For 25 years, the gingerbread house in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort was the holiday stop a lot of families planned a whole day around. It is not coming back. Disney has retired the life-size house, and the resort’s bakers are making small gingerbread displays to place around the resort instead.
This is our plain guide to what changed and what it means for your own kitchen. We write about building gingerbread houses, from full-size scratch builds down to three-inch minis. Every fact here about the Disney house comes from Disney’s own words and the reporting that followed them.
The news has two halves: the house that is gone and the miniatures replacing it. If you went every December, you want to know what you will find this year. If you were saving it for a first trip with the kids, you want to know if that trip still makes sense. And if what you loved was the way it looked, you want to know how much of it you can make yourself.
By the end you will know exactly what Disney said, what the last house was made of, and how to build a lobby-style display on your own table, sized to your space and your free time. We have kept it to three parts: the news, the build, and where you can still see gingerbread at Disney World this year.
Start with what actually happened, because the headlines did not all say the same thing.
What Happened to the Grand Floridian Gingerbread House
Disney retired it. The walk-in gingerbread house that filled the Grand Floridian lobby every holiday season from 1999 to 2024 will not be built again. Disney says the resort’s culinary team will make new miniature gingerbread displays for spots around the resort instead.
Disney explained the change in late June 2026. It said the move was meant “to help keep the lobby flowing smoothly” for resort guests. That note only said the large house would not be offered this year, which is why some fans kept hoping. Disney also confirmed to WDW News Today that the display is permanently retired. Disney’s guest planning site gives the same answer: a planDisney answer from September 2026 says the life-size house has been retired and will not return.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1999 | The first gingerbread house goes up in the Grand Floridian lobby |
| 2024 | The 25th anniversary house, and the last one |
| 2025 | No house while the lobby is refurbished, including a new bar called The Perch |
| 2026 | Disney retires the house for good and plans miniature displays instead |
What Disney has not shared yet is what the miniatures will look like, how many there will be, or where they will stand. Expect those details closer to the holidays.
What the Last Grand Floridian House Was Made Of
The 2024 house, built for the 25th anniversary, was a building project with a bakery attached. According to WDW News Today’s opening report, Disney’s team used:
- 1,050 pounds of honey
- 800 pounds of flour
- 600 pounds of confectioners’ sugar
- 700 pounds of chocolate
- More than 10,000 pieces of gingerbread
- More than 500 hours of baking and 480 hours of assembly
It also carried an 88-pound white chocolate Santa and 25 hidden Mickeys, one for each year.
To put the flour in kitchen terms: our sturdy gingerbread house dough uses 660 grams of flour to build one house about 7 by 5 inches. Eight hundred pounds of flour is about 363,000 grams, or roughly 550 batches of that dough. A family could bake a house every Christmas for five centuries and still not use as much flour as that one lobby display.
The 2024 house used a reported 800 pounds of flour. Pick what you are building and see how many times over that flour would make it.
For fun and for planning. The 800 pound figure is as reported for the 2024 house; Disney’s recipe is not public, so this compares flour only. Our dough uses 660 grams of flour per batch. Not affiliated with Disney. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
Nobody's kitchen gets close to that, and nobody's needs to. That is the point of the next section.
Why the Miniatures Are Better News for Home Bakers
A miniature is the one Disney gingerbread display a family can actually copy. You could admire the walk-in house, but you could never build one. A tabletop display of small houses is a weekend project, and it takes the same skills as a single kit house.
That is the part most coverage of the retirement misses. The giant house was a spectacle you visited. A miniature is a spectacle you can take home as an idea: a small house, crisp white icing, a few well-placed candies and good light. A home baker controls every one of those.
Small builds do have their own catch. The guides to mini gingerbread houses that do not snap all come down to one rule: keep the walls a quarter inch thick, the same as a full-size house. A thin wall at three inches breaks in your hand. Get that right and the rest is decorating.
Picture a family of four who drove over to the Grand Floridian every December just to stand in the lobby and smell the gingerbread. This year they bake six three-inch houses on a Saturday instead, line them up on the sideboard, and let each kid finish two. The display is smaller, but it is theirs, and it is still standing on New Year's Day. That is the trade the retirement makes possible.
Which way this lands for you depends on why you went. If you are a Disney regular who planned a resort day around the house, still go: see the new miniatures, then build your own version at home so your tradition keeps a gingerbread house in it. If you never saw it and were saving it for a first trip, the in-person version is gone for good, so put that energy into a display your kids can touch, decorate and keep.
How to Build a Lobby Display on Your Kitchen Table
Use what we call the Lobby Table Method: one hero house, a ring of minis, one change in height and one warm light. That is the whole formula behind a hotel-lobby display, scaled down to a table. Here is how to build it in four moves.
1. Pick one hero house and three to eight minis
The hero house is the one people look at first, so give it the tallest roof and the most detail. A Victorian gingerbread house template gets you the steep roof and porch that say "grand hotel" at any size. Print it at 100 percent for the hero. Then print it at 30 percent for the minis, which gives you houses about three inches tall with every proportion intact.
2. Keep every wall a quarter inch thick
Roll the dough to a quarter inch for the hero and the minis alike. It is tempting to roll thinner for the small houses so they look dainty. Do not. The minis are the ones that get picked up, moved and bumped.
3. Build every shell first and the roofs second
Stand up all the walls in one sitting with stiff royal icing. Give the mini shells about two hours before their roofs go on, and leave everything overnight before you move it far. Building in one batch means every house sets at the same pace.
4. Stage it like a hotel lobby
Cover the table in a white cloth and slide a box or two underneath so some houses sit higher than others. Put the hero house at the back, the minis in a curve in front, a small tree behind and warm string lights along the front edge. The tricks for making a gingerbread village that looks like one town apply here too: one roof color, one trim style, one candy palette.
Tell it your space, your time and who is helping. It sizes a hero house plus minis and gives you the dough, the icing and the order to build in.
Planning estimates for a home build, not a guarantee. Dough and icing figures come from our construction dough, royal icing and mini house guides; your oven and decorating style will move them. Not affiliated with Disney. Nothing you select is stored or sent anywhere.
Say you have the end of a dining table, about 30 inches, and one weekend. The planner gives you a hero house and five minis. That is two batches of dough, one for the hero and one for the minis, plus two batches of royal icing. Bake Saturday morning, build the shells Saturday afternoon and put the roofs on Sunday. By Sunday evening the table is done and the lights are on.
The Grand Floridian Look at Three Inches Tall
The 2024 house was known for its details, and most of them shrink well. WDW News Today described white chocolate candy canes, edible snowflakes and sugar poinsettias. Here is how each one translates to a mini.
| On the 2024 house | On your mini |
|---|---|
| White chocolate candy canes | Mini candy canes, or short pieces of a regular one, as porch posts |
| Sugar poinsettias | Three red icing petals with a yellow dot in the middle |
| Edible snowflakes | Sanding sugar or white nonpareils on the roof |
| An 88-pound white chocolate Santa | One small chocolate figure beside the hero house |
| 25 hidden Mickeys | One hidden candy on every mini for kids to find |
For the trim, pipe small white dots along each roof edge with a fine tip. At three inches, dots look neater than a line and hide a shaky hand.
The hidden-detail idea is the one worth stealing. Imagine a grandmother expecting her grandkids, ages 9 and 11, for a December weekend. She builds four minis ahead and tucks a single green gumdrop somewhere on each one, then tells them only how many there are. The houses get studied for twenty minutes instead of glanced at for two. Small displays reward close looking, and a hidden detail gives people a reason to look.
One thing to leave out: Disney characters and logos. They belong to Disney, and a Victorian house with good trim already says "grand hotel" on its own.
Which Version Fits Your Family This Year
The right build depends on two things: how old your helpers are and how much time you have.
- If your kids are about 4 to 7 and you have one afternoon, build the hero from a kit and the minis from mini kits, and stand up every shell yourself first. The kids decorate. If you are doing this with cousins or a class, bulk gingerbread house kits keep everyone on the same design.
- If your kids are 8 or older and you have a weekend, bake from scratch with the Lobby Table Method above. Let them build the minis while you build the hero.
- If you are an experienced baker who wants a challenge, go bigger on the hero and add more minis. The same planning carries straight over to entering a gingerbread house competition.
Whichever you choose, make the royal icing with meringue powder or pasteurized egg whites if little hands will be licking it off their fingers. The FDA advises pasteurized eggs for any recipe where the egg is eaten raw.
To get started this week:
- Measure the space where the display will sit.
- Run the planner above for your space, your time and your helpers.
- Print the template at 100 percent and at 30 percent.
- Pick a weekend at least a week before your first holiday guests arrive.
The quick payoff is a finished display on your table before the season gets busy. The longer one is a tradition your family makes instead of one you drive to.
Where to See Gingerbread at Disney World in 2026
You will still find gingerbread at Disney World this year, just not the walk-in house. The Grand Floridian will have its new miniature displays. A September 2026 planDisney answer says gingerbread displays return at the Contemporary, Beach Club, BoardWalk and Yacht Club. And according to the Disney Parks Blog, EPCOT's gingerbread Spaceship Earth returns for the 2026 Festival of the Holidays, which runs November 27 to December 30.
That resort list took a while to settle, and it still is not official. In June, WDW News Today noticed that the resort gingerbread displays were missing from Disney's 2026 holiday announcements. Fox 35 Orlando later listed the Contemporary, Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn and Animal Kingdom Lodge. The planDisney answer comes from one of its volunteer panelists rather than a Disney announcement, so check Disney's resort pages before you plan a day around any one display.
If you plan to hop between resorts to see them, check the transportation rules first. Since June 28, 2026, boarding a resort bus or boat at Disney Springs takes a Disney resort hotel stay, a resort dining reservation, or a resort recreation booking.
Best Gingerbread Houses is not affiliated with Disney. Disney names appear here only to report the news.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Grand Floridian gingerbread house coming back?
No. Disney has retired the life-size house. The resort is replacing it with miniature gingerbread displays around the resort.
Why did Disney get rid of the Grand Floridian gingerbread house?
Disney said the change helps keep the lobby flowing smoothly for resort guests. The lobby was refurbished in 2025, and that work added a new bar called The Perch.
When did the Grand Floridian gingerbread house start?
In 1999. Its last appearance was the 25th anniversary house in 2024.
What was the Grand Floridian gingerbread house made of?
For 2024, Disney's team used 1,050 pounds of honey, 800 pounds of flour, 600 pounds of confectioners' sugar and 700 pounds of chocolate, according to WDW News Today.
Can I make a Grand Floridian style gingerbread house at home?
Yes, at tabletop size. Use a Victorian template for one hero house, print it smaller for a set of minis, and stage them on a white cloth with warm lights.
Start Your Own Gingerbread Display With Best Gingerbread Houses
The Grand Floridian house was a once-a-year trip. A lobby table is something your family can build every year, and it starts with houses that stay standing. We rate kits on exactly that, so if you would rather skip the baking, start with our gingerbread house kits that actually hold together and spend your time on the decorating.
Featured image: Wilson Hui, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons