Cafe Mickey V Inventions

[JayTheDisneyDad]

Currently have Cafe Mickey booked on first day of our stay.
Didn't think we wanted to go to Inventions as it seems a lot of money..even though we are on the full board plus dining plan the extra on top of the vouchers seems a little unnecessary.

However... I keep thinking maybe we should just do it as it seems to have great reviews on trip advisor.

What I can't work out is the pros of Inventions over Cafe Mickey for the price tag? Seems they both offer the same character interaction experience... the only difference is one is a buffet and the other is a la carte.

What else gives Inventions the edge over Cafe Mickey?

[Guest]

Personally, I would always go for Inventions.

Not only is the selection and quality of food at Inventions fantastic, but the character interactions are much better at Inventions. Cafe Mickey the times we have done it have always seemed very rushed for both service and the time you get with characters. There's also not much room between the tables and it can be quite a tight squeeze - especially if you're getting up and down for photos with your favourites.

Inventions seems to have more room, the atmosphere is more laid back (I have never felt rushed and often spend a good 2-3 hours there enjoying the food and meeting all of the characters). They often have different characters there too, including some rarer ones who you wouldn't necessarily get to see in the parks or indeed Cafe Mickey. To top it all off, many of the tables have a view of Main Street Station and the castle beyond.

At the end of the day, it's all down to personal choice though. But if you've got the dining plan, then it's almost a no brainer to me.

Tip: If you book as early as you can, it will mean you get more chance of meeting all of the characters doing the rounds that meal time. Then, not only will you leave with full bellies, but plenty of signatures in that autograph book too - which for some characters, can save valuable time queuing when in the parks.

I hope you have a fabulous time! °o°

[Tubbsy]

Cafe Mickey, we have had Mickey, Goofy, Tigger and one other character every time we ate there.
Inventions- its Mickey and... well we have had Jasmine, Brer Fox, Pluto, Mary Poppins and Bert, Snow White. King John, the Sheriff, Robin Hood, Eeyore ...Not all in one visit-this is over 4 visits.

Loved the food.

More relaxed atmosphere apart from the last time but the CMs dealt with the rude family and then the manager apologised to everyone.

And the setting is amazing.

[Gill H]

Inventions is a whole league away. Don't get me wrong, we had a good time at Cafe Mickey, and the food was OK. But let's say this. We did the Sunday brunch at Inventions and there was a table of elderly French ladies resolutely ignoring the characters. They were there just for the food! Seriously, it's that good. You wouldn't see that in Cafe Mickey!

Also, much larger space, more time for interaction. At the Sunday brunch we were there about two and a half hours and could have stayed longer.

If budget can stretch, it is well worth the extra.

[Stitchfan626]

I'm probably in the minority but I really wasn't that keen on Inventions. DS (4) is a bit of a fussy eater and wasn't keen on much and I'm not a fan of seafood (which there was lots of). We also had a poor server, long waits between characters coming and neither DS and I really enjoyed it. Cafe Mickey on the other hand we loved.
I do accept that most people love Inventions however so maybe we were just unlucky. I would also go there again to try it so it hasn't put me off completely.
My DS and I don't like long lingering meals and that might be another reason we were not keen as it seems a more leisurely experience.

[tinytots]

Inventions all the way. Agree with the reasons above stated by keiko315. We had an amazing time for our character meal. Was unhurried, plenty of time with different characters and they spend plenty of time at each table. Loved the buffet. I don't like seafood but there was still a great variety. but if you do like seafood, it's amazing.

[Tink75]

Inventions all the way - can't really add anything to what is already mentioned. We always do Inventions every visit, we haven't done Cafe Mickey for years as the food, in our opinion, was so poor and character interaction, while sometimes good, was sometimes poor too. The last time we went we were served burnt pizzas (the bottoms were totally black) and we said never again.

[Gemsie0812]

Inventions for me, I did Café Mickey recently - Character interaction was good, but we didn't rate the menu much.

[Elodie]

We've only done Cafe Mickey for breakfast, and since that's stopping soon, I'm probably not much use. For what it's worth (i.e. not much!) this is my opinion:

We really enjoyed Cafe Mickey, but as above, it's very cramped and the characters don't spend that long at the table. For our first visit, and being summertime, I was glad we did CM rather than Inventions. We wanted to get around as much as possible in the parks, so wouldn't have wanted to spend a hours on a meal (obviously the fact that it was breakfast helped too.) We wanted to meet a few characters and do something a bit special, but our priority was fitting in a big variety of rides, shows and character meets, while saving some special experiences for future trips. (We decided within hours of arriving at DLP that we would definitely be back!) My children loved it and we didn't regret booking it at all, but we aren't planning to go back to CM at all (even if they were still doing breakfasts.) It was fun and it's done but it wasn't something that made us want to go back.

From photos I've seen and reviews I've read, we're actually considering doing Inventions more than once when we go back at Christmas. We'll have different priorities - we want to do the things we chose to miss last time, including meeting more characters. It will be cold, so we'll be quite happy to spend a few hours enjoying a leisurely meal and getting signatures and hugs. It looks like a generally more pleasant experience with the extra space and the good reviews for the food.

I admit it helps that we have to have premium vouchers in order to get breakfast in our hotel, so price isn't really a factor. In your position, I don't think I'd regret choosing Cafe Mickey, but if you've got the money spare, I'd go for Inventions.

[JayTheDisneyDad]

Ok thanks everyone...Inventions definitely getting good reviews despite the high price tag. What food is usually served other than seafood?

We are there for four days, three nights, in SL. I've booked Cafe Mickey for lunch the day we arrive which should be a nice way to start the holiday and meet some characters. And i've just booked Inventions for day 4 at 12.30...we're getting picked up at 3.30 to go to the airport so this should work perfect...given we have managed to do everything we wanted to before then and don't mind spending 3hours in a restaurant.
It'll also be my 30th birthday on this day so why not spend a little extra!?!... We're on full board so will save one of our meal vouchers to put towards it.

Does anyone know what the extra will be for our meal vouchers?...We are on Full Board PLUS. Also my daughter is 2years old so will we need to pay for her at Inventions?

Also - it will be on Friday 17th March - St Patricks Day...any idea if this will be reflected in characters/experience? And is it worth letting them know it's my birthday?