Is Tusker House going downhill?

[Mrs~Incredible]

I have always read amazing reviews here, and really wanted to go last trip but didn’t make it, so was going to make it a must-do this trip for either breakfast or dinner.

BUT, I am reading recent reviews (another forum) complaining about food quality, chaos, and very long waits to get seated (like an hour) and it’s starting to scare me off.

It will be DH, 7yo Dd and myself. We are not on the dining plan.

Thanks!!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . I am reading recent reviews (another forum) complaining about food quality, chaos, and very long waits to get seated (like an hour) . . . ./QUOTE]

YES, next question ???

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Bummer. But I’d rather know now and choose a different place.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I think so. We didn't have issues with waits or chaos but the food offerings seem to have gotten much more limited. I feel like they had a lot more options 3 years ago and they included a lot more Asian and African inspired breads, entrees, etc in the past.

 

[michellej47]

Following. I have booked breakfast here for our AK day, but I may rethink it!

 

[chicagodisfan]

I think so. We didn't have issues with waits or chaos but the food offerings seem to have gotten much more limited. I feel like they had a lot more options 3 years ago and they included a lot more Asian and African inspired breads, entrees, etc in the past.

I agree with this. Our first time there 4 years ago, I loved it and it was a surprise hit. The food was interesting and unique, there was great character interaction and it was an overall fun meal. We’ve been twice since and my impressions have steadily declined until after our last trip in April I turned to DH and said that we didn’t have to come back anymore, which for me was a big deal because it was a must do. We waited maybe 20 minutes for our dinner reservation which wasn’t awful but there were tons of people waiting and the restaurant just felt more crowded. The parade was less often and not as fun as before and the food, while fine, did not have nearly as many choices or as interesting ones as when we first went years ago. If it’s your first time going you might still enjoy it. The costumes are cute and it’s a fun theme. It’s better if you are on the dining plan, and better yet if you are on the dining plan and want the ROL dinner package.

 

[oceanscape]

Yes. We went for lunch last week and it was AWFUL. Food was disgusting - we are not fussy eaters but literally no items were edible; the quality was disgusting - it was worse than you'd expect from the cheapest strip mall buffet. The restaurant was also filthy; think sticky tables, discarded food and plates on the floor. I read a review on TripAdvisor from someone who saw mice and I am not at all surprised. Also, someone else said they took the corn covering off of the corn dogs and the dog was GREEN with mould. Absolutely horrifying to think I let my children eat those. The desserts, in particular, were ridiculous - cheap, bulk-baked cookies and those "cream square" type things which taste of nothing but sugar and which are no doubt loaded with artificial colors.

We will NEVER return and were disgusted we spent so much money on such a disappointing lunch.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am not sure if it is going downhill, but I know we do not like it. The breakfast we had a few years ago was hectic and slow all at the same time. It seemed really cluttered in there and the character interaction was hurried, when they finally got to us.

My DD family tried it for lunch not too long ago and they said they are done. It was "terrible" and they will never go back.

I feel there are so many places for us to choose, if one restaurant is not what we can justify the cost vs the experience, we choose another.

So, with all that negative feedback, I still say if you want to try it, do not worry about reviews. See for yourself, because personal expectations, experiences, and tastes vary. I like Chef Mickey's so what do I know? LOL!

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Wow. I’m glad i asked. I did notice that the menu does not seem quite as adventurous- and I think for breakfast they had a ham carving station years ago and I think that’s gone? Not that ham is adventurous, but I love me some breakfast meats


@Nancyg56 i agree, we may still try it if the fam wants to. Hollywood and Vine has bad reviews and we enjoyed it last year (not necessarily for the culinary delights, but some of it was good and we had a great experience with the characters)

It is expensive out of pocket, so we may opt for a different meal instead.

Thanks everyone.

 

[dledger]

I got the same feedback and thought the same thing! I was considering it for my DS (10mos) first trip but now I’m thinking I better not?

 

[KenHutch]

You have to remember one thing you could take of the reviews change the name of the restaurant and not notice anything. Almost all of Disney's restaurants have taken a dive down in the last 3-4 years as they downgrade quality of food to squeeze out even more profit.

 

[NiceOneSimba]

We ate lunch there in February. It didn't seem any more chaotic than any other character meal we've been at (and we've been to several in WDW and DL) and our only holdup was waiting for a chef to go over the allergy menu with us. Other than that, it was organized and the character interaction was what we expected. People were definitely coming around and clearing/bussing tables throughout our meal.

We had never been there before, but we found plenty to enjoy on the buffet, and all of it was the proper temperature and cooked well. I had no complaints about food quality or quantity.

Now that I look at the menu online, though, I don't see some of the stuff we really liked (the shrimp and the mealie pap, specifically). It looks like the chicken curry is still there and bread pudding is still there, though, and we both really enjoyed those.

I can see, though, that if you have family members that prefer more "standard" fare for lunch or dinner, that Tusker House might not be a good fit.

So, while I can't speak as to whether it used to be BETTER, we found it to be an enjoyable lunch for our family early this year, and we would totally be willing to go back if our AK plans included a table service meal.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I have always read amazing reviews here, and really wanted to go last trip but didn’t make it, so was going to make it a must-do this trip for either breakfast or dinner.

BUT, I am reading recent reviews (another forum) complaining about food quality, chaos, and very long waits to get seated (like an hour) and it’s starting to scare me off.

It will be DH, 7yo Dd and myself. We are not on the dining plan.

Thanks!!

We ate there the first week of September for breakfast. This was my first trip to disney with my wife and just about to be 3 year old daughter. During that trip we ate at CRT, Akershus, Tusker House and O’Hana for breakfast. Tusker House was easily the best breakfast we had. Akershus was a close second. CRT I thought was a great experience with not great food. I was completely unimpressed with O’hana. The only negative part of Tusker house was that there was a decent wait once we checked in, but we did only get there 5 minutes before our ADR, next time we’d get there eralier. Our daughter loved it.

 

[edsmiley]

We had breakfast here in August. We went in 2016 and really enjoyed it. This time, the food selection seemed much more limited. The unique food selection was smaller. This time, they had Krispy Kreme donut holes, which we thought were odd. Of course the kids were fine with them!

The biggest issue was the waitress was obviously trying to get us to leave as soon as we were done eating by continuing to say “she wasn’t rushing us out” every time she came over. She brought the bill quite early. Once the last character came by, she said she wasn’t rushing us out but that was the last character. Kept on asking if we needed anything else, but said she wasn’t rushing us out. Finally came over and said that they are “very busy this morning but s i am here until 4 so she is not rushing us out”. Thought it was very odd.

We had it booked for next month, but switched to Boma instead. No characters but we’ll give it a try.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We ate at Dinner at Tusker House for the first time in September this year and we have no complaints. Food was really good, service (drink refills) were on time when we ran low, characters were great! My kids love that place and we would definitely eat there again.

 

[Groot]

Book somewhere else. I ate there last year and there was nothing special about the food (even though it’s a buffet also, Chef Mickey’s is waaay better in food quality.)

 

[DaisyDuck001]

This was my top favorite restaurant at Disney World up until my two visits this year. No more beef. No more variety of several interesting salads and salad dressings. Less variety of unusual foods. I was really disappointed, as it's going from a must do to a maybe once in a while.

Also I agree with @KenHutch about other restaurants also reducing variety. For example, Garden View Tea no longer includes the cheese and grapes in the most basic service.

 

[BrianL]

I think so. We didn't have issues with waits or chaos but the food offerings seem to have gotten much more limited. I feel like they had a lot more options 3 years ago and they included a lot more Asian and African inspired breads, entrees, etc in the past.

I will agree. My trip there last week was somewhat disappointing because of the food changes. They removed the corned beef hash, and the rice and sweet potatoes dish from the breakfast offerings. There was some new curried chicken I think, but that doesn't appeal to me. My mom loved it though. I wouldn't say the quality has gone down per se, but the offerings are less interesting and that's unfortunate. I don't pay those kinds of prices to eat bacon and eggs!

 

[KrazeeK120]

My family and I ate breakfast there last week. We had a late seating (10:50). It was our first time there for breakfast - we had lunch there last year.

We waited about 5 minutes to be seated and the restaurant didn’t seem particularly hectic. The food wasn’t remarkable, but it was totally fine and completely edible! We were in and out in less than an hour, but didnt feel rushed. We met all of the characters and aren’t ones to linger over a meal.

 

[djc9699]

We had breakfast here in August. We went in 2016 and really enjoyed it. This time, the food selection seemed much more limited. The unique food selection was smaller. This time, they had Krispy Kreme donut holes, which we thought were odd. Of course the kids were fine with them!

The biggest issue was the waitress was obviously trying to get us to leave as soon as we were done eating by continuing to say “she wasn’t rushing us out” every time she came over. She brought the bill quite early. Once the last character came by, she said she wasn’t rushing us out but that was the last character. Kept on asking if we needed anything else, but said she wasn’t rushing us out. Finally came over and said that they are “very busy this morning but s i am here until 4 so she is not rushing us out”. Thought it was very odd.

We had it booked for next month, but switched to Boma instead. No characters but we’ll give it a try.

We had the total opposite experience last Christmas. We were trying to leave breakfast to get to the 12:00 FOLK and our waiter would not bring our check even though we asked 3 times. He kept saying we needed to see all the characters and try the lunch offerings. We finally told him if didn't bring the check, we were going to get a manager as we had somewhere to be. He got a little miffed but brought us the check. Strange how different experiences are. We have eaten here several times and it is different to us every time depending on the CM waiting on us and the food that is offered.