Coral Reef - Nov 2005

[taragl]

I'll admit that we "winged it" for last year's Thanksgiving WDW trip, but I didn't know about you guys back then and we just sorta showed up and wandered around until things caught our interest.

One hungry night, we found the Coral Reef restaurant tucked away at Epcot. We hadn't heard word one about this place at the time, but no one felt like walking any further to get dinner. The wait was long (I had no idea what ADRs were -- I'm mortified!) but we sat and enjoyed the hallway decor for nearly an hour. (At least we were sitting down!)

When it was time to go in, imagine our surprise and delight when we saw the huge aquarium spanning one entire wall! And DS7 was mesmerized by the light up ice cubes in every kid's drink. As we were seated, he whispered to me, "Do you think I'll get one of those, mom?!"

As you can see, he did:

DH had the crab cakes, which he and DS shared and they both declared delectable. DS had something typically unmemorable off the kids menu, but was also given a build-your-own sundae, which thrilled him to no end (first time at Disney, he he). And I had the vegetable strudel, which was crunchy pastry on the outside and savory veggies inside. The blend of flavors was fantastic -- we loved it.

Top it all off with a butterscotch brulee (I'm a sucker for any version of creme brulee) and we had a great evening watching divers and fish swim by. It's at the top of the list for this year!

 

[sistertrip]

Is Coral Reef the restaurant that moves?

Nice review, by the way.

 

[taragl]

Is Coral Reef the restaurant that moves?

Nice review, by the way.

Thanks -- I think the rotating restaurant is the Garden Grill, also in Epcot:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dining/diningDetail?id=GardenGrillDiningPage

 

[First timer]

Is Coral Reef the restaurant that moves?

Nice review, by the way.

We actually have a res on 7/2 for the Coral Reef and I was debating cancelling because of mixed reviews. After reading your review I think we will keep it - only we are going to have to hold out and wait for seating near the aquarium as that is really the reason why we are going there. Thank you so much for the review.

 

[kaybird]

We actually have a res on 7/2 for the Coral Reef and I was debating cancelling because of mixed reviews. After reading your review I think we will keep it - only we are going to have to hold out and wait for seating near the aquarium as that is really the reason why we are going there. Thank you so much for the review.

We enjoy sitting next to the aquarium as well, but always have been pleased with any of the seating, the booths are all faced toward the aquarium, and the view is fabulous as each row is on risers. The entire restaurant is very beautiful, and we have always been thrilled with the food.

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your review, your son is so cute!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[ScarletFire]

Based on the recent good reviews of Coral Reef, I made an ADR for our October trip. Taragl's review sealed the deal with DH. When I mentioned the ADR to my kids, they were impressed because apparently Coral Reef is featured in the Full House Disney episode.

 

[First timer]

We enjoy sitting next to the aquarium as well, but always have been pleased with any of the seating, the booths are all faced toward the aquarium, and the view is fabulous as each row is on risers. The entire restaurant is very beautiful, and we have always been thrilled with the food.

Oh, I did not realize either way you would have a good view. Thank you for the info you really have been helpful! I have not mentioned the ice cubes to my DD15 and DD5, can not wait to see the suprise on their faces!

 

[te2077]

thanks for the great review. this is our 6th time at disney. we make the coral reef a must do. we have never been disappinted with this resturaunt.

 

[jazmin]

will be going sept 4th to disney world and i want to surprise my bf with a nice dinner. Do they serve steak? cause he is a huge steak eater? Also is it a nice place for romance?

 

[Disney owl]

Great photo thanks

 

[jillmo1474]

My husband and I ate at the coral reef about 6 or 7 years ago and really enjoyed ourselves. There was absolutely no wait, the place was slowly beginning to fill up. We did not know what to expect in a way, but it was good. I really do not think there is a bad seat in the house as far as a view of the aquarium. There is the first florr or first tier, and we were sat on the second tier. the waiter was more than accomodating especially when we told him we were making a scrap book of the experience and kind of jokingly asked him if they could give us anything , not thinking that he seriously could. He said sure and ended up giving us a bag full of stuff!{menus, dolfin stirrers..ect..} We thought it was cool

 

[Tink-n-Peter]

We just ate at the Coral Reef during our trip and were very impressed with the food. It is included on the Dining Plan too! The best part about our dinner was that we were paid a suprise visit by a scuba diving Mickey Mouse!

 

[thunderbird1]

will be going sept 4th to disney world and i want to surprise my bf with a nice dinner. Do they serve steak? cause he is a huge steak eater? Also is it a nice place for romance?

They do have steak--you can check out their menu here on the DIS site or here: http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_cr.htm

And it's VERY romantic, with much of the lighting coming from the aquarium itself. I think for a romantic dinner for two, you'd be better off going with a booth set back from the aquarium. The aquarium-side seats are great for entertaining little kids, but the booths or second tier seats will be a little darker and you won't have everyone staring at you as they watch the aquarium. You'll still be able to see the fish, sharks and turtles just fine. This is one of the places we chose on our honeymoon. Enjoy!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

We have an ADR there for our trip at the end of August & after reading your review I really can't wait to try it out! Thank you!

 

[FLYNZ4]

Also is it a nice place for romance?

On one of our trips... there was a young couple sitting up against the aquarium windows. A diver swam up to their window... and then held up a sign that said "Jenny, will you marry me"?

The young man got on his knee with ring in hand... she said yes... and everyone in the restaurant applauded.

/Jim

 

[dawgfan]

Enjoyed the review

 

[Gorsh]

I've heard alot of negative reviews for Coral Reef, but we decided to go anyway. All the pictures I've seen look really great, but I've heard negative reviews about the food.

 

[savannah33]

thanks so much for this info. We are going in Oct and have been debating if it would be a place to take 3 small kids. From your experience it seems my kids will have a blast!