Grand Floridian Gingerbread House 25th Anniversary
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If you have ever heard one thing about the holidays at Disney World, hopefully it is about the fantastic life size gingerbread house they do every year at the Grand Floridian. This year is extra special as it is the 25th Anniversary of this festive tradition.
The Grand Floridian
The Grand Floridian (or Grand Flo as I like to call it) is one of Disney’s premier hotels located right across 7 Seas Lagoon from the Magic Kingdom. This resort boasts elegance and victorian flair with little touches of some of your favorite Disney classics like Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast.
This resort also has convenient transportation to and from Magic Kingdom via the Monorail or Ferry Boats - making it an easy one to visit during your afternoon break from the park.
You can experience some fantastic dining from the more casual Grand Floridian Cafe, Character dining at 1900 Park Fare, or more elevated dining experience like Citricos, Narcoossee’s, and Victoria and Albert’s.
Or if you just want to relax with a crafted cocktail, you can head to Enchanted Rose - a Beauty and the Beast themed lounge, or even head next door to Citricos’ Lounge for a cocktail and light bite.
The rooms have recently undergone a renovation to have a Mary Poppins overlay and they nailed these rooms! They are light and airy, beautiful, and a great option to relax after a long day at the parks. Click HERE to learn more about these rooms.
Grand Floridian Gingerbread House
So now that you have an idea of what the Grand Flo is all about, let’s talk about the Main Event - The Gingerbread House!
They started making this live size Gingerbread House in 1999 and have done it every holiday season since. When I say life size, I mean it! This 14 foot tall Gingerbread House took a whole TEAM of Disney pastry chefs to create. This massive project took 1,050 pounds of honey, 800 pounds of flour, and 600 pounds of confectioners' sugar, plus 700 pounds of chocolate and over 10,000 pieces of gingerbread. It took more than 500 hours to bake and 480 hours to assemble the display. Sitting on the porch is even an 88 pound chocolate Santa!
If you happen to be at the parks around the week of Halloween, make a pit stop over and you might just get to see them constructing it! This was my first year seeing the construction process and it was so cool to see!
This year is extra special since it is the 25th year of building the Gingerbread House, you can look for 25 hidden mickeys all throughout the structure.
A fun new detail they added this year are little character themed Christmas trees! You’ll find characters like the fab 5, princesses, and even Figment. How many can you spot?
Want to see more? Check out our full video:
Sweet Shop
Not only is this Gingerbread House fun to see, it’s also a sweet shop! Inside of the Gingerbread House you can find a little shop to buy a variety of treats and pastries from the famous Gingerbread Shingles, to rice krispies, brownies and chocolate, cookies, and even a Gingerbread House for you to take home.
The smells of these treats wafts through the whole lobby and makes it hard to resist! The shop is open daily from 10am-10pm now through the end of the year. It definitely gets busy, so make sure you plan your time accordingly. (earlier in the morning is usually a little less crowded)
NEW 25th Anniversary Merch
Because we are celebrating a big anniversary, there is merch to match! You can find some fun merchandise in the Sandy Cove Gift and Sundry Shop right across the lobby.
The tshirt comes in sizes for kids and adults and features artwork of the gingerbread house and mention of the 25th anniversary.
The matching tumbler is great for a festive coffee cup.
If you are more into smaller souvenirs, there is also a magnet, a pin, and even a sweet ornament!
For those that like to hang holiday decor, you can grab a Gingerbread House 25th anniversary sign featuring Mickey and Minnie.
And if you are planning on visiting all the gingerbread houses, they have a cookie jar featuring art of every Gingerbread Display across Disney World, Disneyland, and Disney’s Aulani!
Keep your eyes peeled at other resorts for their respective Gingerbread Display pins too.
More Fun Facts!
What happens to the Gingerbread House AFTER the Holidays? Luckily Disney doesn’t let this go to waste! After January 1st, they remove all the gingerbread from the structure (it is a wood structure underneath) and they take the pieces to leave out for the bees to feed on through the winter. Its a great way to provide food for the bees AND it helps Disney clean the wooden structure to be ready for the next year. How cool is that?
This was the first of Disney’s gingerbread structures to be created, but has since inspired more gingerbread creations around other resorts like the Beach Club Carousel, the Contemporary Castle, the Yacht Club Lighthouse, and new this year: a Gingerbread Spaceship Earth debuting at Festival of the Holidays!
Getting to the Grand Floridian
If you are coming from a Disney Resort you can take Disney Transportation to the Magic Kingdom and then hop on the Monorail or Ferry Boat to the Grand Floridian. You could also take Disney Transportation to Disney Springs and then hop on a Grand Floridian Bus from there.
If you are looking for a more direct route, you could opt to use a Minnie Van! This is Disney’s version of Uber/Lyft. If you use regular Uber or Lyft, they will usually only allow you to drop off if you have a dining reservation at the Grand Floridian. Be warned they are VERY strict about this and if you are coming from off property, it’s better for you to park or get dropped off at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) and then take the resort monorail from there.
If you do have a dining reservation at the Grand Floridian and are driving yourself, they will allow you to park at the resort! Depending on how busy they are, you may end up needing to park across the street in the Cast Member parking - but this is just dependent on the day. If that is the case, you will be given a 3 hour parking voucher, so if you are trying to get an early morning reservation and then hitting up the parks after, you will need to mover your car to the TTC.
You can also opt to Valet! This of course comes with a fee, but your valet is good all day, so if you are making a whole day out of gingerbread hopping, this could be a good option.
A Few More Tips
Typically you’ll be able to find photopass opportunities once the big Christmas Tree is up! This typically is up before Thanksgiving, so if you are visiting beforehand, you can also just ask someone to snap a pic for you on your phone.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a highly popular activity for guests during the holiday season. Plan accordingly! Typically weekday mornings right when it opens are going to be the best time to visit with the least amount of crowds, but as we get closer and closer to the holidays, just know that it will probably be busy no matter what. Luckily there is a rope that goes around the whole house, so you can usually still get a great photo without too many people clogging it up.
Speaking of crowds, if you are hoping for treats, be prepared to wait in line. It can get pretty long, but the treats are fantastic and definitely worth getting! Just be sure to pack your patient pants.
Are you visiting Disney World for the holidays? Let me know in the comments what you are most excited for and be on the lookout for even more holiday content!
