Disney World Gingerbread Houses Ranked – Dates, Menus

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, and a lifesize baby giraffe and zebra! 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. New this year is the Spaceship Earth Gingerbread house located in CommuniCore Hall!!

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 opening dates, full menus, and a brand NEW gingerbread house display that debuted for last year's 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 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. 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 November 29 through December 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.

6. 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 starting November 24

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!

New this year, there is a limited-edition pin, cookie jar, and holiday ornament inspired by Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge available for purchase.  

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.

5. 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 starting November 12. 

BoardWalk Inn Gingerbread Menu 

• Holiday Mickey and Minnie Sugar Cookie  
• Mickey Caramel Corn Cookie  
• Gingerbread Loaf    
• Gingerbread Shingle 

This year, there’s also a limited-edition pin, cookie jar, and holiday ornament available for purchase.

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.

4. Gingerbread Spaceship Earth at EPCOT

NEW this year is the Spaceship Earth gingerbread display located at CommuniCore Hall in EPCOT. This 8-foot-tall gingerbread display took over 160 hours and lights up and dances to music throughout the day. This display is available starting November 29th as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays which runs through December 30.

The sphere consists of almost a thousands handcrafted gingerbread triangles to mirror the iconic “golfball” symbol of EPCOT. The gingerbread model of Spaceship Earth contains 240 pounds of honey dough, 100 eggs, 100 ounces lebkuchen spice, 55 pounds dark chocolate, and 100 pounds royal icing. There are also 11 Mickeys hidden throughout the display to reflect the 11 countries of the World Showcase. 

You can get a slice of gingerbread cookie here that is shaped to mimic one of the panels of Spaceship Earth. The cookie wasn't very good unfortunately, it did not taste fresh, so I recommend going to one of the hotel gingerbread cookie stands for the best treats instead!

How to See the EPCOT Spaceship Earth Gingerbread Display

Guests will need an EPCOT theme park ticket to see these gingerbread houses as they are located within the theme park at CommuniCore Hall. 

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 starting November 8. 

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:

• Linzer Cookie  
• Caramel Apple Cake with Gingerbread Streusel  
• Chocolate Hazelnut Log  
• Pistachio Cranberry and Cherry Cake  
• Santa Peppermint Hot Chocolate Tart  
• House-made Christmas Tree Butter Cookie 
• Winter Berry Freeze (Alcoholic floater available)  
• Frozen Hot Cocoa (Alcoholic floater available) 

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. No official start date was listed for this iconic display but it will likely debut in November around the start of the holiday season.

Returning for its 24th year at Disney World, this year's theme is characters from “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” created by the talented Yacht and Beach Bakery. This year's theme is created with chocolate, sugar, and fondant with hand-painted characters and handcrafted gingerbread shingles and snowflakes adorning the carousel.

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.

• Linzer Cookie
• Spiced Orange and Cranberry Bundt Cake
• Gingerbread Macarons
• Hot Cocoa Brownie
• Hannukah Sugar Cookie
• Stollen
• Gingerbread House

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 starting November 6. This year celebrates the 25th anniversary of this iconic gingerbread display.

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:

• Gingerbread Mickey
• Gingerbread Shingle
• Stollen Bread
• Brownie Pop
• Gingersnap Cookies
• Gingerbread House Ornament
• Gingerbread House
• Gingerbread Cookie Bags imported from Germany
• Gingerbread Loaf
• Peppermint Bark
• Grand Floridian Gift Box featuring assorted fan favorite treats, including a Santa Gnome Hot Cocoa Surprise, exclusive to the Combo Box

You can get an idea of common pricing for these items in the menu shared below.

There will also be a limited-edition collection of 25th anniversary merchandise including a pin, ornament, cookie jar, magnet, tumbler, t-shirt, and more available.

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 start with CommuniCore Hall to see Gingerbread Spaceship Earth before heading 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 and BoardWalk Inn. These two 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