News Coral Reef Shifts to Dinner-Only Hours at EPCOT Beginning January 2026

[Chi84]

Between the drop in table service demand and EPCOT's ongoing festivals, the second- and third-tier restaurants have to be having a hard time.

We offered to take everyone to lunch at Space 220 and half the group passed in favor of the food kiosks. Between the festivals and paying for ride reservations I can see how the TS restaurants are hurting.

The Living Seas was Epcot's premier attraction when it opened but Disney completely ruined it over the years.

 

[Disstevefan1]

This appears to me to be cost cutting. A closed restaurant lowers cost.

In the decades of going to EPCOT, we never dined here.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Oh, it’s not just coral reef, there are many places on property where it’s a real head scratcher why Disney couldn’t make something work, or didn’t want to try to make something work.

For Epcot, it’s the end result of depending on festivals to fill the park. The park on its own is not a draw, as we saw this summer when there were no festivals, and that is despite them spending God knows how much money to redo the front half of the park.

It once again, comes down to accessibility. The price and the operating hours don’t match demand. There is no reason why you close the park at 9 PM while at the same time relying on income from guests eating and drinking.

The problem is, of course, the profit margin on the kiosks well exceeds any quick service or table service. So there’s no incentive to change anything.

They basically did this to themselves.

I agree…

But I think the problem isn’t JUST the festivals

It’s back to that stupid &!! Dining plan. The race to the bottom to increase prices to force people into it or pay through the nose menu prices to then jack the plan price.

We’re left with bad food and poor bang for the buck

I try not think about it TOO much…but the whole 10 year episode was a slow moving disaster that we had to watch.

Epcot probably has suffered the worst

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Spice Road Table recently dropped lunch as well

I’m shocked it’s still open

Place is always empty…if it wasn’t “prominent”…I would guess it would be gone by now

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’ve always had a decent experience at CR. I don’t understand how it gets such bad ratings and that LeC gets raved about

Lecellier is probably the most overrated place on property…consistently

 

[Fox&Hound]

…then make it better

???

 

[monothingie]

???

It’s the conundrum of charging fine dining prices for the theme park equivalent of Applebee’s.

As stated before, the dining plan kills this restaurant like so many others on property. And like so many others this restaurant has an identity crisis and needs to pick a Lane as to what it wants to be.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It’s the conundrum of charging fine dining prices for the theme park equivalent of Applebee’s.

As stated before, the dining plan kills this restaurant like so many others on property. And like so many others this restaurant has an identity crisis and needs to pick a Lane as to what it wants to be.

I think all on property places are in the same lane:

Steady price increases with equally steady cost cutting. Mandatory

 

[donaldtoo]

Coral Reef has been hit or miss for us --sometimes good--sometimes bad

Indeed.
We ate dinner there in ‘07 and ‘12.
In ‘07 I had a shrimp fettuccine in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce dish that was so good it was ridiculous…and, it was such a large portion that I ended up eating the rest for breakfast the next morning…!!!!!
In ‘12 that wasn’t on the menu anymore, so I had the Mahi Mahi that was just kinda’ meh.
Haven’t been back since.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Indeed.
We ate dinner there in ‘07 and ‘12.
In ‘07 I had a shrimp fettuccine in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce dish that was so good it was ridiculous…and, it was such a large portion that I ended up eating the rest for breakfast the next morning…!!!!!
In ‘12 that wasn’t on the menu anymore, so I had the Mahi Mahi that was just kinda’ meh.
Haven’t been back since.

…I can’t remember what I had for lunch

But not enough shade is thrown for the drastic portion reductions. I get that it’s everywhere…but it’s rather ridiculous over time in wdw

What used to be a ridiculous TOO large is rather pathetic in many cases now

 

[UNCgolf]

I can't believe they only have one fish dish on the menu for a supposed seafood restaurant.

 

[esskay]

Not been there in about 3 years now and it felt a bit run down and in need of a refit. Food wasn't as good as I recall either. About 10 years ago it was pretty decent but you know how things tend to go on property these days...

 

[Minthorne]

I remember going in 1989 and it being fancy with a butter statue of Mickey with bread service.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

It surprises me the amount of negative experiences others have had here apparently. Everytime I dined there with my family it was quite good. Maybe not a good as the other restaurants on property but I still enjoyed this one. Never had any lousy experience with the food there, say 2014-2018? Maybe that’s changed? If so, that bums me out.

 

[monothingie]

It surprises me the amount of negative experiences others have had here apparently. Everytime I dined there with my family it was quite good. Maybe not a good as the other restaurants on property but I still enjoyed this one. Never had any lousy experience with the food there, say 2014-2018? Maybe that’s changed? If so, that bums me out.

It's an interesting divergence, they made their TS menus safe, for all the guest intimated by exotic spices like salt and pepper. Yet they have more lively kiosk options and some just ridiculous sounding party night snacks and food.

People just are not into paying stupid high prices for TS locations with dumbed down menu options. How many places need to serve the same NY Strip and have the same drinks menu that everywhere else has?

They created this problem when they made everything the same, in the name of cost reduction. Just like they did at all their resorts.

 

[Tom P.]

As a certified night owl, it drives me nuts how much of Disney closes up shop at 9 p.m. each night. We can't be the only people who don't want to rope drop the parks but would much rather hit the parks and the restaurants at night, can we?

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

As a certified night owl, it drives me nuts how much of Disney closes up shop at 9 p.m. each night. We can't be the only people who don't want to rope drop the parks but would much rather hit the parks and the restaurants at night, can we?

Always wondered why Walt Disney World closes earlier than Disneyland. Any insider know? Was always curious about that

 

[monothingie]

Always wondered why Walt Disney World closes earlier than Disneyland. Any insider know? Was always curious about that

It costs more.

Playing devils advocate, you’d have to pay for security, transportation, and other cast members to staff food and beverage and merch etc. There’s also potential safety issue of guests who consume too many adult beverages. It also made cannibalize Disney Springs business, but considering they close at 11 and not early morning like they did previously maybe it doesn’t make a difference.

But frankly, these are problems that will occur regardless. No one is asking for Epcot to stay open till 2 AM, but there’s gotta be a way where they can keep select table, service, restaurants, and bars open later.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I can't believe they only have one fish dish on the menu for a supposed seafood restaurant.

Might be a side effect of DDP, where every restaurant needs to serve a similar list of things to satisfy guests looking for somewhere to use their dining credits wherever they can

The same thing that probably led to excess dining capacity at EPCOT now

 

[Tom P.]

It costs more.

Playing devils advocate, you’d have to pay for security, transportation, and other cast members to staff food and beverage and merch etc. There’s also potential safety issue of guests who consume too many adult beverages. It also made cannibalize Disney Springs business, but considering they close at 11 and not early morning like they did previously maybe it doesn’t make a difference.

But frankly, these are problems that will occur regardless. No one is asking for Epcot to stay open till 2 AM, but there’s gotta be a way where they can keep select table, service, restaurants, and bars open later.

I would kill for Epcot to be open until 2!