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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Changes Continue To Disney World Hotel Reopening Dates

by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

July 27, 2020

As COVID-19 rates continue to fluctuate across the country, so do guests’ travel plans, and Disney is doing their best to keep up with a very fluid situation. To compensate for changes to guests’ arrivals (or non-arrivals), Disney World has released a revised set of opening dates for several of their Resort properties. 

A select number of the Disney Vacation Club properties began operating in June ahead of the park reopenings, and the revised Resort changes do not affect the Disney Vacation Club portions of these Resorts. 

The following Resorts are impacted by the date changes:

• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (Scheduled to open Aug. 12, but will now reopen October 4)

• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort (Scheduled to open Aug. 12, but will now reopen November 1)

• Disney’s Beach Club Resort (scheduled to open Oct. 1, but opening date has been removed)

• Disney’s BoardWalk Resort (scheduled to open Oct. 1, but opening date has been removed)

According to Disney, “While reopening dates were previously shared for Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, these Disney Resort hotels will remain closed until further notice, as the reopening timeline continues to be reevaluated.”

No changes have been made to the previously announced reopening dates at these Resorts: 

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort (July 29)

• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (August 24)

• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (September 21)

• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (October 14)

There is no word yet on the reopening dates for Disney’s All-Stars Resorts, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter and Riverside, or Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.

Disney’s website offers, “Future reopening dates are subject to change and Guests’ reservations could still be modified to other Disney Resort hotels if needed. Given the current situation, there are some Disney Resort hotels and other areas that are not, as of this time, being scheduled for reopening yet. We will continue to evaluate the situation and reopen more locations when the environment is right to do so. While these plans may evolve, we will be monitoring the constantly changing health environment and its impact on the state of Florida as we find the right time to welcome back even more of our Guests.”

If you are one of the guests whose trip has been affected by these  reservation changes, expect a contact from Disney. Options are available to either modify your reservation to another Disney Resort hotel at no additional cost or cancel your reservation without any Disney-imposed fees.

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

Loving the Cape May Café Buffet at Disney’s Beach Club

by Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 3, 2019

Over a long stretch of time, Walt Disney World has earned a reputation for customer excellence. But given the challenges that most businesses face in terms of maintaining quality on a consistent basis, I always wonder if Disney is going to slip up the next time I journey to Disney World.

On this latest trip, one of our first dinner stops was at the Disney’s Beach Club Resort’s Cape May Café for its Seafood-and-More Dinner Buffet. This deluxe resort stands out as a representation of a seaside New England hotel, and I certainly feel relaxed and welcomed upon entering the resort.

The Cape May Café fits in naturally with the entire resort, and this stellar buffet overflows with fresh, tasty items like clams, mussels, shrimp, crab legs, cod, and much more. If seafood is your culinary thing – and it is mine – then this is the ideal buffet.

And by the way, the drinks menu offers some wonderful selections for expanding the fun in the sun. I enjoyed both the Bahama Mama and the Pina CoLava.

For good measure, our server was friendly, courteous, and efficient.

In the end, the combination of setting, food and service provided the first reminder upon our return to Walt Disney World that the Disney focus on bringing quality to the customer – or guest – remains strong.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

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