Tusker House Reopening Date & Details
Walt Disney World has announced that Donald Duck and friends are returning to host a modified character breakfast at Tusker House Restaurant in Animal Kingdom, offering a family-style menu of African-inspired flavors. In this post, we’ll share details and thoughts about the DAK dining return.
To quickly recap, Walt Disney World temporarily suspended character dining and meet & greets back when the parks reopened. In the place of greetings, physically distanced greetings have been utilized, with the characters in elevated locations waving at guests or otherwise separated by a barrier.
Character dining has similarly changed. Many meals remain on hiatus, including popular ones at resorts or in-park venues being used for other purposes. Others have returned in modified form, which typically means the characters appear to smile & wave at guests, and also do brief parades around the restaurant every so often. Physically distanced selfies with the characters as they pass are possible, but they’re difficult—and that’s without kids to pose!
We’ve done a few modified character meals since last summer and have mixed thoughts on them. While we very much enjoyed the experiences, our circumstances are also unique.
You can see what the current character dining experiences are like in our Topolino’s Terrace Modified Character Meal Review or our Good Morning with Goofy & Pals Modified Character Meal Review. If we were going to recommend any character meal at Walt Disney World right now, it would definitely be Topolino’s Terrace. (Sarah enjoys it so much that we’re planning a return meal for her birthday.)
Other modified character meals at Walt Disney World include:
- Chef Mickey’s Family Feast Breakfast
- Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast
- Cinderella’s Royal Table (sort of…but not really)
- Minnie’s Seasonal Dine
Then there are the many character meals that have not yet returned. Those include some of Walt Disney World’s most beloved restaurants, like ‘Ohana, Cape May Cafe (now back, but without characters), Artist Point, 1900 Park Fare, and more. Some of those have a good chance of returning in the next few months. It seems realistic that by the end of Summer 2021 there are at least 3 more character meals operating again at Walt Disney World.
In addition to the character component being dramatically different at all of those restaurants, the culinary component has changed significantly at all but Topolino’s Terrace, Garden Grill, and Cinderella’s Royal Table. Since buffets are verboten, those have switched to family style offerings.
That’s exactly what’s happening at Tusker House. While some other restaurants have benefitted from the move to family style service, it’s hard to see that being the case with Tusker House. Its strength was always the diverse selection of ambitious cuisine, and it’ll be impossible to offer the breadth of buffet choices at a family style meal.
We’ve long praised Tusker House Restaurant as being one of the Best Character Meals at Walt Disney World. While the fun safari costumes are part of this, the cuisine is the main reason. Tusker House is like “Boma-Lite” for lunch and dinner, which is about the highest possible praise for character dining since Boma is the best buffet at Walt Disney World—and one of the top meals, period.
The buffet always did an exceptional job striking a balance between standard fare and more adventurous African foods. It’s a pretty healthy split between safe choices and ambitious ones, meaning everyone leaves happy here. This is a huge distinction as compared character meals, which are overwhelmingly unadventurous.
With that said, the family style menu at Tusker House looks like it achieves more or less the same balance, albeit with far fewer options. We’d definitely take this over the options at Garden Grill, Chef Mickey’s, Crystal Palace, and many other restaurants around Walt Disney World that have converted from buffets to family style post-reopening. (Still, we hope this is a temporary adjustment.)
When Tusker House Restaurant reopens, it’ll serve Safari Bread, Mickey and Simba Waffles, and Durban Chicken and Egg Curry with Jasmine Rice for breakfast. (Pictured above.)
Lunch and dinner offerings include Moroccan Spiced Beef, Berber Marinated Pork, Spit Roasted Herb Chicken, and Cape Malay Green Curry Shrimp. (Pictured below.)
Tusker House Restaurant will reopen for its new character breakfast and lunch/dinner on June 20, 2021. Advance Dining Reservations only a couple weeks earlier–on June 4, 2021. Walt Disney World hotel guests can make reservations up to 60 days in advance plus the length of their stay (up to 10 days).
Due to physical distancing requirements, the reduced capacity that entails, staffing shortages, the popularity of character meals, and the lack of kid-friendly alternatives at Animal Kingdom, we’d expect Advance Dining Reservations to fill up quickly. You’ll definitely want to be online right when ADRs drop on Friday.
If you have the option, we have enjoyed the late seatings at Tusker House, for literally every meal. Late breakfast means getting to rope drop and do several attractions before taking a breakfast breather, late lunch typically means not having to wait to be seated, and late dinner (last seating, specifically) allows you to exit a serene Animal Kingdom right around sunset or dusk, depending upon park hours and season. Your mileage may vary on all of that, though.
If you’re wondering why Walt Disney World has been so slow to reopen more character dining or restaurants in general, it’s almost entirely a matter of staffing at this point. There is more than enough demand to bring back another dozen-plus restaurants–and to fill more tables at the locations that are already open. The biggest impediment to both of those things is that operational restaurants are short-staffed and ones that have yet to reopen need to hire and train new Cast Members.
This is hardly unique to Central Florida or Disney—you’ve probably seen similar stories on your local news about the hospitality industry having a tough time finding workers. We’ve also discussed it in several articles. Nevertheless, it’s worth reiterating once again because readers keep asking why more isn’t returning to Walt Disney World. This is presumably because there was a stretch of several months post-reopening when a lack of demand was the primary problem. That ceased being the case by spring break.
The good news is that help is on the way! As covered at length in College Program Returns to Walt Disney World, the return of that will help remedy Disney’s staffing woes. The College Program will officially restart on June 14, 2021 and tons of students are being accepted to the program and are already arriving to Florida ahead of that date.
Additionally, Walt Disney World’s hiring blitz continues. The company is running advertisements on job openings and even offering signing bonuses for some positions. It’s starting to pay off, as Disney is holding colossal training classes at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex and new Cast Members are all over the parks right now.
The indirect consequence of the College Program’s expedited return will be enabling more restaurants, resorts, etc. to reopen at Walt Disney World, likely starting in July 2021. Going a step further, I’d fully expect almost all of Walt Disney World’s current staffing woes to work themselves out one way or another by mid-September 2021.
That’s great for tourists planning trips in late summer or for the start of the World’s Most Magical Celebration on October 1, 2021. Unfortunately, guests planning Walt Disney World trips earlier this summer are likely going to encounter some growing pains as demand continues to increase but reopening can’t be ramped up quickly enough to accommodate that in full. Another reason why we’d recommend booking Tusker House Restaurant reservations bright and early on Friday morning. Good luck!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Does the modified character dining experience at Tusker House Restaurant sound like it’ll be worth the money to you? Will you be booking an Advance Dining Reservation for breakfast or lunch/dinner? Which meal looks better to you? Is not being able to take photos with each character be a dealbreaker for you? Have you done Tusker House at Walt Disney World in the past? What did you think? Worthwhile for the characters, for the food, or for both? Is this meal something you’d like to try? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? 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!
MomOTwins, I couldn’t agree more! The selections on the breakfast menu is exactly what I would get at any value resort for $12-$16 (with a muffin)! Mickey Waffles, bacon, sausage, potatoes, scrambled eggs and they are throwing on one curry chicken dish and some bread/muffins??? This is nothing compared to their former buffet with their delicious dishes, bread pudding, chocolate rolls, carving station, I think they even had an omelet station. They had chicken curry, bobitie (sp), and many incredible side dishes that were unique. I was disappointed when it didn’t open in time for my summer vacation. Now I’m disappointed that there would be no way I would book this restaurant for the price and value of the meal now or any time in the future. Soooo disappointing how Disney keeps taking away all of the creativity and innovation but keeps hiking up the prices. My family ate better this trip when we picked up sandwiches from Publix! (Ouch!) I have no problem dropping $200 on a character meal where my child gets to hug a character, get their book signed, get a picture, and have a great, air-conditioned meal.
Disney needs to up their game as more and more posts I read are of people disenchanted with the effort Disney is making in keeping the magic. I can’t say I will return unless the magic starts to return, and that’s hard for me to say. We’ve taken the kids every year since they were old enough, but it may be time to find a new family vacation spot (esp. since you can’t consider family time the time you wait in a 40 minute line! We maybe were able to ride six rides per day, not worth it for that cost. Our most fun was spent around the hotel pool and at T Rex at Disney Springs, not pounding the hot pavement and fighing the crazy crowds and looooong lines). I scoffed at all the naysayers I read on the blogs about the missing magic, long waits, no fast passes, early magic hours advertised but never brought to fruition, lackluster menus that have not expanded back to normal, 50% of your cast members still in training (we found this a lot at the parks, the service was decent, but not what it used to be, it was evident this was their job for now and nothing more) but sadly it is true! We canceled our last two dining reservations as I couldn’t take another stale dinner menu or another breakfast staring down a Mickey Waffle and headed for Cracker Barrel for some menu diversity! How sad! I am not a person to complain, but the naysayers have a solid point on visiting Disney World now or anywhere in the future until they bring the magic back.
Hi Tom
Getting travel fever now since cancelling our Disney trip last summer. Planning to go next summer when, hopefully, thd borders will be fully open for international travel. We ate at Tusker House our first trip ten years ago but we had the deluxe dining plan then. Now when we go we typically get the quick service plan and I debate every trip whether to spend the extra money out of pocket at Tusker House. We did love it the first time we ate there but I dont think i would be able to choke enough food back to justify paying around $140.00 Canadian for two people for lunch. I am wondering if you can use more than one QS dining credit for it? I know there is some flexibility with the plan like converting snack credits into a meal but I am not sure of this.
Hi Tom,
One of our favorite hacks in the before-times was to book the latest possible breakfast reservation at Tusker house, enjoy some of the breakfast food, and then hang around long enough for the lunch food to come out so we could enjoy that as well. It was the best of all possible worlds. We paid the lower breakfast price and got to enjoy breakfast and lunch! I’m assuming that won’t be possible with this new family style set up. Still, I think we’ll book breakfast because it’s so ridiculously expensive for lunch. We’re not going until February, so maybe the regular buffet will return by then…
Thanks for this info, Tom. Can you tell us what time ADRs drop on June 4th?
I really don’t love these family style meals. What made the buffet worth the (very high) price was that you could try a little of this, little of that–so much to choose from and try new things–especially for vegetarians. Now all these family style platters (Liberty Tree, Chef Mickey’s, Cape May) seem to be saying “hope you like a big pile of roast meat with some boring sides for dinner, and scrambled eggs and soggy bacon for breakfast, cuz that’s all you’re gonna get.” I like it better when you have the Topolino’s or (now) Hollywood & Vine or (formerly) Trattoria style of character meal with a choice of really good, nicely plated, and varied a la carte items. I’m glad they included one curry dish at each meal, but still feels so paltry compared to the former bountiful buffet.
I am also a little taken aback by the kids price. $42 per kid? After tax/tip, I’d be paying over $50 each for my three kids to nibble at the side of mac and cheese. That is more than kid’s price at Be Our Guest or Cinderella’s Royal Table. Pre-pandemic, Tusker house used to only be $20-30 per kid, and there was a full section of the buffet with fun food for the kids.
Tom – seeing seeing news about the Orlando mayor or county dropping the mask requirement on Friday? Waiting anxiously for your thoughts and insight on that. Not from Florida so I hope this is true
It’s true–but doesn’t mean Walt Disney World will follow suit.
I actually thought it was going to be dropped yesterday afternoon. I had/have a post mostly ready to go and was watching the press conference. They moved the goalposts a bit for some reason–probably because they want to announce on Friday during his “State of the County” address.
At this point is it safe to say that Disney is doing family style dining purely as a cost savings measure. Less variety of food to cook, guests don’t eat as much when they have to wait for their server to bring more food etc.
Hard to see any other rationale for opening Tusker House without the buffet based on how they are handling social distancing in ride lines (both indoor and outdoor) and how they are seating guests at shows.
Kind of disappointing they didn’t take this opening as an opportunity to say buffets are back.
I am so excited. We love Tusker House. It won’t be the same but hopefully just as good. I miss buffet meals – I still don’t know why they are so taboo but I think the fear and anxiety pushed over the last 14+ months have done a number on people (ie no buffets, plexiglass everywhere, all that useless stuff).
Thanks for the details on the menu as I was wondering about it when I heard the announcement elsewhere so I ran right to see if you had a post about it!
Tom, any guesses as to when (and if) buffets will return? Hoping they’re not gone forever.
Hi Tom,
I must have missed something? Will we be able to book Dinning reservations for anywhere as far as November come Friday? Or was that just for Tusker House?
Thanks for all your great advice!
Tom do you have hours? Will it possibly open pre rope drop? Or what’s your best advise on breakfast here? Do sone big rides and eat around 10. Or try for the 8am if that’s accurate on the site?
“Do sone big rides and eat around 10.”
That’s what I’d do!
(I’ve also added some timing recommendations to the main post–thanks for the idea!)
I love This buffet, I go every time I am there. There is is such a great choice of food. And OMG two hugs from goofy. I love the flavors of African food, such wonderful spices. My only complaint would be the noise level, it can be really loud.
Totally agree.
I wonder if it’ll be as loud as normal. Either we’ve gotten better at tuning people out, or restaurants have been quieter since reopening. (It’s probably the latter–there are fewer guests and no direct character interactions.)
I’d never thought I’d miss a buffet as much as I miss Boma. Hopefully by next year that will be back. Maybe they can figure out a way to do that one properly earlier but I’m guessing there is too much of a stigma on a regular buffet right now for Disney to even try it. I’d be there today if they opened it back up like it was before!
Agreed all around.
We’ll give this a try because it looks interesting and we have nothing better to do, but Boma and Tusker House are too meals that deserve the buffet treatment. They are so good and ambitious. It’s really remarkable–especially given that one of them is also a character meal!
Just curious as to your take on this, Tom. This can apply to a myriad of things (I.e. fast pass) but we will stick with dining. How does Disney balance generating excitement (and more importantly, increased reservations) with wanting to prevent a mass rescheduling of Disney vacations for those that are still within the window to reschedule.
I know if I had a June trip and an announcement was made of several restaurants opening I’d be rescheduling ASAP.
At this point, I think the bulk of the announcements to come will be on fairly short notice. Not because Disney wants to avoid guests rescheduling, but because they’re scrambling as quickly as possible to get things back up and running as soon as staffing allows for it. That means quicker turnaround times, in general.
I truly do not think Walt Disney World has some grand, calculated strategy right now–they’re winging it.
Those definitely sound like good food options (and better than, say, Garden Grill) to me. Although the variety from the buffet will be missed as you say.
Worth the money? Almost certainly not just for the food, but it’s a character meal inside a park so that does add a premium.
Hi Tom,
As always, thank you for keeping all of us in the loop. Good to see Tusker House coming back. Have you heard anything about brunch at California Grill? This meal was always fantastic. I know the restaurant itself is open – just wondering about the Sunday Brunch in general.