Tusker House Breakfast Review 06/27

[JPL]

Better Late than never!

On June 27th I scheduled and early Breakfast at Tusker House based on my experience last year around the same time. I was expecting a similar experience since it was the same meal and the same restaurant. I couldn't be more wrong. The thing I liked about Tusker House was the variety and the African inspired foods they had. The service and character interaction were top notch last year so I was really looking forward to it.

Fast Forward to this year and wow have things changed. The meal started off fine with our Jungle Juice and coffee but when I headed to the buffet I was extremely disappointed to find alot of the African inspired dishes were gone and it became much more pedestrian in it's offerings. It was basically the same buffet offered at every other breakfast buffet with a few exceptions.The overall quality of the food was average at best and they were extremely slow refilling empty dishes and it really wasn't too crowded either. The service was was terrible our waiter gave us the first round of juice and coffee and disappeared catering to a large party a few tables over we only saw him when he brought over the check. The character interaction was still good although Mickey totally skipped our table after spending alot of time at the large group's table. We later asked our server if he was coming back and one of the Character handlers brought us over to him before we left. Overall I was extremely disappointed with the experience. Not if it was an off day, summer dining crowds, or the DDP caught up with the place or not but it went from must do to a might do for next trip.

[iheartdisney]

I am so sorry to hear this. One, because it was your vacation that was tainted by the experience. Two, because this is the only character meal my 7 year old son will even agree to attend, as it was his "favorite meal ever!" (his words) when we went last year.

Last May was our first time at the Tusker character breakfast and I, too, was pleasantly surprised at the menu offerings. Menu alone sold me on this character meal. But our service? Non-existent. I was a waitress all through college and then later on part-owned a coffee house with my parents. I'm well aware of the difficulty in pleasing a customer and am very patient with service that is lacking. But this was horrible. We had to flag her down from the minute we sat down. She took over 20 minutes to approach our table. No refills. Never saw her. I get a bad day - but this was terrible. It's one of the few times I've ever asked to speak to a manager.

With that experience, I was hoping we just got a dud server and was looking forward to our next visit. I sure hope the menu gets back to what it was before we visit again.

Thanks for your impressions!

[Pirate Granny]

I've eaten there twice for lunch...good food...horrible service...agree with previous posters...non existent.

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

Sorry to hear the service is still crummy.
It was terrible when we went last year and I didn't want to go back there when we return in August, but got out voted.
Looks like we are in for another sub-par experience.

[tadshome]

It is such a shame about the awful service at Tusker House, we did not enjoy the experience at this restaurant for the same reasons as the above posters

[DizneyRox]

We went twice this last trip, it's our favorite breakfast. We're talking early July, so not far from your date.

I didn't notice drastic change in the offerings, but now that you mention it, I beleive you are right. They still had a lot more items than you see at other park breakfasts though.

Serice wasn't bad. It's a buffet, so I don't expect to see the server all that often, but our plates were always gone, and always had refills of our drinks, and I LOVE that juice so I drank a lot.

Character intereaction though... Not as good as I remember. Tusker House may be too big of a location to get all the visits in and done before people have to leave. Mickey was barely there long enough for a picture (we don't normally do signatures). They are all pretty similar though, maybe they got held up elsewhere and needed to keep on a pace, but that's not really an excuse you can use for guests.

We'll be back, it's still the best character meal on property. As mentioned in other threads, we did Chef Mickey's, Akershus and have done CRT, 1900, Cape May, and Donald's Breakfastosaurus in the past. Tusker House is the best.

[Daisy712]

Wow, I am glad you posted your report. We are scheduled to eat there next Sunday. We have a 10:20 reservation, which has me concerned because it is so close to lunch. Maybe we will cancel and use our money someplace else. We are traveling with teens, so they are pretty easy going. Their hearts won't be broken.

Thanks, again!

[SurferStitch]

Wow, what a change.

We were there in December, and had excellent food and pretty good service. We never had an empty coffee cup or juice glass, and our empty plates were removed promptly.

I hope they still have the cheese blintzes! We are eating there in October, and they are a favorite of mine.

The only complaint I have about Tusker House is the fact that Donald was only available for a picture outside before you went in for breakfast. If you wanted to have a pic with him, you had to buy the package. They wouldn't even take one with your camera! We prepaid for the Photopass CD, but the photo couldn't be included. So, we got pics with everyone but Donald. I wasn't about to pay the price they wanted for a mediocre photo.

[Figment1988]

Wow, what a change.

We were there in December, and had excellent food and pretty good service. We never had an empty coffee cup or juice glass, and our empty plates were removed promptly.

I hope they still have the cheese blintzes! We are eating there in October, and they are a favorite of mine.

The only complaint I have about Tusker House is the fact that Donald was only available for a picture outside before you went in for breakfast. If you wanted to have a pic with him, you had to buy the package. They wouldn't even take one with your camera! We prepaid for the Photopass CD, but the photo couldn't be included. So, we got pics with everyone but Donald. I wasn't about to pay the price they wanted for a mediocre photo.

Actually, from what i do know, personal cameras are allowed. the one thing that cannot be done with Donald is autographs. Usually the photographers will say that he will sign autographs @ Camp Minnie-Mickey. The one exception to the no-autograph rule is if it's raining which will mean that Donald will be part of the character group inside.

[#1donaldfan]

...we were there the 25th and thought it was great !!! Sorry your experience was not so good. Actually, at first I thought you were talking about us being that "large group".....we had 17....I'll go back, it is very good !!!

[SurferStitch]

Actually, from what i do know, personal cameras are allowed.

Well, they weren't when we were there in December. We asked for them to take a pic with our camera, and they refused, saying that we would have to buy a package. Hopefully that changed.

[KAT1811]

Sorry to hear this. Glad to know before our trip. We have an early morning ADR planned (prior to park opening). Now I am thinking that I may cancel it. I'm not going to get up at the crack of dawn to get myself and four children ready for a mediocre breakfast with horrible service and then have to leave an 18% tip on top of it. We'll do that for our favorite character breakfast, Crystal Palace.

We'll be back, it's still the best character meal on property. As mentioned in other threads, we did Chef Mickey's, Akershus and have done CRT, 1900, Cape May, and Donald's Breakfastosaurus in the past. Tusker House is the best.

DisneyRox, I didn't see Crystal Palace on your list of character dining visits. It is by far our favorite breakfast on property. Actually it's the only sit down breakfast we do!

[DizneyRox]

DisneyRox, I didn't see Crystal Palace on your list of character dining visits. It is by far our favorite breakfast on property. Actually it's the only sit down breakfast we do!

I believe that Pooh is at CP which means we won't be...

[pixiesmimi]

I hope this isn't the norm this year. DH and I had breakfast there last year in Aug for our 40th Anniversary and it was the best meal experience we had, I think. Our waiter was very attentive and almost "too" attentive. We got great character pictures. The only complaint I had was that we were one of the first reservations that morning and got stuck back in a corner by an exit. But that was ok. Also, some of the bowls were empty when we went through the buffet and, as I said, we were some of the first there. I would have thought they would all be full at that time. Some of the things I didn't get to taste. We had a good time though and they gave us free FP for either Lion King or Nemo Show (I think it was Nemo) which we weren't able to use. We are going back this year and made reservations there on purpose for our DGC. I hope it isn't as bad as you say this time.