Easter Goodies Available at Grand Floridian’s Easter Cottage

 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.

Disney Parks Blog video on how these fascinating eggs are made!

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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Grand Floridian Gingerbread House Wows, But Isn’t Easy To Get To… And Stop By the Contemporary’s Gingerbread, Too

 by Beth Keating

Review/Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 11, 2023

 

For more than two decades, Disney World’s pastry chefs have been whipping up creative holiday visions like the gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. If it’s your first time stepping into the soaring atrium of the Grand Floridian to see the life-sized cottage, it’s a good probability your jaw will drop in awe.  For several years, we’ve been filling our holiday fêtes with a stop at the Grand to pick up some gingerbread goodies and visit the spectacular house.

This year, though, it wasn’t easy to visit.  We decided to make a festive event out of the trip, and had made reservations at the Grand Floridian Café to have lunch and see the gingerbread.  We pulled up to the guard booth at the Resort about half an hour before our dining reservation, were greeted warmly, then told to swing around, make a right at the stop sign and a left into the overflow parking at the next traffic light.  Then we had to walk across the street, down the long driveway, and up to the portico of the Resort.  We were given a dashboard certificate that granted us three hours of parking to see the house and have lunch.  Turns out that if we’d decided to opt for dessert with our lunch, we never would have made that three-hour window.

As expected, the Grand Floridian Café was a busy place, and our dining reservation ran twenty minutes behind schedule. (Lunch was very good, by the way.) We finished the meal and headed out to take a few pictures in the atrium in front of the enormous tree, then hopped on line to get our goodies at the gingerbread house.  The line was long, but it only took us about 25 minutes to make it to the front of the line.  Next, it was a quick stop upstairs at M. Mouse Mercantile to do a little Christmas shopping (didn’t even have time to hit up the other shops), and by then, our three hours were up.  We hustled back across the street to overflow parking, and moved out.  If we’d stayed at the café for dessert, we would not have remotely made it back to the car in under three hours.

  
Truthfully, if we had known ahead of time about the three-hour limit on parking, we probably would have skipped the dining reservation at Grand Floridian Café, and parked at the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) and taken the monorail over to the Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house.  Then we not only wouldn’t have been pressed for time, but we could have also taken the monorail to the Contemporary to see their gingerbread display.  It would have opened up a lot more dining opportunities at the Contemporary and the Polynesian as well, as both resorts are on the monorail line.

All that being said, we were still thrilled to visit the gingerbread house.  This is the 24th year for the life-sized cottage, and this year it came from the imagination of Pastry Chef de Cuisine Kristine Farmer and her team.  They spent over 500 hours baking gingerbread, and 480 hours decorating the house with 10,000 pieces of gingerbread.  An 85 pound, hand-painted chocolate Santa stands on the porch, or maybe he’s just searching for the 24 hidden Mickeys!

The culinary team used 1,050 pounds of honey; 140 pints of egg whites; 600 pounds of powdered sugar; 700 pounds of chocolate; 800 pounds of flour; 35 pounds of spices; and a bit of pixie dust to pull this house together!

If you’d like a special treat while you are visiting the Grand Floridian’s gingerbread house, or even a gift to take home for family and friends, the Grand Floridian will sell you your snacks right from the window of the gingerbread house.  The cottage is big enough for cast members to work inside, dishing out the goodies.  Among a multitude of items, this year’s sweets include dipped Mickey Gingerbread ears and gingerbread shingles ($11.50); Stollen Bread ($25.00); Brownie Christmas Tree Pops ($7.50); Peppermint Bark ($15.00); Gingersnap Cookies ($5.50); House-made Gingerbread Ornaments ($14.00); Create Your Own Gingerbread Ornament kits ($25.00);  Gingerbread Houses ($85.00); Peppermint Marshmallow Pops ($4.00); Gingerbread Cranberry Muffins ($4.50); Milk Chocolate Pecan Fudge ($9.00); and a Grand Floridian Gift Box featuring assorted treats ($60.00).

The Grand Floridian house will be available until January 1, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.  (Just make sure you make the right parking choices!)

If you are doing the “monorail gingerbread crawl,” and are heading to the Contemporary Resort, their Cinderella castle gingerbread display is now in its 12th year. Created by pastry chef Jeff Barnes and his 40 elves, this 17 feet tall, 25 feet wide, Mary Blair-inspired display will be shown off until January 6, 2024. It took twelve days to assemble the over 4,000 castle gingerbread bricks. (You thought you had it rough at your family gingerbread competition!)

You’ll need to head up to the fourth floor to see this gingerbread creation, which honors the Disney100 celebration. The Contemporary’s tableau was made with 612 pounds of sugar, 439 jars of honey, 1012 pounds of flour, 112 pounds of gingerbread spice, 51 pounds of chocolate, 67 pounds of modeling chocolate, 88 pounds of rolled fondant, 43 pounds of Royal icing, 512 eggs, and 12 gallons of milk.

  
And instead of hidden Mickeys on this backdrop, you’ll be hunting for 12 five-legged goats hidden in the artwork.  What?  You don’t know about the five-legged goat?  It’s a tribute to the five-legged goat that Mary Blair herself placed in the giant mosaic in the Grand Canyon Concourse at the Contemporary.  (Some say it’s there to make the statement that nothing is ever perfect.  Either way, we think it’s fun, and a challenge to locate this special goat in the tiles on the Concourse wall.)

Disney’s Contemporary Resort also has a selection of special treats for purchase, among them Gingerbread Castle “Bricks” ($6.50); Paint Your Own Cookie boxes ($25.00); Christmas Tree Butter Cookies ($5.29); Gingerbread Loafs ($5.29); Pistachio Linzer Cookies ($6.29); and 5-Legged Goat Cookies that are Gluten Friendly ($5.49).

  
We hope you and your friends and family have a great time exploring the gingerbread treats in the Magic Kingdom Resort area.

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

 

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Grand Floridian Delights Guests With Annual Easter Egg Display

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 10, 2022

 

The chefs and pastry artists at Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa , led by Chef Kristine Farmer, have been hard at work, creating their annual Easter Egg display, much to the delight of visitors. The eggs are made of a variety of elaborate chocolate confections, and decorated with “modeling chocolate, fondant, sugar floral, royal icing, colored cocoa butter, and sculpted sugar pieces.”  

Video music by www.pacdv.com/sounds

Returning to the Grand Floridian after a COVID hiatus, the tabletop eggs weigh in at a minimum of 9 pounds, with the largest topping out at over a hundred pounds!  They stand from 16 to 30 inches high, with the impressive, shoulder high Cinderella coach wowing visitors from its nearby spot on the floor. 

 

Inspired by favorite Disney characters, movies, park attractions, and even Walt Disney himself, several dozen of the creations line the soaring lobby of the Grand Floridian. Displayed alongside the “Grand Cottage,” a springtime kiosk in the center of the lobby that sells such delectable treats as hot cross buns; whoopie pies; “carrot” blondie pops; baby chick cupcakes; fudge; chocolate bunnies; and more, the chocolate eggs range from adorable Baby Yoda to a version of Figment atop a light-up Spaceship Earth. Remember the scene of the Dalmatian puppies from 101 Dalmatians watching the Kanine Krunchies commercial on TV?  It’s recreated inside a beautiful egg. Snow White, the Avengers, Frozen, Treasure Planet, Up, and the Potato Heads are all among the representations in this year’s highly detailed displays.

 

The eggs will be on display through April 18, 2022.

 

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

 

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