Coral Reef vs Rainforest Cafe(and general weigh in on ADRs)

[Bektasmic]

Help! I have too many dining plan ADRs.

Can someone help me decide if I should drop Coral Reef? More concerned with experience (atmosphere and service) than food since the it-all-tastes-amazing-if-I-don't-have-to-cook-it rule will be in effect.

What does CR have that is different/better than RFC? We live close-ish to RFC and go 3-4 times a year and will certainly visit the Living Seas at Epcot. Will kids DS12 and DD5 still think it's supercool or impressive to eat there? What if we end up seated far from the aquarium? Still cool? Or not worth it?

Here's our full lineup if anyone has opinions.
We have 6 days of dining credits and 8 restaurants booked. 5 of them require all of us to use dining credits. So I could book a total of 7 if 2 of those restaurants were ones we could share meals (use 2 credits for the 4 of us). Here's what I have so far:

Booked; Keep for sure:
Biergarten
Mama Melrose Fantasmic (we got rained out last trip so wanted to prioritize)
Akershus


Booked but Undecided:
Tusker House
Crystal Palace 8:15 (more for the empty Main St than anything-could just meet those characters elsewhere)
Coral Reef
San Angel
Sci Fi (ate here before; maybe just go for milkshakes or pay oop?)


Any arguments to trade any of the undecideds for either of these that aren't currently booked but I considered?
1900 Park Faire
Garden Grill


Thanks for any advice

 

[Donald - my hero]

Crystal Palace 8:15 (more for the empty Main St than anything-could just meet those characters elsewhere)

We just got back from a glorious 2 week stay and only thing I can comment on is this fact. We went on a Tour that started at 8:00 a.m. on Friday and because of the hour we were in the same line as the pre-opening meals at CP & the Castle. Before we entered the park CM were telling everyone that we needed to remain on the sidewalk due to some filming that was taking place. The Brazilian equivalent to Good Morning America was filming their show with all the Christmas decorations in place. Many folks were mighty ticked that they would not get the coveted "empty-main street" photos prior to their meals (one woman even argued that she should have been informed when she booked the meal). By the time we started on our tour we couldn't even walk on the sidewalk and were escorted through the stores.

Moral of the story? Don't book the meal if the only reason is empty-street photos or you might be disappointed OH also it is hard to find any of those characters OTHER than Pooh & Tigger in the parks.

 

[jezebel73]

Help! I have too many dining plan ADRs.

Can someone help me decide if I should drop Coral Reef? More concerned with experience (atmosphere and service) than food since the it-all-tastes-amazing-if-I-don't-have-to-cook-it rule will be in effect.

What does CR have that is different/better than RFC? We live close-ish to RFC and go 3-4 times a year and will certainly visit the Living Seas at Epcot. Will kids DS12 and DD5 still think it's supercool or impressive to eat there? What if we end up seated far from the aquarium? Still cool? Or not worth it?

Here's our full lineup if anyone has opinions.
We have 6 days of dining credits and 8 restaurants booked. 5 of them require all of us to use dining credits. So I could book a total of 7 if 2 of those restaurants were ones we could share meals (use 2 credits for the 4 of us). Here's what I have so far:

Booked; Keep for sure:
Biergarten
Mama Melrose Fantasmic (we got rained out last trip so wanted to prioritize)
Akershus


Booked but Undecided:
Tusker House
Crystal Palace 8:15 (more for the empty Main St than anything-could just meet those characters elsewhere)
Coral Reef
San Angel
Sci Fi (ate here before; maybe just go for milkshakes or pay oop?)


Any arguments to trade any of the undecideds for either of these that aren't currently booked but I considered?
1900 Park Faire
Garden Grill


Thanks for any advice

I am a definite vote for Coral Reef over Rainforest Cafe. Very cool experience and the aquarium is basically the entire wall, so even if you are further away, you still see it, plus you can walk over and get a closer view. I have the best picture of my daughter as a toddler and a scuba diver pressing their hands together through the glass. Very cool venue!!

I have had lots of fun experiences at 1900 Park Fare, both breakfast and dinner, though I prefer the characters at dinner. The stepsisters are a total riot! If you've already eaten at Sci Fi, that might be one to drop, if it works in your schedule.

I really like your lineup in general!

 

[imthemamahere]

Help! I have too many dining plan ADRs.
Booked; Keep for sure:
Biergarten
Mama Melrose Fantasmic (we got rained out last trip so wanted to prioritize)
Akershus


Booked but Undecided:
Tusker House
Crystal Palace 8:15 (more for the empty Main St than anything-could just meet those characters elsewhere)
Coral Reef
San Angel
Sci Fi (ate here before; maybe just go for milkshakes or pay oop?)


Any arguments to trade any of the undecideds for either of these that aren't currently booked but I considered?
1900 Park Faire
Garden Grill


Thanks for any advice

I can't tell you what YOUR family will like best, but I can describe my family's experience at some of the places... YMMV.

Tusker House - our favorite character meal. We've typically done breakfast, and we eat well there. There's the typical American breakfast buffet stuff, but the more unusual African-inspired dishes are delicious and a bit more unique. My son, age 5, is an adventurous eater, as are we, so we appreciate the different tastes. (But you could eat really well here without touching anything unusual, if you so choose.) We were just there last week, and we had good character interaction at Tusker House - they kept the characters moving, but my son got their signatures, a hug, a short chat if he had something to say, and then a high-five before they walked away. So it was brief without feeling super-rushed. I think they do everything well there.

Crystal Palace - I'm not sure how your kids feel about Pooh + friends. My little guy likes them well enough, but could really take them or leave them. We've found the food at Crystal Palace to be extremely disappointing when we've been there - though at least I didn't have to cook it! This is one we skipped on our last trip.

Garden Grill - we tried this for the first time when we were there last week. In fact, it was our final farewell-to-Disney meal before we headed to the airport to go home. My little guy LOVED it - the food was simple, but well-prepared and tasty. The character interactions were also good - lots of giggles with the chipmunks and with Pluto and Mickey. The revolving restaurant over the Living with the Land ride gave my son something to do between character visits. We'll definitely do this meal again.

1900 Park Faire - we've done this both for breakfast (Alice, Mary Poppins, Pooh + Tigger this past trip) and dinner (Cinderella, her Prince, stepmother and stepsisters). If your 5 year old has a sense of humor and mischief, she'll likely love the stepsisters. If your 12 year old is a typical 12, he'll probably even get a kick out of the stepmother's sarcasm and snide remarks. (If your daughter's intimidated by the "bad guys," she may not like this as much.)

Between Coral Reef and San Angel, I guess it again depends on what you're prioritizing. And how much your family likes fish. If you're all fish-fans (both to watch and to eat), Coral Reef is fabulous. Even if you aren't right up by the aquarium glass, you can still see fish swimming around by just turning your head. The menu skews heavily toward fish dishes, though there are a few non-seafood options. I don't eat seafood, so I felt like I didn't have many choices the last time we went. But the atmosphere rocked. San Angel is also good. We like Mexican food, and we found it pretty yummy! The terrace-under-the-stars thing is pretty cool too, though the restaurant is pretty dark, overall. (As in, I've heard older folk complaining they can't see the menu.) Of the two, for food, we'd choose San Angel. For atmosphere, we'd choose Coral Reef.

I love the idea of just getting milkshakes at sci-fi. Save your meal credit for something bigger.

 

[Bektasmic]

Thanks everyone! Good to hear other people's experiences and opinions. I think I'm a little clearer and am going to try to sneakily test drive some general opinions on stuff with the kids.

We aren't big seafood lovers for Coral Reef but looks like they've got steak which we love. Sea turtles and sharks in the tanks would be v cool to watch. Leaning toward keeping that one now.

Still kinda torn on the CP, though. Kids aren't huge Pooh fans, but have heard their character interactions are generally pretty fun. I think the hubs would appreciate one day with a nice full breakfast, though, since all the other days are in room (trying to maximize dining plan value).

I'm thinking Sci Fi will for sure just be an appetizer or milkshakes to share, though. The kids will for sure want Pizza Planet and we will have a big lunch at Mama Melrose.


Any more advice/opinions welcome

 

[SouthJersey]

Help! I have too many dining plan ADRs.

Can someone help me decide if I should drop Coral Reef? More concerned with experience (atmosphere and service) than food since the it-all-tastes-amazing-if-I-don't-have-to-cook-it rule will be in effect.

What does CR have that is different/better than RFC? We live close-ish to RFC and go 3-4 times a year and will certainly visit the Living Seas at Epcot. Will kids DS12 and DD5 still think it's supercool or impressive to eat there? What if we end up seated far from the aquarium? Still cool? Or not worth it?

Here's our full lineup if anyone has opinions.
We have 6 days of dining credits and 8 restaurants booked. 5 of them require all of us to use dining credits. So I could book a total of 7 if 2 of those restaurants were ones we could share meals (use 2 credits for the 4 of us). Here's what I have so far:

Booked; Keep for sure:
Biergarten
Mama Melrose Fantasmic (we got rained out last trip so wanted to prioritize)
Akershus


Booked but Undecided:
Tusker House
Crystal Palace 8:15 (more for the empty Main St than anything-could just meet those characters elsewhere)
Coral Reef
San Angel
Sci Fi (ate here before; maybe just go for milkshakes or pay oop?)


Any arguments to trade any of the undecideds for either of these that aren't currently booked but I considered?
1900 Park Faire
Garden Grill


Thanks for any advice

I'm biased to Coral Reef because we have a RFC back home and after a few visits, it's like, "oh..cool" for us and the food is on par with like a Fridays to be honest. The food at Coral Reef is a lot better and less processed and out of bags like RFC. The atmosphere is also unique (but so is RFC if you've never been there).

If you have a RFC at home you can visit, then definitely go with Coral Reef.

Tusker House is our favorite character breakfast.
Crystal Palace is our second favorite for the characters and early start to Magic Kingdom
Coral Reef we enjoyed the food a lot our past two trips and the setting is very neat.
San Angel Inn is one of our favorite restaurants in all of Disney. The atmosphere is unique and awesome, the margaritas are great and the food is excellent traditional mexican fare. We always do a lunch here and do signatures for a later evening dinner each night.

 

[Bektasmic]

I'm biased to Coral Reef because we have a RFC back home and after a few visits, it's like, "oh..cool" for us and the food is on par with like a Fridays to be honest. The food at Coral Reef is a lot better and less processed and out of bags like RFC. The atmosphere is also unique (but so is RFC if you've never been there). If you have a RFC at home you can visit, then definitely go with Coral Reef. Tusker House is our favorite character breakfast. Crystal Palace is our second favorite for the characters and early start to Magic Kingdom Coral Reef we enjoyed the food a lot our past two trips and the setting is very neat. San Angel Inn is one of our favorite restaurants in all of Disney. The atmosphere is unique and awesome, the margaritas are great and the food is excellent traditional mexican fare. We always do a lunch here and do signatures for a later evening dinner each night.

Good to know. That's our feeling on RFC...we've been enough that some of the novelty has worn off. I guess that's what I'm scared of...that the kids (and us) will be all, "been there, done that" with the idea of sitting near a tank while they eat. We weren't planning on going to RFC at Disney...more just wondering if CR is just a fancier RFC and thus not as unique of an experience for us versus say Garden Grill. We've never eaten at a spinning restaurant, and I've heard the character interaction is cute.

Thanks to you, and everyone else, for input on the other places. Feeling good about most of what we've booked. Still not sure on CR...

 

[Hopefully]

Good to know. That's our feeling on RFC...we've been enough that some of the novelty has worn off. I guess that's what I'm scared of...that the kids (and us) will be all, "been there, done that" with the idea of sitting near a tank while they eat. We weren't planning on going to RFC at Disney...more just wondering if CR is just a fancier RFC and thus not as unique of an experience for us versus say Garden Grill. We've never eaten at a spinning restaurant, and I've heard the character interaction is cute.

Thanks to you, and everyone else, for input on the other places. Feeling good about most of what we've booked. Still not sure on CR...

Glad to hear that you are not planning on going to Rainforest Café when you can do that at home. We are interested in the unique Disney venues. I would not compare RFC and Coral Reef in any way - atmosphere is different, food is better. I'm not sure why you want to do that. I don't see CR as a fancier RFC - I don't see anything about them like each other. But if you are as unsure as it seems you are, you would be better off planning somewhere else so you enjoy the experience.
And be careful with the idea of a "spinning" restaurant. The motion is very slow and very subtle. Some aren't aware of it at all. I'm not sure what you are expecting. The character interaction is very good
Good Luck and Have Fun

 

[GillianP1301]

Help! I have too many dining plan ADRs.

Can someone help me decide if I should drop Coral Reef? More concerned with experience (atmosphere and service) than food since the it-all-tastes-amazing-if-I-don't-have-to-cook-it rule will be in effect.

What does CR have that is different/better than RFC? We live close-ish to RFC and go 3-4 times a year and will certainly visit the Living Seas at Epcot. Will kids DS12 and DD5 still think it's supercool or impressive to eat there? What if we end up seated far from the aquarium? Still cool? Or not worth it?

Here's our full lineup if anyone has opinions.
We have 6 days of dining credits and 8 restaurants booked. 5 of them require all of us to use dining credits. So I could book a total of 7 if 2 of those restaurants were ones we could share meals (use 2 credits for the 4 of us). Here's what I have so far:

Booked; Keep for sure:
Biergarten
Mama Melrose Fantasmic (we got rained out last trip so wanted to prioritize)
Akershus


Booked but Undecided:
Tusker House
Crystal Palace 8:15 (more for the empty Main St than anything-could just meet those characters elsewhere)
Coral Reef
San Angel
Sci Fi (ate here before; maybe just go for milkshakes or pay oop?)


Any arguments to trade any of the undecideds for either of these that aren't currently booked but I considered?
1900 Park Faire
Garden Grill


Thanks for any advice

I would definitely do Coral Reef over RFC. One of our favourite meals last trip was at Coral Reef and sitting by the huge aquariums was such a thrill for my son. I have no issue with RFC at all, but given that you are able to go to your local one a few times a year, I wouldn't use up a Disney meal credit on it.

Sci-Fi is often my OOP meal if I'm over credits because I'm perfectly happy with an appetizer (I love the buffalo popcorn chicken) and a milkshake. So, if you think that meal is landing where you really just want a rest/snack and not a full meal, then your thought of going OOP for this one is good and would allow you to keep all your other ADRs.

I would probably swap out Tusker House for Garden Grill. Tusker House is not that great, IMO and really we only do it because my son is character meal obsessed and we tend to do almost all of them at one point during the vacation. But, if I had to choose between those two character meals, Garden Grill would win hands down. By far the best character interaction and the food is good.

1900PF was a nice breakfast, but I would not drop the 8:15 CP. That's one of my favourite ADRs. I love getting to MK early and both my son and I love Pooh & Friends. And the Pooh's french toast is almost worth it on it's own.

 

[SouthJersey]

Good to know. That's our feeling on RFC...we've been enough that some of the novelty has worn off. I guess that's what I'm scared of...that the kids (and us) will be all, "been there, done that" with the idea of sitting near a tank while they eat. We weren't planning on going to RFC at Disney...more just wondering if CR is just a fancier RFC and thus not as unique of an experience for us versus say Garden Grill. We've never eaten at a spinning restaurant, and I've heard the character interaction is cute.

Thanks to you, and everyone else, for input on the other places. Feeling good about most of what we've booked. Still not sure on CR...

If I've never been to any of them prior and just went to each once, I'd think RFC had the more unique atmosphere, but the food at Coral Reef substantially better. Coral Reef is A LOT more relaxed than the loud, faster paced atmosphere of RFC as well.