Tusker House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom has reopened for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We sat down for the family-style breakfast, which is $42 for adults and $27 for children. Breakfast includes a basket of pastries, fresh fruit, and a breakfast platter, with vegan options available upon request. The restaurant was a buffet pre-COVID. Mickey and friends also traverse the restaurant for distanced meet-and-greets.

Arrival

Tusker House Restaurant is in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

We were some of the first guests to check-in to the reopened restaurant.

After check-in, we waited for a text message letting us know our table was ready.

Inside, a crowd of Cast Members greeted us heartily with “Jambo!” They were all wonderful during our meal and seemed happy to be back.

They were ready with plenty of Jungle/POG Juice.

With such a large dining space, distancing at Tusker House is pretty easy.

The tables were all set.

Characters

The characters were the standout of this dining experience. They all engaged with every guest and most paused at each table for photos. They loved showing off their safari costumes.

Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey all circle the restaurant.

Daisy blew kisses as she arrived.

The characters visited periodically throughout the meal.

Since the characters don’t stop for autographs, guests get an autograph card at the end of the meal.

Ngumu Jungle Juice – $14

Snow Leopard Vodka, Bols Peach Schnapps, and Tusker House “Jungle Juice”

Ahead of our meal, we ordered two of the specialty cocktails. The Jungle Juice tastes exactly how you’d expect. If you like POG juice, then this is an excellent morning cocktail.

African Bloody Mary – $13

Made with Snow Leopard Vodka, a dash of African Berbere Sauce, and garnished with Candied Bacon

This is a nice and spicy Bloody Mary. The mix is thick with lots of tomato pulp and tastes fresh like it’s made in-house. We could barely taste the vodka.

Pastries Basket/Board

Safari Bread, Multigrain Croissants and Cornbread served with Whipped Butter, Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, and Strawberry Preserves

The cornbread was warm and delicious. It was savory but with a hint of sweetness. It pairs well with a swipe of butter and the strawberry preserves.

The safari bread is a dense brioche-style bread. It’s savory and chewy and goes well with the chocolate-hazelnut spread.

The croissant remains remarkably light and flaky for being multigrain. It’s a little bland on its own but perks up with a bit of strawberry preserves.

Vegan Pastry and Fresh Fruit

With honey yogurt sauce

Each table gets a bowl of fresh fruit with honey yogurt sauce. That said, we preferred the vegan yogurt that came with this tray. It was thick and fluffy and tasted like it was coconut-based.

The vegan pastry option was good but not great. They didn’t seem prepared to bring the vegan options, so it took a while.

The pastry itself was still a bit frozen at the center.

Breakfast Platter

Scrambled Eggs, Mickey & Simba Waffles, and Durban Chicken & Egg Curry with Jasmine Rice served with Bacon, Sausage, and Roasted Potatoes

The chicken and egg curry was excellent. It reminded us of the biryani at Sanaa. It was spicy but not really hot.

Everything was cooked perfectly. The chicken and chickpeas are tender. We were skeptical of the hard-boiled egg, but it actually works well with the dish.

The rest of the breakfast is pretty standard.

The potatoes stand out. With more spice and flavor, they were better than the potatoes at other similar breakfasts.

The sausage was the worst of the platter. It was greasy and not particularly hot. It did have a decent sausage flavor. The eggs were typical scrambled eggs.

The waffles were a little off. They were a little batter-y, and seemed overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. Maybe the waffle irons just needed more time to be re-seasoned.

Plant-Based Breakfast Platter

Instead of something more interesting, the plant-based platter just had vegan versions of the same food on the standard platter. That being said, the plant-based sausage was actually better than the real meat version. It was similar to falafel and had more interesting spice.

The vegan curry was good. It tasted just like the chicken and egg curry but without the chicken and egg. It also didn’t come with rice.

The waffles weren’t great. They tasted of flour and were similar to the vegan waffles you get at other breakfasts.

The vegan eggs are best to avoid. The texture was okay, but the flavor was not close enough to egg to call it vegan eggs.

Overall

This is a pretty standard, but good breakfast. Food-wise, we liked it better than Cape May Cafe, which also recently reopened. Plus, the service was better and we got to see the beloved characters.

Is it better than the buffet version? We somehow doubt many will think so, but it still offers an enjoyable experience.

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