REVIEW: Why Families CANNOT Skip Out on This Disney World Restaurant

Planning a trip to Disney World and not sure where you should eat while you’re there? You’ve come to the right place, because we can help!

Here at AllEars, we know all the ins and outs of Disney World restaurants — including where you should definitely eat, and where you should skip. We recently stopped by Tusker House in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to see if it’s REALLY worth taking the time out of your park day to sit down and dine — come with us to check it out!

Background

Tusker House is an African-flavored buffet with characters for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It opened in the park on its opening day, April 22nd, 1998, and has been a favorite character dining experience ever since.

The Marketplace at Tusker House (the center area where all the food stations are located) is where the locals serve food and sell African items in an effort to help the people of Harambe Village. In the restaurant, there are 4 dining rooms — School/Training Room, Marketplace, Blue Room, and the Artifacts Room.

Don’t forget to look up to see allusions to Imagineer Joe Rohde, who was instrumental in developing Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park!

Atmosphere

This is a very lively restaurant that feels very in theme with Harambe! There’s usually plenty of room between your party and your table neighbors, as there needs to be enough room for the character to come around and say hello to each table.

This does mean that this restaurant can get pretty loud due to its size and family-friendlyness, so keep that in mind if you or someone in your party has sensitivity to sound.

But enough of that! Let’s eat!

Food & Drinks

While breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served here, we went for breakfast this time around, which is the cheapest meal of the day (as it often is at table service restaurants). The buffet here is MASSIVE, spanning some of your classic favorites like eggs, bacon, sausage, and of course, Mickey and Simba Waffles, as well as some more unique options.

The STAR in our eyes was the Banana Caramel Sauce that you’ll find over by the waffles — that blew our minds! We absolutely loved how sweet it is (but not overly so) and how well it paired with the waffles — we can’t recommend it enough!

We piled our plates high with some of our favorites — scrambled eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit, muffins, pastries, and more! There was also a make-your-own omelette station that was very popular, and the special offering near it was biscuits and gravy!

And we can’t forget our drink — POG juice, a classic! This is Passionfruit, Orange, and Guava, and we love it each time we have it — it’s beautifully citrusy and refreshing, which is perfect before a hot day in the park.

But is it worth $49 per adult and $33 per child on your next vacation?

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

You love buffets and prefer a little of everything
You’ve got picky eaters, OR a large group that has very different palettes
You’re looking for a great character meal to start off your morning that ALSO has good food

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

You’re not a fan of spending an hour+ at a sit-down meal
Character dining isn’t your thing
You don’t like buffets for sanitary reasons, or just don’t like the quality of food they often offer

Overall, we’ve never been disappointed here! Not only was the food delicious and fresh, but we felt there was a great variety for both picky eaters and adventurous eaters alike, and it’s very reasonably priced — especially for being a character meal!

We had a great time getting to say hello to some of our favorite pals, and the staff at the restaurant was also very helpful and kind — since there was a wall in front of us where we were sat, we couldn’t see what character was coming next. Our server would come around and let us know to get our camera ready because a friend was coming by, and would give us a little bit of a heads up, which was very helpful!

We keep this at the top of our list for table service meals, and more specifically character buffet meals — it’s pretty hard to beat, if you ask us.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!