by Beth Keating
News
DisneyBizJournal.com
March 22, 2024
A sure sign of spring at the Walt Disney World Resort is the arrival of the dozens of giant chocolate Easter eggs at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
These eggs are, without a doubt, not just candy. They are detailed works of art. That they are temporary and fleeting makes them all the more interesting.
Talented pastry chefs have created these intricately decorated eggs, each with its own Disney character or theme, and made from such components as modeling chocolate, fondant, Krispie rice, and cocoa butter paint. Many times, you’ll be able to actually watch one of Disney’s culinary artists hard at work, designing a new egg for the display tables. (In fact, we watched Yadi, a member of the culinary team who’d created the Alice in Wonderland egg on the side tables, as she painted a multi-character egg in front of guests.) The creators will be happy to chat with you as they work, answering any questions you might have about the egg making process.
Some of our favorite designs this year were definitely the double-sided Alice in Wonderland egg with its working clock parts; the rotating Beauty and the Beast egg with its interior rose; the Sword in the Stone egg with Merlin; and the Donald and Daisy Duck house, with Daisy peeking out an upstairs window.
There are nearly two dozen eggs on display at the Grand Floridian, depending on whether you count them by themed display, or by individual creations. You have to make sure you walk around both sides of the eggs, because many are three dimensional, and are decorated on the inside, the outside, and the back and the front. They range from whimsical (Al’s Toy Barn) to educational, with multi-faceted sketches of Snow White and Cinderella, looking like diagrams from the Ink and Paint departments’ guidebooks. Some, like the Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway tribute and the Main Street Electrical Parade, even light up.
The eggs also ranged from small bunnies, to the larger Munchlings “kitchen stove,” to a James and the Giant Peach that was nearly as tall as many of the guests visiting the display. The Kakamora coconuts from Moana were also large (as far as coconuts go!), balanced precariously together in fight mode on a tabletop. Jasmine’s palace was downright gorgeous, and it took me awhile (and reading the chef’s personal notes below the egg) to figure out the blue cat egg was a tip of the pastry brush to Yzma from Emperor’s New Groove. If you want to know the inspiration behind each creation, a brief note from each artist is on the table next to the egg.
The egg displays may be the main draw at the Grand Floridian, but there’s also a “Grand Cottage” set up for guests to buy a yummy goodie. Now in its third year, this people-sized cottage offers edible on-the-go snacks, as well as treats that you can take home and craft yourself.
The goodies range from the more tea time or breakfast items like the Guava Cream Cheese Sweet Roll ($4.75); Hot Cross Buns ($4.50); or Cream Cheese Carrot Coffee Cake ($9.75); to the sweeter stuff, like Easter Marshmallow Pops ($4.50); Bunny Burrow Dirt Cups ($7.00); Fruity Cereal Mickey Pops ($7.25); Carrot Blondie Pops ($7.50); White Chocolate Bunny Pops ($8.00); Marshmallow Eggs ($8.00); Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies ($8.25); Confetti Pops ($9.75); Milk Chocolate Bunnies ($12.00); a variety box of Macarons ($15.00); a Bunny Flower Pot ($15.00); and The Grand Egg ($20.00). Can’t make up your mind? The Easter Treat Box ($80.00) will let you take home an assortment.
The Grand Cottage is open daily through April 1 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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