Hi all,
We are going to DLP for 4 nights and I'm looking into booking table reservations for our evening meals. I've already got the tickets for the Buffalo Bill show for one evening so I'm looking at what to do for the remaining 3 nights.
We have got Half board plus vouchers. I was thinking Cafe Mickeys and inventions for 2 of the nights. I know we will have to pay on top of the voucher value in inventions, but I thought that it would be worth it for the experience. But someone I know, who has been to DLP lots of times has said that they don't think that Inventions is worth the extra cost. They say that the Cafe Mickey meal will be basically the same thing (as far as the characters go), so spending the extra money for inventions is a waste and that we would be better off keeping the money and spending it elsewhere.
What does everyone else think? Is it worth it? Is there anywhere else that we should be considering? This is a special holiday for us, we've never been to DLP before and I don't know when we will go again, so it is really important to me that ourselves and more importantly our DD's get the best experience that we can give them, so we don't mind the extra cost if it's worth it, but we don't want to waste our time and money either.
Many TIA :) x
Recently the characters have been the same old really at Cafe Mickey (Normally a handful out of Chip, Dale, Mickey, Minnie, Eeyore, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Geppetto and Goofy) occasionally Rabbit, Daisy or Pinocchio appears, but thats not a regular occurrence.
Although recently Baloo has been seen there quite a bit and I've seen online that King Louie and Smee have met there, so maybe it's changing again :)
From what I've read Inventions is definitely worth it, you get a mix of the VIPs and popular other characters (Genie, Suzy, Perla, Gideon are all known to appear randomly), so I'd say it is worth it, plus there's a buffet so you'll always find some food you like
Hi there,
I had been to mickey cafe pretty much every trip (9) I think and the I started to resent the prices of the food and also horrible uncontrolled children spoiling my children's interaction with the characters. On our last visit we went to inventions and I really enjoyed it, yes its expensive but i guess it depends how much you like the characters.. its so much calmer and there was no children running around after the characters like they seem to in mickey cafe. Food wise I enjoyed it there was a lot of fish which is not to my taste but there was still plenty of food
I did like.
I would recommend you try it and make your own judgement.
Enjoy
Jackie
I have been wondering this to, but it would be for my birthday meal. I know I will be traveling with my 2 children but the idea of sitting with other people's darling children is not one that appeals.
I like both restaurants but comparing them it's not that easy.
Both of them offers charakter dining and during my visits there were nearly the same characters in both restaurants. But the food and atmosphere are very different. Cafe Mickey is very busy and very very loud especially when there is a day with many birthdays. At the Inventions buffet it is much more relaxing. At Cafe Mickey they offer pizza, pasta, steak and food like this. The buffet at the Inventions offers a lot of fish and seafood and french speciality as well - if you like such things you will love it there.
Ive also been wondering the same i think we definatley will be doimg cafe mickey
And inventions will be decided when i figure out if theres something il eat being the only one of our party not keen on seafood
They are both good but we personally prefer inventions because it is more relaxing and a welcome break from the hectic parks. The character interaction is excellent too x
What time does the evening buffet start at inventions, and do characters actually come around the tables? Is it the same standard characters? and what's the difference both character and food wise with the evening buffet and the brunch?
After visiting Café Mickey on each of our trips over the past 10 years, we have noticed that the standard of food and service has deteriorated considerably each time and the prices go up. Last time we also did Inventions and although it was more expensive it was worth it for the time with the characters and the standards provided. It will be Inventions every time for us now.
Inventions dinner starts at 6:00pm
The characters come around to all tables. There is more space, it is calmer-I have seen Mickey dance with little girls and then pose my two older ones in different poses-which was fab.
In Cafe Mickey they come up, pay the kids a bit of attention and dash off.
We had one dodgy experience last year in Inventions. But this was due to other guests and the manager and other CMs couldnt be more apologetic.If you can stretch to it, go to Inventions.
Oh and the view is beautiful too :)
We are going on the 31 march 2014 and had booked cafe Mickey but after some thought I've cancelled and booked Inventions for 7.30pm on the day we arrive. From what I've read on here I couldn't face eating somewhere that is overly busy and stressful. Also, the thought of eating decent food wins for me too!! I'm on full board plus and have been trying to work out how much extra I will be paying ontop of my vouchers. Also, is the wine list expensive? I went in DLRP Magics site and a glass of wine is €24!! Is that correct??!! I suppose of that's the case it stops people getting drunk as they wouldn't be able to afford to!! Lol
24€ is the price for a half bottle of wine, not for a glass.
It's not really cheap but as you say they do not want to get the people drunk.
At our last visit we had a botlle of white wine - a Sancerre if I remember it right - an this bottle was about 30€.
Quote from: LotsoHugginBear on February 19, 2014, 12:05:27 AM
24€ is the price for a half bottle of wine, not for a glass.
That's seems a little bit better! I thought €24 a glass was a lot but because the meal isn't exactly cheap nor would the wine!! Tbh though even half a bottle is too much for just me!!
I have to say this is one meal I'm really looking forward to (and The Blue Lagoon!) x
Oh My Word!
Blue Lagoon is just.......
Well, it tops our list! The food, the atmosphere, the waiters..... Love this place!
Our other favourite is the Steak House in the Village at lunch time, with Patrick as our server.Rather specific there, but he makes the meal :) Very funny man. Last time we went he was trying to do Professor Layton games with my son!
What's the difference between the food at the brunch and the food at the evening meal (both at inventions) and is there any difference in the characters?
How much extra do you pay on top of the half board vouchers for inventions? I love it there.
Alos, I know inventions is a buffet with a strong seafood theme, but what exactly does that mean? Can anyone please give me a better description of what we can expet to find on the buffet, especially among the hot food?
When we were there last week, there was soup, bread, spaghetti, creamy mash, lamb in a sauce, beef (braised) in sauce, pizza, all the seafood, something with mushrooms which we avoided! Then all the deserts. Was very nice, but not very us. It was worth the experience but we were not full! Hope this helps, Michelle
Yes, it helped, but it not like I wanted it to! My family are nearly all gluten free, we can usually manage at the buffets, but if we're using our half board vouchers, and then paying extra for invnetions, I want us to at least be ab;e to eat! Thanks for sharing! :)
Have never eaten in inventions so can't comment on it but we ate at cafe Mickey on Tuesday of this week and I was very impressed . We ate there 3 years ago and it was amazing . However last years visit was very disappointing . Things have definitely improved though and the menu choice better / food nicer
I've just had a look at the menus and realized they'd changed, pleasantly, there was now quite a bit on it that my family can eat, so we'll probably try there one night, although due to my kids needs, I could do with it being as quiet as possible, is there any particular nights that are quieter/busier?, or particular times?
(We'll be there in June)
Thanks for your replies everyone. Looks like a few people are interested in this topic :D
Quote from: Princesshollypop on February 21, 2014, 05:13:38 PM
How much extra do you pay on top of the half board vouchers for inventions? I love it there.
I too am interested to the answer to this question :) . We've got the half board plus vouchers. I'm sure I've read somewhere that it works out about an additional 20euro per person, but I don't know how accurate that is, the figures could have been really out of date. I'm hoping someone will be able to shed more light on it :D
You might notice this as i opened another section, but read some fresh reviews of cafe mickey and they're very very bad. Apparently the steakhouse in the village for a character brunch on a sunday from 12-3, have a great buffet, a little lighter on the seafood, and that's on;y 40 euros per adult, about 22 a child, so wouldn't be too much extra on top of you half board plus vouchers.
Quote from: polar vixen on February 23, 2014, 10:23:23 PM
You might notice this as i opened another section, but read some fresh reviews of cafe mickey and they're very very bad. Apparently the steakhouse in the village for a character brunch on a sunday from 12-3, have a great buffet, a little lighter on the seafood, and that's on;y 40 euros per adult, about 22 a child, so wouldn't be too much extra on top of you half board plus vouchers.
Aw never :( . Whats being said about Cafe Mickeys? Love the sound of the Steakhouse, a friend of mine who's been to dlp quite a few times loves it there. The Sunday brunch is no good for us though, we are arriving about 1.30pm on a Sunday and leaving on Thursday. Do you know if this is on in the Steakhouse on any other days?
No sorry it's just Sundays, purple commissioning in cafe Mickeys about food quality and time taken for service it was on this board, breakfast is supposed to be good there though? Having said that everyone had different experiences, hotfoot you'll have a good one!
Hi,
We went to both Inventions and Cafe Mickey last year when we visited in October, and as much fun as it was in Cafe Mickey (Chip n Dale were HILARIOUS, I was crying with laughter at one point), I felt it was very overpriced and manic. I much preferred Inventions as did my husband and kids, the character interaction is brilliant. We even tried the Disney wine and it wasn't half bad! Also, just across from Inventions is a cocktail bar (I think Fantastia its called). They do lovely cocktails for kids in novelty cups with light up decorations for them to keep once they've drunk the cocktails. This was one of my girls favourite things about the whole trip (easily pleased my lot! ;D )