How long for dinner at Coral Reef?

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I had an ADR for 6 PM, but I changed it to 6:40. Now I am wondering just how late we might be in there. Does anyone know how long the average dinner takes? We have a party of 5 on the dining plan, so we have to go through appetizers, entrees, and desserts.

 

[kcashner]

It took us just a little over an hour after we were seated. We weren't in any rush, and didn't mind a few minutes between courses to watch the tanks. Based on our experience, maybe 70 minutes total. When we checked in, we were told 20 minute wait to be seated, but as soon as we came out of the restroom our "beeper" flashed. We waited more like 5 minutes for the table!

 

[slcmkh]

We had dinner at Coral Reef last week. Arrived on time for 5:40 ADR and didn't get out of there until just after 8 pm. Took forever to be seated and the service was REALLY slow. I felt like it was not a good use of 2 1/2 hours of park time.

 

[joyeric]

We had 5pm ADRs, waited 30 minutes to be seated and 1 1/2 hours to eat. Service was VERY SLOW, not the wait staffs fault, the kitchen was very slow. It took 20 minutes to get our desserts.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Last trip there there were four of us and with drinks, apps, the meal and dessert it was just under an hour and a half.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Hmm. I don't know if this is going to work or not! I didn't want to be rushing to check in at the podium by 5:45 which is why I bumped to the 6:40 time slot. Also, we are having lunch at Brown Derby and I didn't want dinner to be too early because we will probably still be full! BUT if we are going to be sitting in the dining room potentially right up until IllumiNations starts I will not be very happy. Darn! Now I am REALLY conflicted!

 

[bluejasmine]

Yea I hope it doesnt take us almost three hours.. We have lunch ADR and I dont want to spend my afternoon in there and waste precious park time..

 

[Philadisney]

i am sure that if you tell the staff that you want to be out in time for illuminations, they'll do the best they can to get you out - that's a lot of wiggle room. i wouldn't worry, just let the waiter know as soon as you sit down that you want to be done in 2 hours. we are eating a late lunch there on july 4th and i'm hoping to get out within 90 minutes so we can make the disney visa meet n' greet - there are only 3 of us, no appetizers, so i'm not worried. have a great time!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I think we will try to arrive a little early and see if they can seat us before 6:40. Hey, if nobody takes that 6 PM slot then that table will still be empty! If things are really dragging I will just insist that they give us our dessert in take away containers. Hopefully we will be able to find a decent spot for IllumiNations after dinner. We have only seen it once before, but that was from the cruise. We're looking forward to seeing it from somewhere other than under the bridge!

 

[disneyfan551]

Sorry to hijack the thread... For those of you who have eaten at Coral Reef, what would you recommend (or NOT recommend! )? We'll be trying this for the first time in September, and I'm torn! The mahi mahi sounds good, but I've read good reviews on the NY Strip as well! HELP! me sooo undecided...