Meeting favourite Disney characters at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom

On an early morning in April we turned up on Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom before rope drop and were ready to head straight to an early Tusker House breakfast reservation. Soon after rope drop and checking in for the 8am reservation, a smiley and bubbly host greeted us with: “Jambo” and led us into the themed restaurant, which from the outside truly made us feel we were on a different continent.

She introduced us to the varied buffet with both traditional breakfast dishes and more unique options, and showed us to our table, which was in a large room within sight of the buffet.

Food-wise, the buffet was my favourite character meal buffet out of the three we tried on our visit, and I liked that plates were placed underneath each section so there were no queues and guests could start on whichever section they wanted. It was also very sweet for the kids that there was a section that Big Girl was tall enough to help herself from–mainly to get fruit loop cereals and milk in her case.

At the table we were served a refreshing Guava juice straight away, but Big Boy also got the apple juice he requested and Daddy T and I ordered tea and coffee.

The safari-dressed characters started appearing soon after we arrived, and they visited each table, signing autograph books and posing for pictures. It was Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy who made the rounds and I found Donald particularly funny and charming.

The only challenge was that it was at times a rush to and from the buffet to ensure no one missed a visit from any of them, and in the end we decided to leave before Goofy made it to our table as we had seen him at Chef Mickey’s and we were eager to hit the ride queues.

We left the restaurant at around 9am and did the Kilimanjaro Safari, which then had a posted wait time of 10-minutes, and after that fantastic 20-minute safari ride in what seemed like an authentic vehicle the kids and I went to the Festival of Lion King while Daddy T did Flight of Passage. Both the safari and Lion King are a stone throw from Tusker House making them good to combine with a restaurant reservation.

Our 8am reservation would also have been fantastic on a day the park opened at 9am, but since the park opened at 8am on the day we visited we were not let into the park early. If we’d had older children and could have been more flexible with mealtimes I would have preferred to have the Tusker House breakfast after doing a few popular rides in a less crowded park, as the plan with the 8am reservation was first to be able to arrive in the park early and finish by park opening.

Overall, I would recommend Tusker House as a character buffet breakfast for ticking off meeting Donald, Goofy, Mickey and Daisy in a themed restaurant that feels right at home in its Animal Kingdom location.

The reservation was easier to get than some of the other character meals, and breakfast for two adults, one child and one infant came to just under $100 with tip and tax. Big Boy dined for free as he was under 3.

Tags: Animal Kingdom, Character dining, Disney, Disney app, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Meet the characters, Orlando, Tusker House, Walt Disney World