Help with Dining

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I found out our magic bands shipped today and as usual when it gets closer to our trip time I start worrying if I booked the right restaurants. Particularly I am worried about Coral Reef. Has anyone eaten there recently and what did you order? I am looking for suggestions because it seems to get mixed reviews. Also wondering about Tutto Italia and Rainforest Café-AK. I also see a new shrimp and scallop dish at Be Our Guest and am wondering if anyone has tried that? Suggestions appreciated.

[Mom to a Princess and a Prince]

We were there in September and of your choices, only ate at Rainforest. I know people don't rave about it, but we love it. My daughter and I shared two dishes - the chicken parm and the steak - and bother were excellent. My son had pasta and said it was amazing, but he pretty much says that about all pasta. And my husband had a seafood pasta that he absolutely loved. The desserts were great. And huge! And service was excellent. Our other favorite from this trip was Via Napoli. The pizza was as good as everyone says!

[cer]

I understand your concern, unfortunately, I won't be much help.

The last time I ate at Coral Reef was May 2006 and the same with Rainforest Cafe- AK. I remember the food being ok at both, but we had an extremely long wait getting seated at Coral Reef and I remember Rainforest Cafe being loud and we were also seated by the kitchen. I know that neither of our experiences should count toward anything because it was so long ago. I just never had a real desire to go back...

I have never been to Tutto Italia.

I have done a lot of dining at WDW, but right now I am a real fan of breakfast buffets WITHOUT CHARACTERS. So right now I would love to go back to Boma breakfast and Trails End breakfast. The only thing that is a negative is they are a nightmare to get to unless you have your own or pay for your own transportation. (if you end up doing Trails End buffet, you will need to bus to the MK, then since it will likely be before the boats are running, take a bus (which wont have a labeled/numbered waiting area, so you just have to read the buses) and get on the Fort Wilderness one...once you get to Fort Wilderness, you will have to take an internal bus to to Trails End...It is a hassle, but so good and you get a discount if you pay with your Chase Disney Visa....

One place that I find we return often to is Wolfgang Puck Express in the Marketplace at Disney Springs. I love their food and that includes both their breakfast and their lunch/dinner menus. It's nice, too because no reservation is required.

I am sorry I am not more helpful. Lately we have been paying out of pocket and just I am pickier with how I spend my dining dollar. On our last trip we did the new D-LUX Burger place at Disney Springs - that was pretty good (also a counter service place).

Oh, I also would love to try that Homecoming restaurant down there...the menu looks so yummy. Morimoto Asia also looks good!

Good luck - I can't wait to hear other people's responses...

[paulsheri]

Just relax and enjoy your time there

[Zippy 1]

We were at Tutto Italia in November. We were seated early. We really enjoyed it! That is saying alot as my husband and mothe in law are Italian. I would do it again. We also went to Coral Reef. We arrived early and had to wait 15 minutes to be seated by the fish tank. So we ended up being seated on time. I had the Salmon and really enjoyed it. My husband had the Mahi Mahi and said it was wonderful. I do not recall what my daughter had but ate it all and had room for desert. We enjoyed being right up against the fish tank.

[Kairi_7378]

I start second guessing my ADRs in the last week or so before my trip. This drives my poor husband crazy!

We were in WDW this past June and ate at Coral Reef and Be Our Guest. Like you I was worried about Coral Reef because of the mixed reviews. We had the mahi mahi, salmon, Bailey's and Jack Daniels' Mouse, turtle cheesecake, and the grilled fish of the day. The food was good- much better than the reviews had suggested (especially the desserts!). My one issue with the food was that the portions were a bit smaller than I expected. We were seated on the back row of the restaurant. This meant that we were in a booth that actually faced another family but had a great view of the fish tank. In retrospect, I wish I had asked to wait for another table.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

It's been a while since we were at RFC but we always enjoyed it too

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We always eat at Wolfgang Puck Express on arrival night.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

The portion sizes don't concern me too much because we will have the dining plan and we always end up with too much anyway. Zippi and Kairi you both made me feel better about Coral Reef. The salmon actually looks good and I'm thinking that might be harder to mess up.

[cer]

We always eat at Wolfgang Puck Express on arrival night.

I love the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf there, and have also enjoyed the Chinois Chicken Salad (I think that is what it's called). Do you have a favorite meal there?

The Breakfast Pizza is delicious as is the Corn Flakes French Toast!

Right now, I think that it may be my favorite restaurant on property...as far as consistent deliciousness and value.

[cer]

I found out our magic bands shipped today and as usual when it gets closer to our trip time I start worrying if I booked the right restaurants.

I start second guessing my ADRs in the last week or so before my trip. This drives my poor husband crazy!

I hear ya'! I do the same thing!

The struggle is real.

There are just so many places to try, and you have your favorites and you can only eat so many. If you bump a place you are familiar with for the unknown, you hope beyond hope that it is at least as good as what you did not do. But if you do only the ones you know, well, you never know what's out there. AAAUGH!

[busterthebronco]

We like Coral Reef. It can get pricey though, but it's just such a cool atmosphere!

Tutto Italia wasn't my favorite. I'm not big on Italian food but we wanted to try it. I think it was too "authentic" for us?
Kinda like the place in the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT. We must like Tex-mex or something?

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I always wanted to try the meatloaf but am scared I won't like it, I usually end up ordering a pepperoni pizza. They are so good. I might try the meatloaf this time

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We still have Ohana and 50's Prime Time, Garden Grill for breakfast and I'm not worried about any of those, I know I like it. Also we've eaten at Be Our Guest before but the menu is different. Everyone seems to enjoy the steak there and at Coral Reef but I don't want to end up ordering steak at every meal. Especially Coral Reef it is supposed to be a seafood restaurant so I really want to eat seafood there. It may sound silly but the dining is a big part of the trip to us, the restaurants are so unique and I want it to be good not just for theming but food too.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We have dining plan so I'm not worried about price really. My mom loves Italian so we always have to do one Italian meal. I hope she likes it I loved Via Napoli and she was just so-so with it, but I ordered pizza she ordered white lasagna I think.

[Itchy]

I hope I can help.. When we were at WDW in Sept we ate at Tutto Italia and loved it. It is a must on each of our trips. You will find that the meals are true Italian and not Americanized. We ate at AK rainforest and just had a light lunch of appetizer for 2 and it was very good.

I don't remember the last time we ate a coral reef but it has been a long while. We use to eat there every trip but the food quality seemed to go down hill.

Hope this helps...

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We like authentic Italian so that's good with us. Thanks.

[ransam]

I love the coral reef-fantastic lobster brisque.

[CynBeth]

I found out our magic bands shipped today and as usual when it gets closer to our trip time I start worrying if I booked the right restaurants. Particularly I am worried about Coral Reef. Has anyone eaten there recently and what did you order? I am looking for suggestions because it seems to get mixed reviews. Also wondering about Tutto Italia and Rainforest Café-AK. I also see a new shrimp and scallop dish at Be Our Guest and am wondering if anyone has tried that? Suggestions appreciated.

We were just there in Dec. We didn't do CR this time but have always enjoyed a lunch or dinner there, especially the Chocolate Wave dessert. Tutto is a new must do for lunch for us. When we are at AK we always have an early lunch at the RC and have always found it enjoyable. BOG dinner is also a favorite and I always get the French onion soup and the shrimp and scallops dish. I have enjoyed it each time no matter how they have changed it.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I have been told the bisque was good, I may have to splurge and get it