Inventions - reviews

[ukstitch]

I just meant something for fussier eaters.......

Bob xoxoxox

I am probably one of the fussiest eaters alive (apart from DB ) and yet I still walked out of inventions way too full for my own good.

I can't remember what I had exactly, but I know I had a few different things for each course. Even the childrens food is good at inventions, as it was "real" chicken breast pieces in bread crumbs.

There were several different cold meats which could be had a starters and plenty of different puddings. Finally, the sauces on the mains that I had weren't too strong, so tasted really good

 

[Bolanette87]

I am probably one of the fussiest eaters alive (apart from DB ) and yet I still walked out of inventions way too full for my own good.

I can't remember what I had exactly, but I know I had a few different things for each course. Even the childrens food is good at inventions, as it was "real" chicken breast pieces in bread crumbs.

There were several different cold meats which could be had a starters and plenty of different puddings. Finally, the sauces on the mains that I had weren't too strong, so tasted really good

Hmmmmmmmm.... I don't know, Robert could have given you a run for your money a couple of months back..... He's much better now though....

Bob xoxoxox

 

[britchic4]

We ate here on 6th October at 8pm. It was very busy, and we were seated opposite the far end of the buffet. I don't know if it would have been different had we been seated further away from the buffet but the atmosphere here was much too busy and stressful for us, more like a DLRP breakfast. That rather spoiled the effect I must say.
The food was great - first starters, including mussels, cold meats and much more, then seafood with plenty of prawns, small langoustines and crab claws. For main meals there were lots of different meat dishes, a risotto, a pasta and a few things for the children like pizza. Everything I had was delicious. For dessert there were far too many things and I would have liked to try all of them! The standard was, as you would expect for the price, much greater than at for example Plaza Gardens. There was cheesecake, sacher torte, floating islands, sweets, mousse, creme caramel, cheese board and loads more.
We saw various characters including Pinnochio, Gepetto, Tigger, the air force duck whose name I can never remember. We didn't want much interaction but could have had it if we'd indicated we wanted it.
The quality of the food was excellent, and the character interaction fine, but our dining experience here was ruined by the atmosphere - such a contrast to California Grill next door and not much difference in the price. We might consider eating here again with the children but they wouldn't really appreciate the food and I think I'd rather have a cheaper character meal.

 

[Melodyuk]

We had here too last year, used our half board plus vouchers towards it.

I wanted to eat absolutely everything in the buffet LOL!!, lots of different choices and delicious desserts too

I did feel underdressed though in my tracksuit bottoms and T Shirt LOL!!!

 

[Ruddles]

Does anyone know if you're allowed to use 2 HBplus vouchers at face value in Inventions, or do they restrict you to 1 per person?

I'm planning on finding out, but hopefully not the hard way!

 

[torsie24]

I know this isnt the right thread reid - so sorry but wanted to answer ruddles.

You can use HB+ vouchers at any DLRP restuarant (execpt planet hollywood, McDs, rainforest cafe) for face value.

 

[hildasmuriel]

Another repeat review by me. This is the third time we have eaten there this year and we will be back again some time.

We had the earliest booking beacause we were on our way to MNSSHP. Lots of children were in fancy dress and Dtr had her face painted which got lots of reaction from the characters. While we waited to go in, Goofy was walking up the line playing with the children. When he got to Dtr, he recoiled in shock at her face and put his hands over his eyes. Then he was peeking through his fingers at her, shaking his head.

When the maitre d' tried to talk to us Goofy was being a complete nuisance. It was great! The chap asked a question but after 3 words Goofy clamped his hand over his mouth and wouldn't let him talk. Then he ruffled up his (carefully spiked up) hair and pulled his coat tails over his head The man said "It is very difficult to work, Goofy" but just then a waiter came over and was telling him to carry on and clapping his actions.

Eventually we got to our seat - next to the window with a view of the Park and got stuck in to the gorgeous food.

We saw Pluto while we waited but not at our table. The characters who came to us were Tigger, Launchpad, Mickey, Eeyore and Goofy, who had by now got over his fear of my daughter.

The food was as good as it looked - that dessert I had was a sort of pistachio cream filled pastry and was scrummy. I then had a cornetto from the freezer.....this place makes you greedy!

 

[mummyal]

We ate here on our first night (18th December). We had a reservation for 7 pm but we were there at 6.45 pm and were seated right away. We walked past the buffet and down the few steps into the main dining area (if that is the main dining area lol).

Louise's eyes lit up when we walked past the prawns . The food was nice - I think the best dish they had that evening was the sliced duck breast and the fish was a bit on the dry side.

Sorry but I forgot to take pictures of the dessert section. Emma - I tried the cheesecake (the only one they had there) and it was deeelicious!!! The kids chose Cornetto.. and that's all they wanted for dessert.

We saw Tigger, Eeyore, Launchpad, Mr Penguin, Pinocchio, Gepetto & Goofy Santa.

I felt that the character interaction was quite rushed that evening. We were quite lucky in that we were sat at the entrance of that section, so the characters came to our table first. The characters would be making their way round the other tables and halfway through, a CM would come and call them away (not sure whether to another section of the restaurant or what), so there were kids trying to run after them lol.

I would eat at Inventions again if I had the HB Premium vouchers as that was really good value. I don't think I'd actually pay the full amount to eat here. We ordered half a bottle of wine which was 18 Euros. I called for the bill at the end and was about to give the waiter our HB Premium vouchers but he said he'll come back in a minute. When he came back, he had the bill already with him and I showed him the vouchers. He took them, went away for quite a few minutes and we expected him to come back with a new bill for us to pay the 18 Euros. He said that 'just for tonight, the wine is on the house'. Result !!! lol Think he couldn't be bothered to change the till receipt. Told Peter we should've ordered a full bottle of wine... but then again, we might not have been that lucky then. (With hindsight now, thinking about the fact that we didn't have to pay for the next couple of meals for the kids, this was also probably the case here at Inventions and not because we were lucky but the waiter just didn't explain it to us properly ... who knows?! lol.)

 

[gemmybear83]

We dined here on the 1st December 08, and we had reservations for an 8pm sitting. We were taken straight to a table even though we were 15 mins early. The restaurant was very busy and we given a castle view table woop woop right next to the food woop woop!

We met lots of characters - Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Tigger, Donald, Gepatto ... I forget if there were was anyone else!

The food was very nice and of a good quality, but I was slightly disapointed with the choice of food. I don't think this is any reflection on Inventions but I have been spolit on previous beach holidays to Caribbean where there is so much choice in the buffet restaurants. I didnt eat much as I was too excited to see the characters so I think my half board premium voucher was kind of wasted haha!

The characters were well organised in seeing everyone and came round fairly frequently, I did like the fact that the cast member with the characters was very strict about sending naughty children back to their parents if they got off their seat and wandered off too see the characters.

I wouldnt come back here only because I prefer table service dining and have "done it", but I thought the quality of the food and the customer service was very good .

The food!

My starters

My main

 

[Disneyadore]

I made some pictures of the lunch in Inventions.

 

[r.e.jones]

Firstly, thanks to previous reviewers who enabled us to choose this restaurant. We were on a two-night package at DLP and chose the premium half board package, which has just reduced from gbp £36.00 per person per day to gbp £34.70 - this is due to a reduction in TVA (french VAT). However, for a family of four 'adults' (two real adults, a 13-year old and a 14-year old) it was still pricey - it would be less costly for families with younger children. The menu price of the buffet has reduced to about Eur €48 per adult, although the 'half board package' also includes a soft drink, I'm afraid I don't recall the current 3-6 years or 6-12 years menu prices.

We booked for 6.00 pm and were quickly seated. There are some tables near the buffet counters and three other dining rooms, we were glad we acted on the advice of previous reviewers and asked to be seated away from the buffet - that area did seem more crowded and noisy - perhaps due to hard floors as well as the people around the buffet.

The characters started their visits to the tables very soon! We met Donald, Mickey, Tigger, Chip 'n' Dale, and several more; they came to the tables in turn for pictures etc and were never followed by the crowd of 'autograph hunters' that you see in the park - so very relaxed and enjoyable.

The food was great too. We are two vegetarians, one with a nut allergy too, and two normal eaters (!) so the buffet arrangement was appealing compared with the set menus served elsewhere. There was an excellent variety of cold starters, including salads, meat, shellfish, all very good quality and including seasonal produce. There was also a good variety of hot main courses, including vegetarian pasta, three or four tasty meat dishes (e.g. roast duck with berry sauce, medallions of beef in red wine) and fish (e.g. salmon, swordfish), all nicely garnished and supplemented with potato, rice and vegetables. It was not 'haute cuisine' but it was good quality and well prepared and presented. There was also some kids' food (chicken and fish goujons, pizza slices, potato faces). Although the chocolate fountain that I saw in other reviewers' pictures had gone, there was an impressive array of desserts, plus fresh seasonal fruit, a cheeseboard and a freezer of cornetto's etc. We all went away full (a particular achievement as we hadn't eaten since breakfast on the Eurostar!!) and we'd all had a wide choice to meet our various needs. We were refreshed and ready for an evening in the park!

The service was very good too. Although plates were cleared efficiently we didn't feel rushed and the team were consistently friendly and helpful - unlike some earlier reviewers we certainly didn't feel like second-class guests just because we were using the half board vouchers. In addition to the soft drink included in the half board package, we could choose from a full drinks menu - for examples wine started at about eur €26 a bottle and we enjoyed a rose at €30, and a good variety available by the glass, beer from about eur €5.50 and soft drinks about €4.50, plus a good range of aperitifs, liquers etc.

We enjoyed the meal and meeting the characters so much that we decided to return on our second evening rather than trying another restaurant with our other vouchers. We were glad we did - a number of the main course items had been changed, and the standards were as high. So, to conclude, although it's a pricey venue it's good quality and I would recommend it as offering good value for money, especially with the great opportunity to meet some of your favourite Disney characters.

Hope you enjoy your stay at DLP and visit to Inventions as much as we did!

 

[buttercup1982]

We ate here on our first day Wednesday the 5th of August at 6pm. We got there a little early so decided to have a drink in the Fantasia bar. I had seen the Glo-tini on here and had been wanting one for ages so I ordered that and got the kids a little novelty cup each. DH had a beer and it came to 47 euro!! Needless to say I looked at the price next time I picked the drinks!

We were showed our table straight away and the children were given crayons and a disney rubix cube each! No sooner had we got some starters off the buffet table the characters arrived! Everyone was taken with Ethans huge pen we had bought with Pluto even running off with it!

I'm sorry with all these distractions we didn't take many picture of the food, DH took some of his but me and the kids forgot!

The food was amazing!! There was a starter table, fish table, main table and a dessert table. I was pleasantly surprised that they had childrens dippers and 'smilies', our kids like a variety of food but it was nice to see they catered for all ages. They even had baby food jars as well.
To be honest we wished we had ate here again rather than Walts or Blue Lagoon.
The funny part was at the end of the meal I handed over the vouchers and they told me they were only 4 childrens vouchers! I had brought the wrong ones out!! DH ended up paying cash and they said if we brought the vouchers back that night they would then just refund it which is what we ended up doing! DH was not impressed with having to go back to Newport on his own while me and the kids enjoyed the parade!

 

[Donzy84]

We ate here on the saturday night and got here about 6.15. For us it was the best time to go, we got sat down right at the end past the buffet and there was only one family in when we arrived.

The caracter interaction was amazing, especially with it being so quiet, we saw, minnie, mickey, tigger, chip and dale, gideon, eyore, pluto. Most of them came up to our table twice or even three times. We have some great photos and one of our 18month dd counting toy cups into mickeys hands, absoluty amazing.

I was as fussed on the food, for me a buffet is just a buffet, I was really impressed when I saw all the prawns and langoustines, but after loading my plate I soon realise that they we very very watery to the point that I had a puddle on my plate after peeling them. The deserts however on the whole were amazing, so I thought I'd have a couple of servings

Maybe it was because it was so early but your everymove seemed to be watched by staff but I put this down to it be so early and probably more staff to guests, as the night before it was fully booked.

we decided not to have alcohol that night after seeing the prices so as we had premium vouchers we didn't need to pay although I made sure our waitress who was very efficient got a nice tip.

 

[lilacgems23]

We ate here twice last week, on our first and last day. I was sad to go on the last day and thought this would be a nice end. On tuesday we ate at 7.45 and it was very quiet , Thursday we ate at 9.15 it was the only time they could fit us in.

On our first visit we met Chip, Dale, Donald, Eeyore and Goofy. Chip and Dale were fighting and trying to wear DD coat and had her in hysterics, they were trying to skate across the floor on the chairs too.

On our 2nd visit we met Dum and his twin (dont know who they are lol), Minnie Mouse (she just said hi to DD and didnt pay much attention), Pinochio, Chip and Dale and Tiger (he didnt even come to our table which upset DD). DD drew chip and dale a picture and they actually took it which I was pleased with.

Both times we had a lovely view over the park at night all lit up.

The buffet was about 50 euros per adult we never got charged for DD they must of thought she was under 3 and tbh I didnt speal up as she didnt eat one thing out of excitement. The drinks were expensive 5.40 euros for a coffee and 4 euros for a orange juice.

The buffet had a selection of cold meats, salads, sea food, snails, risoto, mashed potato and boiled new potatoes, meats in sauce such as veal, chicken, liver etc, omelettes, pasta, spaghetti bolognese and a nice desert buffet

 

[jillrobinson]

Inventions is closed 10/01/2010 -> 06/02/2010 just in case anyone else is thinking of booking then.

 

[Mum to Belle]

Dinner our second evening (23rd September 2009) was booked for Inventions. DD put her Minnie Mouse dress on but then decided it was too itchy and had to come off again. By the time we had walked to the Disneyland Hotel she had fallen asleep.

We were greeted by Goofy and then Chip & Dale were sliding up & down on the floor in front of the buffet!! We managed to wake DD up to see Chip & Dale dancing in front of the big mirrors!! She ate 1 prawn, a mouthful of spaghetti and half of a smiley face.

We were sat next to Emma & Kyra – what a co-incidence! And Karen Mac spotted us and came over to say hello too! It was a mini-DIS meet!!

Food then, I have photos this time, owing to the fact that DD was asleep and not being sick!!

Starters - Smoked salmon, cold meats, salads, mussels, asparagus, artichokes, rice salad, cous cous, prawns, langoustines, crab, snails

Mains - Roast chicken supreme, roast beef, beef medallions, veal medallions, omelette, vegetable lasagne, risotto, potatoes, beans & peas, vegetables, polenta, spaghetti & meatballs, pasta, soup

Desserts - Crepes, rice cake pudding, crème caramel, black forest gateaux, apricot tarte, yoghurt, jelly, custard, ice creams, meringues

The freezer had broken and all the ice cream had melted! I was just going to get a Cornetto to take away with us as DD really needed to go to bed so this meant no dessert for me.

We saw Mickey,Tigger, Goofy, Chip & Dale. They were very funny, but I think you’d have to eat a lot of food to get your moneysworth! One to do when you're hungry and your children aren't poorly!!

 

[todai]

Inventions is by far the hidden jewel in the crown at DLRP! Despite the higher price, we ate there twice and throughouly enjoyed both meals.

Food: Both lunch and dinner meals were amazing. We love seafood and we were particularly impressed with the selection of crab claws, prawns, fish, etc.. That alone made it worthwhile. The cooked meals were equally divine. My hubby said the lamb was the best he's ever tasted. Quite a nice choice of desserts, however, you might be too full to eat much after devouring the lovely first two courses on offer.

Service: The BEST waiters/waitresses in the whole resort, bar none. They were attentive, polite, extremely helpful and pleasant. We were extremely impressed and wondered why the rest of the resort sort of lacked the same professional attitude. I assume it's because they work in one of the top restaurants at the resort. Nonetheless, if we had time we would've eaten there again.

Location: lovely views from table to front of park.

Characters at dinner meal: fabulous! We saw Pluto, Mary Poppins, Mickey, Chip, Dale, etc.. All were very nice to our toddler and spent a decent amount of time with her.

We definitely recommend this restaurant--top marks all around! Don't be put off by the price. The Shareholder's discount makes it reasonable. If you think of the quality of food you get vs. the high price you pay for the lesser quality restaurants--no comparison. Those on the Premium Meal Voucher plan can eat here every day!!

Oh, almost forgot to mention. Bring an appetite. We skipped lunch (small snack) and ate an early dinner at 6pm, so we were very hungry. Skip the diet and enjoy yourself!!

 

[Mouseketeer1974]

Firstly, huge thanks to all the Disboarders who recommended Inventions - you were not wrong! This place is amazing.

We'd booked for 6pm and so were first into the restaurant which was a bit offputting at first but, when that meant that the first characters came straight over to us and spend ages signing autographs and posing for pictures it was well worth it. We had a window seat which overlooked the park entrance and the room was lovely and bright which I hadn't expected from some of the pictures I'd seen.

While I'm on characters, during the 90 minutes or so we were in the restaurant we saw Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, Pinocchio, Mary Poppins and Bert, Eyeore, and I'm sure a couple of others who I can't quite bring to mind. No Minnie which was disappointing for my 4 year old but we saw her later in the evening at the parade.

The food was as good as we had been lead to believe. Four tables - starters, fish, main and desserts (and the ice cream freezer)

Everything was absolutely delicious and constantly replenished. I had smoked salmon, asparagus, mussels, salad, rollmops and serano ham from the starter table and it was all beautiful. OH isn't so big on the fish so went for the cold meats instead which he loved.

Tried a couple of the enormous langustines (mmmmm) then had seafood in sauce (prawns, scallops, mussels) and rissotto from the main table. OH had a couple of the meat dishes, all of which he raved about. The steak was melt in the mouth tender and the veal was possibly the nicest he'd ever had.

The childrens meals were good too, pasta and meatballs, mickey shaped potato pieces, mash, vegetables, chicken and fish pieces. The staff bought over a bowl of chips too without being prompted.

As for the desserts, an amazing selection - the children had jelly, ice lollies and sweets but there was a massive array of fresh fruit - bananas, cherries, strawberries, grapes, apples, oranges as well as chocolate gateux, fruit tortes, rice pudding, crepes to name but a few. OH was gutted that the Buzz Lightyear eclairs which we'd seen on the photos weren't in evidence but apart from that...

On the drinks, we kicked off with a couple of Kir Royales and then had a glass of wine each. Our six year old felt very grown up when we said she could have a "Princess" cocktail which came in it's own souvenier cocktail shaker.

The bill came to a shade under 200 euro (50.60 euro per adult, 24 euro per child) but it was far and away the best meal we ate all stay. The staff were attentive but not too clingy and all seemed to speak perfect English as well as every other language represented.

Well, well worth a vist. Not quite the high point of our trip but definately a must do for future trips.

 

[Asker Family]

Thanks to the great reviews on here we decided to use our first lot of premium vouchers for a character meal here last Monday evening. I had pre booked about a month ago on the phone for 2 adults and 3 children for 7pm. I loved the disneyland hotel, it has such a beautiful feeling. We took a picture from the staircase of the lobby but it doesn't really do it justice.

We arrived about 6.30 and they let us in no problem. The restaurant looked fairly quiet and relaxed at this time and we were shown to a table in the room to the right of the buffet room just by the doorway (daughter enjoyed peeping round corner to see who was coming next).

Once seated it did take quite a time for a waiter to come to our table but when he did we ordered drinks (included with our vouchers) and these came quite quickly. We had a basket of bread rolls too but no butter, this was on the buffet table.

Before any of us even got up to look at the buffet Pinocchio came in and we got our first autograph and pictures. The starters and fish section looked lovely and I got a plate of smoked salmon, asparagus, v large prawns, smaller prawns in sauce, salad bits and tomatoes. I noticed there was also crab in the fish section. My hubby got loads of carpaccio (his fave), prawns, salad, tomatoes, cold meats and the children mainly had tortilla chips with a few prawns in sauce. There was also soup but no sign to say what kind so I gave that a miss. We all enjoyed our first plate fulls and while eating we saw Tigger and Tweedle Dee.

For main course there was sliced roast beef, beef medalions in pink peppercorn sauce (gorgeous), veal in mushroom sauce, chicken in lemon and honey (gorgeous), fish casserole (quite nice), some other hot fish dishes, spaghetti, meatballs, vegetable lasagne, chicken in breadcrumbs, mash potato (lovely and creamy), mickey shaped potato, pizza, diff veg and a asparagus and something risotto which was very tasty. There were other things too but can't remember! We all had platefulls and really enjoyed it. While we ate the mains we saw Goofy who our daughter absolutely loved, he was very funny and sat down on a table near us where he stood on a chair and kept tipping it over and falling off. We all thought this was hysterical especially when he included our waiter in the antics and acted all innocent.

We were all having a great time by now. Gorgeous food in such lovely surroundings with one to one interaction with all these characters, it was great!!

The desserts were delicious I had a choc torte, a strawberry gateau and another lovely cake with marzipan and merangue. Hubby had choc gateau, cheesecake and cubes of jelly. The children had the choc torte, marshmallows and they all had a couple of mini milks each from the freezer. There was also warm pancakes, creme caramel, yogurts, fresh fruit, floating islands and lots of very yummy looking things. I am feeling very hungry now after remembering all the food and can't wait to return!!

During dessert we met Mickey and Pluto which rounded off the evening perfectly. Mickey was lovely and hugged all the children and even gave one of our sons a black dot on his nose to match his own with our permanent marker pen!!

We asked for the bill and had to pay for just one beer, all the other soft drinks were included with the premium vouchers. So we left about 15 euro to include the beer and a good tip as we had such a good evening.

This restaurant is worth the money for the relaxed atmosphere, lovely food and character interaction on a one to one un rushed basis. We also went to Cafe Mickey on our last day but this was a much superior experience although we did enjoy the food there (review to follow later).

Also I now love the disneyland hotel and plan on staying there some time in the future for at least one night!! I am determined!

 

[Skala]

We ate here Monday November 8th at 18.15

Maybe we were unlucky- maybe it was my high expectations, maybe it was the early time or the day of the week but I was disappointed by Inventions.

The Service
First of all I was not impressed by the CM'S there- our waiter just pointed at our table then disappeared. Were we supposed to wait for him to come and take our drinks order before we went to the buffet? Where was the missing cutlery? We waited and waited and had to call over several times before finally ordering drinks. He was harassed- though the restaurant didn't look busy (we were by the buffet and hardly anyone was going up) and the whole lack of eye contact/ I can't be bothered attitude was out of place with such a lovely looking hotel.

The Food
I can't fault the cold/starter section. There was plenty of choice (for adults) of seafood, pate, salads etc- what I tasted was delicious and if you had a plate of that for your main course you'd say it was good value.
The hot main courses and desserts were poor. I know from photos posted by DISers that Inventions has done better.
I got the feeling that perhaps as we were early the fresh food wasn't ready yet and we were left with leftovers from lunch. The whole time we were there one slice of meat was left on it's own at the top of the hot section- I kept wondering if a new joint would come out and be carved but no- it stayed there our entire meal. Other hot mains were half full- only one fish dish was brought out fresh- I ate from that and found it bland. There was not a great selection and the kids hardly ate (apart from icecream) The kids breaded chicken was especially poor- very dry and tough.
The desserts again had limited choice- it felt like a late sitting when everything had gone rather than an early- It was certainly shamed by the better choice of desserts on offer at the more humble Agrabah Cafe.

The Characters
We were seated by the buffet- if you decide to eat at Inventions IMHO ask not to be seated here- for me there was no atmosphere- and we had to wait an absolute age before we saw any characters. (Minnie, Eyore, Chip and Launchpad)
When they did appear they were in and out quite fast and kids from other tables chased after them and pushed into our photos. I can't believe I'm saying this but we had a more relaxed happier character interaction at Cafe Mickey at lunch on our last day.As I say maybe we were unlucky and it was better in one of the other rooms of the restaurant.

I'm glad we went- I've got the idea of eating there "out of my system" - it wasn't the highlight that I'd hoped it would be and to be honest we wont go back.