Gingerbread Display at Disney’s Beach Club

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 1, 2023

 

If you are awed by the creativity and absolute skill that it takes to create the gingerbread masterpieces at Disney World’s Resorts each year, you might want to keep your eyes peeled for a few special events coming up – Disney is offering pin signing opportunities with some of their pastry chefs. 

The first one was December 1, 2023, at the Beach Club, where the whimsical gingerbread carousel lives, and we discovered it quite by accident when we were gingerbread display hopping. Later in the month, the Contemporary will also be hosting a Pin Signing, but the date hadn’t been posted yet.  If you aren’t familiar with these pins, Disney releases a series of Resort specific pins each year, tied to the Resorts that are hosting gingerbread displays.  

For more than 20 years, Disney has been sharing amazing gingerbread displays, from the life-sized house used as a walk-up merchandise kiosk at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, to the new gingerbread lighthouse at the Yacht Club Resort.

At Disney’s Beach Club Resort, the display is a working holiday Carousel. The carousel changes themes each year, but it has been there for 22 years.  While it isn’t large enough for people to ride on, it does sport four carousel horses being ridden by some of your favorite characters.

This year’s theme is “DuckTales,” and the four horses are decorated with Donald Duck and his nephews, Huey, Duey, and Louie. You’ll need to find 22 hidden Mickeys throughout the spinning display, honoring the 22 years of the gingerbread carousel. This centerpiece of the Beach Club’s lobby took 432 pounds of honey, 1200 pounds of rye flour, 100 pounds of eggs, 25 pounds of spices, 10 pounds of simple syrup, 200 pounds of icing, 10 quarts of egg whites, 100 pounds of confectionary sugar, 50 pounds of dark chocolate, and 20 pounds of Grand Marnier to bake!

The carousel theme ties in to the “DuckTales World Showcase Adventure” game that you can entertain your family with at EPCOT. (It’s a scavenger hunt of sorts, where you follow clues to make things happen in the various pavilions, and solve mysteries… a fun diversion!)

The merry-go-round not only features the cute ducks, but a variety of Easter eggs to tie each galloping horse to one of EPCOT’s pavilions.  Look closely, and you’ll find a golf placard for the UK pavilion, butterflies decorated in the flags of the countries, and a guitar and a tiny piñata for the Mexico pavilion, among many others.

 

The Yacht and Beach Club Resorts do offer gingerbread goodies if you want to sample some holiday treats, but the holiday shop is located at the Beach Club side of the Resort, so you’ll have to head over there to indulge.  (You were going there to see the carousel anyway, so no problem, right?) The goodies are available from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

 

Some of the holiday treats available at this location include Signature Stollen Bread ($12.99); Lighthouse Fudge ($8.49); a Mickey Snowman Pop ($5.99); Crisped Rice Treats ($4.99); Peppermint Bark ($7.99); Gingerbread Shingles just like the ones on the creations! ($5.79); and Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies ($5.79). Hot Chocolate Flights are also available.

At the Beach Club’s attached sister Resort, the Yacht Club, a quick stroll down the sidewalk will wow you with a brand new working gingerbread lighthouse, surrounded by a tiny snow village with a train chugging along.

Chef Michael and his team built the gingerbread lighthouse to ¼ scale of the Yacht Club’s lighthouse on Crescent Lake, and the light on top flashes, too!  The surrounding train town is filled with hidden Mickeys, and lots of moving parts.

While the Yacht Club has played host to the train village before, this is the first year to see the floor to ceiling sized lighthouse.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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