Coral Reef

[mom2my3kids]

This was one reservation I wish we had canceled. We had a very somber waiter, he reminded me of the butler off of Mr Deeds. He was not rude but was far from friendly. Made us feel we did not deserve to be there, little bitty wine glasses of coke for a family coming out of the florida heat all day. Only refilled us twice had to keep asking for refills kinda embarrassing. Food was okay NOTHING to brag about. We will not return here ever again, Ohana,Liberty Tree, Beaches and Cream, Hoop Dee Doo and Crystal Palace was excellent and made up for one bad apple.

 

[georgiapeach]

I'm sorry you didn't have a better experience. The Coral Reef is one of my favorites at WDW. We ate at Coral Reef Saturday, 9/29/07. We LOVED it. Big surprise- they've added King Crab to the menu ($29.99, I think). It came with some weird sounding corn and asparagus relish, so I substituted au gratin potatoes, which were great. They saw the HUGE crab legs in half lengthwise, so you just scoop the meat out. We were on the DDP, so we didn't have to worry about the prices. We loved the lobster soup (bacony flavor) and the ceaser salads. We got smoothies for our free drink, which was nice. The chocolate wave was good, but not great. Others in the party got the steak, which was also very good. Our server was Holli and she was great. Our one complaint was that it was very loud in the restaurant when we were seated at 5:45, but quieted down by the time our entrees arrived. We waited an extra 20 minutes so our table of 8 could sit on the bottom tier, which was very worth it. The atmosphere is spectacular, and we even got to see a couple get engaged! The bill for each couple in our group was $120-130, so it was a great use of TS credits, but awfully pricey if you're paying OOP.

 

[bluslag]

We went to the Coral Reef for the first time last year. I was disappointed with the restaurant itself. Half of us had really good food and the deserts were wonderful but we didn't like the layout of the inside of the restaurant. We requested and up front table which they said we would get close if we waited and we said no problem. When we finally got seated we were put in the very back next to the kitchen door. I asked to be moved and they said they could get us another table if we waited another 20 minutes. That was fine with us and they got us a nice table in the center of the dining room. I think we were expecting something else and I don't think we will be back now that we have done it. Had a very nice waiter and all the staff was very nice. It is always fun to try new restaurants and we have different experiences every time

 

[LoriZH]

We had a beautiful dinner here, we did however, have a great waiter. I didn't think the soda glasses were small at all, but then again we drink more water than soda, plus I had a glass of real wine (birthday, lol). I've eaten here twice and both times the meals were great, but I have heard mixed reviews. Hope you enjoyed the atmosphere! BTW, I agree with the staff there, our server was superb, but the hostess was NASTY rude, plus we waited over 20 minutes plus for our table, I thought that was a little over the top.

 

[Garee]

I've always had a great meal here, my only thing is that everytime I go I never get to sit right next to the tank, I'm always away from it. It's a real bummer.

 

[DanceWaterDemyx]

Oh gosh. I haven't eaten at Coral Reef in YEARS, but I do have very strong memories of being young and bored to tears there...which I don't recall feeling about any other WDW dining spot.

...I guess if you're seafood people, its worth checking out. Me, I'mma be eating over in the Showcase, thanks

 

[DisneyBride'03]

SOmetimes I really think your server can make or break your meal/dining experience.
There may be other factors, and I am sorry to the OP your experience wasnt you expected
We had dinner here in Aug..our fist night...we had THE best waiter....and he just added to the whole experience. We did have a great booth across from the tank, and he was wonderful with our DD14mths We even tipped him in addition to DDP...he was the best waiter/server we had the whole trip....
Oh, our food was great too.
THis place does get mixed reviews...either good or bad...no in between it seems!

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

We thought the food and the server were both outstanding. We got a table for 3 right next to the glass, which helped my mood a lot! My only complaint was the LONG wait for a table in the overcrowded lobby. It seemed like parties of 10-15 people got tables quicker than our group of only 3...

 

[missmun52]

I had a great meal there this past September. It was wonderful and a must do for my family next year. My food was excellent and waiter was good. They suprised us with a special menu that said happy B-day from crush with our name, no one requested this, just a b-day mentioned on the reservation so it was really nice to get. The only problem I had was kids squeezing in between the table in front of us and our table to take pic. of the tank I cant see how parents just let it happen! Its so Rude, I mean People are eating here, I dont want you standing right in front of me taking pics2 inches from my Dh, my Dh had to pull out the chair next to him so they could not squeeze there anymore

 

[mom2my3kids]

Yeah it was a big let down for us, and they didn't even have the Bavarian cheesecake on the menu they gave us. I got the creme brulae and it was my first time trying it. It was okay, but I don't think I will order it again.

 

[Pugrpooh]

Yeah it was a big let down for us, and they didn't even have the Bavarian cheesecake on the menu they gave us. I got the creme brulae and it was my first time trying it. It was okay, but I don't think I will order it again.

They just changed menus the week of 9/16. We were there on 9/20 and I was also planning on ordering the cheesecake if it was the same one they serve at Biergarten. The chocolate wave was delicious though!

Our only complaint was we had to wait about a half hour after our ADR time. We had a great waiter, our drinks were refilled, he was attentive and the food was great. We had 6 nights of free dining and DH said the Coral Reef was his favorite of the whole week.

 

[loveDmouse]

Sorry you didn't enjoy Coral Reef. It has been a little while since we were there but we really enjoyed our meal there.

 

[n2mm]

That's too bad you had a not great experience. However, you should never let that stop you from trying again in the future. Things change and if we stopped eating at places in WDW that disappointed us in the past we would have run out of places to eat by now. Everyplace we've eaten at have had great experiences and not so great experiences. We actually ate at LeCellier 4 times before we even got a better than OK meal. We ate at Coral Reef in the past and it was OK, then tried it again about a year ago and it was wonderful. We check places off our list, then retry them many trips later. The menus change, the chefs change, the servers change. We eat at Kona Cafe alot, but the last time (August 07) was just OK. That surely didn't stop me from booking 2 more ADRs for next week's trip. Restraurants have bad days and bad servers. At least you still had lots of other great meals!!

 

[Disney71]

So sorry to hear you did not enjoy your expierence at Coral Reef. My DH and myself ate there on 9/25 for lunch and it was superb! Our server was very attentive, the food was delish, and we were not rushed at all. We did get to sit next to the tank - so I am sure that enhanced our expierence. We were on our Disneymoon so I had a diver do a sign for my husband - and it was GREAT!!

 

[kimisabella]

Sorry to hear that - I was a little nervous about our adr for Coral Reef last week, but it turned out to be one of the best meals we had all week! We all had the steak, which was really good, for appetizers we all had different dishes and they all were good and the chocolate wave for dessert was good as well (although it couldn't compare w/the chocolate molten cake dh got the next night at California Grill!!!!!) Cute story about the Coral Reef last Tuesday night we ate there and at the end of the dinner, my mother noticed some kids had the light up tinkerbell on their drinks and wanted to know how to get one - I told her it had to be ordered w/the drink - The next morning my mother & father went on the behind the seeds tour at Epcot while we were in the MK - after the tour, she went into the Coral Reef, which was closed as it was 11:30 a.m. and she looked around for a cm - she wandered into the dining room, and found someone there and asked if she could purchase the tink clips as she was there the night before and wanted two for her dgd's. The CM went back into a closet and handed my mother the clips and told her there was no charge. I thought that was pretty nice!

 

[A_NY_Outlaw]

This made up for our bad dining experience at Mama Melrose's. Our waiter was polite and they seated us at a table right next to the aquarium. My only complaint other than the small food portions was the rudeness of other patrons who feel the need to push and shove into someone else's table just so their kids can get a view of the fish in the tank.

I almost tweaked, but luckily I refrained!!

People need to be more respectful and less obtrusive!

All in all the restaurant itself was good ambiance and decent food. Even my wife who doesn't like seafood, liked her meal.