortened our trip, we had a dinner ADR at Yak & Yeti for 4:45 pm. So, we'll definitely miss Yak & Yeti this trip!

I thought about dinner at Sanaa - it's on my list of "places to try," but, since I probably won't be able to get another dinner ADR at 'Ohana, I was trying to find another fun "Welcome to Disney!" meal for the kids. And Tusker House seemed to fit the bill.

And I'm not a huge fan of buffets either! The only place I'll eat at a buffet is Disney! LOL! In our usual 10-day trips, we normally do 2 buffets. Now, in our shorter 7 day trip, I've got 3!

Great choice I love Tusker house I've never had a bad experience to for it.

disney lover at heart

That's great to hear!! I'm getting a little excited about trying a new restaurant!

We really enjoyed our Tusker House lunch buffet in September. The food variety was impressive, and we enjoyed most everything we tried. There were a lot of non-traditional options, but everyone in our group found something to enjoy.
In our case the character interaction wasn't the best, as it was quite crowded right at noon. Going a little earlier might help in that regard. I think your plan of following up with a Flame Tree dinner sounds great.

I hope we like it too!

Again, our ADR is for 11:30, but I'm wondering if it would be better if I could get an 11:00 or 11:15 ADR?

We really enjoy Flame Tree - it's DH's favorite quick-service in WDW. We normally have lunch there.

I know AK closes at 5:00 pm, so I hope they're still open for dinner around 4:30 pm - that's a little early for us for dinner though. We'll probably have to snack later that night at our resort!

I really loved TH lunch! They had a little more variety in the dishes, a little more African Flair to them that made lunch delicious!!

The adr schedule looks great!

If youve done CM before I'd suggest going with Cape May! I've heard more good things about it than CM!

DH thought the menu looked really good too!

If we stay at the Beach Club, I'm definitely going to cancel our Chef Mickey's breakfast & switch to Cape May!

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's has always been a tradition for us, so it will be hard to get rid of it though... especially since we're not eating at 2 of our other "traditional" restaurants - CRT & 'Ohana.

We're thinking about switching to the Poly; if we switch to the Poly, we may try the 'Ohana character breakfast instead of Chef Mickey's since we can't get a dinner ADR at 'Ohana.

We had lunch at Tusker House June 5th. I believe our reservation was for 11:20 and there was both breakfast and lunch items on the menu. We all thought it was very good and really enjoyed the characters too. It was a good experience and fun for our family but also our first trip so have nothing to compare too.

I thought all the food was very good.

Did you have a long wait at 11:20? I may switch our ADR to 11:20ish.

Great choice for Tusker House. We really loved it.

Also, I would definitely change your Chef Mickey's to Cape May especially since you are spending the day at EPCOT and are already staying at Beach Club. From BC to World Showcase it is a 10 minute walk. We love BC and Cape May has a really nice buffet and the characters in their "beach" outfits. No Mickey but you will have Mickey at Tusker House with his safari clothes.

We're also eating at Garden Grill, so we'll see Mickey there as well.

Again, if we stay at the Beach Club, we'll go w/ Cape May instead of Chef Mickey's - it just makes so much more sense!

Plus, I'm all about the beach, so I think seeing Minnie & Goofy in their beach attire will be fun!

If we switch to the Poly, I'm trying to decide wether or not to stay w/ Chef Mickey's or go w/ the character breakfast at 'Ohana. I'd like to try the character breakfast at 'Ohana, but, then, we wouldn't be having a character meal w/ Minnie Mouse.

We loved,loved, loved the Tusker House buffet for lunch. Great variety but it is a tad loud however that does not stop us from eating there every trip!

YES.


Oh wow, I disagree so much! I think the foods there are terrific, and don't suffer at all. But maybe we're just eating different foods; I'm vegetarian, so maybe it's the meat that isn't doing well sitting there? Everything else is delicious.

I've only been to Boma for breakfast, and it was possibly the most boring Disney breakfast I've had (including Chef Mickeys in the comparison), but I can't compare lunch to lunch, obviously.

Great!!

I've really never read a bad review on Tusker House!

Thanks so much, y'all!! I'm excited about Tusker House now & think it will nice substitute to 'Ohana.

I'm just wondering now if I should make our ADR for a little earlier...