New Enhancements, Dining Options Coming to Disney’s BoardWalk

[Bocabear]

ok the construction pace on this restaurant has become comical... With their current pace I would say late 2024-2025 for an opening... They are still at metal studs and have not closed in the structure..... And why a running restaurant would have to get completely stripped back to the steel girders to be refurbished into a bakery/restaurant is beyond me... the dollar amount has to be at the million dollar plus at this point.... and with that investment, how can any restaurant generate enough business to make this feasible? I guess the prices of the food are going to have to be incredibly high...
Were there actual structural issues that made gutting down to the steel girders absolutely necessary? They don't seem to have added more dining space to the footprint of the building... I am sure the kitchen needed to be upgraded for Bakery.... but this seems excessive.
Down here in South Florida we are used to seeing the annual openings of new restaurants every season...each one beginning with a million dollar gut and redo of the spaces, then they open, and by the end of the season they close....and another restaurant hospitality group comes in and completely guts the space and spends another million dollars to open a restaurant that will also fail by the end of the season.... The restaurants that are successful seem to be the very few that move into the space and just do some light refurbishment and a new sign...

 

[mattpeto]

This is new picture from today.

 

[Bocabear]

LOL! but seriously... How long do they expect us to wait for our $25 slice of cake?

 

[mastromjm]

After quite a while (...years?), the signs outside Thimbles and Threads have returned:

Unfortunately, this is the current state of Cake Bake Shop (in full guest view if you're walking back from Epcot!)

 

[Bocabear]

When was this supposed to open? So in July of 2022 they began the removal of ESPN stuff from the building and the remodel... It has been over a year and we are still at metal studs and no roof... That is pretty amazing, and right on view in a premium resort... I can't even begin to understand why they would have removed all of the steel structure for the tower roof, then built it back again...but slightly shorter. Surely the Cake Bake Shop could have opened with a slightly taller tower. The amount of money being wasted converting a restaurant to a restaurant is kind of ridiculous....along with the never ending timeline. This building has been sitting in this condition for a ridiculous amount of time... and yeah someone is going to blame Covid....lol It feels like it is on the Sagrada Familia Timeline... lol

 

[TDLFan]

I actually wondered if the deal with Cake Bake fell through and Disney was looking for other options. Even for Disney construction time lines, the amount of time this thing has sat is unusual.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I actually wondered if the deal with Cake Bake fell through and Disney was looking for other options. Even for Disney construction time lines, the amount of time this thing has sat is unusual.

I started to wonder the same. It’s odd, as you said, even for Disney.

 

[Bocabear]

Well if you had an agreement to bring your restaurant to a Walt Disney World resort...and over a year after signing the contracts they were still at what looks to be 9 months minimum away from being complete, I would be raising all kinds of hell... and wondering what was going on....and perhaps pull out of the deal.
Disney could do their own version of this if they wanted to...I know that is not the current trend...Current trend is to bring ion 3rd party operators to run everything, but this Cake Bake Shop arrangement was not necessary... Hopefully if it does ever open, the food will be better quality than ESPN...

 

[mastromjm]

I started to wonder the same. It’s odd, as you said, even for Disney.

It's very odd, but I work at Boardwalk four days a week and I've seen random flurries of activity there followed by weeks-long stretches of absolutely nothing. I would think if the deal fell through the signage would have been removed.

Also, nothing new to have third parties on the Boardwalk, Jellyrolls & Big River have been there since day one and are both third parties. But it does seem like 3rd party is the answer to a lot of problems these days given how many of the Epcot Disney-operated musical acts have been replaced by outside groups

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

But it does seem like 3rd party is the answer to a lot of problems these days given how many of the Epcot Disney-operated musical acts have been replaced by outside groups

Boardwalk entertainers used to be Disney equity, then they became 3rd party but were pretty much full time, and the acts were very custom and perfect for the boardwalk (Brian Staron, Maks, Jay, etc.). Now the 3rd party is VERY obviously 3rd party (some acts being more obvious than others).

 

[mastromjm]

Boardwalk entertainers used to be Disney equity, then they became 3rd party but were pretty much full time, and the acts were very custom and perfect for the boardwalk (Brian Staron, Maks, Jay, etc.). Now the 3rd party is VERY obviously 3rd party (some acts being more obvious than others).

Oh god yeah. Back in the day they used to have a saxophone quintet roaming the Boardwalk. Almost hilarious to think about given the state of live music at WDW these days.

 

[DisneyDreamerxyz]

Walked by there today and building still a shell, it was basically completely demolished (supposedly due to mold issues) so I wonder if the construction costs became too much for Cake Shop.
Today they were also cutting out chunks of the Boardwalks and replacing it with new wood, which is all fine and ok except the wood is a completely different color than what is there so it’s very obvious.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Today they were also cutting out chunks of the Boardwalks and replacing it with new wood, which is all fine and ok except the wood is a completely different color than what is there so it’s very obvious.

Isn’t that how a real boardwalk would be maintained?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Isn’t that how a real boardwalk would be maintained?

I’m glad they’re finally doing it. A lot of the wood is rotten.

It has to be done in sections since the resort still needs to function.

Also noticed the lightbulbs in “The Boardwalk” sign on the Boardwalk side were finally replaced! Many were burned out for years.

 

[mattpeto]

Walked by there today and building still a shell, it was basically completely demolished (supposedly due to mold issues) so I wonder if the construction costs became too much for Cake Shop.
Today they were also cutting out chunks of the Boardwalks and replacing it with new wood, which is all fine and ok except the wood is a completely different color than what is there so it’s very obvious.

What’s further along? The Cake Bake Shop or the new unnamed Epcot show?

 

[Bocabear]

Hard to tell at this point...the Cake Bake Shop has actually gone backwards since the announcement... which is different from something that is actively building though unnamed.no now it is a completely open to the elements shell and has been for a very long time... Interior spaces that are then opened to the elements in humid, wet rainy Florida don't tend to last long...

 

[ToTBellHop]

What’s further along? The Cake Bake Shop or the new unnamed Epcot show?

Epcot fireworks though, to be fair, it requires no roof. Roofs take time. You can’t build a new house in Central Florida in less than 4 years.

 

[Bocabear]

Whaaaaat? Down here in South Florida where we have the toughest building restrictions, they build residential towers in less time than it takes Disney to remodel a snack bar... I also see tons of development going on in the Orlando area, and it is not taking 4 years to build a house. Concrete roof tiles seem to be difficult to find right now and we were tole there is a year back-order on white concrete roof tiles... but not 4 years...lol

 

[Bocabear]

and a metal roof like the Cake Bake Shop will most likely have, we can have installed in a couple weeks....

 

[FeelsSoGoodToBeBad]

and a metal roof like the Cake Bake Shop will most likely have, we can have installed in a couple weeks....

I guess this sorta gives me some hope that it'll be ready when we come in January...? *sigh* Maybe....? I was really hoping to be able to enjoy this with my Dad (his first trip since Epcot opened) and sister (both of our first trips without kids). I get that mold would require striping to the studs and starting over, but to drag along like it has makes almost no sense, unless there's issues somewhere else in the process (maybe with contracts or finding workers?).

I've stated before I LOVE the Cake Bake Shop. It was my stepmom's favorite bakery and sent slices to her when she was in the final stages of her cancer, so would be very special to feel like there is a connection with her in WDW when we go.