The Cake Bake Store by Gwendolyn Rogers is a brand new desk service restaurant at Walt Disney World that’ll doubtless open in 2024. It’ll supply sit-down eating and a bakery, changing ESPN Membership on the BoardWalk. This put up shares particulars about what’s on the horizon, together with present development images. (Up to date March 25, 2024.)
This new restaurant and bakery is one among many additions as a part of a significant reimagining of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. Over the following few years, Walt Disney World is including and reimagining parts of the beloved turn-of-the-century promenade and contained in the Deluxe Resort, together with an enthralling new foyer design, close by espresso bar, delectable eating choices, refreshed visitor rooms, and different particular touches.
The Cake Bake Store Restaurant will supply each savory and dessert menus, together with afternoon tea service, in a whimsical environment that enhances the magic of the idyllic appeal of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn that friends know and love. This new idea will serve up storybook candy treats and dreamy desserts, as The Cake Bake Store by Gwendolyn Rogers makes a “seaside splash” at Disney’s BoardWalk.
March 25, 2024 Replace: We’re again with just a few updates on the Cake Bake Store. The primary is that the outside is lastly enclosed and work is starting on the inside of the constructing. The second is that, unsurprisingly, the restaurant’s official web site has eliminated the road that it’s opening in “early” 2024. Cake Bake Store is now simply opening in 2024 in keeping with the corporate (we will see).
Reinforcing the doubtless actuality that Cake Bake Store will open this 12 months, the restaurant is now hiring. In response to their official Instagram account, the Cake Bake Store shall be internet hosting open interviews this week. If typical Walt Disney World restaurant traits are adopted, that might imply that the Cake Bake Store will open in late Might or June 2024.
Truthfully, that’s downright stunning to me. In wanting on the tempo of the challenge and the way a lot work must be accomplished, I might’ve pegged the opening someday between October 2024 and Spring 2025 at this level. I can’t overstate simply how slowly work has progressed. It’s going to finish up taking about the identical period of time to reimagine ESPN Membership into Cake Bake Store because it did to construct EPCOT Heart!
With that stated, it’s completely attainable that funding or useful resource allocation was a problem. Now that Cake Bake Store has accomplished its central kitchen (see beneath), maybe they’re refocusing power and bills on the restaurant itself. If development strikes full steam forward, I suppose it’s attainable that Cake Bake Store could possibly be performed by early Summer season 2024. However my cash is on July or August reasonably than Might or June.
Listed below are the final spherical of images we took of Cake Bake Store, from again in January. As famous above, the constructing has been enclosed since then with home windows and partitions…
The Cake Bake Store by Gwendolyn Rogers was beforehand slated to open late final 12 months, however up to date its official web site to now merely says that it’s “Coming Quickly.”
This must be of completely no shock to anybody who has watched development “progress” (and I exploit that time period very frivolously) on the Cake Bake Store over the course of the final 12 months. This challenge has one way or the other moved even slower than CommuniCore Corridor in EPCOT, which is spectacular, in a means.
The Cake Bake development images on this put up are new as of late January 2024, and there’s not a lot distinction as in comparison with ones from 6 months in the past. The construction of the previous ESPN Membership has been taken all the way down to the studs, and the cupola atop the constructing has been completely rebuilt. The method of enclosing the constructing is now beginning to start.
In Disney Parks Official Opening Timelines vs. Predictions, we indicated that there was no probability that the Cake Bake Store would open final 12 months, and that the almost certainly goal is now Summer season 2024. Truthfully, if the present tempo is maintained, it wouldn’t shock me if it opens in Late 2024 and even 2025.
Presumably, they’ll pace up the tempo in some unspecified time in the future, nevertheless it’s been anemic for the final 12 months or so. At this level, I wouldn’t depend on eating on the Cake Bake Store in your 2024 Walt Disney World trip in case you’re visiting within the first half of the 12 months.
A part of me wonders if there’s a problem funding the challenge or some form of obstacle to ending. Labor shortages for development tasks in Central Florida does stay a problem, so maybe that’s it? From all the pieces we’ve heard, the Cake Bake Store’s present areas in Indianapolis are money-printing machines, and it looks like this shall be a smash success.
On a extra optimistic observe, the corporate led by Gwendolyn Rogers simply accomplished a brand new 31,200-square-foot business bakery within the Trinity Industrial Park in Osceola County, per GrowthSpotter. The offsite bakery is vital to the Cake Bake Store, and is the one approach to produce the amount of baked items obligatory for the restaurant whereas ensures high quality. The BoardWalk restaurant kitchen will focus solely on the savory menu objects.
The Cake Bake Store is finest recognized for its colossal 3-layer truffles, every of which takes as much as six hours to finish as a result of they’re all hand-stacked, hand-decorated and hand-cut. The Cake Bake Store sells 12 varieties every day. As a result of variety of truffles, anticipated quantity of the BoardWalk location, and labor-intensive nature of the desserts, the business bakery was obligatory. Maybe Rogers first centered assets on the business bakery, and now consideration shall be redirected to the BoardWalk restaurant?
We’ve additionally heard from household and pals who’ve dined on the Cake Bake Store within the final couple of months, who’ve been advised that varied servers and different employees on the Indy areas are a part of the opening workforce for the Cake Bake Store at Walt Disney World. That is excellent news as a result of there are additionally labor shortages dealing with eating places round Orlando; on the very least, having an skilled opening workforce means the turnaround time from having development completed to truly opening is shorter.
In any case, hopefully development hastens and the Cake Bake Store opens by Summer season 2024. We will’t wait to eat right here!
Each time Cake Bake Store does open in 2024, it’ll face rather less competitors on the BoardWalk. Massive River Grille & Brewing Works completely closed in early 2024. First opening in 1996 with the remainder of BoardWalk, the restaurant ended its practically three-decade run this 12 months.
Nothing has been introduced as a alternative, which is unsurprising on condition that Massive River going out of enterprise was fairly abrupt–they solely gave staff just a few days’ advance discover that the restaurant was closing. For now, Walt Disney World has added meals vehicles at BoardWalk for lunch. A everlasting alternative in all probability received’t be revealed for a number of extra months–perhaps not even till 2025.
In reality, it’s unlikely that Massive River (a microbrewery) and the Cake Bake Store would’ve been direct rivals regardless of each being positioned on the BoardWalk. Greater than something, this simply underscores how tough it’s for eating places on the BoardWalk to fill tables as in comparison with counterparts within the parks or Disney Springs. Cake Bake Store is “vacation spot” eating, so hopefully it received’t have that downside.
Because the unique announcement, Walt Disney World has launched new idea artwork for the Cake Bake Store, and the way its exterior shall be redesigned because it takes form from the closed ESPN Membership. As proven on this idea artwork, there shall be two entrances. The present entrance will develop into the bakery, and one other shall be added for the restaurant. Along with that, giant french doorways will open to the skin, maintaining the house mild and ethereal–a stark distinction to the ESPN Membership.
As for the look of the Cake Bake Store location, I’m of two minds about this exterior idea artwork for the Cake Bake Store. On the one hand, the bakery entrance jogs my memory of a fake storefront of a excessive finish store inside a ritzy mall. That’s not meant as a optimistic.
Then again, the restaurant aspect softens up the blocky and uninviting exterior of the previous ESPN Membership, which by no means seemed fairly proper as in comparison with the remainder of the BoardWalk. (It was merely extra acquainted to most followers, because it had all the time been there.) I don’t anticipate this to be an ideal match, both, nevertheless it must be higher than ESPN Membership.
With this new desk service restaurant and candy spot on the horizon, the BoardWalk Bakery has develop into BoardWalk Deli, a “new” sandwich store for friends to get pleasure from a chunk alongside the water’s edge. This joins different meals and beverage areas, like BoardWalk Ice Cream, which changed Ample Hills (one other BoardWalk venue that went out of enterprise).
Inside Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, mild and ethereal touches will reinvigorate the foyer, lounge, and visitor rooms. Simply off the foyer, a brand new espresso bar with artisanal drinks and fast bites shall be obtainable to-go or in newly refreshed seating areas inside or outside.
In an ideal world, Disney would relocate ESPN Membership to former location of the short-lived NBA Expertise, giving the corporate’s flagship sports activities model a good bigger location–and one which’s simpler to entry for locals. There’s so much from NBA Expertise that might presumably be reused and repurposed, with the venue turning into a hybrid interactive expertise and sports activities bar.
I might not anticipate that to occur–that transfer is just too logical. Extra doubtless, Walt Disney World is glad with the variety of small sports activities bars in different resorts (and enormous third celebration ones at Disney Springs) and ESPN Membership will fade away.
Now that Massive River has been vacated, maybe Walt Disney World will choose to revive ESPN Membership there. Stranger issues have occurred!
We’re vaguely accustomed to the Cake Bake Store because it’s extremely fashionable in Indianapolis, the place we used to dwell. Neither of us have ever been there (it’s my understanding that it books up months upfront), however all of our pals and Sarah’s household rave about it. Regionally, Gwendolyn Rogers is an aspirational success story.
The truth is, between the time this information broke and we ready to publish the story, Sarah has obtained a number of cake photo-filled textual content messages from household and pals, a few of whom should not even Disney followers, who’re excited in regards to the information. Phrase travels quick in Indy, I suppose. The Cake Bake Store’s second location in Carmel, Indiana is big, so that ought to clarify how they’re going to fill an area as giant as ESPN Membership.
Personally, I hoped that might be changed into a themed escape room, however world-class cake store is a pleasant comfort prize. I’m all the time in search of new and modern excuses to eat cake, and this could match the invoice properly.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Excited for the Cake Bake Store by Gwendolyn Rogers or will you miss ESPN Membership? Assume this reimagining will work with the resort theme, or is it pointless? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Different ideas or issues? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
