Coral Reef Or Chef Mickeys

[boomar]

This December will be our 2nd trip to DW, DH 2 DD and this year we are taking my 2 nephews. We haven't tried Coral Reef or Chef Mickeys, and would like to know which one is better, my one nephew is a picky eater, all he likes is either chicken or beef. We are staying from a Monday to Saturday and we have the other nights figured out: Lecellier, Boma, Whispering Canyon, Crystall palace, and 50s Prime Time Cafe.
Thank you

 

[eeyoregon]

How old are the kids? If they are younger then I would go with Chef Mickey's because of the characters and relaxed atmosphere plus buffet choices might appeal more to a picky eater.

Older kids might enjoy the aquariam at Coral Reef more but it's definitely more of a "sit down" formal atmosphere.

 

[karliebug]

HOw old are the kids? I would recommend Chef Mickeys for most because it is a buffet with lots of choices, the characters, and more of a fun,family atmosphere. If they are teens, they may like Coral Reef better but like PP said,it is more formal and less choices.

 

[lightningmcqueen]

My boys are 4 and 3 (and don't sit still very long!) and the Coral Reef is their favorite restaurant at Disney. The booths facing the giant tank keep them occupied and the food is amazing! It's fairly noisy so if any kids are making noise, you really don't notice. Seeing a diver in the tank is an added bonus!

 

[JimR24]

We picked the Coral Reef this time around. We ate at Chef Mickey's last time and did not like it. If you are looking for another character meal for the kids, I would try Liberty Tree or maybe breakfast at Ohana's.

 

[kaysmommie]

Both of these restaurants are usually on our list. My kids love CM for the characters and they like the food. I think the food is just OK. Coral reef was very good and the kids loved the atmospere there too. It can be very loud in there also. If your kids are young I would pick Chef Mickey's if they're older I would go with Coral reef.

 

[tmanaster]

On our last trip my kids were 8,7,3yo twins and we took my two nephews (5 and 8). We went to both and liked Chef Mickey's but really enjoyed Coral Reef. The kids really liked feeling "fancy" and they were especially impressed with dessert. It was a nice relaxing environment too.

Have a great trip!

 

[septbaby]

Lecellier, Boma, Whispering Canyon, Crystall palace, and 50s Prime Time Cafe.
Thank you

Without knowing the ages of the kids or if you're on the DP I'd strongly urge you not to choose between those two. I would do both of those and drop either WCC or 50's. If it really came down to it I'd say CR over even LeCellier. Now I haven't been to LeCellier, but from everything I've read and experienced Coral Reef would appeal more to the kids than LeCellier.

We took our 6yo to both places last summer:
Coral Reef Lunch - fantastic strategy to have this as a break on a hot day. Just worked out that way as CR was the hardest ADR to snag. We all ate everything put in front of us, even the 6yo (apple slices, pizza, ice cream sundae). We all loved the aquarium and he and I spent time identifying the sea life with the activity sheet they have there.

Chef Mickey's was his absolute favorite restaurant. It makes his top 3 favorites at WDW (Characters, Chef Mickey's and Goofy's Barnstormer). He was alive and wired from the moment we hit the waiting area. I have several photos of him in silly poses and he was one of a number of kids simply being kids there, even before being seated. It was nice that the characters acknowledged the children even while they sat in the waiting area. Kids really don't know they're not "at" the restaurant just yet. They just know when they see Minnie or Pluto they want to say hi and have the characters wave back. Something as simple as a wave or a giggle just made those waiting kids light right up. We had a late breakfast there and also enjoyed the food. No problem with cold food or an empty buffet table. If you do take them here just know they'll be wired for good reason. Don't send them to the buffet on their own. The kids are going to be a bit out of their minds and probably do something stupid, just save everyone the aggravation and help at the buffet. At 6 I wouldn't send our little guy solo at the Old Country Buffet so he's not getting that chance at CM's, Boma any place else at WDW. That saves everyone's nerves.

Gosh, you make me want to go right now!

 

[boomar]

Wanted to thank all of you who posted comment on my question CR or CM for a TS. We are on the basic dining plan, and this may sound funny but even though we are night arriving until December. I starting planning the meal situation this past January and I am now trying to finalize the plan so I can make the DDR over the phone as easy and quick as possible. Around 2 weeks from now is when I will be calling in. Kids ages are 12,11, 9, and 9. We are going with CR the deciding factor was the big tank. We are already going to a character meal. Also is there a way that I could have posted this reply to more than one person at a time(there were several of you posted that were helpful, I would have liked to have this addressed to all of you at once but haven't figured that out yet. ) I absolutely love this boards and will be posting more questions before we go. Once I show my DH what to do I am sure he will be ready to post too. Who knows maybe when we come back we will post helpful info.

 

[septbaby]

Glad you made a decision. Your reply was fine, no need to reply individually. For future reference at the bottome right corner of a post you can click on the set of quotation marks ". That will select that post, once you've selected everything you want to reply too hit Post Reply at the end or top of the page. That will open up a window where you can type in any comments you want. You can also edit the items you've selected. For example, I often reply to some specific comment or question so I delete the rest of the message. Readers can see the entire post somewhere else in the thread, so I don't think I need to repost it all. I won't add words, but will deletes sections.

Happy planning!

By the way if something changes on the character front there were 5 at Chef Mickey's with us: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.