Reviews of Tusker House Lunch and Dinner Buffet

Reviews

83

Rating

8.25 / 10

Recommended By

84%



Read prices, menu items, and more

Tusker House Restaurant

Services: Buffet/All You Care to Eat

Menus at Tusker House Restaurant

Reviewed by ChaseDisneyWorldAdultsGuide Review Date: 02/19/2020

Rating: (10)
Recommended

Best character meal food on property as far as my family is concerned! Huge selection, great character outfits, outstanding theme-ing

Pros:

immersive and great food

Cons:

very large so characters do not get to spend as much time with each table when it is really crowded
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by AdventurelandFan Review Date: 02/16/2020

Rating: (10)
Recommended

I've been to a lot of buffets at Disney Parks. There are a lot of great ones out there. This is the best — not just at WDW but in North America.

Somehow, they — in my experience — are able to totally defeat the usual twin dooms of buffets by keeping all the food fresh, and by offering a massive variety of truly interesting dishes.

The variety here not only evokes Africa — as it should, since the restaurant is, yanno, in Africa — but it gives almost everyone something great they can eat. Almost all dietary preferences are accommodated from the regular buffet, and in a way that doesn't create social awkwardness. In other words, the buffet brings everyone together, rather than highlighting people's dietary differences.

It's also not slavishly upholding the line between "breakfast" and "lunch". If you get here earlier enough in the afternoon, there's an unofficial brunch. For about an hour around 1pm, I've found that they'll have both breakfast and lunch items on offer, until breakfast items are quietly ushered off stage. So if you've had a busy morning, but reserved for an early lunch here, your breakfast buffet dreams may still be alive.

The ambience here is ... not what you'd find in the Magic Kingdom. It's next-level imagineering, fully justifying the inconvenience of the longer journey to the Animal Kingdom you've probably had to endure. Tusker is a kind of extension of Harambe, generally — and it works so well that you'd be forgiven for missing the entrance to the joint. Once inside, prepare to be gobsmacked by the detailed beauty of the large, open buffet area. I couldn't stop myself from taking a lot of pictures of the restaurant interior before even thinking about eating. Seriously, take a long look at all the posters on the walls, the details above the buffet area, the imperfections knitted into the building's structure. It's so good that, especially when there are street players in the larger Harambe area, you might not think you're at a Disney Park at all.

Except, of course, that this restaurant, even after breakfast, has character dining. So, yes, the walking Mickey is gonna break the illusion. But if there's a compensation for the jarring visual, at least the original Disney characters are in the dress that I personally prefer. There are a lot of places to find the big five, but their "safari look" works for these original Disney characters. I'm not entirely sure that Daisy and Goofy can be found anywhere else in this specific garb, and this is surely an easier place to find Mickey and Minnie in that look than their "official" meet and greet spot elsewhere in Animal Kingdom. It's a little mystifying why Disney have chosen to do this, though. Surely the gang from DuckTales would make more sense for the "adventures in Africa" theme.

Moving away from that one headscratcher, Tusker is mightily convenient to other African goals. I personally wouldn't recommend eating here if your next stop is in another land. It's right down the street from Kilimanjaro Safaris and the train to Rafiki's and the disembarkation place for hard-ticketed "special" backstage tours — and, of course, The Lion King. That is, it's almost exactly central to Africa, so you'll find it incredibly convenient to wherever your African journeys take you. We went on the Caring for Giants backstage elephant tour, and there literally couldn't have been a better-placed restaurant for us.

Finally, it shouldn't be missed that there's a package deal with Rivers of Light which gets you special seating. Is It necessary? Maybe not. Is it nice to have a completely unobstructed first-row seat? Absolutely — especially if this is your favorite nighttime show at WDW, and you want to take a lot of pictures.

Pros:

Best buffet in WDW or Disneyland, astounding variety of food, central location to whatever you're doing in Africa, Great Rivers of Light package, impeccable theming, character dining (and breakfast!) go on for longer than advertised.

Cons:

Though I love the safari look for the original Disney characters, they don't make sense. I hope one day DuckTakes characters take over here, since they're much, more logically going to have travelled to Africa than Mickey. If this place must have animated characters, it demands Scrooge, Webby and Launchpad — not Goofy.
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/13/2020

Rating: (9)
Recommended

We came here with a very large group of picky eaters. I loved that I could try some more adventurous food and they were also happy. It is hard to navigate between tables and I found myself bumping the lady behind me a few times trying to get up for the characters.

Pros:

Character interaction was wonderful. Kids loved it. Food is good

Cons:

Crowded!
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by MuppetFanForever Review Date: 02/11/2020

Rating: (10)
Recommended

Easily my favorite buffet in all the parks! The selection of food was phenomional. I don't consider myself a picky eater, but the appearance of some of the dishes were... questionable, but I promised myself to try everything. I LOVED it all!! This is definitely a don't miss for me, and when I take my family here for their first Disney experience Cindy's Royal table when we all go in May.
I wish you would post an updated review. I watched the one for breakfast and it was made before Pandora was opened. Time for a Dinner review of Tusker House!

Pros:

Terrific selection of food. Eveeything was delicious and the staff is super accomodating!

Cons:

NONE!
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by shelly72wright Review Date: 01/30/2020

Rating: (10)
Recommended

This is my favorite restaurant in all of Disney World because of their delicious vegan options.

Pros:

An abundant amount of plant based choices

Cons:

A little pricey if you're not on a meal plan
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/08/2019

Rating: (4)
Not Recommended

Tried Tusker House for the first time as part of the Rivers of Light seating package. I wanted to love my experience but unfortunately I just did not. I had read other reviews stating that there were choices for picky eaters given the international flair of Tusker House’s food options, but found that was not the case for some of my family members who ended up eating mashed potatoes and mac and cheese from the children’s buffet. I consider myself to be more of an adventurous eater who can handle spice, but many of the dishes I selected were on the overly spicy side. While I did not ‘hate’ this dining experience, there are many other dining choices I would make first before eating here again.

Pros:

Quick to get in and out, nice character interactions, helpful staff members

Cons:

Many spicy dishes, odd location of plates underneath serving lines
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by MWS Review Date: 06/07/2019

Rating: (7)
Recommended

Restaurant was very crowded and loud. We received an allergy menu showing which food items were acceptable for multiple allergies. All the food was fresh, plentiful, and better than most other buffets on property. The characters were interactive and fun. Our server was very friendly and frequently checked on us.

Pros:

Food selection. Characters

Cons:

Very expensive
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by KimH134 Review Date: 04/21/2019

Rating: (8)
Recommended

Character dining.

Pros:

Characters! It's fun to see them in their safari outfits. Unique foods.

Cons:

Pickier eaters may have a hard time finding food.
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by MarLL55 Review Date: 04/18/2019

Rating: (8)
Recommended

My husband and I ate at Tusker House our first night of arrival. It is always a fun time especially if you have children because of the characters that come around to the tables. The buffet is plentiful with both American and some African dishes. Food is always tasty.

Pros:

The atmosphere is fun.

Cons:

None
0 Users found this helpful.

Reviewed by Disney gram Review Date: 04/17/2019

Rating: (10)
Recommended

Tusker House buffet’s food was great! There were so many choices of African and Mediterranean dishes.

Pros:

Great food! So many chances for pictures with the characters for young and old. We were also told to not feel rushed snd to stay as long as we wanted.

Cons:

So many choices of food!
0 Users found this helpful.

Other topics in Animal Kingdom