You can smell the gingerbread as pastry chefs all across Walt Disney World Resort crank up the ovens to bake thousands of pieces of gingerbread to craft spectacular holiday creations. From a Gingerbread Holiday Castle at Disney’s Contemporary Resort to the life-size gingerbread house in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, here’s what you’ll find beginning Nov. 23:
- Already on display is the Gingerbread Holiday Castle at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, nestled in the Grand Canyon Concourse on the fourth floor, inspired by Disney’s blockbuster “Frozen” and a touch of Disney artist Mary Blair’s it’s a small world. Adorned with sugar snowflakes, gingerbread shingles and chocolate-coated trees, guests can spot Anna, Elsa, Olaf and more. (Look for the 16 Hidden Olafs.)
- Starting Nov. 16, the biggest creation is the life-size gingerbread house in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, made with a classic gingerbread recipe from Austria. And every day except Sunday there are gingerbread house decorating demonstrations in the lobby (and a gingerbread house collectible pin featuring “Alice in Wonderland“). This gargantuan creations is 16 feet high and uses 1,050 pounds of honey, 800 pounds of flour – and it takes more than 400 hours just to bake the gingerbread!
- The American Adventure pavilion at Epcot is an intricate re-creation of the United States Capitol Building debuting Nov. 25 – and, new this year, the Lincoln Memorial joins the vignette. Look for five Hidden Mickeys in the 50 pounds of gingerbread and 20 pounds of icing.
- New at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort is the “Gingerbread Academy” that lets guests build gingerbread houses to take home, along with complimentary hot chocolate and apple cider for sipping. Cost is $125 for up to four guests. If you prefer to decorate a gingerbread cookie, cost is $8.95 per ornament, with proceeds to benefit Give Kids the World. And a chance to work with one of the pastry chefs to create holiday cupcakes is $10.95 per person. Make sure to walk through the lobby to take in the beauty – and delicious scent of gingerbread houses decorated by the pastry chefs of Disney’s BoardWalk Resort.
- A 3-foot-long African-inspired Marketplace graces the lobby starting Nov. 23 at Tusker House Restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, a creation made with 23 pounds of flour, 8 pounds of honey, 25 pounds of dark chocolate and 5 pounds of white chocolate, just for starters.
- The Holiday Carousel is back at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts in the “Beach-side” lobby. Again this year, the team of chefs has crafted a life-size spinning carousel with 36 pounds of honey, 96 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of icing and more. Look for 17 Hidden Mickeys. The limited-edition collectible pin features Minnie Mouse and the carousel, and there’s also a Disney’s Beach Club Resort holiday pin featuring Donald Duck. Over on the Yacht side, check out the Holiday Village with Miniature Train surrounded by rock candy mountains.
