The Coral Reef Restaurant is one of the most amazing restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort as it showcases a living coral reef. Located in the World Nature area of Disney’s EPCOT theme park within The Seas with Nemo Pavilion, this specialty dining experience specializes in fresh seafood served in a casual environment.
This restaurant is unique as it features a wall of windows into one of the largest aquariums in the southeast. There are more than 60 specific and approximately 2,000 sea creatures within this living coral reef that contains more than five million gallons of water. Visitors will notice a number of rays, sharks and sea turtles as well as dozens of other types of fish. For an additional fee, guests can participate in the “DiveQuest” program, where they can scuba dive in the aquarium alongside the sea creatures.
The Coral Reef Restaurant offers a variety of seafood dishes including swordfish and seared tuna, as well as non-seafood options like steak and chicken breast. Guests can enjoy their meal while watching the marine life swim by, making for a truly immersive dining experience.
Coral Reef Restaurant – Frequently Asked Questions
What are the hours for the Garden Grill Restaurant?
The Coral Reef Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Lunch service begins at 11:30 AM and runs to 3:30 PM while dinner service begins at 3:45 PM and extends to 8:30 PM. Make sure you allow for at least an hour not only to enjoy the food, but get to enjoy the sea life.
What kind of food is served at the Coral Reef Restaurant?
The restaurant offers a variety of seafood dishes, such as lobster bisque, grilled swordfish, and seared tuna, as well as non-seafood options like prime rib and chicken breast.
Is the Coral Reef Restaurant expensive?
Entree’s at the Coral Reef Restaurant costs around $30.00 per adult and kids meals range from $13.00 to $16.00. Annual passholders can get a 10% discount on the food and non-alcoholic beverages for the passholder and up to 3 additional guests.
Are Disney characters present at the Coral Reef Restaurant?
There are no Disney characters present at the Coral Reef Restaurant.
Does the Coral Reef Restaurant serve alcoholic drinks?
The Coral Reef serves beer, wine and specialty cocktails including margaritas, martinis and mojitos.
Does the Coral Reef Restaurant accept reservations?
The Coral Reef Restaurant accepts reservations online up to 60 days in advance. Click here to check availability and make a reservation or visit the MyDisneyExperience app.
Where should we stay when visiting EPCOT?
When we are visiting EPCOT (or Disney’s Hollywood Studios for that matter), our favorite place to stay is either the Walt Disney World Dolphin or Walt Disney World Swan hotels. Both are Marriott brand hotels so as a Lifetime Titanium Elite members, we can use or earn reward points when visiting either of these hotels.
The Dolphin and Swan are part of the EPCOT Resort Area and within walking distance to the EPCOT’s International Gateway (passing through Disney’s Boardwalk area). There is also a water taxi that will take guests from the rear of the hotels to just outside of the EPCOT entrance.
With these hotels so close to EPCOT, guests can take a break during the middle of the day and go back to the hotel and sit by the pool, take a nap or even check their e-mail if so inclined. There are plenty of amenities to enjoy but the best part is the extraordinarily close location to EPCOT.
Both hotels are fairly well priced for theme park hotels and we have recently stayed at both with room rates below $300 per night. The one drawback is that resort fees ($35/day), self-parking ($34/day) and taxes (combined 12.5%) could quickly add to the nightly rate.
Click here to learn more about the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
Click here to learn more about the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
