People often ask about the various buffets in Walt Disney World. There are a ton of different styles of buffets on property from character meals, different food offerings and different meal times. One of our absolute favorite buffets in Disney World is Tusker House in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Tusker House is a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All three meals are a character meal featuring Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy; all of which are dressed in their safari outfits. We often go for lunch or dinner here for various reasons, which we will share for why we feel that Tusker House is the best buffet in Disney World.
Friendly Chefs! The special diet chefs work very hard here. We have had the privilege of Chef Renee giving us the ‘what is vegan’ tour several times. Both her and the other chef are constantly in the dining room guiding guests around for what items are safe for their dietary needs. So let’s give a round of applause for these hard working Special Diets Chefs.
Real Food! Tusker House offers a ton of fresh vegetable dishes on the buffet. Many buffets in Disney will have lots of generic items like pizza, french fries and chicken nuggets of some sort. Tusker House does have a few of those items to please the picky eaters, but 90% of the buffet features African/Indian cuisine rich in herbs, beans and vegetables.
Samosas! If you’ve been reading for a while you know our love for samosas. Tusker House has potato and pea samosas that you can eat until you puke! These crispy pockets of love have a nice spice to them and are great when paired with the mango chutney they offer. This item is cooked in a shared fryer for those who avoid those items.
Holy Vegan Options! I think it’s safe to say that 70% of this buffet is vegan as is. Many buffets leave us speaking with a chef for a special meal since nothing on the bar is vegan. Not here. Since many of the dishes are rich in vegetables, there are a ton of different salads to load up on. From a Black Eyed Pea salad to two different kinds of couscous! Additionally there is a delicious tofu and zucchini dish here. The tofu is also cooked in a shared fryer. You will not leave hungry here. When you’re done at the buffet you can ask your server to let the chef know you’re ready for dessert and a plate full of Enjoy Life vegan cookies will appear.
If you have never been to Tusker House, I hope you go. There is something for everyone here and it’s a great place to try some new dishes. If you want to experience some breakfast and lunch, get here around 10:45 and order up some vegan waffles and then head to the buffet around 11:20 for some samosas! The best of both worlds.
Corey & Melissa
Hi, I was wondering with the buffets at Disney are you able to have a plate of food and then go back for some more food? Or is it one plate only from the food on offer? Thank you 🙂
You can go up as many times as you want. 😊
Thank you so much for posting these reviews of Tusker House. We had reservations for character breakfast buffet at Tusker House, but after having one at Hollywood &a Vine in Hollywood Studios and being very unimpressed by the nondairy vegetarian selection (especially for the price) I was thinking of canceling this one. But then I looked up this article and didn’t cancel the reservation, and I’m very glad. The breakfast buffet didn’t have the samosas, but there were great coconut sweet potatoes and the black eyed pea salad. I was able to have a huge vegan brunch without even needing to consult an allergy menu or talk with the chef, so much more relaxing. Kids loved seeing Goofy, Donald, Mickey, and Daisy all in one place too.
I recently returned from a thanksgiving trip to disney. I didn’t even think of walking the buffet lines with a chef. I will know for next time! I didn’t even think that Liberty Tree would be able to accommodate me. I also can’t eat soy, so the tofu additions put a wrench in some of the options as well. We at at Tony’s in magic kingdom. which was very good…however the meatless pasta fusigli soup was so spicy I couldn’t eat more than a few spoonfuls. Same goes for the falafal at animal kingdom.
Was literally just told by greeter that there is ghee in all fried items.
Day 3 no food at Disney.
You need to speak with chefs and managers. Unfortunately front line cast members are not always the most informed. I’m sorry you’ve had bad luck.
thanks for the note. i hope they smooth out the lines of communication. on the upside, i saved about $250 on family dinner!
How can you possibly not have had any food in Disney for 3 days? You are clearly not putting any effort into finding it at all. Even in my resort dining hall I was able to speak with a chef and have a completely vegan meal prepared for me in a separate allergy kitchen both for breakfast and dinner. There is not a single place on property where we went that wasn’t able to accommodate me easily, quickly, and deliciously, and we went to all four parks multiple times. We even went to Liberty Tree Tavern for their family Thanksgiving dinner and the chef brought me vegan bread with vegan butter, a custom vegan entree, vegan mashed potatoes, and incredible sorbet for dessert. Also — all popcorn and pretzels are vegan, Dole whips are vegan, there is hummus and fruit at virtually every snack stand, and every gift shop has an assortment of allergy-friendly snacks and candy. I barely stopped eating during my week-long trip.
If you talk to the servers, you can get vegan food. You just have to ask. Disney wants everyone to be happy with their experience.
This is one of my favorites as well. Looking forward to going back.