Is Coral Reef really that bad????

[campingdawgs]

We ate there over Spring Break. The atmosphere was nice, and the view of the tank was awesome. However, we had to wait over an hour to be seated. Our server didn't know the menu at all, and we had a difficult time getting drink refills. Some of our food was ok, but the entrees DH and DD13 had were so salty they were inedible. We will not go back.

 

[BuzzLiteyear]

We have only been there one time, but we liked the place. The food was good. I had steak and it was very good. I can't remember what the rest of the family had, but we walked away satisfied. The atmosphere is really nice. We enjoyed the huge aquarium. Seeing the occasional diver was pretty cool too. The service was pretty good. Our server seemed preoccupied (busy) which is understandable at dinnertime. He did take a family picture for us, even though he had no idea how to operate my camera (DSLR) . I'd reccommend the place.

 

[kayla87]

I ate there for the first time last week. We had the best service there of any TS that week, I think. I had the chicken and it was the one meal I kept craving once I was home. I thought my husband's NY strip was so-so, but another in our group says that the best steak she gets on property is at Coral Reef.

If I've learned anything from the two trips I've taken after joining the boards, it's that you should never take food advice from strangers. People's tastes vary wildly, and you really need to make up your own mind about it. Don't worry that your trip is going to be ruined because what you planned doesn't align with what the boards say you should do.

 

[JAL2525]

I would not tell anyone difinitively yes or no, I think everyone should try things for themselves (we all have different likes and dislikes)...but we've been there twice over the years and I must say it was not a great experience. It was OK, unless I hear a rave review and/or they make some significant changes I think I would go with some of the other options in the park.

 

[n2mm]

We eat here several times a year and our meals have always been great. I personally don't pay much attention to anyone else's opinion of restraurants, though I do read the threads. I don't like Kona's, Chef Mickeys, and Crystal Palace, and many do. Sometimes I go to my favorite places and the food is just so so, but I do go back. Only have several visits will I take them off of my list -- most recently whispering canyon was removed after at least 5 not too great meals. We go alot (every other month) and I eat well over 100 meals a year in WDW. If we all stopped going to the places that folks post negative reviews about, we would have run out of places to eat by now. I've never seen one place that didn't have a negative review. BTW -- I've eaten at Coral Reef 5 times this year and I've never had more than a 10 minutes wait to be seated--guess I'm lucky. (That is for a party of 2, 4, and 6)

 

[emh1129]

We've eaten there twice. First time was GREAT- excellent food, phenomenal service & atmosphere was very enjoyable.
Second time, our food was undercooked and had to be sent back twice! They also brought my dd the wrong meal entirely, service was slow (albeit friendly). We actually told them to just forget our adult meals because by then the kids were finished with their meals & ready to move on..
So- we've had extremes at both ends. But we're planning to give it another shot next time and I'm expecting/hoping for an excellent meal!

 

[goofy4tink]

We've eaten there twice. First time was in mid-August, about 3-4 years ago. We sat down by the aquarium, at a table at the very end. It was quite nice. Our server was terrific. We didn't have too much trouble with kids running down to look into the aquarium..just one child tried to push past us and we asked him not to do that and he went away.
So, when it came time to go back to WDW, my dh and dd said they wanted to go back to Coral Reef, so go back we did. However, it was during free dining, so the place was chock a block full of little kids. The prices there are substantial, so when free dining is offered, a lot of families book there simply because they don't want to spend the money oop. It was awful. It was so brutally noisy that you couldn't carry on a conversation. There were babies crying (yes, little tiny babies), there were toddlers toddling around, there were slightly older kids running all over the place...all while their parents were lingering over coffee/drinks and dessert. It almost felt as if the parents felt that because there was an aquarium there, it was for the amusement of their children...almost like day care..so they didn't really have to worry about the kids. It was so bad, that we decided to forgo dessert and just leave...which was really sad because my dh and I had really been looking forward to dessert that night. But, he got a headache from the commotion, so it just wasn't worth it to us to stay.

Having said that, yes, I've booked a CP pkg there next month. Dear God...I hope it's better. I'm bringing a friend who hasn't been in 15 years...I want things to be nice for her.

 

[chell]

We ate there last December and had a great meal. I had the NY Strip and it was the best steak of the entire trip. I was very nervous about going because of all of the negative reviews but it was our Honeymoon & my husband's first WDW visit and he wanted to see the restaurant. I'm glad we went. We had a pleasant experience. We are going back this year and I hope we have another good experience.

 

[Amboo]

This was probably our worst dining experience of our trip. Everything was just okay. There was absolutely nothing that made us want to return. I suppose some people might enjoy it, but we'd rather spend our money/dining plan credits elsewhere. I think the worst part was where we were sitting. We were on the second level, which would have been okay, but we were at a table for 2 right next to another table of 2. It felt like we were sitting with them, and in order to look at the aquarium, we pretty much had to look right at them. It just felt awkward and uncomfortable.

 

[ReneeA]

We had a wonderful meal at CR last trip. It's one of the only TS meals that DS requested we do again.

 

[EvilQueenT]

we have only eaten at cr once, christmas dinner 2008. we had 5 people ages 4, 19, 25, 41, and 42. our experience was either your meal was just so-so to average (2 of us) or it was fantastic (2 of us) and the 5 year old ate without any complaints. from all the reviews i read before choosing to book there was that the atmosphere is a must do at least once and that the food is better than quick service and ok to fantastic for a sit down depending on what you like and who's cooking that night. i personally find that all the table service places particularly those who do the ddp have scaled back their menus and if disney is trying to cut costs then that may be were the problem comes in as far as consistent quality goes...just a thought.

 

[Basketmouse]

It's ok... I ordered salmon and it had this really disgusting sauce on it. The fish was good, though. But the dessert was to die for. CHOCOLATE WAVE!!!

 

[debilovesmickey]

Hi
My family has eaten there twice -- once in November 2001 and again in April 2008. We loved lunch there both times. The first trip my boys were 12 and 9, the second they were 15 and 17-- we enjoyed it both times. We love seafood and this is one of my favorite Epcot restaurants.
Truthfully you can hear good and bad about anywhere from Dr's offices to Disney restaurants!

Depends on the person and their individual taste and experience!
Hope this helps!
Debi

 

[gobo2]

Do they put the least friendly and/or attentive servers at Coral Reef because they think the fish with somehow make up for it?

 

[caroline1851]

dh, ds6 and dd2 and I loved it when we went last year. We were sat right near the tank and a sea turtle was at the window the whole time. food was great. dessert choices were limited-didn't even order one. waiter was so-so.

 

[summerlady]

We had dinner at the Coral Reef in late April, 2008. Nice atmosphere but it was really, really noisy there, don't know if voices echo off the aquarium wall or what, but it was so LOUD. DH had steak, I had catfish with pepperjack cheese grits (yummy), and DGD had grilled chicken, DH and I both had the Chocolate Wave (YUMMY!) for dessert and DGD had a build your own sundae which she really liked, she also thought the plastic dolphin that they stuck on the side of her glass of Sprite was cool. The food was good, our server was nice enough but just sort of...absent, like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was. We'll probably go back someday, just not for us this coming trip.

 

[kayla87]

But the dessert was to die for. CHOCOLATE WAVE!!!

DH and I both had the Chocolate Wave (YUMMY!) for dessert

Based on the experiences of two frequent Coral Reef diners (not me, but friends), the Chocolate Wave is not what it used to be. This was just the 22nd of Oct. They even went so far as to say that if they were paying cash, they'd ask for a manager and return the dish.

 

[Tiggs14]

Our waitress was horrible but the food was good and we loved watching the aquarium during dinner.

 

[summerlady]

Based on the experiences of two frequent Coral Reef diners (not me, but friends), the Chocolate Wave is not what it used to be. This was just the 22nd of Oct. They even went so far as to say that if they were paying cash, they'd ask for a manager and return the dish.

I'm disappointed to hear that, the Chocolate Wave was the one thing that would probably have been the deciding factor in our returning there.

 

[GovieMom]

Based on the experiences of two frequent Coral Reef diners (not me, but friends), the Chocolate Wave is not what it used to be.

Now I want to know what it used to be like! For example, the Chocolate Moose at Le Cellier ... several years ago it had fresh raspberries for the facial features; now they use M&M's instead. Eerrgghh!