Tusker House 1 and 1/2 stars?

[IncredibleboysMom]

I picked up the 2009 UG today and noticed that Tusker House was only given 1 and 1/2 stars. Anyone know why? I thought it had been given pretty good reviews. I will rethink breakfast there if it's just good for characters and not for food.

 

[Kristineamb]

Can only speak for the Donald's Safari breakfast served here (never been for lunch or dinner.) We have been twice (December 2007 and September 2008) and were very pleased each time. The food, atmosphere, service, character interaction were all good-great. We like breakfast food. Don't expect it to be a relaxing meal since its a buffet and have to get up to get your food and the characters inevitably come while your trying to eat but its still a good time! Try the Jumo Juice!

 

[brendaziz]

We just returned today from the World and me and my hubby both agreed that the donald breakfast was our favorite meal of the trip. So I'd say definitely still go if you have reservations. Also, if you go before the park opens then you're right by the safari and beat the mop coming in when the rope drops! Very fun

 

[kldmom2000]

We had lunch there last month and it was honestly our favorite meal of the week! The food was EXCELLENT.... different than any other buffet (never did Boma-but I hear it's similar). The service was awesome.... definitely a must-do again next time!

 

[isyne4u]

Another vote for this being one of the best meals on property! We've eaten their for two breakfasts and two dinners and the were all fantastic!! Even my very picky eaters enjoyed it!

I think the UG is wrong! Go for it and enjoy it!

tara

 

[nbodyhome]

I've done lunch and dinner at Tusker House and it's one of my new favorite restaurants on property.

 

[SmallWorld71]

We went for breakfast a few weeks ago. The food was delicious, the server great but the character interaction was the worst I've ever had. They practically ran through the rooms to get to each table. My daughter had on a special shirt she'd worn that had all the characters from the meal and she told each one and they completely brushed her off. Very unlike all the other character meals we've ever been to. The guests around us were also not happy. Luckily we'd seen plenty of other characters that trip, so my kids weren't upset and it was free dining so I didn't feel I was wasting my money, but I won't be returning unless things change.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have never agreed with most of the restaurant rating in the UG and jusdt ignore them.

 

[DVCajun]

We went for breakfast a few weeks ago. The food was delicious, the server great but the character interaction was the worst I've ever had. They practically ran through the rooms to get to each table. My daughter had on a special shirt she'd worn that had all the characters from the meal and she told each one and they completely brushed her off. Very unlike all the other character meals we've ever been to. The guests around us were also not happy. Luckily we'd seen plenty of other characters that trip, so my kids weren't upset and it was free dining so I didn't feel I was wasting my money, but I won't be returning unless things change.

This happens at all of the character dining meals occasionally. It has nothing to do with which restaurant you're at -- more to do with the mood of the characters and what's going on behind the scenes.

I'd love to hear more about the food at TH -- can anyone share?

 

[Allison]

The best character interaction we have had was at Tusker House. Each character was at our table 2 or 3 times and spent plenty of time with us. They were in the room several other times also. They were also great with the table next to us which was all adults but who were really enjoying the interaction. One of them proposed to Daisy and Donald promptly came over and "challenged" the man. It was great.

The food was awesome. Everything was fresh and hot. You can't beat having ham carved for you for breakfast. It was a great breakfast.

 

[SmallWorld71]

This happens at all of the character dining meals occasionally. It has nothing to do with which restaurant you're at -- more to do with the mood of the characters and what's going on behind the scenes.

I'd love to hear more about the food at TH -- can anyone share?

I'll certainly agree with you here. For example, I've seen plenty of complaints about Chef Mickey's, but I've eaten there three times and had great character interaction each time. And while our character interaction at Tusker House was really bad, it's good to see that others have had much better experiences.

I wish I could remember more about the food, except that it was great. The breakfast selection was huge and very fresh. They had everything from pastries (delicious chocolate croissants!), to fresh fruit and yogurt, to traditional scrambled eggs, bacon etc., to yummy Mickey waffles to less traditional items like cheese blintzes and a meat carving station (the ham was great!) I can not imagine anyone going there and not finding something to enjoy.

I also agree that you shouldn't base you dining choices solely on other people's experiences. We would have missed out on some great experiences if we had. The UG never seems to agree with our favorites.

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

I can't believe they only gave it 1 1/2 stars!! What did the reader responses say?? I usually go by that more than the reviewers opinion! Glad we've already tried it and LOVED it! Normally I wouldn't try any place that had less than 3 stars, but we Tusker was one of our faves!!! Great food, tons of choices, I can't comment on the character interaction because my then 5 yr old is still not REAL comfortable with them. He'd hug Mickey, but other than that, we pretty much just told them nicely to go ahead to the next table! The kids did love the dancing they did which was different than at Breakfastasauras.

 

[matthew_hull]

I just got back, and I had a pre-park-opening breakfast at Tusker House. The food is just fine; the service was terrific. I loved their special juice (can't remember their cute name for it, but its a juice mixture and was wonderful). The character interaction was rushed. I would definately recommend the restaurant. Certainly deserves better than 1.5 stars, IMHO.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I just got back, and I had a pre-park-opening breakfast at Tusker House. The food is just fine; the service was terrific. I loved their special juice (can't remember their cute name for it, but its a juice mixture and was wonderful). The character interaction was rushed. I would definately recommend the restaurant. Certainly deserves better than 1.5 stars, IMHO.

Is the juice called "Jungle Juice?" It was very good. Similar to the Lilikoi juice at the Poly although slightly different IMHO. Sounds like your experience was similar to ours; our ADR was pre-park opening as well.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We did Tuskers earlier this month, for dinner, and based on that experience, won't be returning. We had a late ADR 7:50 (park closed at 8 p.m., EMH p.m.). The place was almost empty which surprised me since I had to make many calls to DD to get an ADR.

The food was just okay, most of it was barely warm. It was kind of weird being in there with only 3-4 other families. After sitting for about 10 min. we were told our server was done for the day and another server took over (we actually never saw the first one) Our server was good, but the food was sub-par. Unlike other times when we've had late ADRs they weren't replenishing the food, or keeping it hot.

Sorry if I'm one of the few who didn't care for it.

The best thing about the meal was that we got to leave after AK closed and took our time walking out of a mostly desserted park. I took alot of pix.

 

[Dizzytime]

Tusker House is one of our favorite restaurants for both breakfast and dinner. It's been great food, and the safari characters at breakfast were wonderful.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We have an 8:05 breakfast ADR next month. I'm curious to see what we'll think. I don't have a recent UG, but we've always seemed to agree with their reviews, instead of the guest ranking, in the past. I'm sure it will be great though. We get in the park early, & it's hard to mess up breakfast foods. How can you go wrong with that combo?

 

[dsneygirl]

We did TH for both breakfast and lunch this past trip. The food and service were good both times. However we had a weird experience with the characters. We sat for at least 30-45min before seeing the first character. In fact our server came by and asked if we wanted the bill and I said "um, we haven't even seen one character yet" So ourselves and probably 2 or 3 other families sat after our tables had been cleared and waited for characters.

The server said since we were all sat just as the characters were finishing our room they had to make their way all the way around the restaurant before coming back. So it was rushed.

I thought of it as an off day since we had a good experience in Dec last year.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

The Breakfast food was wonderful! The characters were great but do move fast.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Cheshire is right--never base any dining decisions on what's in the UG(H).