New Enhancements, Dining Options Coming to Disney’s BoardWalk

D

DCBaker

Premium Member
Some details on the Cake Bake Shop from an article at the Orlando Sentinel.

When the Indiana-based Cake Bake Shop opens its new restaurant and sweet shop at Walt Disney World’s BoardWalk later this year, most of the towering, glittery confections will be produced offsite at a commercial bakery in Osceola County.

The company, led by founder Gwendolyn Rogers, just completed its new 31,200-square-foot commercial bakery within the Trinity Industrial Park just off Poinciana Boulevard, according to a report in GrowthSpotter. It’s located about a mile south of the Poinciana SunRail station.

Rogers announced plans for the Disney Boardwalk location in 2022, and the company has been renovating the former ESPN Club building for more than a year to create a full-service restaurant and separate quick- service bake shop. The Cake Bake Shop has been featured multiple times in Oprah’s list of “Favorite Things” and has partnerships with William-Sonoma and Tiffany & Co., to name a few. This will be the company’s third location and its largest to date.

Rogers bought the Osceola property in 2021 and started the work on the commercial bakery before she had closed the deal for the BoardWalk location. It was an instinctual move and the first concrete step in realizing her vision for a restaurant that will introduce her brand and flavors to visitors from around the world.

“I felt it so strongly that I thought, you know what, I’m going to take this jump and I’m going to leap off the diving board and hope that it fills up with water by the time I hit the pool. And it did, so it worked out,” she said.

The offsite bakery is a critical component to the success of the restaurant. It’s the only way to produce the volume of baked goods she intends to sell and ensure quality. She decided the restaurant kitchen would focus solely on the savory menu items.

“So it made sense for me to find a place that I could make all of my cakes and pies and everything,” she said. “Everything we make is from scratch and everything is homemade — so it’s very labor intensive.”

Each cake can take up to six hours to complete because they’re all hand stacked, hand decorated and hand cut. The Cake Bake Shop sells 12 varieties each day. The menu consists of eight permanent flavors and four seasonal ones, plus cheesecakes, pies, crumb cakes, cookies and lemon bars.

“I really wanted to make sure that everything I was doing, not only that the quality was where it needs to be on a daily basis, but I really wanted to be in a kitchen that was clean and shiny and new,” she said. “And I’m very much a stickler when it comes to where my food comes from and how it gets treated and how it gets handled. And the best way for me to really do that was to work out of my own facility.”

An Indiana-based holding company bought lots 5 and 6 of the industrial park in September 2021 from master developer Hanover Capital and replatted them into a single lot to accommodate the build. Fifth Third Bank provided two construction loans totaling about $7 million, and general contractor ARCO Murray broke ground in mid 2022 under the code name “Project Carrot.”

The bakery received its certificate of occupancy in December, but Rogers said it won’t be fully up and running until she gets closer to the restaurant opening. Her cakes are made without preservatives, so they’re meant to be consumed within a day, when the buttercream has set and the sponge “is so soft it melts in your mouth.”

The restaurant and bakery at the Disney BoardWalk will feature a full menu of sweet and savory items, including brunch, lunch and dinner service, as well as afternoon high tea. Rogers said the pricing at the Disney location is still to be determined. At her Indiana bake shops, a signature triple layer cakes sells for around $16 per slice and full cakes can be purchased retail or online starting at $105 for a 6-inch cake that serves eight.

The bake shop also offers gluten-free options, including many of her signature cakes, which can be made or ordered gluten-free.

Rogers said online orders will continue to ship from the Indiana location, while the Florida facility will bake exclusively for the Disney operation.

“That’s my focus,” Rogers said, “and I will give 110% to that to make sure that that is always fulfilling every guests’ need. And we’re going to do our best to never run out of any products.”
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www.orlandosentinel.com

Cake Bake Shop opens commercial bakery to serve Disney restaurant

When the Indiana-based Cake Bake Shop opens its new restaurant and sweet shop at Walt Disney World’s BoardWalk later this year, most of the towering, glittery confections will be produced offsite a…
www.orlandosentinel.com www.orlandosentinel.com
 
mastromjm

mastromjm

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
New entertainment at Boardwalk as of tonight - the Boardwalk Boys barbershop quartet. They are excellent and a very polished show - much more fitting of the Boardwalk than the last a cappella group. Peter (leader) mentioned it was their "test night".

IMG_0257.JPG
 
AJT607

AJT607

Active Member
We love the nighttime entertainment at the BoardWalk. While we enjoy the Juggling Jacks and the magician that are currently heavy in the rotation, some additional variety would be great. I enjoy having 3 or so different entertainment acts each night and are thankful for all of them - the entertainment gap due to Covid was heartbreaking.
 
AJT607

AJT607

Active Member
Other websites are reporting that Big River Grille at the Boardwalk is closing this weekend. I'm excited to see what comes to this space but I am hoping it isn't a long and drawn out process where we are waiting 18+ months to see a new food concept arrive. The big thing that is lacking after the departure of Big River Grille and ESPN Club is a solid sports bar type location. Any word on what is expected to replace the location?
 
B

buckeyegator

Well-Known Member
AJT607 said:
Other websites are reporting that Big River Grille at the Boardwalk is closing this weekend. I'm excited to see what comes to this space but I am hoping it isn't a long and drawn out process where we are waiting 18+ months to see a new food concept arrive. The big thing that is lacking after the departure of Big River Grille and ESPN Club is a solid sports bar type location. Any word on what is expected to replace the location?
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tiana's sports bar
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
mastromjm said:
New entertainment at Boardwalk as of tonight - the Boardwalk Boys barbershop quartet. They are excellent and a very polished show - much more fitting of the Boardwalk than the last a cappella group. Peter (leader) mentioned it was their "test night".

View attachment 762746
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That would be a really fun addition to the boardwalk - I do hope that if they become a permanent offering they will have set prices that hide the sound system.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
I posted this in the thread about Big River Grille closing, but since it relates to the Boardwalk as a whole:

I wonder if they'll consider putting something different in the space (i.e. not a restaurant). There's the Yachtsman, Cape May, Beaches and Cream, and Ale & Compass at the Yacht/Beach Club, and then the new Cake Bake Shop, Flying Fish, Trattoria al Forno, the Boardwalk Deli, and the pizza window at the Boardwalk itself -- although Flying Fish and Trattoria al Forno don't serve lunch. There are also the restaurants at Swan/Dolphin and even EPCOT a relatively short walk away. It's a lot of competition.

Personally, I wish they'd turn this space into a diner that serves all day breakfast along with other standard diner fare and change the deli into something else -- maybe a themed ice cream and candy shop more like what was once offered there years ago. I'm sure that won't happen considering the Boardwalk Deli was just recently redone, though.
 

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