Disney World Gingerbread Houses Ranked – 2023 Dates, Menus Released!

The Walt Disney World gingerbread houses are a tradition of Christmas at Disney World! These gingerbread displays are located at some of the best Walt Disney World hotels and feature a variety of themes including a massive Victorian house, a working carousel, a miniature model of the Disney BoardWalk, and a Mary Blair-inspired castle! The Walt Disney World gingerbread houses are available to all guests to view, not just those staying at the resort hotels. Only the display at EPCOT requires a theme park ticket.

As a frequent visitor to Walt Disney World, decorative aspects like these add an additional layer of magic to the resort and make Christmas at Disney World my favorite time to visit.

Spending time to see the Walt Disney World gingerbread houses can be a great way to spend your day off from the theme parks or you can build a visit to these resort hotels into your park day. I like to incorporate a visit to the Grand Floridian to see their impressive gingerbread display as an afternoon break from Magic Kingdom since we can just take the monorail over to the hotel. Also below see information on the recently opened Contemporary gingerbread house for the 2023 season.

Another easy way to work it into your vacation plans is to spend the morning before your ticket to the Disney World Christmas parties on these activities. Both ticketed events, Jollywood Nights and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, do not allow access to the parks until later in the day leaving guests wondering what to do with the first part of the day. Why not go tour all the Disney World gingerbread houses?

The Walt Disney World gingerbread houses also include food carts of Disney World holiday treats with some exclusive Disney World offerings, especially at the display at the Grand Floridian. Keep reading for all the details of the Disney World gingerbread houses including the 2023 opening dates, full menus, and a brand NEW gingerbread house display debuting this year for the 2023 holiday season at Disney World.

Ranking Disney World Gingerbread Houses & Tips to See

Below we’ll go through rankings of all of the gingerbread houses available at Disney World in 2023 from the WORST to the BEST Walt Disney World gingerbread house displays so you can decide which one is worth your time.

For each house below we share photos, details, and how to best see the house. Then, for a tour of all the different houses across property, we share a Disney World gingerbread Christmas strategy further into the article.

7. NEW Disney World Gingerbread Display at Disney’s Yacht Club

Walt Disney World is continuing to expand on its gingerbread houses and this year includes a brand new display at Disney’s Yacht Club! This new Walt Disney World gingerbread house is designed by Pastry Chef de Cuisine Michael Craig and is modeled after the actual blueprints from the lighthouse along Crescent Lake as seen in the photo above.

This new gingerbread display also features its own Holiday Pop Up Shop with a brand new Lighthouse Fudge along with other Walt Disney World holiday treat options. While this is a nice addition to the lineup, it’s a bit underwhelming compared to the other massive Walt Disney World gingerbread offerings at the resort.

Previously, the life-size gingerbread animals at the Animal Kingdom lodge were the newest addition to the lineup of Walt Disney World gingerbread houses. As the gingerbread houses continue to increase in popularity, creating a fun opportunity to hop to the Walt Disney World Resorts, it is great to see Disney recognize and add more houses. There are gingerbread houses at two of the three Disney World monorail hotels.

6. The American Adventure EPCOT Gingerbread House

The American Adventure gingerbread display at EPCOT is the only Disney World gingerbread house that is located inside a theme park. The American Adventure gingerbread display is available from Nov. 24 through Dec. 30. This gingerbread display is part of the International Festival of Holidays celebration at EPCOT.

This display can be found in the American Adventure pavilion at EPCOT.

These gingerbread displays include recreations of classic American monuments like the Lincoln Memorial and Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

The display also features gingerbread recreations of EPCOT landmarks like The American Adventure building with Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue and even a Festival Marketplace. There are also 6 hidden Mickeys to find in these displays!

How to See the EPCOT Gingerbread Display

Guests will need an EPCOT theme park ticket to see these gingerbread houses as they are located within the theme park. The American Adventure pavilion is located in the World Showcase not far from the International Gateway entrance where the Skyliner drops guests off.

5. Animal Kingdom Lodge Gingerbread Giraffe and Zebra

Animal Kingdom Lodge’s gingerbread display ranks last out of the Walt Disney World resorts only due to its strong competition but it is smaller in scale than many of the other creations. You can see this display at the Jambo House Lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge from Nov. 22 through Dec. 31.

This gingerbread display is still rather impressive as it features a life-size baby gingerbread giraffe and zebra. The giraffe, named Ginger, and baby zebra, Debra, are made with a combination of gingerbread, sugar dough, and modeling chocolate, with the giraffe standing nearly 7 feet tall!

Animal Kingdom Gingerbread Display Menu

The Animal Kingdom gingerbread display offers a small cart offering a Gingeraffe Cookie, Hot Cocoa Flight, beer, wine, and cocktails!

How to See the Animal Kingdom Gingerbread Display

Since Animal Kingdom Lodge is located next to Animal Kingdom, it is a bit further away from the other three theme parks and hotels. If you already plan on dining at Animal Kingdom or don’t mind taking the time to bus over from your resort or the nearby Animal Kingdom, then it might be worth the stop. Otherwise, while I love this display, it may not be worth going out of your way for.

4. BoardWalk Inn Gingerbread Display

While the Disney World gingerbread house at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn is smaller than the other two on this list, this miniature version of the Disney BoardWalk is full of details. This gingerbread display includes all the well-known spots on the Disney BoardWalk including the BoardWalk Deli. The BoardWalk Inn gingerbread display will be available from Nov. 17 through Dec. 27.

BoardWalk Inn Gingerbread Menu 

• Mickey and Minnie Sugar Cookies
• Mickey Caramel Corn Cookie
• Christmas Tree Pop
• Peppermint Bark
• Gingerbread Shingles
• Gluten/ Wheat-Friendly and Plant-based Gingerbread Shingles

How to See the Beach Club Gingerbread House

Disney’s Boardwalk Inn is also located within walking distance of EPCOT and the Disney Skyliner. If you wanted, it would be quite easy to see all the gingerbread houses in this area at the Boardwalk Inn, Beach Club, and Yacht Club since these hotels are within walking distance of each other around Crescent Lake.

3. Disney’s Contemporary Resort Gingerbread Display

The Disney World gingerbread house at the Contemporary Resort is located on the 4th floor of the resort and is available Nov. 10 through Jan. 6, 2024. 

This year’s theme is a Mary Blair-inspired 100th Disney Celebration Castle Display that was designed by Walt Disney Imagineers. This gingerbread display is over 17 feet tall with 612 pounds of sugar, 1012 pounds of flour, 112 pounds of gingerbread spice, over 4000 castle gingerbread bricks, and 12 sprinklings of magical pixie dust. And this year’s display includes one hidden five-legged goats! So…  like hidden Mickeys.. but goats. Hidden goats?

The goats are based on artwork from Mary Blair and are also available as designs on cookies. Blair is the artist that led the creation of “it’s a Small World” and the look of concepts for “Peter Pan” and “Alice in Wonderland”. She also created a massive mural in the Contemporary Resort lobby that features a goat. Thus, the hidden goat.

The gingerbread house was designed by a team at Walt Disney Imagineering and had over 40 members of the culinary team at the Contemporary Resort work on the house. Interestingly, the same gingerbread that is used for the creation of the house is then baked and sold for guests. I would have assumed that the gingerbread recipe would be different for building the house than the gingerbread sold.

Contemporary Resort Gingerbread Menu

The Contemporary Resort gingerbread menu includes a variety of returning treats plus some new options:

• Gingerbread Castle Brick
• Paint Your Own Cookie Box
• Hot Chocolate Caramel Fudge
• Chocolate Peppermint Cookie
• Pistachio Linzer Cookie
• 5-Legged Goat Cookie
• Gluten/Wheat Friendly Gingerbread Cookie
• Gingerbread Latte Cupcake
• Christmas Tree Butter Cookie
• Frozen Hot Chocolate (Also available with Peppermint Schnapps)
• Frozen Apple Cider (Also available with Fireball Cinnamon Whisky floater)

How to See the Contemporary Gingerbread House: The Contemporary Gingerbread house is located on the 4th floor of the Contemporary just below the monorail stop for the hotel. You could easily access the hotel by taking the resort monorial line from the Magic Kingdom or walking.

2. Beach Club Holiday Carousel Gingerbread Display

The second most impressive Disney World gingerbread house is the life-size holiday carousel at the Beach Club Resort. The Beach Club gingerbread display does not yet have dates it will be available listed.

Returning for its 22nd year at Disney World, this year’s theme is inspired by Ducktales, with the horses named after Donald Duck and his nephews, Huey, Duey, and Louie. In this beautiful display, you can find 22 hidden Mickeys. The impressive creation required 434 pounds of honey, 25 pounds of spices, and 200 pounds of icing.

The most impressive part of this Disney World gingerbread house is this is actually a working carousel that rotates so guests can see every angle. Sadly, you cannot ride it (darn!) but this gingerbread display never fails to impress.

Beach Club Resort Gingerbread Menu 

As one of the larger Disney World gingerbread house displays, it also features a menu of holiday treats.

• Signature Stollen Bread
• Lighthouse Fudge
• Mickey Snowman Pop
• Crispy Rice Treat
• Peppermint Bark
• Gingerbread Shingle
• Hot Chocolate Flight
• Hot Chocolate

How to See the Beach Club Gingerbread House

The Beach Club resort is located within walking distance of EPCOT along with the Disney Skyliner. If you are staying at a Skyliner resort then you could easily take the Skyliner over to the Beach Club. Taking an afternoon break from your day at EPCOT to walk over to see the Beach Club gingerbread display would also be an easy way to incorporate it into your day.

It’s also worth noting that the Beach Club and Yacht Club (the resort with the newest gingerbread display this year!) are located adjacent to each other so you could see two gingerbread displays at once with this method. And it’s just a quick stroll over to the BoardWalk Inn from there to see their gingerbread house!

1. Grand Floridian Gingerbread House

The top Walt Disney World gingerbread display is easily the life-sized Grand Floridian Resort & Spa gingerbread Victorian style house. This fantastic display is available Nov. 8 through Jan. 1, 2024.

The Grand Floridian gingerbread house includes white chocolate candy canes, edible snowflakes, sugar poinsettias, and over 10,000 pieces of gingerbread. You’ll also find an 85 lb. chocolate Santa, nutcrackers, toy soldiers, and snowmen that are hand-painted by the Grand Floridian Bakery team led by Pastry Chef de Cuisine Kristine Farmer. It took the talented creators 500 hours to bake the gingerbread and 480 hours to decorate this display! The Gingerbread House also contains 24 hidden Mickeys you can look for.

This massive gingerbread house in the beautifully decorated Grand Floridian lobby easily takes the top spot on my Walt Disney World gingerbread house ranking. If you take the time to see even just one Disney World gingerbread house this year, this is the one to make time for!

Grand Floridian Gingerbread House Menu

Disney sells a selection of holiday treats, including Grand Floridian exclusive gingerbread house ornaments, from directly inside the gingerbread house! This year’s menu includes:

• Freshly baked, homemade items, such as Gingerbread Mickeys and Shingles, Stollen Bread, Brownie Christmas Tree, and Gingersnap Cookies
• House-made Gingerbread Ornaments and Gingerbread Houses
• Assorted Gingerbread Cookie Bags, Marshmallow Pops, and Milk Chocolate Pecan Fudge
• Grand Floridian Combo Box featuring assorted fan favorite treats, including the cookies n’ cream Christmas Tree, exclusive to this box
• Plant-based, no sugar added, and gluten-friendly options

This is the menu with prices from the 2022 holiday year so you can see what a LARGE variety is offered at the Grand Floridian gingerbread house each year. This year’s offering will be similar (as seen above) but likely with a Walt Disney World 100th Anniversary twist.

The items on this list that can sell out are the Grand Floridian gift boxes and gingerbread houses! Even though they are a bit pricey that does not deter people from purchasing them especially since they make good gifts or treats to save for Christmas Day.

Pro tip: if you want to preserve your gingerbread ornament, you can use resin to coat the cookie so it makes a lasting ornament. Resin will also make the ornament itself shiny and harder so it does not crumble.

How to See the Grand Floridian Gingerbread House

This is the largest Disney World gingerbread house and is the most popular of the bunch, for good reason! You can expect larger than usual crowds in the Grand Floridian Resort lobby during the holiday season as many guests stop by to see this impressive display. The line for the gingerbread house will also get long, especially in December, so allow extra time just in case there is a large line when you arrive. The line will move quickly though as they usually have at least two cast members working.

The easiest way to see the Grand Floridian gingerbread house is to take the monorail from Magic Kingdom which stops at the hotel. Build this into your regular park day as a midafternoon break or book a dining reservation at one of the popular Disney World restaurants at this hotel.

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Disney World Gingerbread House Touring Strategy

Do you want to see all of the Disney World gingerbread houses? Well, it is possible and it is actually fairly convenient to rely on Disney World transportation for many of them.

Here’s my recommended Disney World gingerbread house strategy to follow to see all of the gingerbread displays:

• Start at the Grand Floridian Resort
• Take the monorail to the Contemporary Resort
• Get back on the monorail and get off at the Transportation & Ticket Center
• Transfer to a monorail heading to EPCOT
• Enter EPCOT and go to the World Showcase to see the American Pavilion gingerbread displays
  • Skip this step if you do not have a park ticket and want to make this a Disney World resort hotel only tour!
• Walk to Disney Beach Club, Yacht Club and BoardWalk Inn. These three resorts are all within walking distance of each other on Crescent Lake which is right next to EPCOT.
• Walk to the front of Epcot to take a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to finish off the tour! Or just call an Uber/Lyft or Minnie Van.

Since you can access two of the hotels by monorail and three by foot, this makes building a Disney World gingerbread touring strategy into your day fairly easy!

What is your favorite Disney World gingerbread house? Do you agree with my ranking of the best houses?

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Disney World Gingerbread House FAQ