Bryan’s parents, who live in the Orlando area, joined us for breakfast today at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Boma restaurant, bringing our party size to 9. Animal Kingdom Lodge is a beautiful setting and my past experiences with the Boma breakfast buffet had been quite good. So I decided it would be a good choice for the first time we would be meeting Emily’s future in-laws.
Upon arrival by car, we made our way down the spiraling staircase from the lobby to the area below where both of the Lodge’s table service restaurants are located.
Of course only Boma is open for both breakfast and dinner, while their Signature restaurant, Jiko, is open only for dinner. This makes their common waiting area quite busy during dinner hours. But we were there during the late morning (I think our reservation was for 10:30) so it wasn’t bad.
Here’s a photo of the beautiful Boma dining room…
We didn’t have a long wait before our group of 9 was seated at a long table. Our server then took our drink orders before inviting us to help ourselves at the buffet. The typical beverages of coffee, tea, milk, juice (including Boma’s version of POG juice), and soda were included in the price of the meal. There were though cocktails (including a Bo’mosa flight of four different mimosas, a Tamarind Bloody Mary, and a Zebra Dome Cold Brew with South African Amarula Cream Liqueur) and fancy coffee drinks available for purchase. Our group stuck to the basic included beverages though. I got both coffee and juice.
Then we were off to the buffet to explore the many options. This was just my second time on this trip with taking food photos at a buffet, with the first (and only other) being the night before at the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Party. Both times I felt a bit awkward, as it had been nearly 5 years (pre-pandemic) since I’d dined at a buffet-style restaurant so I was very much out of practice. Even though I made sure that I wasn’t in the way of any guests (other than maybe my own family, lol), I felt like the cast members at Boma (well, really just one in particular) were giving me the evil eye. But I forged ahead as best I could, taking some photos from a safe distance whenever I saw a lull in the buffet line. Consequently my photos weren’t all that great, so I decided to fill in a few gaps and replace some of the most lackluster photos with photos that I took during my last breakfast at Boma in 2017. It was then that I realized that there we more options at the Boma buffet then. In fact, a sign that they had posted at the restaurant entrance in 2017 boasted more than 60 options.
So anyway, let’s bring on the food.
At the start of the buffet line were the same 4 items as they had in 2017. But this was as close as I was able to get to this area to take a picture this time…
But back in 2017 I was able to get better photos of these options. Not pictured in the above photo but they were there both in 2024 and back in 2017 were…
Oak-grilled Tomatoes
Also in this section were…
Oak-grilled Asparagus
Chakalaka (South African Spicy Tomato Stew)
Pap (Creamy White Cornmeal)
Next in the Carving Station area was a large pan of…
Turkey Bobotie (South African Dish with Turkey, Mushrooms, and Egg)
They had Oven-roasted Ham & Turkey being carved for guests. I was not able to get a photo of the Carving Station this time so here is the one I took of the ham being carved in 2017…
It is here that you will find Boma Mustard, a chipotle and teriyaki mustard sauce, that is delicious.
Next was an Oatmeal Station…
On the left are Coconut Steel-cut Oats and Regular Oatmeal on the right with Banana Chips in the middle. They also had Raisins and Honey to add to your oatmeal here that are not pictured.
Next up were the typical breakfast meats of Bacon and Sausage...
The only potatoes they had were Tater Tots…
Next up were Biscuits & Gravy…
Then the Waffles & Pancakes…
They had both Mickey and Simba waffles.
They also had two kinds of Pancakes, Chocolate Chip and Plain…
One of the biggest disappointments for me was in the Egg section of the buffet. While they still had two kinds of Scrambled Eggs in this section, the Plain Scrambled Eggs…
And then Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Goat Cheese...
The disappointment here was that they no longer had a Made-to-Order Omelet Station like they had in 2017. Back then they had a dozen different ingredients that you could add to your omelet…
Though they still had Omelets, they were pre-made and you had only three choices…
From left to right: Cheese Omelets, Ham & Swiss Cheese Omelets, and Western Omelets with Ham, Peppers, Onion and Cheddar Cheese
They did make one improvement in the Egg options. While in 2017 they had plain boiled eggs, they now also had these…
Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon
Then some fruits & salads, including these individual servings of…
Avocado, Papaya and Grapefruit Salad
And Ancient Grains Berry Salad...
In 2017 they had a large bowl of plain yogurt with several toppings. But now they had these Mixed Berry Yogurt Parfaits…
Like in 2017 they again had a selection of Meats & Cheeses…
Next they had a large pan of warm Bread Pudding, which you could top with Amarula Creme Anglaise…
Or Pecan Praline Sauce (not pictured).
They also had a pan of Sticky Buns in this section…
Then the Breads & Condiments…
Which included slices of White and Wheat Bread and Plain and Poppy Seed Bagels. For condiments there were African Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, Grape Jam, Orange Marmalade, Strawberry Marmalade, Peanut Butter, and Cream Cheese.
Then I will end with their Breakfast Pastries, which included Cinnamon Rolls…
Blueberry and Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins…
And Croissants, Apple Pockets, and I’m not sure what the 3rd plate of pastries were but they looked good…
So here was my first plate of food from the buffet, which was all savory…
Everything was pretty good, however the highlights were the Ham topped with Boma mustard, the Scrambled Eggs with Spinach & Goat Cheese, and the Deviled Egg with Smoked Salmon.
I also tried the Ancient Grains Berry Salad with my first round of food and was surprised by how much I liked it…
I then went back for some sweets, first a Simba waffle and two helpings of Bread Pudding because I wanted to try it with both of the sauces…
And then I finished with a Yogurt Parfait and Sticky Bun…
I also added some more of the Amarula Creme Anglaise because it was so good.
Regarding Emily and her gluten-sensitivity, our server sent one of the chefs to our table to consult with her about what items she could safely have from the buffet. They also gave her this plate of gluten-free donuts, muffin, and a Mickey waffle…
Emily liked the Cinnamon-Sugar Donut, but the rest was just okay.
So was this buffet-style breakfast worth its price? Which was then $37 per person plus tax and gratuity but is now (as of January 2025) $39.00.
Note: I was able to get a 10% discount for all 9 people of our group by paying for this meal with my Chase Disney VISA (or actually with the Rewards dollars that I had earned from previous purchases with the card) which amounted to about a $33 (plus tax) savings…so one person almost ate for free, lol. But anyway, I was both surprised and pleased that we were given the discount for all 9 of us.
So overall, I believe that the Boma breakfast buffet is worth the money. In fact, this meal was another one of our favorites from this trip.
Taste of Disney 