Walt Disney World has introduced the refurbishment timeline and revealed the brand new Birdcage Foyer Bar Coming Quickly to the Grand Floridian Resort. With this, there are impacts to the visitor expertise and choices on the flagship lodge, extending by Christmas 2025. One such influence isn’t any gingerbread show–this shares particulars and our commentary concerning the information.
Let’s begin with fast background. A staple of the vacation season at Walt Disney World is the life-sized Gingerbread Home on the Grand Floridian. Final yr, this fan-favorite custom celebrated its twenty fifth Anniversary, and was formally open beginning November 6, after starting building in mid-to-late October.
The edible show at all times attracts a giant crowd of friends wanting to admire its white chocolate sweet canes, edible snowflakes, sugar poinsettias, and an 88-pound white chocolate Santa. The gingerbread itself is baked with 1050 kilos of honey, 800 kilos of flour, and 600 kilos of confectioners’ sugar. The decorations characteristic 700 kilos of chocolate and have over 10,000 items of gingerbread. The workforce spend over 500 hours baking the gingerbread and 480 hours bringing all of the dazzling particulars to life.
To have a good time the 25 years of vacation custom, there have been 25 hidden Mickeys scattered all through the Gingerbread Home at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort final yr. There was additionally a limited-edition assortment of twenty fifth anniversary merchandise together with a pin, decoration, cookie jar, magnet, tumbler, t-shirt, and extra out there for buy.
If our experiences the previous few years had been any indication, there’s additionally alway enormous crowds and lengthy strains within the foyer. We’ve come to view the Gingerbread Home on the Grand Floridian considerably just like the Cinderella Citadel Dream Lights: an funding made by Walt Disney World that paid large dividends when it comes to gross sales–not essentially within the reserving of journeys or resort stays, however through PhotoPass, meals & beverage, merchandise, and extra gross sales.
A go to to the Grand Floridian is a quintessential holiday-time expertise, and it’s one of some must-do stops on our Free Self-Guided Walt Disney World Yuletide Resort Tour. That’s what we advocate doing within the morning earlier than attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together (should you decide to do this upcharge) or maybe simply in your non-parks day. It’s one among our favourite issues to do at Walt Disney World, and we make a degree of doing it yearly–together with separate visits to most of the lodges.
As with the opposite monorail loop resorts, it’s additionally simple to go to the Grand Floridian the identical day you do Magic Kingdom. Whether or not or not it’s earlier than heading into the park, strolling over on the strolling path for a noon break, or after the park closes (our favourite choice), it’s definitely worth the detour due to its elegant Victorian decor, grandiose icon tree, and the fantastic gingerbread home.
That’s usually all true, however it sounds prefer it gained’t be the case at Christmas 2025.
Walt Disney World has introduced the next: As a part of the continuing enhancements at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, phased updates to the foyer, conference heart and choose areas will start April 14. Parts of the foyer will shut at occasions, and Friends might encounter modifications to their path of journey.
Whereas building exercise will likely be noticeable throughout daytime hours, efforts will likely be made to reduce disruptions, and all swimming pools, eating and different facilities will stay out there. As Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa continues its renovations, the gingerbread show is not going to be out there throughout the vacation season in 2025.
On its face, this rationalization is smart.
Building occurring by late 2025 would positively influence Walt Disney World’s capacity to construct the Gingerbread Home on the Grand Floridian. As famous above, that often begins in mid-to-late October.
So even when the foyer renovations are accomplished by Veterans Day and the normal kickoff to the Christmas season, that’s nonetheless not sufficient lead-time to have the Gingerbread Home–which is constructed in plain sight within the foyer–accomplished by then.
There’s additionally the fact that building is at all times topic to delay, and even when the intent is to have the foyer accomplished by early November and even mid-October, there’s no assure that’ll occur. There are lots of shifting elements and a number of groups concerned in bringing the Gingerbread Home to life, so the secure transfer is to easily err on the facet of warning and cancel the fan-favorite show for Christmas 2025. It’s disappointing, however it’s pragmatic.
Some followers would possibly surprise why Walt Disney World merely doesn’t relocate the Gingerbread Home to elsewhere on the Grand Floridian.
My guess is that it’s a matter of crowds and congestion. That there’s nowhere else that may take in the visitor site visitors that the Gingerbread Home attracts, and even when there have been, that will spill over into the foyer. Individuals aren’t going to come back to the lodge for the Gingerbread Home within the conference heart or wherever, and not enter the foyer to additionally see its decorations (hopefully there’s nonetheless a Christmas tree).
If the foyer challenge is delayed and building continues to be occuring in November or December that takes a part of the house out of fee, which means extra folks crammed into an excellent smaller space. As a lot as we’d like to see Walt Disney World discover a strategy to carry again the Gingerbread Home for its twenty sixth yr, it most likely comes all the way down to pragmatism.
Longer-term, I can’t assist however surprise about the way forward for the Gingerbread Home on the Grand Floridian.
My first thought when wanting on the Birdcage Bar idea artwork is that the foyer goes to be fairly busy with that plus the Christmas tree and gingerbread home throughout the holidays. The primary constructing is already a mad home throughout the vacation season, and this can simply exacerbate it.
Not solely will this be yet one more factor that induces crowds within the foyer, however it’ll focus them. Frankly, I don’t understand how the Grand Floridian goes to have this birdcage bar and Christmas tree and gingerbread home. One thing’s gotta give–or transfer. My guess is that “one thing” would be the Gingerbread Home.
It’s attainable that the Grand Floridian will transfer the Gingerbread Home into a special house for Christmas 2026 and past. As talked about, there’s the conference heart and different areas away from the closely trafficked foyer.
However as additionally talked about, all of them lead to the identical points with spillover into the foyer. Provided that, we wouldn’t be in the least stunned if the Grand Floridian Gingerbread Home by no means returns. To be abundantly clear, that is purely speculative on our half. Not even a rumor, and positively not official.
I simply know that Walt Disney World receives lots of complaints from paying friends in the principle constructing of the Grand Floridian every Christmas about noise and crowds, most of that are guests to the lodge. Sooner or later, I wouldn’t be stunned if these “win out” over the the profitable merchandise, meals & beverage gross sales of the Gingerbread Home. Possibly the show will likely be again in 2026, however I really feel like its retirement is inevitable–and doubtless by the point Villains Land opens.
One other chance is the Gingerbread Home shifting to a different resort solely. On this case, it wouldn’t be “shifting” a lot as it could be Walt Disney World retiring one show and introducing one other.
This has already began to occur, form of. For the previous few vacation seasons, Animal Kingdom Lodge has had edible animal shows. These have grown in scale and dimension, however nonetheless are usually not “sufficiently big” to justify a devoted journey from most friends. Introducing an precise Gingerbread Lodge (a la Humphrey’s Lodge from ~6 years in the past at Wilderness Lodge) would tip the scales.
I’m of two minds about this. Selflessly, I’d love extra followers to make the trek to AKL and eventually uncover what’s unquestionably one of many prime resorts at Walt Disney World, its super culinary scene, good themed design, and so on. Selfishly, I really like Animal Kingdom Lodge throughout the vacation season, and recognize how quiet it’s as in comparison with the monorail loop and Crescent Lake Resorts. I’d prefer to maintain it that manner. (I feel it most likely would keep that manner given the transportation boundaries.)
I additionally wouldn’t be stunned if Walt Disney World tried one thing related with whichever Disney Trip Membership resorts they’re making an attempt to promote. Incentivizing visits to Fort Wilderness over the vacation season with a cool show could be savvy because the campground actually shines at Christmas-time. “Oh, by the best way whilst you’re right here, tour this new mannequin DVC cabin that we’ve conveniently positioned within the Settlement!”
Guests to the Grand Floridian and Polynesian Village Resorts and overcrowding has been a problem for some time. We’ve been warning readers about reserving the principle constructing of the Grand Floridian at Christmas for years, primarily based on each our personal damaging experiences and experiences from others.
Likewise, one among our largest trepidations concerning the Island Tower on the Poly (other than how hideous it seems on the skin) is the burden it’ll placed on the resort’s already strained infrastructure. The resort’s DVC level stock will not be even shut to totally bought out but, and we’ve already seen a few of these points throughout latest visits.
Walt Disney World has tried to deal with the issues with monorail loop resort site visitors in recent times, whereas on the similar time constructing new issues to induce much more demand. That is exactly why they’ve restricted customer parking at these (and different) resorts, restricted Cell Order at occasions, and required wristbands for fireworks viewing.
Finally, there are different measures that Walt Disney World may take to regulate crowds on the Grand Floridian and Polynesian that will assist management crowds and permit the Gingerbread Home to return. One could be requiring keycard entry or confirmed eating reservations to realize entrance to the grounds. That is precisely what Tokyo Disney Resort does with each Toy Story Resort and Fantasy Springs Resort. I’m guessing Walt Disney World doesn’t wish to go that far, particularly since they like to string the needle on this sort of factor (crowds equal income!).
It’s additionally solely attainable that I’m taking my very own psychological comparability of the Grand Floridian Gingerbread Home to the Cinderella Citadel Dream Lights too actually. Within the latter’s case, it’s seeming increasingly like a ‘short-term hiatus’ supplied Walt Disney World cowl for making a seemingly everlasting choice they knew could be unpopular. For probably the most half, followers will likely be understanding that the Gingerbread Home isn’t returning this yr, as foyer building is a logical rationalization. And if it doesn’t come again in 2026, that’s quiet information, not a contemporary announcement.
The response could be very totally different if Walt Disney World got here out right this moment and shared that the Gingerbread Home is being completely retired. Right here’s hoping I’m overanalyzing this, being too conspiratorial, and the Grand Floridian Gingerbread Home is again and higher than ever for Christmas 2026!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider Walt Disney World cancelling the gingerbread home at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa for Christmas 2025? Suppose it’ll be again at Christmas 2026? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
