Tusker House to become Character Buffet?

[teebin]

If another Character Buffet wasn't needed they wouldn't put it in. Complain all you want. It is probably a decision made by necessity more than anything else. We hit 6 character buffets last trip and all the good times were booked solid 170 days ahead. So even in that 10 days, we were stuck with "off times".

I agree with Jimbo. Disney surveys its guests bigtime.. and they really analyze the data. Data that none of us here is privy to, unless there is an upper level on this board? If you think about it, where is there a place for 2-7 year olds at AK? Maybe two places? The animals are kind of out of their niche and mom and dad cannot snap a pic of little jason standing next to the giraffe or lion. I will bet that from a parents standpoint, there is nothing for tiny tots at AK.

Do I dislike that they are doing this to Tusker? YES. Do I believe they have a great good reason for doing this? YES.

I believe that perhaps Parents of little toddlers told disney surveys that they wouldn't come back because they didn't have any fun (with the toddler). Disney knows that all must leave with a good feeling or they may not come back based on previous 'feelings'.

I am not a parent... but have visited with my sister and her little girls... and the only thing that made the 3 year old scream with joy was seeing the big fuzzy characters. Not my cup of tea... but hey, we do want everyone to return!

So, I hate the idea of the change; I love the great theming too, but it may be a good change as a whole for the entire park. And that is what it is all about... the entire park, the entire company.

 

[MickeyTigg]

I guess I don't really feel that this is that bad of an idea. While I do enjoy eating there...they really don't have as much there that my kids like, so we don't eat there as much as I'd like...that and it's getting increasingly hard to get an ADR early enough at Breakfastosaurus without it getting in the way of getting on the primo rides early.

I would hope that Breafastosaurus isn't stopping the character meal...it would be nice to have a character meal choice available for lunch or dinner.

 

[jakeman]

I apologize if this has already been mentioned as I did not read all of the post.

To add fuel to this rumor, at Party for the Senses at the F&W festival a couple of weeks ago Tusker's was a featured restaruant. It was the only quick service that was there.

Just reporting what I saw. Not sure if they are related.

 

[mousermerf]

A few thoughts...

Don't forget that they're building the "Asia" restaurant. It's supposed to be both counter service and table service. Asia and Africa at AK are mere moments apart.

I think the idea is to get the crowds of people at AK out of the area of Everest and Nemo and move the families with children more evenly over toe Kilimanjaro's area in the mornings - thats when character meals are most popular.

At night, character meals again thrive - heck, this could lead to those night safaris we all wants - and then Asia serves food at night too. Gives a fairly good balance at the rear of the park for extending into the evening.

I think it makes sense from that standpoint. If you need 2 table service, 1 with characters, 1 without, and Asia will be without, then Donalds needs to close and go back to being just counter service and Tuskers takes over the role.

 

[mousermerf]

Come to think of it - with Asia open, wont AK then have...

1 nice Table Service (Asia)
1 moderate Table service (Rainforest cafe)
1 character buffet (tuskers) servimng all day

And they're well spread out around the park, seems like a plan for longer park hours to me...

 

[Figments Friend]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Totally agree with the above statement!

Argh! Please leave Tusker alone!

I LOVE it the way it is!

It's so nice and peaceful...when i eat outside in the back off-season it feels like i am really on another continent on a adventure. I shutter to think that this will be ruined by crabby parents and screaming toddlers.

Seriously...is'nt there ENOUGH "character dining" places on property now??

:brick:

 

[mousermerf]

Totally agree with the above statement!

Argh! Please leave Tusker alone!

I LOVE it the way it is!

It's so nice and peaceful...when i eat outside in the back off-season it feels like i am really on another continent on a adventure. I shutter to think that this will be ruined by crabby parents and screaming toddlers.

Seriously...is'nt there ENOUGH "character dining" places on property now??

:brick:

Which would you rather have, longer park hours and nights at AK, or counter service food at Tuskers?

I really think this is a move to balance the park and just move things.. I liked the food there too, but Asia is supposed to be nice and have a counter service just a few feet away.

 

[KrazyKowboy]

Wouldn't converting Tusker House from CS to Buffet be a contridiction to Disney's new policy of providing more healthy dining options.

Yeh , let's switch it over to all you can eat, heck with portion sizes !! Geeeeeshh. :hammer:

 

[DDuckFan130]

Do we even know if the food would be changed drastically? It seems you all have come to that conclusion already :lol:

If it's needed, I say it's a good thing and I like the idea of longer park hours. But let's not panic until we 1)get confirmation and 2)actually get details :hammer:

 

[Figment571]

It has begun.

The destruction of a gratpark has been started into motion. Let's hope that this is not true. I think that this will cause a domino effectthat will mouserise the entire park. PRAISE THE ALLMIGHTY DOLLAR!!!:hurl:

I hope that change will come for the better for all of the parks. Mr. Rhodhe is a creative genius and could help all the other parks go back to what they are supposed to be. EPCOT to be educational Disney-MGM Studios to be about the show biz and maybe MK fix Tommorowland.

Like Billy Joel says" Only the good die young"

Let's all hope this doesn't happen.:lookaroun

 

[Dwarful]

I personally have a hard time believing that they "need" all these character meals. We have the meal plan, because we made our trip plans late and are going 12-22 to new years, we had to take several buffet/character meals, not because they were our first choice, but because all of the non character sit down restaurants I tried to book were already filled - good seating times and bad. We have 6 kids in our group and honestly, while a few character meals are nice, I do like some peace and quiet and relaxation, where your not always jumping for the camera or autograph book, etc., because most of the characters you now see in the meals you can easily see elsewhere in the parks.

 

[flscooman]

[Why is it written in stone that all Character meals must be buffet style?[/quote]
Garden Grill and Liberty Tree Tavern are character and not buffet

 

[elle72688]

bummer I hope it doesn't happen. Tusker House is my favorite counter service location at WDW (love that chicken!).

 

[AEfx]

And they're well spread out around the park, seems like a plan for longer park hours to me...

ITA.

That's the first thing that popped into my head when I heard this rumor.

It sure would be nice to have at least some of the AK open a bit later regularly, even though of course not all attractions can operate at night.

The 5PM closings are almost embarassing.

AEfx

 

[Main Street USA]

I agree with Jimbo. Disney surveys its guests bigtime.. and they really analyze the data. Data that none of us here is privy to, unless there is an upper level on this board? If you think about it, where is there a place for 2-7 year olds at AK? Maybe two places? The animals are kind of out of their niche and mom and dad cannot snap a pic of little jason standing next to the giraffe or lion. I will bet that from a parents standpoint, there is nothing for tiny tots at AK.

Do I dislike that they are doing this to Tusker? YES. Do I believe they have a great good reason for doing this? YES.

I believe that perhaps Parents of little toddlers told disney surveys that they wouldn't come back because they didn't have any fun (with the toddler). Disney knows that all must leave with a good feeling or they may not come back based on previous 'feelings'.

I am not a parent... but have visited with my sister and her little girls... and the only thing that made the 3 year old scream with joy was seeing the big fuzzy characters. Not my cup of tea... but hey, we do want everyone to return!

So, I hate the idea of the change; I love the great theming too, but it may be a good change as a whole for the entire park. And that is what it is all about... the entire park, the entire company.

Nothing for kids in AK? Isn't Camp Minnie-Mickey the child hangout of the entire Central Florida area?

 

[Hakunamatata]

If you think about it, where is there a place for 2-7 year olds at AK? Maybe two places?

1. Camp Mini Mickey.
2. The excevation play area.
3. The prehistoric dumbo ride.
4. Its tough to be a bug.
5. Rafiki's Planet Watch petting zoo.

 

[teebin]

1. Camp Mini Mickey.
2. The excevation play area.
3. The prehistoric dumbo ride.
4. Its tough to be a bug.
5. Rafiki's Planet Watch petting zoo.

1. Camp Mini Mickey. sure
2. The excevation play area. for 2 and 3 year olds?
3. The prehistoric dumbo ride. sure
4. Its tough to be a bug. terrifies many 2 and 3 year olds...
5. Rafiki's Planet Watch petting zoo. There are petting zoos everywhere

 

[imamouse]

This makes economical sense (characters + kids = higher prices), and buffets are easier to produce. It's all about guest feedback and shareholder return. As emotional as Disney is for many of us, it is still a business.

Do I personally approve of this change? Yes and no. I'm all for shareholder return, but the idea of a character buffet at Tusker House does not appeal to my demographic. However, if this is a means toward the end of extending AK hours, then I am more likely to get onboard. Especially since there will be a new dining option offered in Asia and Flame Tree BBQ is still available.

 

[imagineersrock]

1. Camp Mini Mickey. sure
2. The excevation play area. for 2 and 3 year olds? Yes!
3. The prehistoric dumbo ride. sure
4. Its tough to be a bug. terrifies many 2 and 3 year olds...
5. Rafiki's Planet Watch petting zoo. There are petting zoos everywhere. There are character meals everywhere.

I'll agree with you on Tough to be a Bug, not for most kids in my opinion, but everything else in that list you can't complain about.

1.) Camp Minnie-Mickey not only has the character greeting trails but two great shows for kids: Pocahontas and
2.) Festival of the Lion King
3.) The Boneyard... ABSOLUTELY. Correct me if I'm wrong, but since when do 2 and 3 year olds not like playgrounds?
4.) TriceraTop Spin. No room to argue this one.
5.) Rafiki's Planet Watch... (not just the petting zoo, but the place itself including the train ride over.)

And I've got a few more to add:
6.) The wide variety of animal viewing areas scattered all throughout the park (Many of which have interactive areas for kids)
7.) Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
8.) Maharaja Jungle Trek
9.) KILIMANJARO SAFARIS
10.) Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade
11.) Opening soon: Finding Nemo--The Musical

Lets see how DAK compares to the other parks...

Disney-MGM Studios:
1.) Playhouse Disney
2.) Muppet Vision 3D
3.) Voyage of the Little Mermaid
4.) Beauty and the Beast
5.) The animation tour
6.) GMR (*some scenes might be too intense for some younger ones)
7.) Backlot Tour (*Catastrophe Canyon might make this a little too intense for some younger ones)
8.) Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground
9.) Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (*some scenes might be too intense for some younger ones)
10.) Stars and Motor Cars Parade
11.) Fantasmic! (*some scenes might be too intense for some younger ones)

Epcot:
1.) Turtle Talk with Crush
2.) The new Seas with Nemo and Friends ride
3.) All the exhibits in The Seas pavillion.
4.) Living with the Land
5.) Circle of Life
6.) Imagination
7.) Mexico boat ride
8.) Norway boat ride (*may be a little intense for some younger ones)
9.) Spaceship Earth
10.) Some of the Innoventions exhibits?
11.) Illuminations RoE (*I realize not all kids enjoy fireworks)

Looking at those lists, I think it's safe to say that behind the Magic Kingdom, the rest of the parks are pretty even as far as offerings for younger ones go. (Infact- looking carefully, DAK might just be your best bet for younger ones considering it has the least amount of questionable attractions compared to the other parks.)

 

[teebin]

Looking at those lists, I think it's safe to say that behind the Magic Kingdom, the rest of the parks are pretty even as far as offerings for younger ones go. (Infact- looking carefully, DAK might just be your best bet for younger ones considering it has the least amount of questionable attractions compared to the other parks.)

Good point about the shows and I just thought of another one that kids like, "Flights of Wonder". I had overlooked all of those. Well, I guess in hinesight there is only one thing that AK hasn't had and now it is getting! A Character Buffet at Tusker House!

:wave: