Tusker House Review
Tusker House is a character buffet at Walt Disney World, in Animal Kingdom, with a mix of African cuisine and more standard American fare. This review concerns lunch at Tusker House, which now ranks as new top character dining experience in terms of both value and food quality.
Breakfast and dinner are also served at Tusker House, with dinner being very similar to lunch, and breakfast offering characters and (obviously) a breakfast menu. Tusker House is less expensive than other character dining, making it a good value if paying out of pocket, but a poor value on the Disney Dining Plan. In addition to accepting the Disney Dining Plan (1 credit), Tusker House accepts the Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% discount.
Before we dig into the food, let’s talk ambiance at Tusker House. It’s no surprise that the theming at Tusker House is top notch, with incredible attention to detail and a lot fun little touches. It actually looks like a weathered marketplace you might find in Africa. You know, if Disney characters roamed African marketplaces. With the exception of the touches of Disney, Tusker House’s theme is executed so well that you might be able to pass photos of it off as an actual marketplace in Africa.
No detail is overlooked, and the restaurant really works well, especially for an adult audience…
I’m not the biggest fan of Animal Kingdom, but this is one of the things I absolutely love about the park. The details are so meticulous and go beyond just the “big picture” stuff. You’ll see the “unpleasant” details like power lines and random/odd signs, which give more authenticity and make it feel less like a sanitized version of a foreign locale.
About the only thing that would make it more authentic is piles of animal feces in the walkways. Ironically, this is something Animal Kingdom “lacks,” but Magic Kingdom sometimes has! In general, the restaurants at Disney’s Animal Kingdom really seem to excel in terms of theming, and I think Tusker House is probably the cream of the crop here.
When it comes to food, Tusker House is difficult to beat. Since this is character dining that appeals primarily to families, Disney wisely offers standard options in addition to the more adventurous African foods. I would say it’s about a 60/40 split in favor of the African foods (maybe 75/25).
Regardless, there are a ton of options–so many that everyone is sure to find something they like. The greater difficulty is going to be trying everything, as there are simply so many choices that even if you have just a little of everything, you’re likely to be full after completing your first “round,” leaving little room for going back to have more of your favorites.
The big draws at Tusker House, as they are at every buffet that offers them, are the spit-roasted meats that are sliced in front of you at the buffet (pictured above). Tusker House had pork and beef when we visited, and although both of the names suggested African rubs or seasoning, these tasted a lot like their American counterparts.
These meats were also delicious: perfectly cooked, flavorful, moist, and the seasoning was delicious without overpowering. Picky eaters shouldn’t be scared by the names of these meats, and adventurous eaters should give them a try despite these options being fairly standard.
Some of our other favorite items on the buffet included the seafood stew (I absolutely loved this), the plantains, curry chicken, both types of salmon, cucumber salad, and root vegetables. And those are just the things I remember the names of! There was also some sort of mango salad stuff that I absolutely loved (pictured in the middle of the plate below).
Sarah, being a notoriously healthy eater, loved just about everything on the buffet here (although she didn’t give the corn dog nuggets a chance…what a communist!). Everything the buffet serves is pictured on the plates in these photos, but I am far too lazy to take photos of each serving station at the buffet; check out easyWDW’s review for that.
I think there were a couple of items our buffet had that his didn’t, but it’s materially the same everyday. If you’re considering breakfast at Tusker House, Disney Food Blog has you covered with photos from that.
The one letdown at Tusker House was the desserts. The banana bread pudding is amazing, but everything else feels like an afterthought. There are a few other dessert choices, but neither of us liked a single one of them. They all tasted mass-produced or lacking in flavor compared to the rest of the meal.
Luckily, the banana bread pudding was out of this world, so I didn’t feel at all slighted by the rest of the desserts being letdowns. It’s as if the kitchen staff knew they had a hit on their hands with the banana bread pudding, so they phoned it in with every other dessert. Sort of like Don McLean after he made American Pie (the song, not another dessert).
For all of our praise, character interaction is one thing we noticed seemed to be sub-par at Tusker House. The restaurant is large and has several different rooms, likely making it difficult for the three inside characters (Goofy, Mickey, and Daisy) to get around to everyone.
To their credit, Cast Members in the restaurant are mindful of this, and let us know the characters would be around later. When they were “later” taking longer than expected, they again let us know that they hadn’t forgotten about us. I noticed them doing the same in other areas of the restaurant. Still, it took around an hour in Tusker House before the first character was at our table.
When the characters did show up, it was only for quick poses and then they were off again. We never ended up meeting Daisy because the first two characters took so long, and because the character attendants didn’t come over with the characters, meaning we each had to take a picture of one another and then hand off the camera, causing us to just give up on her and leave (on the plus side, Sarah lucked out in not having to be in a photo with me doing the dorky pose below!).
This seems to happen often at character meals, and is a bit irritating. Perhaps most families are fine with mom or dad taking photos of the kids and not being in the shot, but that’s presumptuous, and the alternative is kindly interrupting someone at a table next to you (which we’ve found is not usually imposing, as most times they want the same thing, and ask you to reciprocate) or not having everyone in the photo.
Part of me wonders why Donald is stationed outside if the characters inside are stretched so thin. It could be to sell the photo packages, or perhaps it’s to make sure everyone sees him on the way in. Disney being Disney, I’m putting my money on the former. Figuratively, as I wouldn’t actually put money into one of those photo packages.
All of this makes for a sort of interesting dynamic to Tusker House. You have this incredible theming that is most likely going to appeal to discerning adults, along with some excellent buffet options that are on-par with the type of adventurous foods you’d find at Sanaa or Boma. And then, at the other end of the spectrum, you have characters, which primarily appeal to families.
All of this appeals to Sarah and me, so it’s just about the ideal restaurant for us, but we are probably the exception rather than the rule. For everyone else, Disney balances the “competing” dynamic perfectly. There are plenty of standard family-friendly food choices, and the presence of characters is not so in-your-face that Tusker House should scare away couples just looking for a good meal.
Overall, Tusker House is a great option for just about anyone. It does have a few flaws, but they are so insignificant or compensated for (in the case of the dessert) that they don’t really make a difference. Our experience with the characters could be an anomaly, but with the set-up and size of the restaurant, we suspect this is a regular issue. Regardless, they have awesome costumes and the theme is so excellent that we weren’t disappointed. Those considering Tusker House primarily for the character interactions may not feel the same way, though, and judged solely as a character meal (emphasis on characters), it’s just slightly above average. In terms of food, the menu trails only Boma in terms of buffet quality and diversity (and we haven’t done Boma since 2008, so that may no longer be true), but it’s cheaper than Boma, has slightly better ambiance, and has characters. This gives it the ever-so-slight edge over Boma as our pick for the top overall buffet at Walt Disney World. For all of these reasons, we highly recommend Tusker House.
Want more dining tips? Check out our 101 Delicious Walt Disney World Dining Tips. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews.
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Your Thoughts…
Do you agree with us that Tusker House is the top overall buffet at Walt Disney World, all things considered? How do you think Tusker House compares to other character meals? Planning on going? Share your thoughts in the comments.
I like how you mentioned that the only thing that would make it more precise is piles of animal manure in the walkways.
We are looking for a Tusker cans
the supplier we can talk to for our welcome home party next week and want to ensure we choose only the most suitable one. I’m glad I came across your writing and read tips about selecting a shop.
I will show this to my partner to see how this can help us decide what to consider when looking for a tusker beer company.
Food Lounge. The imagination of our chefs will never bore you with always different and delicious dishes. The attention in choice of genuine and local ingredients will relax you The accurate service, the elegance of our dining halls will make you feel at ease. The availability of our friendly staff will pamper you. And you’ll come back for more. We promise. 🙂
Tusker House is our one-and-only MUST DO restaurant every year we visit Disney. Their breakfast buffet is awesome & it has the best service of all the restaurants we’ve dined at throughout the whole resort.
Food: I loved the omelets. At first I was a little put off that they were pre-made on a tray. But I wanted an omelet, so I tried one. I went back for seconds (and yes, thirds….they were that good). My grandson ate four helpings of pancakes. I asked him about that (considering he didn’t eat much of anything the day before at the Chef Mickey’s breakfast buffet) and his answer was, “But Nana, these are SO good here!” And I agree with Tom on the banana bread pudding. I’m not fond of bananas in food, but I wanted bread pudding, so gave it a try. It is out of this world! Who needs other desserts when you can eat that. I could go to Tusker House & only eat the bread pudding & leave happy!
Service: The restaurant is always busy & packed, but we’ve never once had a bad server. They seem to know how to strike just the right balance between being attentive enough and not being obnoxiously attentive. They’re friendly & eager to suggest dishes.
Characters: This is the one thing I disagree with Tom on. We’ve always also had great character experiences at Tusker House. Unlike at Chef Mickey’s & Garden Grill, we’ve never left without seeing every character at Tusker House, often more than once.
Ha, ha–we had the opposite experience with characters: ‘must not have been crowded, because they came around *twice* during the course of our meal. (Maybe we’re just slow eaters?) Were excited to go back on our next visit.
We are a family of 6 and are big fans of Tusker House. We’ve dined there 3 times and have always found the food and ambiance more than suitable for kids. I agree with Tom that sometimes it takes a while for the characters to get around but we have a weapon more powerful than Tom’s….4 young kids haha. The staff has always accommodated us with ease. The only other character meal that I would submit for consideration for the top spot is 1900 Park Faire. It has more Alice and Wonderland and Cinderella characters and they are over the top hilarious. I advise you to have a member of your party “propose” to one of the step sisters, it is an experience worth the courage necessary. My 10 year old did it last year after we received a tip from a friend who used to work there. It was outrageous! Oh….and the food options are superior as well with the carving stations and excellent kids options.
Can anyone help with suggestions on how to get the most decent photos in Tusker House?
Will possibly be using my iPhone. My photos are always too dark. Actually I have problems with all indoor character meet n greets. Never sure what setting to use. We’ve have a breakfast ADR. Also have a FP for LK immediately after. Wonder if one hour is enough time??
Does anyone know if you can order an alcoholic beverage at Tusker House at dinner? I know it’s a buffet – just trying to maximize our Disney dining plan that now comes with adult drinks and we’re trying to pick a table service in Animal Kingdom. On menus we’ve pulled up online it shows delicious sounding African margaritas but not sure if that’s at a bar at Tusker House or can be ordered with the buffet dinner. Thanks for any info!
Yes, specialty drinks as well as wine or beer
The Tusker house has some of the most amazing food I have tried at Disney. I ate there on an extremely stressful day at the Animal Kingdom with 19 people. It was crazy. The staff was amazing as were the characters. At one point I came back to the table from the buffet and daisy Duck and our waiter were taking selfies with my phone. It was beyond funny and really made my day. Even if you don’t care for character dining, the food is amazing.
Tusker House is, in my opinion, the best dining experience in all of Disney World, and unequivocally in the 4 theme parks. The food selection is varied and the quality excellent. The ambiance is low key, immersive, authentic and comfortable all in one. I have been multiple times and have had quite a different experience with the characters. Given the intimate nature of the surroundings, I felt like my children had the characters all to themselves, including Mickey. In fact, we were in the midst of deep conversation and every so often we felt a tap on our shoulders and a new character appeared. Most recently we were there for an early morning breakfast, which may have helped. It seems like the entire restaurant was rushing out to get to Pandora first. Instead, we took our time to enjoy our meal and hit Flight of Passage later with a short wait. With Cinderella’s Royal Table serving awful food at a ridiculous price, this is the one must-do dining experience in all of WDW!