Thumbs down on Coral Reef

[pharmom5]

We thought Coral Reef definitely treated us differently because we had DDP. First of all, we had an extra kid's meal credit because my son had slept through OHana's, so for Coral Reef we wanted to let my 11 year old daughter get a kid's meal, which she wanted anyway, a kid's meal for our 4 year old, and let my daughter's boyfriend have the adult meal. In other words, our card said 6 adults, 1 child, we wanted to do 6 adults, 2 children - not cheating the system, just using our meals at a different time. Waitress insisted we had to do just as our card said - 6 adults, 1 child. She did let us pay for 1 kid's meal, but I didn't think this was how it was done - what if we had split up for dinner? :confused3
Other issue I thought was terrible here was that because we were on the DDP, she made us order appetizer, entree and DESSERT all at the same time at the beginning of the meal. She had it on some special order form, and when we asked if we could wait to order dessert until after dinner, she said no!! Hard to know what dessert you'll want before you've had a bite to eat. I doubt they make you order dessert ahead if you're paying. So we'll never go to Coral Reef again - all the food was just okay. Go to Le Cellier twice instead - that was the best!
Laurie, DH David, DD 19, DD 16, DS 14, DD 11, DS 4

[cmwade77]

We thought Coral Reef definitely treated us differently because we had DDP. First of all, we had an extra kid's meal credit because my son had slept through OHana's, so for Coral Reef we wanted to let my 11 year old daughter get a kid's meal, which she wanted anyway, a kid's meal for our 4 year old, and let my daughter's boyfriend have the adult meal. In other words, our card said 6 adults, 1 child, we wanted to do 6 adults, 2 children - not cheating the system, just using our meals at a different time. Waitress insisted we had to do just as our card said - 6 adults, 1 child. She did let us pay for 1 kid's meal, but I didn't think this was how it was done - what if we had split up for dinner? :confused3
Other issue I thought was terrible here was that because we were on the DDP, she made us order appetizer, entree and DESSERT all at the same time at the beginning of the meal. She had it on some special order form, and when we asked if we could wait to order dessert until after dinner, she said no!! Hard to know what dessert you'll want before you've had a bite to eat. I doubt they make you order dessert ahead if you're paying. So we'll never go to Coral Reef again - all the food was just okay. Go to Le Cellier twice instead - that was the best!
Laurie, DH David, DD 19, DD 16, DS 14, DD 11, DS 4
I would ahve asked to speak with the manager at that point, not allowing two kids I could kind of understand, but requiring that you order you desert at once is wrong, bottom line is I want to decide while eating my meal and I would tell the waitress so as well. We are planning on eating at Coral Reef, I hope we get a better experience than that.

[HayGan]

I agree that I would defiantly have asked to speak to the manager. Sounds like you had a new and/or uninformed CM.

We are planning on eating at Coral Reef in December (the kids will love the aquarium wall) and I hope that we have a better experience.

[OKWMom]

Deleted

[jultomzach]

I had the same experience at the Concourse two weeks ago, the waitress "made" us order our dessert when we ordered our entrees. I did not enjoy it either. I used to wait tables and found this to be awkward. I think it is not necessarily manager policy but a reflection that their tip is not influenced by the quality of the service (servers automatically receive an 18% tip with DDP). In hindsight, I would probably comment to the manager about the policy, not necessarily a complaint but more of an inquiry if it is actually manager's policy. The DDP should have comment cards available after each meal for patrons to give feedback.

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

We ate the Whispering Canyon Cafe last week and had to order everything at once also. That was the only place that had us do it like that

[n2mm]

Yes, same thing at Coral Reef too! We ate there twice in late April and both servers made us order all of our food at one time. We thought it strange that we were ordering desert while ordering appetizers, but went with the flow. The server actually told us that it takes a long time to get the deserts "made" so it helps to have your order in early....whatever.

We were also made to order this way at Concourse steakhouse last September 2005....however, we ate there this past April and did not have to do it this way.

BTW: To the OP....we too had a situation with our adult TS credits and using up some extra adult TS credits for other adults and it caused us some hassle too. We too have crossed Coral Reef off our list. While the food was good (not great), we found the whole experience not relaxing nor pleasant, and somewhat chaotic.

[bicker]

pharmom5; I'm sorry you had such a tough time. I'd blame all the other guests, who have been, as you said, "cheating the system." It is really sad that we all have to suffer with more stringent enforcement of things because a few other guests choose to go beyond what regular folks would consider appropriate.

Again, sorry for your difficulty. I'm confident that the rest of your visit more than made up for that unpleasantness.

[bicker]

but a reflection that their tip is not influenced by the quality of the service (servers automatically receive an 18% tip with DDP). That's a good point. I think it is as good of a reason, of any, to keep the current system in this country, whereby gratuities are the primary means of compensating restaurant servers.

[bicker]

The server actually told us that it takes a long time to get the deserts "made" To be fair, the desserts at Coral Reef are works of art, and do take a good amount of time to prepare. Given how busy the restaurants are, that could be a very key reason why they're having folks order desserts in advance. I'm sure many folks prefer being able to eat at the restaurants they'd like to, rather than facing a greater risk of them being "full" for the evening because they need to allocate a substantial amount of additional time with guests sitting at the table, just for dessert preparation. (I suspect a good number of guests also appreciate being saved from having to wait that long for their dessert to be served.)

[sleepydog25]

We thought Coral Reef definitely treated us differently because we had DDP. . .Other issue I thought was terrible here was that because we were on the DDP, she made us order appetizer, entree and DESSERT all at the same time at the beginning of the meal. Precisely why we'll never use DDP. ;)

[beth_cam]

To be fair, the desserts at Coral Reef are works of art, and do take a good amount of time to prepare. Given how busy the restaurants are, that could be a very key reason why they're having folks order desserts in advance. I'm sure many folks prefer being able to eat at the restaurants they'd like to, rather than facing a greater risk of them being "full" for the evening because they need to allocate a substantial amount of additional time with guests sitting at the table, just for dessert preparation. (I suspect a good number of guests also appreciate being saved from having to wait that long for their dessert to be served.)

Yes but....
I believe something like this was brought up about shula's and very negatively. I'm sure I probably was asked to order desert at the beginning of the meal almost everytime at Disney I never had a second thought about it, it just didnt occur to me that it was a big deal. We usually can pick out what we will want since we are pretty picky and sharing means we have to get something we can agree on. I almost never order desert at restaurants but if I know I will want something I usually order it at the beginning so I dont have to wait for it esp with 2 kids waiting. Anyway My point was that the waitress could ask for the order in a better way...something like "we suggest ordering your desert now since they can take a while to prepare" and hope that the peson goes ahead and does it.

I can tell you that I have almost never ordered a desert when I thought I'd like one but waited til the end of the meal. I am too full then. I could be a ploy to make sure you order everything so that they get their tip. Honestly when we ate at one of the restaurants we ordered only one desert last year because we were asked after dinner what we wanted and we were too full and they didnt have anything portable through the evening at the park.

[DisneyGerry]

We also have reservations under DDP for Coral Reef in August.

Is this a Disney restaurant or run by a sub-contractor? I think Mexico and China are run by sub-contractors as well.

I know Coral Reef had been a 2 Table Service meal and they just reduced it to 1 TS.

Gerry

[tinkamom]

Yes but....


I can tell you that I have almost never ordered a desert when I thought I'd like one but waited til the end of the meal. I am too full then. I could be a ploy to make sure you order everything so that they get their tip.

That is exactly what I was thinking. I bet a lot of people decline desserts because they are too full and then the tip will be smaller! BYW, it really wasn't a big deal to order all at once since we all pretty much knew what we wanted already after studing the menus at allears!

[bluejasmine]

I would have defanitely asked for the manager! I believe ordering your whole meal at once is ridiculous and this woman would have heard a earful from me and then I would have asked for her manager! I get the feeling that making you order your dessert like that is a ploy to get a bigger tip and by having you order everything at once they dont have to come around to the table as much which IMHO means your getting less service from the waitress/waiter. My family will not put up with this kind of treatment so if I may borrow some of Mr Ts famous words I pity the fool who tries this with my family because my family is never afraid to speak their mind and follow thru wit it..lol

[mlwear]

I never thought about ensuring the bill would be large. Less service is what I considered and experienced August 2005 at Concourse. And a major rush to get us out of there so they could get more in. I want to enjoy my dinner.
I won't order at beginning of meal. How about a "I'm not sure that I'll have dessert this evening" and then after dinner or near the end you decide that you do. I don't think the server can tell you that you can't.

On the other end of the spectrum, last year at Kona cafe we weren't asked to order until after and didn't want anything. We were way too full. The server was very nice and suggested that we get cheesecake that could be easily boxed up and taken back to our room for our later. Yes, she still got a larger tip. Smart lady. If we had ordered at the beginning maybe we wouldn't have ordered cheesecake. It was a great compromise.

The ONLY place I have been that has asked for a dessert order at the beginning of the meal wasn't at Disney but at Morton's steakhouse and I think that is because it needed to thaw. :rotfl:

[carone0318]

I probably would have said that I understand that you want us to order our desserts at the beginning of the meal because it is reflective in your tip, but I don't know it I will want a dessert and if you are insistent on me placing my dessert order now, then there will be no dessert ordered at all and that will definitely affect your 18% tip. I would proceed to say that if we want a dessert after our meal I'm sure you will accomodate me because your tip will increase.

Talk their language and they seem to understand - that's my plan come August!

[spookyuki]

We are going there next week.
I already know that I want Chocolate wave. But.. Did you feel rushed in any ways?
Did they bring out the dessert before finishing the entre?

[welovedis]

We just returned from WDW, dined at Coral Reef on Friday (6/30) and it was one of the best meals of the trip. We were asked if we were on the DDP but that was the end of the discussion, except to ask if we needed any clarification of what we could order. We weren't told that we needed to order dessert at the beginning of the meal, neither were the tables around us as we talked with a few people about the DDP in between courses.

We were more than pleased with the DDP and will be using it again for our Dec trip.

OP--sorry you didn't have a great experience.

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Assuming you didn't have questions about how you could use the DDP, what would happen if you didn't tell them you were on it until it was time to pay?

[n2mm]

"Assuming you didn't have questions about how you could use the DDP, what would happen if you didn't tell them you were on it until it was time to pay?"

When we ate there twice this April/May, that was not an option. The server came to our table both times and the first thing both servers said was a greeting and are you on any dining plan? And both times they asked to see our card to see what type of plan we were on. This was the only place we were asked to actually produce our room cards so the server could see what "markings" it had on it before ordering.

[Becky2005]

When we ate there twice this April/May, that was not an option. The server came to our table both times and the first thing both servers said was a greeting and are you on any dining plan? And both times they asked to see our card to see what type of plan we were on. This was the only place we were asked to actually produce our room cards so the server could see what "markings" it had on it before ordering.

I know we always had to specify Premium when we went in July 2005. Of course, it was fairly new then and I think 95% of the people on a plan were on the basic dining plan because most people would question me when I said Premium (to confirm it was Premium and not basic). The only place I had to show our cards at was the Rainforest Cafe (since the Premium includes a lot more restaraunts and I don't think that's included on the basic one).

I was actually able to pay for my 2 year old's sit-down meals with the extra credits we had (which we had 3 adults/2 kids on the cards), no one questioned it or had a problem but of course, that was when it was fairly new.

[TruBlu]

Sorry you had a bad server. We were there a couple of weeks ago. We had a table by the tank, a great server, and a fantastic meal. Our server was very nice and attentive (we were on the DDP). We payed OOP for one DS (dining plan for the other) and ordered dessert when we were ready for it with no problems at all. It was our favorite TS of the entire trip.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We ate at Concourse on the DDP In October and we didn't have to order all at once. That would chap my behind. Not to mention that we don't like to allow DS dessert unless he eats at least SOME of his food. We found at CRT that you really dine on "fast forward" since the appetizers and desserts are standard. They bring the appetizer, you tell them your entree, they bring the entree, then they bring dessert, ready or not - here it comes!! I don't really want to hand over control of my meal to the server.

We have ADRs for Coral Reef and Whispering Canyon next month and I think it would be best if they don't tell me to order everything up front. It's not McDonald's! I like the idea of saying "I won't know what I want for dessert until I have finished my entree."

And really, if they get totally snippy with me we have more TS ADRs than we have credits. As long as it's not like our last day I can very easily switch to paying OOP if I don't like their attitude. We have to pay OOP for 4 meals anyway, and if they are rude to me then OOP will guarantee that the tip will be far less than 18%. THEN whose behind would be chapped? ;)

[starbox]

We ate at both Coral Reef and Whispering Canyon in June and did not have to order our dessert until after the meal.

Both restaurants were excellent and made it onto our "must return here" list.

[bicker]

I've found that, even when faced with a structure like that, a polite, firm and reasonable reply tends to diffuse the dispute. I believe I could readily state, "We're not sure what desserts we'll want to order, so we'll have you take our dessert orders after we're finished with our meals." "If there is a problem, I'll be happy to talk to the manager about it. Please send him or her over."

Remember, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

[pkp]

One of the reasons I have been reluctant to use the dining plan. I like to be flexible.

[bicker]

Hmmm... well it's pretty flexible right now, and that's kind-of the problem: Right now, the Dining Plan is just TOO MUCH of a good deal. I suspect we'll see more restrictions and/or higher prices so that the value of the Dining Plan is more in line with its price.

[buzzmom3]

When we go in October, I will go the route Bicker suggested, I always try nice first. I love the dining plan and think it is flexible. The debate that rages on about the DPP leaves me a little bewildered.

[michygoomy]

We, too, were asked for our dessert order when we gave our appetizer and entree' order, but being the first night on the DP, we thought maybe that was just how it works. Other than that minor annoyance, the service was so perfect that not only did we leave an extra trip, but my 12 y/o son left a personal thank-you note for our server on the magna-doodle she had brought out for my toddler.

At Whispering Canyon the second night, we started to give our dessert order and our server said "Oh, I'll come back later for that" We explained what happened at Coral Reef and she said, "If anyone ever asks you for your dessert order before you've eaten, you just send them to me." :lmao:

[WDisnut]

I would just say," ok... this is going to take a really long time to order :confused3 or you can come back for each part of the meal." I also want to make sure the server comes back for refills and other aspects of server related duties. :)

[pharmom5]

I just wanted to add that we loved having the dining plan in all the other places we went, including CS and Snacks. With 5 kids, 3 of whom are teenagers, it made it so much easier to split up and know that they could eat when they wanted. We only made sure to be together for TS meals.
The whole trip was fantastic - loved Old Key West!
Funny footnote to Coral Reef story - we paid our liquor tab, and signed everything and left the restaurant. 5 minutes after we left, we heard our server calling us - we were out in the park already! She followed us out because she forgot to give us the bill for 2 drinks. I gave her the $20.00 and we all stood outside and laughed until we could get hold of ourselves and get out of the park. This will definitely be one of our favorite stories of our Disney adventures!
Laurie, DH David, DD 19, DD 16, DS 14, DD 11, DS 4 :teeth:

[jonimce]

I have been in the rest. business for 34 years. I have never heard of such a thing. This will be our 3rd time on the dinning plan and I like to relax at dinner. I think all Disney rest. try to rush the diners to turn the tables over. The way I handle it is we order a drink and don't even open the menu until the server brings the drinks to the table. Then we tell them we havn't looked yet and need a few more minutes. When they come back we order apps. only explaining we have not yet decided on our entree. We always make our ADR's around 8:00 or later so we know we won't really be holding up the table. Don't get me wrong, we arent there all night, just not out in a flash.
:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[bicker]

I'm getting a little fearful about menu prices. With the 2007 Dining Plan prices not yet available, and with menu prices able to change at any time, combined with how packed the restaurants already are, it seems to me that Disney has two rational choices: Make changes that compress how much time each party of diners get, or increase prices significantly to better manage the demand. I'm not really sure which I'd prefer, higher prices or being rushed.

[patsal]

Assuming you didn't have questions about how you could use the DDP, what would happen if you didn't tell them you were on it until it was time to pay?
The bill has to be recalculated and it takes a few minutes. This happened to us at Prime Time in December, our waiter ddint' really make a big deal out of it, but it did take him a few minutes to reenter the bill into the computer and recalcualte it, I believe this also involves the manager. I'll bet they ask upfront now to avoid the recalculation and need for manager intervention. We did mention it to the hostess, but I guess with the antics and a larger group we neglected to mention it to the server.

[welovedis]

I was never asked at any of the TS restaurants to order my dessert ahead of time. We dined at San Angel, Le Cellier (2xs), Coral Reef, Cape May, Maya Grill & the Concourse Steakhouse.

Hope this was just an isolated incident!

[NDAMomX2]

I would suggest staying far away from the Coral Reef. The service in June was horrible and the food either lukewarm, raw, or inedible. I won't mention the CM's name, but she was the worst (including speaking harshly to the children for sharing food we paid for). Anyway, the dining plan worked great except at the Coral Reef. Luckily it is only a one-table service meal instead of two. It is the worst restaurant I have ever eaten at inside or outside the World.

[AngienLuLu]

Wow, sorry about all that. We had no problem at all and we were on DDP. It was actually our favorite restaurant of all.

~LuLu

[rluey29]

We thought Coral Reef definitely treated us differently because we had DDP. First of all, we had an extra kid's meal credit because my son had slept through OHana's, so for Coral Reef we wanted to let my 11 year old daughter get a kid's meal, which she wanted anyway, a kid's meal for our 4 year old, and let my daughter's boyfriend have the adult meal. In other words, our card said 6 adults, 1 child, we wanted to do 6 adults, 2 children - not cheating the system, just using our meals at a different time. Waitress insisted we had to do just as our card said - 6 adults, 1 child. She did let us pay for 1 kid's meal, but I didn't think this was how it was done - what if we had split up for dinner? :confused3
Other issue I thought was terrible here was that because we were on the DDP, she made us order appetizer, entree and DESSERT all at the same time at the beginning of the meal. She had it on some special order form, and when we asked if we could wait to order dessert until after dinner, she said no!! Hard to know what dessert you'll want before you've had a bite to eat. I doubt they make you order dessert ahead if you're paying. So we'll never go to Coral Reef again - all the food was just okay. Go to Le Cellier twice instead - that was the best!
Laurie, DH David, DD 19, DD 16, DS 14, DD 11, DS 4


Wow! You had a totally different experience than we did in May. Coral Reef was the one resturant that treated us the best. Best Food, best service, and our waiter let us order one course at a time. He was so great. Also our service at LeCellier was not very good. Food was good but not as good as Coral Reefs. It really just depends on the service you get in most of these places. We will do Coral Reef every time if our service remains good.

[skyfairy]

WOW, I have to say that I also dinned at the Coral Reef on the dinning plan in the first week in June and it was one of our (my mother, daughter and I) favorite meals. My daughter even got to order her appetizer off of the adult menu because there children's menu did not have one.

[bicker]

Glad to read so many good reviews of Coral Reef. It had been a favorite of ours for years, but we were waivering with respect to another visit next February. However, with Chefs de France allegedy leaving the Dining Plan (anyone have more information on that) our choices have been pretty substantially limited. It's nice to know that Coral Reef still offers a great fine dining experience for us.

[Lewisc]

I haven't heard anything about Chefs De France leaving the Dining Plan. I'd be slightly surprised. Chefs De France is a pretty easy reservation to get. I think they'd have trouble filling the restaurant without the Dining Plan customers.

I'm surprised Le Cellier doesn't try to do something. It was a hard reservation to get before the dining plan and is now next to impossible. Restaurants like Le Cellier and Chefs De France really need something like a 1.5 credit charge or the ability to charge guests an extra $5-$10. Disney gets ancillary benefits from on site guests. Disney has managed to make most of their better restaurants 2 credits. I think a fair compromise would be to allow those restaurants to offer a reasonable price fixed menu to Dining Customers. Based on previous posts I think I'm one of the few DISBOARD members who think that.

Bicker--My memory is someone posted the 2007 Dining Price from a UK brochure and it looks about the same as 2006.

Glad to read so many good reviews of Coral Reef. It had been a favorite of ours for years, but we were waivering with respect to another visit next February. However, with Chefs de France allegedy leaving the Dining Plan (anyone have more information on that) our choices have been pretty substantially limited. It's nice to know that Coral Reef still offers a great fine dining experience for us.

[WithFaith50]

We just returned from WDW, dined at Coral Reef on Friday (6/30) and it was one of the best meals of the trip. We were asked if we were on the DDP but that was the end of the discussion, except to ask if we needed any clarification of what we could order. We weren't told that we needed to order dessert at the beginning of the meal, neither were the tables around us as we talked with a few people about the DDP in between courses.

We were more than pleased with the DDP and will be using it again for our Dec trip.

OP--sorry you didn't have a great experience.

This was my experience as well...We will definitely be going back! :thumbsup2 :cool1:

[Lewisc]

I don't know what time of day the OP was at Coral Reef, is it possible the waiter thought they were trying to eat quick enough to catch Illuminations? Is it possible the kids were so restless the waiter thought they wanted to get out fast. I know it's a reach but if CR was running out of some dessert items the waiter may have wanted to get the dessert order in before the items were sold.

In the early days of the dining plan some restaurants were running out of some desserts and appetizers.

I agree with the previous posters. Under normal circumstances the waiter was wrong.

[DCDisney]

Perhaps it depends on if you have small kids with you? We went in January and we did have 2 places out of 6 suggest that if we pre-ordered dessert there would be less of a wait between entree and dessert. It wasn't a you have to thing-- more of a maybe you'd perfer this. My kids are 6 and 8 and frankly we were glad to be able to do that. Typically we waited about 10 minutes for dessert rather than 20 when we preordered which was a huge difference for the kids. My kids are quite good in restaurants but that time waiting for dessert was always when they got antsy to move on.

I think offering to let you pre-order is great but requiring it isn't good at all....

Yvonne

[UtahMama]

Wanted to go to CR for my birthday on Sept. 13th coming up!!! I freakin NEVER had anyone treat us poorly because we were on the DDP! I wouldnt put up with it.Period. We've never been ones to listen to the masses of bad reports but it's my b-day dinner so it just has to be spectacular. Don't wanna chance it!
Any suggestions for my switch? Big family...Like FUN!

[mytwotinks]

I didn't know there was a premium dining plan. The earlier poster said that it had many more restaraunts to choose from. How could that be? Most every restaraunt is available with the basic dining plan? :confused3

I am really torn about our Sept. ADR at coral reef. That is one of the meals we are supposed to eat with my sister's family. Is it a good place for a party of 8 (4 kids & 4 adults).

[Sammie]

To be fair, the desserts at Coral Reef are works of art, and do take a good amount of time to prepare. Given how busy the restaurants are, that could be a very key reason why they're having folks order desserts in advance. I'm sure many folks prefer being able to eat at the restaurants they'd like to, rather than facing a greater risk of them being "full" for the evening because they need to allocate a substantial amount of additional time with guests sitting at the table, just for dessert preparation. (I suspect a good number of guests also appreciate being saved from having to wait that long for their dessert to be served.)

Basically they are also trying to make sure the DDP get their dessert since it is already paid for. Many places are running out. A friend that works resorts said her pastry chef has never made so many desserts since the DDP in years prior to it. Probably same with appetizers.

[Sammie]

"Assuming you didn't have questions about how you could use the DDP, what would happen if you didn't tell them you were on it until it was time to pay?"

When we ate there twice this April/May, that was not an option. The server came to our table both times and the first thing both servers said was a greeting and are you on any dining plan? And both times they asked to see our card to see what type of plan we were on. This was the only place we were asked to actually produce our room cards so the server could see what "markings" it had on it before ordering.

It is also linked to your ADRs. They know before you arrive you are on the plan.

[Aimeedyan]

It is also linked to your ADRs. They know before you arrive you are on the plan.

Not necessarily. We did not tell them we were on the dining plan when we booked our ADRs and they are not linked to our hotel reservations. Course, if you did tell them that and they linked it all together they would see it but if you don't tell them, they don't know if you are just a regular Orlando resident visiting, someone staying offsite, or a Disney guest on the DDP.

[First timer]

We thought Coral Reef definitely treated us differently because we had DDP. First of all, we had an extra kid's meal credit because my son had slept through OHana's, so for Coral Reef we wanted to let my 11 year old daughter get a kid's meal, which she wanted anyway, a kid's meal for our 4 year old, and let my daughter's boyfriend have the adult meal. In other words, our card said 6 adults, 1 child, we wanted to do 6 adults, 2 children - not cheating the system, just using our meals at a different time. Waitress insisted we had to do just as our card said - 6 adults, 1 child. She did let us pay for 1 kid's meal, but I didn't think this was how it was done - what if we had split up for dinner? :confused3
Other issue I thought was terrible here was that because we were on the DDP, she made us order appetizer, entree and DESSERT all at the same time at the beginning of the meal. She had it on some special order form, and when we asked if we could wait to order dessert until after dinner, she said no!! Hard to know what dessert you'll want before you've had a bite to eat. I doubt they make you order dessert ahead if you're paying. So we'll never go to Coral Reef again - all the food was just okay. Go to Le Cellier twice instead - that was the best!
Laurie, DH David, DD 19, DD 16, DS 14, DD 11, DS 4


We ate there recently (July 1st) and they seemed very strict with the rules but the CM definitiely did not insist that we order dessert before we even had our entree. Personally other than the fact that we were seated right by the aquarium I was not impressed with the food at all. The food was dry and tasteless. Choices were limited. I would not recommend and would not eat there again.

[TruBlu]

Choices were limited.
:confused3 Limited how? We were allowed to order anything on the menu. :confused3

[n2mm]

It is also linked to your ADRs. They know before you arrive you are on the plan.

That's not true because we are never sure we are going to do the DDP when making our ressies, so we always tell dining CM no when asking if we're on the DDP. Since we are DVC we choose if we want to add the dining package. We make our ressies months earlier. We added the DDP one week before arriving.

[Nancyg56]

I didn't know there was a premium dining plan. The earlier poster said that it had many more restaraunts to choose from. How could that be? Most every restaraunt is available with the basic dining plan? :confused3

I am really torn about our Sept. ADR at coral reef. That is one of the meals we are supposed to eat with my sister's family. Is it a good place for a party of 8 (4 kids & 4 adults).

There is a plan that allows you to eat without counting credits, three times a day. It is pricy because there are other benefits included such as shows nd golf, etc. I would love the plan if it did not encompass the rest because at this stage we simply cannot go on all of the tours, and use all of the facilities allowed.

We are going to the CR in January. I saw all of the negative reviews, but also saw that there were plenty of positive responses. Every experience is individual and if we don't like it, well it is just a meal. If you decide to go please post a review, I read them all.

[First timer]

:confused3 Limited how? We were allowed to order anything on the menu. :confused3



We were asked when we arrived to our table whether or not we were on the DP. The waiter then brought us a special menu he said was for those on the dining plan.

[Lewisc]

We were asked when we arrived to our table whether or not we were on the DP. The waiter then brought us a special menu he said was for those on the dining plan.

What restaurant? Teppanyaki is the only restaurant that has significant restrictions.

[JoiseyMom]

I never thought about ensuring the bill would be large. Less service is what I considered and experienced August 2005 at Concourse. And a major rush to get us out of there so they could get more in. I want to enjoy my dinner.
I won't order at beginning of meal. How about a "I'm not sure that I'll have dessert this evening" and then after dinner or near the end you decide that you do. I don't think the server can tell you that you can't.

On the other end of the spectrum, last year at Kona cafe we weren't asked to order until after and didn't want anything. We were way too full. The server was very nice and suggested that we get cheesecake that could be easily boxed up and taken back to our room for our later. Yes, she still got a larger tip. Smart lady. If we had ordered at the beginning maybe we wouldn't have ordered cheesecake. It was a great compromise.

The ONLY place I have been that has asked for a dessert order at the beginning of the meal wasn't at Disney but at Morton's steakhouse and I think that is because it needed to thaw. :rotfl:


We were on the DDP last August, and never once we were asked to order everything up front. We also dined at Concourse, and loved it. Our server was wonderful, and let the kids order the glowing cube drinks. We were asked what we wanted for dessert, after we finished eating our entrees.
We are going back this August and if at any point I am asked to order dessert as I order my appetizers and entrees I will very politely decline. If need be I will speak to the manager, and I will definitely bring it up to a higher level if need be.