by Beth Keating
Lifestyle/News
DisneyBizJournal.com
November 24, 2022
At our house, we are a divided family when it comes to the holidays. A few family members have been playing Christmas music since late October, while others do not consider the Christmas season ushered in until Santa makes his way to Herald Square at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Then, it is permissible to start putting the tree up.
However, as a Disney family, it takes some adjusting to the fact that the “Disney Holiday Schedule” is a few beats off from the rest of the world. Halloween starts in August, Mickey’s Christmas parties have been firing off for several weeks now, towering trees and snowflakes have graced the parks since November 1st… you get the idea. In the past few weeks, the holiday gingerbread displays have also begun assembling.
We’ve enjoyed the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian in past years, and the themed carousal at Beach Club is always fun, but this year we were especially impressed by the gingerbread building at the BoardWalk Inn. The BoardWalk display had been missing for several years, and in addition to being glad to see it back, we offer up a hearty round of applause to the culinary team who created the new confection. It is incredibly detailed!
The gingerbread building is a replica of the Resort’s newest restaurant, the BoardWalk Deli.
A large window allows a peek into the deli, with Chefs Mickey and Minnie hard at work on teeny tiny little samples of the BoardWalk Deli’s menu offerings in a kitchen so sculpted that the itty bitty appliances and cooking utensils seem ready to start baking. The petite dishes lined up on the deli counters are adorable, and we particularly got a chuckle out of the miniature Mickey Ear cakes lined up on a bakery shelf. (Not saying that we’ve ordered those cakes for family birthdays in the past or anything…)
Outside the “building,” the deli’s red striped awnings overlook tiny Christmas trees and a selection of benches, tables and chairs for hungry guests to enjoy Chef Mickey’s culinary treats. There are even miniature ornaments on the trees! Talk about attention to detail!
Like many of the gingerbread spots on Disney property, there’s a pop-up shop to purchase some yummy gingerbread goodies and other treats and libations (and themed holiday merch, including BoardWalk ornaments and collectible pins, as well).
Just outside this enormous gingerbread construct is a sign that lists all the hard work and sweet ingredients that went into baking this beauty, with 200 hours of decorating time by the bakery “elves.” In all, 21 gallons of honey, 182 pounds of whole wheat rye flour, 182 pounds of light rye flour, 168 pounds of bread flour, 168 eggs, 3 gallons of egg whites, 30 pounds of powdered sugar, 0.5 pound of Cream of Tartar, 140 pounds of granulated sugar, 20 pounds of fondant, 5 pounds of ammonium carbonate, 10.58 pounds of Lebkuchen, a “heaping teaspoon of magic,” and “a sprinkle of pixie dust” went into this enormous replica.
And if you have the time, you’ll find 26 different hidden Mickeys throughout the gingerbread. It could be a nice Thanksgiving… or Christmas… scavenger hunt for your family.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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