Breakfast Returning to Pandora World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom!
I don’t know whether to start this post with the tried and true “it’s been 84 years” meme or “nature is healing” or “we’re so back.” The reality is that it has been 84 years (give or take), nature is healing, and indeed, we are so back.
All of this is because Pandora – The World of Avatar in Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World is finally restoring the breakfast menu at Satu’li Canteen. Before you have the knee-jerk reaction that this is yet another instance of Walt Disney World being way too slow to restore normalcy post-reopening, that’s not what this is at all.
Breakfast at Satu’li Canteen was not discontinued with the closure of Walt Disney World in March 2020. It actually ended 2.5 years earlier, only a few short months after Pandora debuted. That’s right–breakfast launched with Avatar land in May 2017, and was gone by the start of the 2017 off-season.
For those who don’t recall the wild ride at the time, the whole goal of the expansion was to turn Disney’s Animal Kingdom into a full-day park. That’s why we got Animal Kingdom ‘After Dark’ and a number of offerings aimed at increasing the average duration of visit and helping absorb Avatar crowds.
Many of these things were very short-lived experiments that flopped for a variety of reasons. My memory isn’t the best, but I don’t recall breakfast at Satu’li Canteen being one of those things. To the contrary, the restaurant seemed being quite busy at all hours that first year-plus. Then again, we weren’t yet living in Florida at the time, and I don’t really remember how the off-season played out.
As a company that loves revenue, I doubt Disney discontinued breakfast for no reason. Either it wasn’t sufficiently popular, Animal Kingdom didn’t have the staff to support the earlier opening of Satu’li Canteen, feedback suggested guests wanted lunch instead of breakfast, or something. It might’ve always been scheduled to ‘expire’ at the end of Pandora’s first summer, in which case, the breakfast menu could’ve just gotten lost in the shuffle, so to speak. I don’t know.
Regardless, it’s returning. Here’s a look at the breakfast menu at Satu’li Canteen with food photos and prices…
Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder Potato Hash
Served with Chorizo Sausage and Charred Onion Sauce – $13.29
Honestly, this is the only dish I remember from breakfast at Satu’li Canteen. It might’ve been the only thing I ever ate, as we weren’t as “serious” about thorough food reviews back then. Regardless, I remember this being fantastic–right up there with the best of the lunch and dinner bowls.<
Cinnamon French Toast
Served with Blueberry Cream Cheese, Passion Fruit Anglaise, and Sausage – $12.99
This is also a returning dish, and there’s no way I didn’t order this at some. My normal “play” would’ve been convincing Sarah to order a sweet and savory entree. But I don’t recall this at all, suggesting it either wasn’t that memorable or I have memory issues. The above photo doesn’t make it look all that appetizing–the french toast looks a tad too firm.
Frittata and Beef
Vegetable-Goat Cheese Frittata with Wood-fired Beef tossed in Chimichurri – $14.29
This is also a returning dish, and one we almost certainly never ordered. I’ll be rectifying that, as it sounds fantastic.
Tropical Pandoran Forest Fruits
Served with Fresh Yogurt, Muesli, and Honey – $11.99
This looks like something Sarah would order. What you see is probably what you get.
There are also kids’ meals: Cinnamon French Toast or Cereal with Milk.
Unfortunately, the one conspicuous omission appears to be the breakfast steamed pods (bao buns). The cheeseburger variety of these are a fan-favorite at lunch and dinner, and the egg version from the old breakfast menu also had a cult following. Aside from that missing item, I’m surprised and impressed that Walt Disney World is largely restoring the breakfast menu after an absence of over 7 years. That’s pretty wild!
These breakfast items will be available beginning on Friday, November 1, 2024. Currently, Satu’li Canteen opens at 10 a.m. every day, and begins serving the all-day lunch and dinner menu immediately. Going forward, Satu’li Canteen will open at 8 a.m., which is when Animal Kingdom usually opens (Early Entry starts at 7:30 a.m.).
It’ll be interesting to see whether breakfast at Satu’li Canteen ‘sticks’ this time. My guess is that it will, but perhaps this is wishful thinking. One thing I’ve noticed is that crowds start congregating around Satu’li Canteen by around 9 a.m., as the first wave of guests doing Early Entry and rope drop finish with the Avatar attractions and decide their next best move is waiting for lunch at Satu’li Canteen.
On the other hand, I could see 8 a.m. being a tad too early. I could also see the prices for breakfast being a bit too high, and guests opting to wait for lunch instead. Between those two things, it wouldn’t surprise me if this experiment ends with Satu’li Canteen opening at 9 a.m., but serving lunch at that hour.
There’s clearly an audience for this restaurant opening earlier. It’s only a question of whether that audience wants breakfast or lunch. I really hope that enough people want breakfast, as this menu sounds intriguing, and I’m all for more menu variety at Walt Disney World.
Speaking of which, I will reiterate my regular desire for breakfast to return to Be Our Guest Restaurant in Magic Kingdom. If this goes well, I’d hope that a number of breakfasts that were quickly discontinued resume. Off the top of my head, there were great ones at Plaza Restaurant, ABC Commissary, and Milk Stand that were relatively short-lived in 2019/2020. There are probably others I’m forgetting.
Finally, it’s worth emphasizing that Animal Kingdom is the most underrated food park at Walt Disney World. (You could probably remove the word “food” from that sentence and it’d still be true.) The case could be made that, pound for pound, DAK is the park with the best food in all of Walt Disney World. It certainly has better dining than Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and arguably even World Showcase–certainly fewer “misses” than EPCOT.
The highlights of Animal Kingdom’s cuisine are well known. Tiffins is perhaps the best in-park restaurant at Walt Disney World, and the adjacent Nomad Lounge is one of the best spots to relax and enjoy an elevated meal for (near) counter service prices. These are the most underappreciated additions of the Avatar expansion.
Yak & Yeti Restaurant doesn’t get enough love despite beautiful dining rooms and a deep menu with tons of variety and generous portions–Yak & Yeti is truly an embarrassment of culinary and thematic riches! Then there’s Tusker House Restaurant, which is the most adventurous character buffet in all of Walt Disney World (almost on par with Boma). Finally, there’s Rainforest Cafe…which also exists.
The counter service restaurants are a bit more ‘feast or famine’ at Animal Kingdom. At the awful end of the spectrum are Pizzafari and Restaurantosaurus, both of which have had flashes of brilliance over the years, but are currently in the running for the worst restaurants at Walt Disney World. (I’m sorry, but clever themed design–which both have!–does not make up for subpar and stereotypical theme park cuisine.)
Then there are the mid-tier options, which could go either way depending upon what you order. These include Yak & Yeti Local Food(s) Cafe(s), Harambe Market, and Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery. We’ve had a wide range of experiences at all of these; it really depends upon what time of day you visit and what you order (perhaps more).
Then there’s Flame Tree Barbecue and Satu’li Canteen. It should come as no surprise to longtime Walt Disney World fans, but these are almost always regarded as the #1 and #2 spots at Animal Kingdom and, perhaps, all of Walt Disney World. (See our list of the Top 15 Counter Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World.)
There was a time when Flame Tree BBQ was my favorite restaurant in all of Walt Disney World, but it has fallen from grace a bit in recent years. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very good, but higher prices and smaller portions have hurt its stature. While I appreciate Disney’s CFO doing me a solid in looking out for my waistline, Flame Tree BBQ has nevertheless been on a downward trajectory since around 2019.
Meanwhile, Satu’li Canteen had claimed the #1 spot even before the return of breakfast. It’s one of the few counter service restaurants that I truly believe has gotten better over the last few years, which is remarkable when you consider that its higher starting point–it would’ve been easier for it to fall than to gain.
But it’s done exactly that, thanks in large part to the Ocean Moon Bowl, which is my new(ish) #1 entree on an all-star menu. Now Satu’li Canteen is getting breakfast back?! It almost doesn’t feel fair to the other counter restaurants.
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give Walt Disney World deserved kudos for bringing back this fan-favorite breakfast at Satu’li Canteen. This is such a minor thing–no one is booking a trip upon hearing news about a counter service breakfast being back–but the minor things matter! It’s this type of attention to detail that has an outsized impact.
This is a drum we’ve been banging on repeatedly–that it’s the missing “big little things” that make a BIG difference at Walt Disney World. These little things add up to cumulatively make a big difference. We’ve been stressing for the last couple of years that Walt Disney World needs to relearn how much attention to detail and plussing the guest experience like this matters. Silly as it sounds, it’s what keeps people coming back.
Here’s hoping this is a sign that Walt Disney World is starting to take note of that. If so, we’d be remiss if we didn’t reiterate our desire for breakfast at Be Our Guest Restaurant to also be restored, along with the other things on our laundry list of still-missing “big little things” above. For now, Walt Disney World deserves praise for getting this right. I’m really excited, probably way more than I should be for a “simple” counter service breakfast, and we’ll have a full review in the coming weeks!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Satuli Canteen bringing back breakfast after a 7-year absence? Excited to try any of these dishes again–or for the first time? Hopeful that Walt Disney World will restore other long-lost breakfast menus? Have you dined at Satu’li Canteen recently? Pleased that breakfast is coming back, or would you prefer an earlier start to lunch? Which one of the two would you pick as the #1 counter service restaurant in Animal Kingdom–or something else entirely? Think that Animal Kingdom “quietly” has one of the best restaurant scenes at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom maybe you need to recheck Tusker house buffet. During a recent visit the buffet offerings had been reduced from the adventurous varieties to basic/boring. The characters were still great
This looks amazing! I don’t know how to fit in both breakfast and lunch at Satuli though…
REALLY miss the breakfast buffet at the former Wave restaurant in the bottom of the Contemporary Resort. Great food at a decent price. It was our go-to breakfast before going into The Magic Kingdom.
ANY new breakfast options in the parks are good changes! Can’t wait to try them.
On the “snack” side, The Smiling Crocodile has some of the best food at Disney. Fantastic street tacos, all served with a side of chips and actually good salsa. Unfortunately they’re only open until 3 PM.
Animal Kingdom has fantastic food. I’d get that goat cheese frittata and beef for lunch too! Also have to recommend the tacos at the Smiling Crocodile stand. They are so good and not expensive!
I’m excited! These dishes sound fantastic. We have always just waited for Nomad to open before we get any food. Now we don’t have to!
Animal Kingdom definitely has the best food at Disney!