Horrible Experience at Coral Reef

[mommykds]

We had lunch at CR last October. The food was very good & our server was friendly however very s-l-o-w. I took 1.5-2 hours from start to finish. We were in no rush so we did not mind but if it had been late at night it would have been a different story.

Sorry about your experience there. Glad they waived the gratuity.

 

[Pumpkingirl7]

We had a similar experience at the Coral Reef in Dec. 09. My little 2 yr old boy was hitting his fork on a plate and the waitor actually came and riped the silverware and the plate from him. Then mumbled under his breath. We will not be eating there again!

 

[Chloesmom]

CR is the worst meal I have ever had... ANYWHERE... service was slow... and the food was barely edible. In fast we all got upset tummies from something we ate there.. it wsnt food poisoning but something didnt sit right with us. You could not pay me to eat there again.. ever... I can still remember the awful smell in the place.. like rotten old fish....

 

[Harlemgirl720]

I am sorry you had a bad experience. I had an early dinner there on May 2. It was an early dinner 4pm. No problems and they even put a banner of chocolate that said happy birthday with my dessert. I guess its the luck of the draw.

 

[tammymacb]

Another one who won't go back.

Our last time there the service was the worst I've ever had in Disney and was near the end of what I can take for any other eating establishment.

We went with two teens ( Thank goodness! ) and waited and waited and waited some more. We had the dining plan and left without desert and I finally had to get up and walk around while my DH waited on the bill as my back was killing me from sitting so long. Then, when the waiter finally returned, he asked if I was out smoking...

It was just plain poor slow service with a big gratuity attached to boot. I live in coastal SC and can get seafood any time I want it. I can promise I won't be getting it at Coral Reef again.

 

[jess20k]

Sorry about the experience you had. We have had spotty service at CR, not as bad as yours, but I think of all of the restaurants that we have been to on several occasions, CR is the one that overall has the worst service. At least that is what I have experienced.

 

[summerlady]

So sorry about your bad experience at the Coral Reef. We had dinner there in 2008, our server was pleasant enough but very, very slow and we weren't seated until about 45 min. after our ADR. Even though we liked the restaurant itself and the food was good, we won't go back.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

No hemming and hawing here girl, I'm in! I've always wanted to try and this trip we will.

I wish you the best dinner ever!
I was looking for a reason to book a second night at Flying Fish. This thread gave me just the reason I needed!
The Coral Reef menu wasn't thrilling me, but I need AT LEAST 2 nights at Flying Fish to order all of the amazing food I see on their menu.

 

[princessallegra]

I wish you the best dinner ever!
I was looking for a reason to book a second night at Flying Fish. This thread gave me just the reason I needed!
The Coral Reef menu wasn't thrilling me, but I need AT LEAST 2 nights at Flying Fish to order all of the amazing food I see on their menu.

 

[Tiger926]

So sorry you had this experience.

Birthdays - they are hit and miss. we've had lots of birthdays and other celebrations at WDW, and so at many restaurants, you have to remind them of the celebration.

Service/Food - after several trips, it's off our list too. it's also very noisy, horrendous wait times to check in and receive bills, subpar food and high prices.

Seems to be a common sentiment among many TS restaurants as of late, but especially Coral Reef.

Tiger

 

[Micca]

I hate to wait around for the check, especially at WDW. Slow service to bring the food is one thing, but you'd think at the end of the meal they'd want to turn the table. I would think most people eating at WDW would be fine with that because they have better things to do than sit & wait for the check.

Coral Reef is such a cool place with the atmosphere, too bad they can't do better with service & food.

 

[jdisnut]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience at Coral Reef. My family has been lucky. We've never had a bad meal there. Our server in January ranked among the best of our entire trip. She was attentive, kind and possessed a wealth of knowledge about the restaurant's menu and history.

I never stop visiting a restaurant based on service, unless it becomes a noticeable pattern. If I enjoy the food, I won't indict the whole establishment because of a uninterested waiter. I meet bad servers everywhere. Rarely is it an indication of poor training by the managerial staff.

I suppose my feelings would change if I ever had a truly horrendous experience. Though I think I have had service that people on this board would classify as "horrendous." I guess I have low standards.

 

[3floridarays]

We had dinner there in February and our service and food were excellent. Our ADR's were for 6:30pm, we arrived at 6:10pm, mentioned to the hostess that we would like to be seated in the front for DS's B-Day, then were seated at a great table right next to the tank by 6:20pm, even though they had a lot of people waiting. Our server was wonderful - very informative regarding the menu and prompt throughout our meal. The chef came to our table to discuss DS's food allergies before we ordered and then came out again when our food arrived to give us details of how he cooked DS's food.

We were there for 2.5 hours, but not because our service was slow - we just didn't want to leave!

 

[Madisonsmom45]

Hi
We've thought about trying the Coral Reef, but mostly all I've seen is negative comments. I think we will go somewhere else.
We'll be there in August. I don't think we have had any problems with any restaurants except the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.
Also good food and good service.
Bonnie

 

[di19]

So sorry you had such a negative experience. My husband and I were actually on the same day but for lunch and the service was very good. The food was excellent and we were celebrating our anniversary (which I noted when I made our reservations) and our waiter came out with a special Celebration chocolate accompanying our desert and he lit a special candle to top it off - just Disney going that little extra mile that we have all come to expect (and therefore, don't mind paying for) glad you enjoyed your other meals

 

[baileysp]

i heard there were bad reviews

 

[tkitna]

Reading these reviews has me concerned. I have Sept. reservations, but I just checked and their for lunch around 1:00. It'll probably be blazing hot so I think i'm going to gamble and keep the reservation. Hope for the best.

 

[disEAR]

I'm sorry to hear about those that had a bad experience at Coral Reef. My DW and I have had two meals there and both have been exceptional. Our first time eating there was last summer and it was easily our best dining experience of our trip and one of the best over highlights of the trip. We went back there in January this year and again had great service and food. We plan on going back again our next trip.

I think every Restaurant can go either way, we had done our research on coral reef and were expecting a loud, dirty, unpersonal experience, and we achieved the complete opposite.

Dining experiences have to be decided by each party. If you find something intriguing, then do some research and give it a try. If you don't like it, you can always say you tried it.

 

[Marine Mom]

But our service was just awful - the waiter was very chatty, and then would disappear for long periods of time.

We had the same experience. We were seated within 20 min of our reservation time and that was it we didn't see our server for over 20 min. We finally up and left because we felt enough time had been wasted. Never again! Ugggh!!!!

 

[Brandis]

While we sometimes had not so good service at some restaurants at WDW, we never encountered slow service there. Rather the opposite, service was almost too fast. When we had finished one course, plates were cleaned away (which is fine) but then almost without a break the next course is served. Of course this is nice if you want to go back out into the theme park, but sometimes we felt rushed. So now we tell them that we are not in a hurry and wouldn't mind a few minutes wait between courses. Until now this always worked.