If you have been so lucky as to to visit Walt Disney World during the holidays, you may have ended up at the Grand Floridian resort to see the giant Gingerbread house! This has been a holiday staple for 25 years! This is one of my favorite things to go see during the holidays and I can’t imagine this resort at the holidays without it. But what did it look like 25 years ago, was it always a working store and have you always been able to buy a shingle? I thought it would be fun to do a little deep dive and find out!
The Tradition
The Grand Floridian Gingerbread house started in 1999. Disney Imagineers and Chefs were inspired by the European Christmas Markets with all of their unique and intricate gingerbread creations. The pastry chef’s at Disney wanted to make something that would leave people in awe, larger than life and also fully functional! They wanted to have a shop inside the Gingerbread house where guests could purchase treats and souvenirs. The houses are a little different every year but they always keep that victorian style to match the Grand Floridians vibe. The Grand Floridian Gingerbread House is a holiday icon now, over 20 years later, and is even featured in holiday travel guides as a must see attraction.
The Process
The pastry chef’s at Walt Disney World start working on this giant icon in the summer. They get together to plan and sketch out the design for that year, with small tweaks and changes to keep it fresh for guests. The ingredients, no doubt, take lots of time to get organized just because of the sheer amount of everything used to create this detailed masterpiece:
- Over 1,000 pounds of honey
- Over 700 pounds of chocolate
- About 600 pounds of powdered sugar
- Over 1000 pounds of flour
- About 35 pounds of spices
- Over 100 pints of egg whites
And no doubt a lot of faith, trust and pixie dust! Every piece of the Gingerbread house is made in the Grand Floridian kitchen. The pastry chef’s spend weeks making all the pieces for the walls, roof, shingles and different elements needed to construct the Gingerbread house.
It takes the Grand Floridian team of pastry chefs, decorators and support staff over a week to assemble the 14 foot tall gingerbread house. They work around the clock to get every detail right! The lobby of the resort is a construction area during this time but it sure is cool to see!
Fun Facts
With something this large that has become a holiday icon, there are sure to be some interesting things to know about it, right?! First off, it’s in the record books. The Grand Floridian gingerbread house weighs in at over 5,000 pounds and is one of the largest gingerbread houses in the world! Of course these amazing Disney creators are going to add in some hidden Mickey’s, if you look closely you can find them all over this beautiful masterpiece. As the masterminds behind the giant gingerbread house intended, it’s functional! There is a working shop inside where you can purchase gingerbread shingles, seal model gingerbread houses to take home and other fun treats.
Where Does It All Go?
If you are like me, you are probably wondering what they do with all of the pieces once they dismantle the house. Seems like a waste to throw all that deliciousness away. Well, you will be happy to know they don’t! It’s actually a very sustainable creation! Once the Hollidays are over and the gingerbread house is dismantled, Disney donates the edible pieces to local bee farms. The bees benefit from the sugar and nothing gets wasted! How cool is that??
A Holiday Tradition
For 25 years, this has been such a fun tradition for Walt Disney World guests. People come from far and wide to shop the store, take pictures and take a little piece of this masterpiece home. It also smells oh so good! This is something fun and really, free in essence that guests of all ages can enjoy. I say free because you don’t have to be staying there and you don’t need a park ticket to go visit the Grand Floridian so you can just be passing through or just be a local looking for the Christmas Disney magic and go enjoy the gingerbread house.
Conclusion
My family loves this tradition and it is something we go see every year now that we live here. The Grand Floridian is my moms favorite resort so this year I put one of the shingles in her stocking for Christmas. I love that they had ornaments and merchandise celebrating the 25th anniversary this year. Such an amazing feat that they create this every year and even have a sustainable way to take care of it once the holidays are over. If you are anywhere near Walt Disney World over the holidays, I highly recommend going to go see the Grand Floridian gingerbread house! And While you’re at it you can hop on the monorail and go see some of the other resorts for some holiday magic. Thank you all for reading along and I hope you had a very Magical Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!