What I Heard Today about Donald's Breakfast Safari

[engle]

The CM I talked to today confirmed with her supervisor that Donald's Safari Breakfast (taking the place of Breakfastosaurus in another restaurant as the character breakfast at AK) will not be opening until next year.

So sad for us.

 

[dqpowell]

That would qualify as a rumor at the moment. I talked with a CM today on the phone about it and she said it was expected to open later this year. Her story coincides with the announcement made a few weeks ago.

I'll be disappointed if the CM you spoke with is correct.

David

 

[engle]

Was there ever an OFFICIAL announcement from Disney regarding the opening? If so, can someone tell me where to find it...the CM I spoke with asked where I heard about it...but it was here and she said she can't really investigate things that are on unofficial websites.

 

[dqpowell]

Every reliable source for this kind of closing info reported the same thing:

Tusker House at Animal Kingdom is being converted to a buffet service restaurant to open in early November. [...] To make the necessary renovations, Tusker house will be closed from August 20 until November 17th. During this time, the Safari Celebration Dinner Grand Gathering will be unavailable. The last Safari Grand Gathering will be on August 19th. It will return on November 25th. [...]

There was more info, but irrelevant to the discussion.

The CMs making reservations can only tell you what they know -- and what they know is that Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House isn't in their reservation system yet. If you pressed them for more information it's entirely possible that they told you it wouldn't open until "next year" as a guess.

In any case, "An ADR CM told me" qualifies as a rumor, especially given the fact that none of the reliable sources for Disney news have said anything similar.

David

 

[engle]

I wasn't trying to start an argument...just asking for more info. Yeah, it is a rumor...I don't pretend to be some font of truthful Disney knowledge. But can you answer the question???? WAS THERE AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND WHERE CAN I FIND IT????

 

[dqpowell]

I wasn't trying to be argumentative either... I apologize if it came across that way. I was trying to explain my rationale for considering your report a rumor rather than fact.

I saw the information published on both allears.net and the Unofficial Guide's website. Both sites have Disney insiders who feed them information, and both have been reliable with past reporting of closing dates, etc.

Disney doesn't do press releases for every construction or improvement project. If it involves a major attraction, they do a press release. If it's a change to one or two of their hundreds of eateries, they skip the "official" press release and the information is given to trusted outlets/fan sites like those mentioned above.

On the other hand, CMs taking ADRs over the phone tend to be behind the curve with any information that doesn't show up on their reservation system screens. Some are more knowledgeable than others, but overall I put very little faith in what somebody says an ADR CM said. For example, in another thread on this forum earlier today, somebody reported that a CM told her that Le Cellier has never had a cancellation in 10 years. Patently ridiculous.

I'm not saying the information you got was definitely wrong. But at the moment, it seems less reliable than the reports I've seen published elsewhere.

David

 

[daandcb]

I really hope it is in fact open for our trip. Donald is my sons favorite and thats the one place he asked to eat. I know we can see him elsewhere though.

 

[Fire14]

I really hope it is in fact open for our trip. Donald is my sons favorite and thats the one place he asked to eat. I know we can see him elsewhere though.

FYI I have seen mr Donald at Chef Mickey's dinner almost every trip in last Years.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I know that no one knows for sure but does anyone know how soon ADR's can be made for a new resturant (based on other resturant openings)? If it is announced that the Sfari breakfast will open 11-17 will you be able to make ressies before?

 

[dqpowell]

I know that no one knows for sure but does anyone know how soon ADR's can be made for a new resturant (based on other resturant openings)? If it is announced that the Sfari breakfast will open 11-17 will you be able to make ressies before?

They'll accept reservations for it once it's entered into their reservation system. When will they do that? I don't think it's predictable.

David

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

They'll accept reservations for it once it's entered into their reservation system. When will they do that? I don't think it's predictable.

David

Thanks. My DD went to Breakfastasaurous last year and it was her favorite meal. She was so upset that it will be gone when we go in December. Hopefully it will be open by then.

 

[dee slack]

I know that no one knows for sure but does anyone know how soon ADR's can be made for a new resturant (based on other resturant openings)? If it is announced that the Sfari breakfast will open 11-17 will you be able to make ressies before?

I asked today when I'd be able to make a ressie for mid Dec, but the cm said she had no date at present.

 

[daandcb]

FYI I have seen mr Donald at Chef Mickey's dinner almost every trip in last Years.

Thanks....we did see him there last year when we ate there but my son liked the breakfastorous better....well he asked for that one anyways.

 

[dee slack]

I'm a little confused - can anyone confirm whether Donald is at CM's for brekkie or dinner?

 

[sunee]

I wasn't trying to start an argument...just asking for more info. Yeah, it is a rumor...I don't pretend to be some font of truthful Disney knowledge. But can you answer the question???? WAS THERE AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND WHERE CAN I FIND IT????

Sometimes (and I'm not referring to any one person), you have to comb through a response to see that the answer is "No" or "I don't know." People don't always like to just say, "I dunno."

"At this time, there hasn't been any official word from Disney regarding the blah, blah, blah...unsure as to whether...in the past...may or may not...I really don't think..." means they don't know any better than you do.

 

[sunee]

I'm a little confused - can anyone confirm whether Donald is at CM's for brekkie or dinner?

I'm assuming that "brekkie" means breakfast...and on that assumption, I'll answer, "Yes."

Donald has been making appearances at Chef Mickey's. As of now, he shows up. We had breakfast there a few weeks ago and there he was.

 

[dqpowell]

Sometimes (and I'm not referring to any one person), you have to comb through a response to see that the answer is "No" or "I don't know." People don't always like to just say, "I dunno."

And sometimes, the answer isn't so simple as a yes/no. Disney does not do official press releases for the numerous updates/changes to most of their eateries each year. The information is "unofficially" fed to Disney fan sites, who report on it. That is what happened with Donald's Safari Breakfast.

The fact is that those sources (allears.net, etc) have been historically reliable. If they give dates, those dates are almost always correct. And if there are delays, they report on those as well, and the updated information is almost always correct.

When one of those sources reports a delay in the project that will push the opening into "next year," I'll believe it. But a second- or third-hand word-of-mouth report from one ADR CM doesn't seem terribly credible to me.

David

 

[sunee]

And sometimes, the answer isn't so simple as a yes/no. Disney does not do official press releases for the numerous updates/changes to most of their eateries each year. The information is "unofficially" fed to Disney fan sites, who report on it. That is what happened with Donald's Safari Breakfast.

The fact is that those sources (allears.net, etc) have been historically reliable. If they give dates, those dates are almost always correct. And if there are delays, they report on those as well, and the updated information is almost always correct.

When one of those sources reports a delay in the project that will push the opening into "next year," I'll believe it. But a second- or third-hand word-of-mouth report from one ADR CM doesn't seem terribly credible to me.

David

It is one rumor over another. The truth is you don't know...none of us do. Everything from/about Disney has to be taken with a grain of salt.

So, you can't predict the future...nothing wrong with that, for Pete's sake.

And it is allearsnet.com, not allears.net - for everyone else. I know YOU know that, it was just a typo - but someone is going to search that and up saying, "Huh."

Like I said before, I wasn't referring to YOU in particular. Lots of people on the boards give loooong, drawn-out answers that (when you take out all the IFs and "here's what I heard"s and "I think"s and such...when you take out anything that isn't FACT) can be summed up with: "I don't know."

 

[dqpowell]

It is one rumor over another. The truth is you don't know...none of us do. Everything from/about Disney has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Good grief... it is not one rumor over another. It is an announcement made on several sites which have a history of accurate information about such things vs. somebody saying they heard from an ADR CM that it wouldn't open until next year. One of those sources is worth putting some trust in and the other isn't.

And it is allearsnet.com, not allears.net - for everyone else. I know YOU know that, it was just a typo - but someone is going to search that and up saying, "Huh."

Maybe you should try typing "http://allears.net" into the address bar in your browser before you chastise me for my "typo." I'll save you the trouble... both work fine. I prefer typing "allears.net" because it's shorter than "allearsnet.com."

As for sources... if the various sources already mentioned aren't official enough for you, how about a letter from Disney's Executive Chef, Robert Adams? (Yes, it's a form letter -- about dining with special dietary needs at WDW restaurants -- but it's on official Disney letterhead. I received it today.) It says, in part, and I quote:

"Tusker House Restaurant (located in Africa) serves rotisserie chicken and grilled salmon. (Will be down for rehab August – November 2007 and will re-open as a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.)"

Note that it doesn't say it will be down for rehab until "sometime next year." It says November, which matches the schedule posted on allears.net, the Unofficial Guide's website, etc.

David

 

[eeyoregon]

Very confused here. The character breakfast at Restarauntasaurus (sp?) and Tusker house are 2 entirely different venues at different locations in AK so what exactly is this thread about? What would one have to do with the other? (Yes, I'm not the brightest banana in the bunch!)

I am asking because I have an ADR for the character breakfast at Restrauntasaurus (good grief, how do you spell that??) in August and hadn't heard rumor or otherwise that it was closing?