WDW Daily News

When I was younger when my family made our trips to Walt Disney World one of the things I thought was really cool was getting to order room service in our hotel. I thought it was the coolest thing having someone deliver our food right to our room, but because I loved that I basically missed out on all the really cool opportunities to eat in the actual park! Cut to 20 years later and now I’m finally starting to explore dining through out Walt Disney World! I made it my goal to try as many restaurants in the parks as humanly possible this year and so far I’m doing pretty good! In my last article I detailed my experiences at Be Our Guest for both breakfast and dinner, and this week I’ve tried another fun new dining location! This week I went to Tusker House for the first time and let me tell you it was an unforgettable experience!

If you’ve not had the opportunity to visit Tusker House, it is located in Disney’s Animal Kingdom park not far from the Harambe Theater where the Festival of the Lion King show plays. It’s pretty strategic of Disney to place that theater there because after you’re done eating at Tusker House you’re really only able to sit down and bask in the awesomeness that is the Festival of the Lion King, The cuisine featured at the restaurant is African themed, very similar to Boma if you’ve been there. It is buffet styled and of course the big draw is that it is character dining featuring Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey Mouse. It was definitely one of my favorite character dining experiences I’ve had and the food was amazing!

Upon arrival you are seated at your table and your server comes to greet you offering you beverages. You must must MUST try the Jungle Juice! I’ve heard it’s similar to a drink served at Ohana’s, but is absolutely delicious. It’s a combination of several yummy fruit juices. You have the option of getting it iced, though my preference was minus the ice—I had 2 large glasses of it myself during the course of my meal and I would’ve happily taken it in a to go cup with me haha. After I was seated I headed straight for the buffet! There is a certalized dessert station in the middle, and then 7 main serving stations around the room. There is a station for carved meat, a bbq meat type section, a kids buffet, one offering two different curries, one offering fruit and salad options, one for things like hummus, and lastly one for bread options.

I personally went for both curry options, a little bit of fruit salad, naan bread, a few corn dog nuggets, and several other yummy things on my first round. I was determined to clear my plate that round and I certainly did. In between stuffing my face Goofy and Daisy Duck visited my table and they were an absolute delight to see. After I cleared my first plate, I went back for seconds on the curry and naan bread and then headed in for dessert! This is the point in the meal where my stomach started to protest anymore food….but I didn’t care because I was determined to try everything! Word to the wise- go easy on the jungle juice- less juice equals more space for real food and sweets. When I went back for round two I got more curry and basically every dessert offered, but when I sat back down I quickly realized…I had no space for anything and only nibbled at my second round of curry, and most of my desserts however everything I tried was DELICIOUS! Also while I was nibbling the number one mouse and the number one duck made their way round to my table as well!

I had an amazing time at Tusker House and I would recommend it to anyone! They have enough  options that everyone will be satisfied with the buffet, the characters are lovely, and if you like leaving feeling stuffed and sleepy you can’t go wrong! I’ve crossed Tusker House off my list….on to the next! I wonder where I’ll end up 😀

Did you know that there are still launches from the Cape Canaveral area?  Did you know you can see them from the Walt Disney World area?  You can even see them from the Gulf Coast at times!  Seeing a launch could be a fantastic addition to any vacation.  There are also locations where you can see launches up close.  Informational tours are also conducted at the Kennedy Space Center.

Cape Canaveral, which is about an hour east of Orlando, is home to The Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.   The Kennedy Space Center itself is midway through its transition from government-focused launch facility to multi-user spaceport.  It will be able to handle the needs of any future space exploration in addition to the ambitions of commercial companies.  You can learn all about that and more, even visit launch pads, on the many tours offered.  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) is part of the United States Air Force Space Command‘s 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. It is has three active launch pads.  Launches are scheduled from time to time.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to see one while on vacation?   Either up close and personal by traveling to the Space Coast area or by looking to the east when the launch goes to see if you can spot the rocket in the sky.

I have not seen a launch up close or from Disney property.  I have seen pictures on line from Guests that have.  I did see two recently from my back yard and I live about 25 minutes west of Disney property.  One was at night and one was in the afternoon.  Both were brief and spectacular.  Best viewing would be on a clear day or night both my sightings were cut short when the rocket went behind a cloud.  I am still glad I took the time to watch.

For tour information, launch schedules and places to watch check kennedyspacecenter.com or nasa.gov. For even more launch information check spaceline.org/launch.   You might be able to add some space magic to your next Florida visit.