Our Coral Reef experience...

[ZuZugal]

was not so great this time around. We just returned from the World, and had an ADR for lunch at the Coral Reef. We had eaten there 2 years ago while on DDP (not on DDP this trip though.)

We had an 11:30 seating so I asked for a table by the tank which we got - right on the end. My DS6 loves fish so we were set for a good lunch. Our server was a low-talker (remember the low-talker from Seinfeld?) and she had as much personality as a board. Ok...that's fine. The lunch will be what we make of it, right?

right after receiving our drinks 3 kids came down from their table to look at the fish - so they squeezed between us and the table next to us. That's okay. I have kids and know how they love to look at the fish. I thought it would be a "quick look" and that would be it. The oldest child perched his little sister (I'm guessing 2 yrs old) on the small ledge of the tank. They stayed there for at least 15 minutes. I finally put a stop to it when the middle child bumped my chair numerous times while trying to climb up to sit on the very small ledge with sister. "Do NOT climb up there and do NOT bump my chair again" were my words to him. I thought maybe the parents would notice me correcting him - or him bumping me - or the fact that their kids were treating it like a viewing tank instead of a restaurant.

And the food was just mediocre this time too. Not being on the DDP makes a difference (no salad with the entree, etc.) I got the lasagna. Not something I would normally order but someone had recommended it to me. A small portion and just not very tasty.

We had great experiences at the Crystal Palace and had the bratwurst w/sauerkraut twice in Germany and loved it!

 

[nessz79]

I've heard that about Coral Reef a lot lately- that the kids can block your view, even if you're a table by the tank. We cancelled our ressie there for that reason. We figure we can see the fish in the Seas Pavilion instead.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

It is so sad that the rude kids ruined your experience. You probably waited longer to get a window seat - the other parents should have requested the same thing. I can imagine how irritating it must have been to have them right there while you are trying to enjoy a nice lunch.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Some parent's really need to learn to watch their children better.

 

[MissionMouse]

...And the food was just mediocre this time too. Not being on the DDP makes a difference (no salad with the entree, etc.) ...

Yep! You get what you pay for and while Disney advertises you can save up to 30% under the DDP many people never see this level of savings for a variety of reasons. Often people lose site of this somewhere after purchasing the DDP..may be it is due to converting your money into Disney meal tickets or a persons desire to eat what they like rather than eating what calculates to obtaining the full benefit of the plan.

Overall, I think many on this site can come close to it if they plan, select specific meal offerings and ensure you use all your tickets. Lastly, we have found experiences vary from one visit to another at most TS restaurants with few exceptions...we have found this to be true with Coral Reef. There always appear to be "parents" who allow kids to wander away..allowing anything to baby sit them so they can be free of their kids . Also, Disney management will only respond to specific inappropriate behaviors when you complain ...they hate to offend anyone..even the offenders.

 

[Cinderella94]

We weren't fans of Coral Reef either. Sorry to hear about stupid parenting! Can't say I'm surprised...what a shame!

 

[aubriee]

I've posted in the past about this. We've dined at Coral Reef twice in the past and had this happen both times. The first time we ate there, kids were running up and down the steps, as well as trying to crawl up on the ledge in front of the tank. I went to the restroom and got slammed into, coming back down the stairs to my table. The only thing that stopped me from falling was a waiter was coming up the steps and grabbed me, as I started to fall. The second time we had a little girl (around 7 or 8 y/o) that just kept climbing on our chairs trying to get a picture of the big turtle that was right behind our table. All right fine, we moved our chairs back so she could get a good one, but then suddenly several kids came and started climbing up on the back of our chairs. One knocked my mom's glass of water off into her lap. We finally had enough and my husband told all the kids to go away. It was just a few minutes before they were back, climbing on the back of our chairs again. We swore we would not be going back.

 

[jenharring]

I've posted in the past about this. We've dined at Coral Reef twice in the past and had this happen both times. The first time we ate there, kids were running up and down the steps, as well as trying to crawl up on the ledge in front of the tank. I went to the restroom and got slammed into, coming back down the stairs to my table. The only thing that stopped me from falling was a waiter was coming up the steps and grabbed me, as I started to fall. The second time we had a little girl (around 7 or 8 y/o) that just kept climbing on our chairs trying to get a picture of the big turtle that was right behind our table. All right fine, we moved our chairs back so she could get a good one, but then suddenly several kids came and started climbing up on the back of our chairs. One knocked my mom's glass of water off into her lap. We finally had enough and my husband told all the kids to go away. It was just a few minutes before they were back, climbing on the back of our chairs again. We swore we would not be going back.

omg I think I am going to cancel our reservation for there now. I have 4 children and I can assure you if we saw our kids doing something like this they would get a good swat to the butt. That is just not how you act in a resturant and we try our best to teach our kids this. Though we went out to eat this past sat and my 7mo pulled my glass of tea and it landed in my lap lol my fault as i was getting on to the 4 and 7 yr old for fighting.

leave for the world in 79 days!!!

 

[peggyjean123]

I am so sorry for your experience, we went to Coral reef many years ago, and hubby said the food wasn't that great ans there were many kids running around. As a teacher of small children, I teach the kiddos in my class to respect others, I do this because many parents want to be a child's friend instead of parent. I feel bad for those kids as they grow up and think the world revolves around them. Respect needs to be an aspect taught int he home and at school, hopefully the rest of RES. were better.