Coral Reef or Sci Fi

[Swimalie]

We're getting our reservation ideas ready and my husband, who normally doesn't have an opinion about things, wants to eat at Sci Fi. If we do that, we have to eliminate 1 of our other places which means Coral Reef. We will be traveling with our 5 year old son who loves looking at fish in the pet store or any aquarium. My husband thinks he would love sitting in a car watching a movie.

Our plans have us spending half a day at Hollywood Studios so Sci Fi would be for lunch on Sunday. Coral Reef would be Monday lunch, right before my parents arrive for their part of the trip with us.

Help us decide!!

 

[Harlemgirl720]

Ooh a tough one. I didn't care for Coral Reef. Loved the atmosphere but I wasn't impressed. I like Sci-Fi but it was too cold in there for me. I couldn't even enjoy my food because we were rushing to eat to get out of there. The food is okay. My favorite is the Rueben.

 

[The Disney Dad]

We're getting our reservation ideas ready and my husband, who normally doesn't have an opinion about things, wants to eat at Sci Fi. If we do that, we have to eliminate 1 of our other places which means Coral Reef. We will be traveling with our 5 year old son who loves looking at fish in the pet store or any aquarium. My husband thinks he would love sitting in a car watching a movie.

Our plans have us spending half a day at Hollywood Studios so Sci Fi would be for lunch on Sunday. Coral Reef would be Monday lunch, right before my parents arrive for their part of the trip with us.

Help us decide!!

The food at Sci Fi is not good. If your hubby wants to experience the atmosphere, make a reservation and just eat dessert there. And not all seats at Sci-Fi are cars ... make sure you ask for one. If your kid likes looking at fish, he'll love Coral Reef.

 

[loperella]

Out of 9 ts restaurants our last trip, two of which were Sci-fi & Coral Reef, Coral Reef is the only one I would not return to. The food was very mediocre and our family isn't hard to please. Atmosphere was decent but we'd just spent a bunch of time at the Living Seas wandering around looking at everything. And, our server/service was by far the most lack-luster, as if the she could care less about us or being there herself for that matter.

Sci-Fi food was good and the atmosphere was very fun. My two sons (10 & 12) and DH loved sitting in the car watching the old clips/movies. Our server was SO much fun & made sure we were having a good time. I said something about my boys not wanting to go to 50's because of getting razzed, so she decided to get a lil playful with them about eating the lettuce on there plates. She was so cute and my boys were tickled! Also, it's about half the price of Coral Reef.

If I'd know we could see all of the cool fish/tanks/displays etc. in the Living Seas, I wouldn't have even booked Coral Reef to begin with. But, everyone has to form their own opinion and you may love it. Have fun with whatever you decide!

 

[Swimalie]

Out of 9 ts restaurants our last trip, two of which were Sci-fi & Coral Reef, Coral Reef is the only one I would not return to. The food was very mediocre and our family isn't hard to please. Atmosphere was decent but we'd just spent a bunch of time at the Living Seas wandering around looking at everything. And, our server/service was by far the most lack-luster, as if the she could care less about us or being there herself for that matter.

Sci-Fi food was good and the atmosphere was very fun. My two sons (10 & 12) and DH loved sitting in the car watching the old clips/movies. Our server was SO much fun & made sure we were having a good time. I said something about my boys not wanting to go to 50's because of getting razzed, so she decided to get a lil playful with them about eating the lettuce on there plates. She was so cute and my boys were tickled! Also, it's about half the price of Coral Reef.

If I'd know we could see all of the cool fish/tanks/displays etc. in the Living Seas, I wouldn't have even booked Coral Reef to begin with. But, everyone has to form their own opinion and you may love it. Have fun with whatever you decide!

That's good to know. Thanks. I hadn't even thought about the fact that we could see the fish just walking through the building.

I think I'll let my husband be happy and give him his Sci Fi one.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I have never eaten at Sci fi, but I loved the Coral Reef. The atmosphere was gorgeous. I loved the tank. We ordered the steak and thought it was fantastic. Dh had the chocolate wave for dessert and loved that too. Service was good. Our server was a bit strange, but by no means gave us any problems.

 

[Mouseturtle]

Def go for Sci-Fi...Coral Reef was a neat experience for the atmosphere but the food was AWFUL (except for the chocolate wave, but you can get a choc lava cake anywhere)

IMHO you can take your son to an aquarium...the chances you will be seated next to that tank are slim, and I heard quite a few kids lament over that.

the Sci fi has good food - good not great - but your son will LOVE sitting in a car in the dark, it was just fun, and on our next trip DS12 already made me promise we'd go back to Sci-Fi!

Have fun

 

[pegsina]

We loved Sci Fi! it was so fun! We go to Coral Reef every year, mainly for the desserts (Chocolate Wave and Bailey's chocolate mousse) If it were not for free dining, we would skip CR - service slow and food only ok.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We really liked everything about Coral Reef--service, atmosphere, food. We ate there twice last month and have booked for December when we are not on free dining or a plan. It was that good!
Sci-fi had okay food but it would be like comparing a burger joint to a nice restaurant. I think both have appealing atmospheres to offer.
If you are on free dining, go to CR. If you are paying OOP, Sci fi is just a little more than counter service, so you could do it and do CR sometime on a dining plan.

 

[Swimalie]

We're paying for the Dining plan so this would be one of our TS meals. Thanks all for your help.

 

[thepwa]

I like going there but I think the food is bad. I'd make a reservation and have milkshake!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

We don't go to Si-Fi for dinner anymore the menu in r opinion isn't good anymore. The atmosphere is good .
Coral Reef - good food and an awesome aquarium.

 

[princess_momma]

And not all seats at Sci-Fi are cars ... make sure you ask for one. If your kid likes looking at fish, he'll love Coral Reef.

If you have an adr at Sci-Fi, you're guaranteed a car.

Also, you can request a window seat when you check-in at Coral Reef. It helps if you go close to opening though. I did it on my last trip and didn't have a long wait at all and did get a window sit.

Both are great atmosphere places and have some good seletions. I had the burger at Sci-Fi and the mahi-mahi at CR and both were very delicious items I would order again. It basically depends on what kind of atmosphere you want and what kind of food you want--SF is like a burger joint, and CR is just a tad classier with food.

 

[lesliejmorris]

I like both and we went to lunch at both our last trip, if I HAD to pick, I think I would pick Sci-Fi, burger was great and it was also a great place to relax, even though movies were going, the lights are dim and it seems to quiet the mind after all the excitement of the morning. In fact my DD almost fell asleep, however she was just coming down off of the high of participating in the Americal Idol experience and had just won the 11 am show, so all the adrenaline ran out of her as she sat in the car.

 

[brightvalleyjrts]

We have eaten at both and we didn't like the CR at all!! The atmosphere was great, but the food and service were terrible. But maybe it was just a bad day there.

My boys totally loved our meal at Sci-Fi. They thought it was sooo cool to sit in a car and eat dinner. Our food was good, not anything to write home about but it was good. We had wonderful service and not one complaint about the place. I would definitely eat there again. I had the wedge salad with steak, and it was very good!!

 

[skier_pete]

OK, you are obviously getting many opinions...but here's mine.

We liked the food at Coral Reef a lot, and our DD6 loves to look at fish, too. However, when we got there, we asked to be up close to the tank. After waiting 45 minutes for a Table, I said I'd rather sit down than wait any longer. So, naturally we ended up seated in the back row. Unless you are up against the tanks, the view is not all that impressive, and it was pretty lousy way in the back.

The Sci-Fi is a really fun restaurant. Many people complain about it, but the food in our experience is consistently good, just not anything fancy. If DH wants that one thing out of the whole trip, let him do it. Service is surprisingly slow, but I think sitting in the cars watching movies is one of the great experiences at WDW.

Meanwhile, your DS can run around The Seas when you go to Epcot and look at all the fish he wants, and he'll never know what he's missing when you don't go to Coral Reef.

SkierPete

 

[Swimalie]

Thanks all. I think we're going with Sci Fi. My husband is letting me get anything I want with this trip so I guess I can let him have this restaurant.

 

[princesspiglet]

Another opinion about Sci-Fi. We just ate there this past February and thought it was good. DD has the kid's pizza, which she said was terrible. I had a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings- which were yummy and DH had some kind of chicken sandwich which he said was good. We all had delish shakes- which I would highly recommend. We were seated to the far right of the theatre and enjoyed being in the car, although it was akward with me and DD sitting up front and DH sitting behind us, then another couple in the 3rd row. Our waiter was horrible- he had absolutely no personality. If it wasn't for him, we would rate it higher. Also, the place is freaking freezing inside! Bring a jacket/sweater inside with you or you will be miserable.

 

[avamadison]

My vote would be CR. My family has had wonderful meals from there!

 

[eccobleu]

We ate at both places on our trip last month. CR was the worst meal of the trip. The food just wasn't good. I had the steak and thought it had a weird texture. I had DH try, and he didn't think it was good either. DH had the caesar salad and mahi-mahi, both were bland. I thought the aquarium was just Ok, but I might be a bit biased since we went to Atlantis earlier this year.

At Sci-Fi, I thought the food was good: burger & fries. The kids got a kick out of sitting in a car and watching movies. I would definitely recommend Sci-Fi over CR any day.