Chapter 8: Coral Reef
August 20th, 2011
Once we FINALLY got to sleep the night before, we were out like lights. That was a much later night than we anticipated, but hey, that's just a recurring theme of the trip.
We had our wake up call set for 9 o'clock am, because we didn't want to totally kill ourselves the first day by waking up extremely early.
But of course, at 8:30 am, people started knocking on our door. And we didn't know who they were. It wasn't Kristen's family because they were sleeping in too. HELLO RANDOM PEOPLE, WE'RE SLEEPING! I guess they live by the "no sleeping in Disney rule" too.
And no, we didn't answer the door. I was a little too tired to get up!
I got up a little before nine and I took a shower. I woke Nat up at 9:30, we had Special-K bars for breakfast, and we were out the door by 10! Not bad.
I took a couple pictures of Coronado on our way to the bus stop:
Our Building:
Our plan for the morning was to go to DHS and grab TSM fastpasses before lunch, even though we were running a little late.
We got to the bus stop and we JUST missed the Hollywood Studios bus. Of course. Would you expect ANYTHING less of me?
So we had to wait for the next one, and it took about 20 minutes. Ugh we were cutting it close. But we decided to try anyway.
This is the Bus Stop you go to if you're staying in Casitas 5:
The bus finally came and we got to Hollywood.
The Toy Story Mania Fastpass time was for 9 - 9:30.
AT NIGHT.
That wasn't gonna work because I really wanted to see Fantasmic that night. Ah well. We tried.
So we got Rock N Rollercoaster Fastpasses instead and left Hollywood Studios.
We took the Friendship Boat over to Epcot so we could go to lunch!
A little boy named Joseph made all of the announcements for the boat ride. He was really adorable. He told the cast member he wanted to be a boat captain someday! So the cast member had him help out whenever he could. That specific boat captain remembered him because Joseph's family was in Disney only couple months prior. I love how CM's remember guests who make a lasting impression on them. It's really precious!
Anyways, Note to Self: Do NOT take the Friendship Boat from Hollywood to Epcot. Holy cow, it took like 45 minutes! We had to stop at EVERY boat dock before we got to Epcot. Swan/Dolphin was first, Yacht/Beach Club was next, then Boardwalk, and THEN Epcot. Good thing we left a lot of travel time to get to our reservation!
We finally got to Epcot and walked through the International Gateway.
We went through the bag check and then I didn't know which turnstile to go through. So this young African American cast member called us down to go through his turnstile.
I was putting my backpack back on, and my hair got caught under it. So I had to move it out from under the bag.
When I did that, the Cast Member said: "Don't you flip your long hair at me! I know it's cute, but I'm at work right now!"
Hahaha good thing he was cute, or else I would have been creeped out. SO funny! I don't even remember what I said to that. But Nat and I were cracking up afterwords!
After that little episode, we headed into Epcot, walked through World Showcase, and headed in this direction:
Our lunch was at The Coral Reef! YUM!
So excited to eat!
Our reservation was for 12:15 pm but we arrived at 12. We were hungry!
The decor in there is great!
Jellyfish Lamps:
A little starfish made out of floor tiles:
We were seated within 5 minutes, which was great! I always schedule my ADR's later than when I anticipate to go, because usually if you check in early, you get seated faster. Plus, it gives that wiggle room incase I'm running late. Just a little tip!
The air conditioning felt fantastic! Yay. It was hot outside already!
The lady who sat us was very friendly! She definitely had the enthusiasm of a Disney cast member!
I was really glad that I took Nat here - she LOVED the atmosphere! It was really fun to look at the fish. Even though we were on the second level, we had a decent view!
One day I hope to get a table right next to the aquarium, though!
We were told that our waiter was going to be Alejandro, however his name tag said John. Then the check said Alejandro... so I think he had the wrong name tag!
Anyways, Alejandro/John was very nice! He was very helpful when I asked him for recommendations.
I was debating between the Mahi Mahi and the Lobster Ravioli, but he suggested Mahi Mahi.
Good choice - it was delicious! It was light, but very satisfying. It was probably also a much better decision when it was so hot out. The Lobster Ravioli would have been way too heavy on a day like that! And the rock shrimp were also very yummy. I just love Shrimp - especially in Disney! And that rice was the perfect compliment to the fish!
Nat got the NY Strip Steak with the Horse Radish Mashed Potatoes. She said it was one of the best steaks she ever had! I had a bite, and it was extremely delicious!
For dessert, we both got the chocolate wave. One word: AMAZING. Wow! I was not expecting it to be that good, but it was absolutely fantastic. The warm chocolate in the middle was just heavenly, the sorbet on the side was the PERFECT compliment, and eating the Raspberries and the cake at the same time was a brilliant combination.
Nat's birthday is August 28th, so I put it on the reservation. They brought her a little candle in her chocolate wave.
Not only that, put they put a candle in mine as well so I could "celebrate too!" So adorable!
We were extremely pleased with our first table service experience on this trip!
I haven't been to Coral Reef in a while, I think the last time was when I was a sophomore in high school? So it was really nice to be back. And considering that Full House AND Boy Meets World filmed parts of their Disney Episodes in there, it was a must do.
Overview of Coral Reef Dining Experience
Food: The seasoning on the steak was outstanding. The Mahi Mahi was nice, light, and yummy. And the Chocolate Wave was out of this world! YUM! 5/5
Waiter: Alejandro/John - nobody really knows.
Service: Very helpful, nice, and fast! He kept my waters filled which is a MAJOR plus in my book! 5/5
Overall Experience: The atmosphere and theming is great. We loved it and I think it was a wonderful restaurant for us to go to on this trip! Lots of fun! 5/5
To finish off our time in The Seas Pavilion, we went over to Turtle Talk with Crush.
We had about 5-10 minutes to wait, so we looked at the fish in Mr. Ray's Lagoon!
We sat in the second row on the right side. The kids were asking really cute question during the show, but half of them kept forgetting them when the microphone was brought to them! Haha so adorable.
One little girl had a british accent and it was PRECIOUS! I love British Accents in general, but hearing them from children is extremely cute.
I had to bring Nat to Turtle Talk because I had a feeling she would enjoy it - and she definitely did! It's such a fun show!
Continued in Next Post
Absolutely insane.
Even an unbirthday is a celebration.
Just another reason for me to move to Disney.
