New restaurant review and photos in blog

[DisneyKevin]

Coral Reef Review and photos are in a new blog.

 

[BriarRosie]

I just heard the review and thought it was pretty outrageous for lunch. Especially if they're serving subpar ingredients.

Too bad you couldn't order a "side item meal" and dessert from the sound of things.

 

[tickledtink33]

I just heard the review and thought it was pretty outrageous for lunch. Especially if they're serving subpar ingredients.

Too bad you couldn't order a "side item meal" and dessert from the sound of things.

Why can't you? WDW restaurants don't require that you order an entree. I have gone to table service restaurants and just ordered my favorite dessert. Never a problem. You could make a meal out of 2 side dishes and a dessert. Of course being on the dining plan would complicate things. I prefer not to have the dining plan myself, but of course that is a personal thing.

 

[AnninIowa]

Thanks, K.K.!! ;-)

Loved the review, and you took great photos!

 

[SamSam]

Thanks for the review Kevin. I wrote Coral Reef off my list of places to eat long ago, and it seems like there is no reason to add them back on.
However, everything was plated beautifully; too bad the taste doesn't match the attractiveness of the dishes.

 

[kafitty]

i haven't listened to the whole review yet, but my thoughts so far:

as a former waitress (NEVER AGAIN!!), one of the few things that would really set me off is if tables were empty, while there was a wait, because the kitchen could not keep up. That made me MURDEROUS! Maybe that's why you were on a wait that day?

also, i think we as consumers have every right to expect a quality meal at such a high price. Just because we're in Disney does NOT give them the right to price gouge! It's just outrageous to be given such small portions that are lacking in quality. At least then you could justify the cost.
It's just, i think, another way of Disney demonstrating how little emphasis they put on pleasing their repeat business. They just want to trick us once, and that's fine for them. i just don't get it...most businesses would KILL for such a rabid fanbase.

 

[BriarRosie]

Why can't you? WDW restaurants don't require that you order an entree. I have gone to table service restaurants and just ordered my favorite dessert. Never a problem. You could make a meal out of 2 side dishes and a dessert. Of course being on the dining plan would complicate things. I prefer not to have the dining plan myself, but of course that is a personal thing.

Well, I've made meals of just appetizers and desserts, no problem. I see a problem trying to take portions of the dishes that were bundled as part of an entree. Would the server know how much to charge you for dinner?

I'd expect it would be easier on the dining plan, as they'd probably just charge the full meal credit and be done with it. A la carte would be harder to calculate, wouldn't it? I'd be curious to find out if people ordered the entree without the entree, only sides...how much they were charged for the dish.

Oh, I forgot one thing to add earlier:

Where was Carlos when "KK" was reviewing places like Citrico's?
I would be hard pressed to call Kevin and John "financially constipated" (ok, that's MY term for how it sounded, not the actual term he used) after a meal there.

 

[Joshua_me]

Kevin, this review of yours, combined with Jack Spence's recent review from AllEars is enough to keep me away from The Coral Reef for some time to come...

And it's sad, too. A hundred years ago, (ie, back in the 80's ) the place was spectacular. Granted I was a kid then, but I remember myself and everyone else just raving about the place...

I hate what's happening to seemingly *every* restaurant in Epcot.


P.S. Wanna split a tomato "stack" from Le Cellier ? Oh. That's right, there's not enough for two...

 

[G66]

Kevin,

I completely agree with you about the dining plan insulating people from the true cost of the meals.

We used the dining plan last summer. The actual bill for a sub-par LeCellier meal was outrageous. In fact, the service was so poor that had we not been on the plan, I would have walked out. I believe Disney has purposely raised the out of pocket prices to outrageous levels so as to move people into the dining plans. Once locked into the plan, you are a captive diner. The high out of pocket cost gives the illusion of value to the DP. And an illusion is exactly what it is, as you correctly pointed out you are ultimately paying for it.

I have determined the DP just isn't worth it at any price.

 

[dpuck1998]

Great Review, I had a similar sub-par experience when I was there last. Thanks for giving me a reason to keep avoiding this place.

 

[G66]

I have determined the DP just isn't worth it at any price.

I have to clarify (soften) my statement to say that it isn't worth it to me and my family with two kids just into adult status in the plan. I suppose if it were two adults, we could find enough decent dining locations to make it work. It's just that you need to be very selective and the list of quality restaurants appears to be shrinking.