The holiday season has officially kicked off at Walt Disney World, and with it comes gingerbread displays at select Deluxe Resorts! One of the first completed installations is the Cinderella’s Dream Castle gingerbread display at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. This is the third year for the castle design, and the 15th year the resort has hosted a gingerbread display. There’s also seasonal treats and exclusive merchandise available here… Let’s take a look!
You’ll find the gingerbread display just behind the Fantasia gift shop within the Grand Canyon Concourse of the resort.
The castle setup was designed by Walt Disney Imagineers and decorated by 40 Cast Members from the Contemporary Resort Bakery Team. It takes the team 30 days to bake and assemble the 1200+ gingerbread bricks and finishing touches.
The first two years of the castle’s design included light-wrapped turrets inspired by the ol’ Castle Dream Lights. Instead, this year has scalloped turrets and blue and purple decorational details. The entire 2026 display looks a bit more dimensional than years past, too.
Here’s a side-by-side look at 2024, 2025, and this year’s installations:
Measuring in at 17′ 6″ tall and 25′ 4″ wide, this year’s display is made up of:
- 613 pounds of sugar
- 440 jars of honey
- 13 gallons of milk
- 1013 pounds of flour
- 113 pounds of gingerbread spice
- 25 pounds of chocolate
- 70 pounds of modeling chocolate
- 60 pounds of fondant
- 43 pounds of royal icing
- 513 eggs
- 15 hidden Mickeys (one for every year of the gingerbread display tradition for the resort!)
- 1 hidden 5-legged goat
Zooming into the details, the golden filigree and finishes dress up the gingerbread to fit the regal theme, while matching hidden Mickeys blend right in most areas — but aren’t too difficult to spot!
The five-legged goat can be seen on a white fondant tile along the left side:
Gingerbread Treats & Exclusive Merch
Just next to the display is a snack kiosk setup, offering various cookies, chocolates, pastries, and gingerbread treats for purchase.
The resort-exclusive gingerbread-themed ornament ($24.99) features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as gingerbread cookies with a Contemporary A-frame-shaped gingerbread house to match, complete with peppermint sticks monorail tracks! I’m pretty sure this is the cutest resort ornament ever.
There’s a Disney Pin to match with glittery sugar details, also exclusively available at the Contemporary ($24.99):
Don’t miss this year’s gingerbread display at the Contemporary!
