PPO breakfast at Tusker - to keep or not to keep??

[Babs1975]

So I have 2 options for Tusker House breakfast at AK - 8:05 or 10:15. Park opens at 9. My dilemma is wanting to get to Safari at RD. I don't want to feel rushed at breakfast. If eating at 8:05, will there be enough time to eat and then get to Safari before the RD crowd comes in? Do they ever let people in early before 9:00 at AK? Right now I don't have a Safari FP so I need to get to it at RD. I could change my plan and get a Safari FP so I wouldn't have to worry at breakfast, but I'm not sure it's worth all that. I'd really prefer to just do it at RD and have to FP for something else. What to do?

 

[Travis B]

Can you do the Safari at RD and then head over to the 10:15 breakfast? I wouldn't try to fit breakfast - especially a character breakfast - into such a short time. What if you don't get seated until 8:15? Given what you'll be paying for breakfast you might as well take the time and enjoy it, get character pics, etc. Rushing it first thing could start the day out so wrong in so many different ways.

 

[laughinplace199]

OP, are you going at a particularly busy time? We always do the 8:05 ADR and then go to the safari right after without much of a wait. Now if it's the week of Christmas or Easter, things may be different, but it would be fine for a moderately busy time of year.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

So I have 2 options for Tusker House breakfast at AK - 8:05 or 10:15. Park opens at 9. My dilemma is wanting to get to Safari at RD. I don't want to feel rushed at breakfast. If eating at 8:05, will there be enough time to eat and then get to Safari before the RD crowd comes in? Do they ever let people in early before 9:00 at AK? Right now I don't have a Safari FP so I need to get to it at RD. I could change my plan and get a Safari FP so I wouldn't have to worry at breakfast, but I'm not sure it's worth all that. I'd really prefer to just do it at RD and have to FP for something else. What to do?

We always allow 90 minutes for Tusker House and usually get out within 60-70 minutes. The Safari is best experienced early in the morning, last thing before park close or in the rain when the animals are most active. I would take the 10:15am Tusker House reservation, do the safari once or twice at RP and then enjoy breakfast. Also at 11am, the food starts to change over from breakfast to lunch so you can get a great choices from both breakfast and lunch selections if you're there after at the cross over.

 

[vinotinto]

In the early morning, you get seated quickly without a wait. If you can be at the park entrance by 7:45, you would be able to get to TH with plenty of time to eat your breakfast and see the characters. It's a very peaceful walk into the park - much more peaceful than rope drop.

They do let people in early, but by the time they get to Africa, you should also be walking out of TH, and you will already had had a more pleasant start to your day. Just ask for the check when your waiter/waitress takes your drink orders.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We did a 10:45 at Tusker and I am glad we did. At RD we went to Everest and rode 3x then headed to Safari which was basically walk on. This was a Saturday morning mid December. Tusker took quite a while and I still felt rushed. I think the best advantage to a PPO is that it might be a better atmosphere in there. It was pretty chaotic when we went.

 

[bumbershoot]

I find nothing compelling enough at Tusker *breakfast* to do a PPO there. Eat light, have fun at AK early, and save Tusker for lunch!

 

[22Tink]

We did an 8am breakfast at Tusker House last year and easily made it out in time to get onto the safari with only a 5 or 10 minute wait.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We really like Tusker House. We used to always do a PPO, but felt rushed. Now we are there for rope drop, ride Safari at rope drop, then ride Everest a few times before a 10:45am breakfast. We are ready for a break by this time and we sometimes get to eat a bit of breakfast and a bit of lunch.

 

[jvsims]

We always do the 8:05 TH then Safari without issue. TH is very close to the entrance of Safari, so that helps. I have the kids visit the restroom & head to the TH exit before 9:00. Sometimes they have had a PhotoPass person taking family photos with Donald prior to entering TH...if they still do that and the line is long, I have asked to skip that & head on in. You can also ask to settle your bill early on instead of waiting until the end. It makes for a nice morning entering the park early...& they have a lovely carved ham with awesome mustard sauce...and good juice...and chocolate croissants

 

[Babs1975]

OP, are you going at a particularly busy time? We always do the 8:05 ADR and then go to the safari right after without much of a wait. Now if it's the week of Christmas or Easter, things may be different, but it would be fine for a moderately busy time of year.

We are going the week after Thanksgiving. A light to moderate day I would say. Thanks for all responses! Funny thing is, every other person gave me the opposite advice! LOL My DH and I have differing views. He likes the idea of avoiding RD and eating early and I would prefer to eat at 10:15 at a more leisurely pace. I know there's no wrong answer. Just have to figure out what we want to do.