What time to do Tusker House?

[Andsco]

Hey everyone! My family's big Disney trip is coming up in 2 1/2 weeks! We are going to be going to Animal Kingdom on 1/30. I originally got us a TH breakfast at 8:05 thinking we will get out around 9:00 and then go over to Pandora and hit River Journey right away (we have FOP FP later in the afternoon). But I have been reading the boards and I am realizing that with our breakfast reservation we will be late in the game to get over to Pandora after we eat and the lines could already be long for Pandora. I found a 9:45 now for TH and I have both 8:05 and 9:45 booked, which one should I do?
Realistically when do people actually get let into Pandora if the park is supposed to open at 9:00?

Thanks for your help! This is my first post on the boards!

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

I did this very same thing for an upcoming trip. I am curious to hear what others have to say!

 

[sharonabe]

I have both 8:05 and 9:45 booked, which one should I do?
Realistically when do people actually get let into Pandora if the park is supposed to open at 9:00?

Unless something changes drastically, they are letting people into Pandora anywhere from 30-45 min BEFORE official opening. The majority of these people are headed to FoP, but Na'vi gets long quickly too. So if Na'vi is your goal, I'd still be there at least 45 min before opening, so you can be in the line to get in. That should easily get you onto and off Na'vi well before a 9:45 ADR.

If you're staying until the end of the day, you could keep your 8:05 and just head to somewhere other than Pandora after breakfast. Na'vi can be done toward park closure without much of a wait. In fact, I would day by mid afternoon, Na'vi would be doable.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I would do the 9:45 one and if you're worried about getting hungry, just grab a small pastry at the hotel before you leave. You can then ride NRJ at pre-rope drop, as well as hit other rides in the empty early hours. The 9:45 time may give you a nice break; with the 8am one you may be rushing to get finished and get on with your day so you wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Depending on when you actually get seated and how long you take, you may also have the opportunity to get some lunch/dinner foods, as those come out at 11am, but you would still be paying the cheaper breakfast price.

I've also heard reports that people who have these PPO breakfasts at AK still get caught up in the Flight of Passage crowds and have problems getting over there (not that they miss their reservations, it's just chaotic and uncomfortable trying to get thru crowds who don't want you to cut in line).

 

[CAS239]

I personally would push back the ADR and do a lunch at TH. We love their lunch buffet.

Hitting Pandora first thing is key

 

[DWeav]

We have a FP for Flight of Passage and have an 8:05 AM Tusker House. If we have no intentions of doing anything else in Pandora (besides just walking through the land later in the day), will there be crowds already pouring into the Africa area before 9 AM or do they keep them in Pandora? Want to be one of the first on the Safari so we catch the animals at their earliest.

 

[sharonabe]

We have a FP for Flight of Passage and have an 8:05 AM Tusker House. If we have no intentions of doing anything else in Pandora (besides just walking through the land later in the day), will there be crowds already pouring into the Africa area before 9 AM or do they keep them in Pandora? Want to be one of the first on the Safari so we catch the animals at their earliest.

Not pouring in, but you won't be one of the first on Safari either. Depending on how long it takes you to eat and see all the characters, you should still be at Safari within the first 30 min of opening, and there still won't be much of a wait.

 

[22Tink]

We have a FP for Flight of Passage and have an 8:05 AM Tusker House. If we have no intentions of doing anything else in Pandora (besides just walking through the land later in the day), will there be crowds already pouring into the Africa area before 9 AM or do they keep them in Pandora? Want to be one of the first on the Safari so we catch the animals at their earliest.

We did this on on our last trip and were finished eating in time to get on Safari with a minimal wait. We have another PPO TH booked again for our upcoming trip and I'm hoping it works well again!

 

[tlmadden73]

I personally don't do breakfast at the parks. For me, they just aren't special or different foods and I don't want a "big" breakfast before walking and riding all day. To me it is just a big waste of time that COULD make you miss rope drop. So you either are rushed through breakfast trying to be done before rope drop or the front gate lets people in early (because of crowding) and you will not beat the crowds anyway (or both).

You could probably make the Safari with ease, but probably not Pandora.

My only experience at Tusker House was a LATE lunch (like 4:00 PM) ... this was before they were offering dinner, but that was a good meal and a good time (Character meal).

I would suggest having a late lunch time .. giving you a nice mid-day break to rest and recharge before experiencing AK at night.

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I am going to chime in with others that say push back your reservation even more. We like doing the latest breakfast time and consider it brunch. This allows you to maximize your early morning time in the park before it gets really crowded. Granola bars and a piece of fruit in your bag should be able to tide you over till an 11am.

 

[Andsco]

My wife and I are going with our 2 year old son, so we know we want to take a mid day break to the resort and come back. We will be going to Pandora for sure at 5:00 for our FOP FP. If we don't want to wait more than 20-30 mins for Na'vi River Journey I figured that will only happen right in the early morning. Will lines be down later early evening for River Journey?

 

[maryj11]

I am going to chime in with others that say push back your reservation even more. We like doing the latest breakfast time and consider it brunch. This allows you to maximize your early morning time in the park before it gets really crowded. Granola bars and a piece of fruit in your bag should be able to tide you over till an 11am.

This is our plan. Get most rides done before lines build then have 10:40 breakfast at Tuskers House that will also turn to lunch at 11:00. So we can enjoy both breakfast and lunch foods.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

As a rule of thumb, I don't do PPO ADRs any more. We used to try to do a couple on each trip in order to get on rides early, but as has been noted park opening procedures vary and times are not what you may plan for them to be. I found it to be too much like work to try and enjoy my breakfast and watch the clock so we could get here, there, or yonder. I like making breakfast ADRs in that 9:30-11:00 range. Usually we can get in and ride a thing or two before breakfast, enjoy a big meal (typically the only one of the day until something light for supper), and then resume touring. I'm doing this next week in Epcot. Eating at Garden Grill at 9:50, but will ride Soarin' first. I find such a plan to be much more relaxed

 

[dcassetta]

This is our plan. Get most rides done before lines build then have 10:40 breakfast at Tuskers House that will also turn to lunch at 11:00. So we can enjoy both breakfast and lunch foods.

This!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Hey everyone! My family's big Disney trip is coming up in 2 1/2 weeks! We are going to be going to Animal Kingdom on 1/30. I originally got us a TH breakfast at 8:05 thinking we will get out around 9:00 and then go over to Pandora and hit River Journey right away (we have FOP FP later in the afternoon). But I have been reading the boards and I am realizing that with our breakfast reservation we will be late in the game to get over to Pandora after we eat and the lines could already be long for Pandora. I found a 9:45 now for TH and I have both 8:05 and 9:45 booked, which one should I do?
Realistically when do people actually get let into Pandora if the park is supposed to open at 9:00?

Thanks for your help! This is my first post on the boards!

to DISboards, Andsco!

The later ADR for Tusker will work out better for your planned day especially if you rope drop Na’vi River.

Be prepared to plan at least 1 and 1/2 hours for your Tusker mid-day meal. Because of the number of guests booking RoL packages, Tusker gets backed up after the initial 8:00a breakfast seating. Some guests are waiting 30 minutes to be seated and depending upon where they are seated, they are waiting more than an hour to meet all the rotating characters. This shouldn't affect your 5:00 FPs unless you are set back in returning to your hotel.

 

[SWBCMusic]

We did a 10:30 am ressie, and were able to enjoy both breakfast and lunch offerings. Might fit better for your purposes too.

 

[Jessica Messina]

Wow, I can't believe it's still this hard to get to Navi and FoP. This is all good info though. Thanks for the pointers!

 

[Wubar]

Have a " brunch" booked at TH for 10:40am. Excited about the possibility of having breakfast and lunch items to choose from.

 

[joyjoy]

We did a 10:30 am ressie, and were able to enjoy both breakfast and lunch offerings. Might fit better for your purposes too.

We did the same thing in Sept, our res was at 10:45 and we got breakfast buffet offerings for about 20 mins then they brought out the lunch buffet items. Good thing, too, we figured out we liked lunch at TH way better than breakfast!

 

[maryj11]

Have a " brunch" booked at TH for 10:40am. Excited about the possibility of having breakfast and lunch items to choose from.

Plus the price is cheaper!