Donald at Tusker House????

[stitch34]

When did they change this? Thought he'd be walking around the restaurant for photos at the table?

Well, we arrived, and there his cute self was, standing outside. My autistic son LOVES Donald. He broke free and ran right up to him, started petting his fur on his tummy. Then I hear sorry, little boy, you have to wait in line for your special photo with Donald. Huh? He's now a paid photo op - they take the picture, bring it around to the table and then charge you for it. Ugh.
So we tried to wait in line, but my son was upset and just wasn't having it at all. When we got to Donald he was just upset and over it - so didn't even get to snap a shot with my own camera, let alone the paid photo op.

When did they change this? Friends went in May - said he was coming around to the table.

Positive note - Mickey was super duper cute in his safari gear and we loved the glazed donuts. Pretty much the only food we liked, actually. Eggs (perhaps a bad batch?), were hard and dry, and didn't care for the other offerings.

 

[whogirl'smom]

That is so sad and ridiculous. We were there last fall and Donald was inside. There's hardly a character meal left that they're not hawking a picture package. Sorry your little one was upset there and sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy the food. This was one of our favorite meals last year; we got there at the end of breakfast so we got that and lunch and both were superb!

 

[gracie1]

So who are the characters that are inside? I have this restaurant booked but if they want you to buy the photo's and there's not many characters inside then we may cancel this one. The whole point of paying all the money for breakfast is for the character interaction!

 

[Tisha_PA]

When we were there in March, Donald was walking around inside. They took a photo of you before you got sat but there weren't any characters in it. My guess is that not enough people were buying the photo so they added Donald into it to increase sales.

 

[brandylouwho]

We saw Goofy, Mickey, Daisy & Minnie inside. Didn't buy the Donald picture-but did get a decent one with him on our own camera. I also dislike all the selling photo packages at character meals. I was about ready to tell the lady I didn't even want to see the photo 'cause I'm not buying! At least they still let you take pics on your own camera too.

 

[ReggieB]

I'm thinking they changed it because people didn't want to buy the photo they took outside. I don't find those shots particularly exciting, nice to have group photo, but rarely do I buy those ones.

I imagine Disney probably asked a few people, and the response was that they would be more likely to buy the photo if a character was in it. Now I don't know if this is really what happened, but at a guess it has something to do with sales.

So sorry, you had a bad experience. The photographers could have prehaps handled it a little better. It serves as a reminder that we need to prepare our kids in advance for this sort of thing, easier said than done though..

My family loves the food at TH, by the way. By far one of the better buffets, but I guess not on your day.

 

[amandelba]

I may be in the minority here, but I don't mind the line-up photos. You can get just as much character interaction and it provides for a better background for pictures than dirty dishes and other tables. And Disney lets you take pictures with your own camera and will even take them for you so you can get in the shot.

 

[mom2rtk]

I understand your circumstances are different, but I do like the "photo op" pictures better. No half empty plates or drinks showing. It's a nicer "take home" photo. You don't have to buy the photo, so take what you need on your own. Maybe they'll soon go the way of Akershus and CRT and include the photo in the price of the meal.

Either way, we can't wait to meet Donald in his safari gear in September!

 

[jcemom]

Bummer. I don't like having to stand in line before I eat to meet a character. We'll do it, but I don't like it. Usually we just skip the Donald's and Chef Mickey's photos altogether since they don't have any characters in them. I agree with PPs who think they changed it because they weren't selling enough photos. So, I'll stand in line to meet Donald, but I still won't be buying the overpriced photos. I'll take one with my own camera.

 

[irishdadx4]

We had an 8:30am ADR Aug 21 for Tusker House. We showed up about 8:00 and they let us in. We got to the back where they let you in, said we had to wait in line for our Donald pic. We asked if we could just skip it. That really threw them for a loop. A couple of CM's asked if we wanted the pic, and when we said we didnt, they were thrown off their mark a bit. But we got seated right away, in the school house, had the other characters start in our room, had lots of great food. Loved the sweet potatoes especially.yum yum, got pics, autographs, lots of good food. and out to the park by 9:15, beating all the crowds to the safari. Can't wait to do it again next year

 

[SassyCat]

Ugh, I don't like this.

I'm not a fan of the picture packages. The ones I have gotten in the past (CRT 2 times - don't mind this one since it is included in the price and hoop dee doo review not included), have looked pretty bad. The quality of the print out has looked really awful to me - we have turned out pink/red when we don't on the photopass pics or our own camera. I know they have to print them out quickly so they are ready during your meal, but they look to me like they came off of someone's really poor quality printer at home.

I really regretted paying the $30 for the hoop dee doo one. $30 is just too ridiculous, in my opinion, to pay for the quality of photos you get.

I really don't like that they are taking the main character of the breakfast and doing it this way and then charging. It is one think to do it like CRT or Akershus, but to pay the already insane expensive character meal price and then another $30 for a photo with donald...boo.

 

[qcmommy]

There are still characters in the restaurant right?

 

[Hootch]

We eat at CM every trip. Previously they had the photo op with Goofy. This trip they had it with a Mickey statue and Goofy roaming the floor.

 

[mom2rtk]

There are still characters in the restaurant right?

Yes, but isn't Donald pretty much the star here???

At least if if you buy the package, you can add it to your photopass and print a better copy later......

 

[kathyell]

This is so odd! We were just there on August 7th of this year and Donald was inside and our picture op was just us in front of the wall outside. I wonder how recently they changed this, or if we just happened to get seated when Donald was pulled off the picture ops for some reason. He did come around to the tables in the restaurant, too. I'm sorry your son didn't get the Donald interaction he was looking forward to.

 

[kidsicet]

We were there on Aug. 23rd, and I was really surprised that Donald was outside posing for pictures with the diners. It kind of threw me for a loop. We were following the lead of people in front of us, and no one got an autograph from Donald. Maybe he would have signed if we asked, but I was just so surprised by the whole set-up.

We got to meet Goofy, Mickey and Daisy. That was it. I was hoping for Minnie, too. The food was good, and our waiter was great - very entertaining and "up" while we were kind of dragging that early in the morning.

When they came by with our photo with Donald and told us the price (If I remember right - it was a little over $30), we politely declined. That was way too much money in my opinion.

There was a good variety of food to choose from on the buffet, and the kids enjoyed the atmosphere a lot. It was fun, and I'd do it again, but I just wish Donald would come around to the tables.

The last time we were at Chef Mickey's, Donald was the "greeter", while we were waiting for our tables. I think it would be very disappointing if they changed it to have a photo op with Mickey at the beginning, and then not have him greet people at their tables.

 

[SassyCat]

The last time we were at Chef Mickey's, Donald was the "greeter", while we were waiting for our tables. I think it would be very disappointing if they changed it to have a photo op with Mickey at the beginning, and then not have him greet people at their tables.

Is there usually at greeter at CM?

I have just had breakfast at CM once (on this past July 4), and there was no greeter - just the plates background for the photo. We skipped by doing this photo.

 

[jen2207]

My first thought was "Oh they finally have a character to get your picture taken with??" I never understood why Disney would have you get your picture taken before entering TH with no real photo props or scenery to warrant it. Sorry it wasn't a good situation for your family though.

 

[tink too]

Sorry you did not enjoy your meal at Tusker House.

They took a photo of you before you got sat but there weren't any characters in it. My guess is that not enough people were buying the photo so they added Donald into it to increase sales.

When we were there in April, most folks (including us) didn't even bother standing for the photo outside. If I want a photo of us with a wall as the background, I can take one of those at my own house!

We saw Goofy, Mickey, Daisy & Minnie inside.

Those were the same characters we saw in April - and Donald of course!

 

[jana616]

Has anyone who's been there recently tried to get an autograph from Donald outside? Just curious if he'll sign. It seems like it would make the line much slower, so I would think not. I'm a little bummed about this change. We go for the first time on 9/11, and I was planning that we could just skip that line altogether. To get a pic taken with our own camera, do I just ask when they pose us?