Coral Reef- Pros and Cons?

[mrlinck7421]

I'm wanting to go to the Coral Reef the night I arrive to set off the trip. What are your thoughts one this place?

 

[gobraves39560]

Its a favorite for us!!! It was my first to book for our May trip. Theming is great. My very picky DH even loves it, as well as my children.

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

Pros- food is good (or at least we really liked it)
fish tank is a very cool atmosphere

Cons- SLOOOOOOOW and non attentive service
can be loud depending on where you are seatted (acoustics)

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Pros- food is good (or at least we really liked it)
fish tank is a very cool atmosphere

Cons- SLOOOOOOOW and non attentive service
can be loud depending on where you are seatted (acoustics)

Pretty much this, although I haven't found service there to be inattentive, just slow. We don't mind a slowly-paced meal, though. I'd rather a server make himself scarce then be hovering while I mentally think, "OMG, go away!"

 

[DW2010]

I'm wanting to go to the Coral Reef the night I arrive to set off the trip. What are your thoughts one this place?

The fish tank was really cool, but the food was not very good. My crabcake arrived almost cold! I doubt we'll go back.

 

[jeepwreck]

we were there in feb and we found the service very good. i guess it is like any place really its a hit and miss on the service and food., but for us both were great.

the tank is why we went and i was worth it. very kewl to site next to fish swimming around

 

[Wendy31]

We used to really like it. In fact, my very favorite WDW dessert used to be the Chocolate Wave.

However, the last time we were there (last September), the service was incredibly slow. And it was so loud! (We were at lunch, so maybe dinner would be quieter.) Plus, the food wasn't all that great. DH & I both ordered the mahi. It was supposed to be "blackened", but some parts of it were just burnt. And the rice wasn't cooked enough - it was still very hard. Everything was just... okay.

The kids did like the fried shrimp though which was new to the menu. And, as always, they really liked the aquarium.

The chocolate wave was still good as well, but it had changed so it wasn't as "wow" to me as it had been previously.

So, we're taking a year off, & not eating there on our upcoming trip. It's not that we won't go back ever, it's just not a favorite "must do" for us any more. There are other restaurants we prefer & other restaurants we'd rather try.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Pros....atmosphere.
Cons...everything else. We had slow service, and food was just a very generous OK.

 

[burberryplaid]

We ate there in December as part of the Candlelight Processional package. Pros: Our entrees and desserts were delicious. We loved sitting by the tank. Service was fine albeit non remarkable. Cons- While tasty the appetizers were small

We were happy we gave it a shot. We were nervous about it after reading so many bad and mediocre reviews but we enjoyed it and will go back.

 

[KYfriedPanda]

Pros - The chicken & spatzel (we had seafood for dinner the previous night so we decided to go with chicken) were delicious. Also looooove the Baileys & JD Mousse.

Cons - Of all the ADRs we had, this was the only one where we had to wait for more than 5 minutes to be seated (we waited 15). I would think this was due to the slightly slow service that we had (but because of the atmosphere we didn't mind that as much).

 

[FunkyDuck]

Pros - Fish Tank
Cons - Our food was horrid, soda was warm, slow service, and loud.

...but as with other things...you may like it...and we may have visited on an off day...but enough so that we will never consider returning.

 

[BUTTERHEAD1]

Coral Reef has be come a must do for us the last few trips. The food is a change of pace from the burger/chicken meals. The kids love looking for the different species of fish while we eat. Last time there I had the lobster ravioli with a cream sauce that was delicious. On another trip I had the mahi and it was also very good.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We went once and weren't big fans. Our food wasn't very good and the service was slow. At the time, we at least could say the atmosphere was its saving grace, but we've got two Aquarium restaurants locally that we now prefer for that type of atmosphere...so we really have no need to return to Coral Reef.

 

[adamki]

I agree it was slow. The food was just ok.

This might be blasphemy here but we thought that Sharks Underwater Grill at -cough-Sea World was better atmosphere, food and service. You could say it blew Coral Reef out of the water (see what I did there?).

 

[Uncleromulus]

Good one--good one.

I agree w/ several others..the Fish Tank is great. Everything else mediocre at best.

 

[budafam]

We ate there on our last trip and loved it. We got seated up on the top tier (so farthest away from the fish tanks) but the food was EXCELLENT and our server was great! He had the food out very quick and was very friendly. I wouldn't make a decision based on someone else having bad service.. it all depends who's working that night. I would love to return here someday

 

[chinarider]

How bad is the fish smell? My daughter doesnt like the smell at all of seafood and that's what was keeping us from trying it?

 

[Uncleromulus]

For us, it was un-noticeable.

Of course the dinner itself may smell if you actually get seafood---

 

[KNovacovschi]

When deciding on restaurants for this trip we made an agreement that we would each choose 1 restaurant and the remainder would be a joint decision. My DH was adament to try Coral Reef. I don't like seafood or fish (except shrimp, talapia and cod) but didn't say anything cause it was his choice. Two questions though, 1. Will there be anything that I will like and 2. Do you sit beside a fish tank no matter where you sit. I think the decor would sell it to me if it did.

 

[LJSquishy]

My husband and I were there in mid-February. We actually really enjoyed Coral Reef, to my surprise.

Service is rather slow compared to most other Disney restaurants so make sure you allow plenty of time to dine there if you choose to give it a try.

We both ordered the Mahi-Mahi and loved it! It was perfectly prepared and was well presented. We also both had the Bailey's & Jack Daniel's Mousse...YUMMY! We were too stuffed to finish our desserts, though. We loved our meal. It wasn't our favorite due to service being on the slow side, but foodwise it was great.

The atmosphere was fun, but my husband was under the impression somehow that most of the restaurant walls would be the aquarium, and not just one wall. So, that part was a letdown, but it was still fun.