property
Gingerbread displays at the Walt Disney World resorts
Not running yet. This year’s season starts in 51 days.
The short answer
Five Walt Disney World resorts build gingerbread displays each Christmas — the Contemporary, Beach Club, BoardWalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. They are free to see and open to non-guests. The famous Grand Floridian gingerbread house is not among them and is confirmed absent again for 2026.
- Runs
- November 13, 2026 – January 6, 2027
- Included
- All displays are free to view and open to guests not staying at the resort · Gingerbread shops at some resorts, selling shingles, cookies and hot chocolate (charged separately) · Resort lobby decorations and Christmas trees · Parking at the resort you are visiting, if you have a dining reservation or are resort hopping by transport
New for 2026
Dates here are the resort-wide holiday window Disney publishes — 13 November 2026 to 6 January 2027 — not display-specific ones. Disney does not announce when each resort's gingerbread goes up or comes down, and the displays have historically appeared a little after the season opens. Treat the window as the outer bound rather than a guarantee for any given lobby.
The Grand Floridian's walk-in house is confirmed retired rather than merely absent: Disney's statement is that the traditional large gingerbread house will not be offered, to keep the lobby flowing for resort guests. Miniature displays elsewhere in that resort have been mentioned without detail.
When can you see it?
| mid-November | Displays go up — Dates vary slightly by resort |
|---|---|
| before 11:00am | Best time to visit — Lobbies are quietest before the parks empty out |
| 1 January | Displays come down — Viewable through New Year's Day |
Which Walt Disney World resorts have gingerbread displays?
Five resorts built gingerbread displays for the 2025 season, and each does something different, not repeating the same idea.
Resort | The display | Worth the trip? |
|---|---|---|
Contemporary | A Cinderella Castle inspired by the Dream Lights — over 17 feet tall and 25 feet wide, built from more than 4,000 gingerbread bricks | Yes. The largest of them, and the monorail puts it on the way to Magic Kingdom |
Beach Club | A life-size gingerbread carousel that actually rotates, rethemed every year | Yes. The most charming, and 2025 was its 25th year — with 25 hidden Mickeys in it |
BoardWalk | A gingerbread model of the BoardWalk itself | Worth it if you are already at the Epcot resorts. Not a special journey |
Animal Kingdom Lodge | A gingerbread animal, changed each year — a giraffe, a zebra, a flamingo | Combine it with the savanna. The lodge at Christmas is worth seeing regardless |
Wilderness Lodge | A chocolate and gingerbread cabin beside the holiday table — back in 2025 after a six-year absence | Yes, but for the lobby and the tree more than the cabin, which is small |
Grand Floridian | No life-size gingerbread house. See below | — |
What happened to the Grand Floridian gingerbread house?
The Grand Floridian's life-size, walk-in gingerbread house — the most famous of them, with a shop selling shingles and cookies from inside it — did not appear in 2025, and Disney has confirmed it will not return for 2026 either.
The lobby refurbishment that restored the Garden View Tea Lounge and added The Perch bar left no room to build the structure or operate the shop. Smaller gingerbread displays were placed around the resort instead.
Are the gingerbread displays free?
Yes, and they are open to people not staying at the resort. Walking into a Disney resort lobby to look at the display costs nothing and needs no reservation. What costs money is what the gingerbread shops sell — shingles, cookies, hot chocolate and the annual ornament — and those are the reason several of these displays exist at all.
How do you get to the resorts without a car?
The Contemporary is a monorail stop and walkable from Magic Kingdom. The Beach Club and BoardWalk are a walk or boat ride from EPCOT's International Gateway and from each other. Wilderness Lodge is a boat from Magic Kingdom.
Animal Kingdom Lodge is the awkward one: it is buses only, and there is no quick route to it from anywhere except Animal Kingdom.
What is the best gingerbread resort route?
Two resorts in one trip is realistic; five in a day is not. The efficient pairing is the Beach Club and BoardWalk, which are a five-minute walk apart at the EPCOT end. The Contemporary works as a stop before or after a Magic Kingdom day, and Wilderness Lodge pairs with it by boat.
Animal Kingdom Lodge deserves its own visit, not being squeezed in.
When should you go to see the gingerbread displays?
Mornings, before about eleven o'clock. These are hotel lobbies, not attractions, and they get congested in the evening when park guests come back and dining reservations arrive at once. The displays go up in mid-November and stay through 1 January, so the first two weeks of December are the sweet spot: fully decorated, and before the Christmas-week crowds.
Who should skip the gingerbread displays?
Anyone on a short trip with park tickets for every day. Resort hopping costs a half-day once transport is counted, and these are displays in lobbies, not experiences — you look, you photograph, you buy a cookie, you leave. Anyone specifically hoping to see the famous Grand Floridian house should know it is not there before building a day around it.
Common questions
- Which Disney World resorts have gingerbread displays?
- The Contemporary, Beach Club, BoardWalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge built displays for the 2025 season. The Grand Floridian did not, and will not for 2026 either.
- Is the Grand Floridian gingerbread house coming back?
- Not for 2026. Disney has confirmed it will not return, after the lobby refurbishment that added The Perch bar left no room for the structure or its shop. Smaller gingerbread displays appear around the resort instead.
- Are the gingerbread displays free to see?
- Yes. There is no ticket and no reservation, and you do not need to be staying at the resort — resort lobbies are open to anyone. The only thing that costs money is the gingerbread shop at some of them: shingles, cookies and hot chocolate, sold separately.
- When are the Disney World gingerbread displays up?
- From mid-November through 1 January. The first two weeks of December are the best window: everything is up, and the Christmas-week crowds have not arrived.
- How many gingerbread displays can you see in a day?
- Two comfortably. The Beach Club and BoardWalk are a five-minute walk apart, which is the efficient pairing. Animal Kingdom Lodge is buses only and deserves its own trip.
Previous years
- 2026 — November 13, 2026 to January 6, 2027
- 2025 — November 14, 2025 to January 1, 2026
Every figure on this page
Each one with the day we checked it. Prices and times move; the date is how you tell whether this is still true.
| What | Figure | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height of the Contemporary's gingerbread Cinderella Castle | 17 feet | Sep 7, 2026 | wdwprepschool.com |
| Width of the Contemporary's gingerbread Cinderella Castle | 25 feet | Sep 7, 2026 | wdwprepschool.com |
| Gingerbread bricks in the Contemporary castle | 4,000 | Sep 7, 2026 | wdwprepschool.com |
| Years the Beach Club carousel had run as of 2025 | 25 | Sep 7, 2026 | wdw-magazine.com |
| Hidden Mickeys in the 2025 Beach Club carousel | 25 | Sep 7, 2026 | wdw-magazine.com |