A Cinderella-inspired gingerbread castle is under construction at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, offering a seasonal castle display outside Magic Kingdom rather than a new theme park attraction.
Construction was observed November 9 in the resort’s fourth-floor Grand Canyon Concourse. Blue curtains surround the work area near Chef Mickey’s and the walkway to Bay Lake Tower, where Disney’s bakery team has begun arranging gingerbread pieces and decorating materials.
The installation is part of the Contemporary’s annual gingerbread tradition, now in its 15th year. Disney has not announced when the 2026 display will be completed, its final size or which decorative details it will include.
Previous versions illustrate the scale of the hotel’s holiday creations. The Contemporary’s 2025 gingerbread castle was about 17 feet tall and 25 feet wide, though those dimensions have not been confirmed for this year’s display. Disney said an earlier castle used more than 4,000 gingerbread bricks, along with hundreds of pounds of sugar and other ingredients.
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The resort sits beside Magic Kingdom and is connected to the park by a pedestrian walkway and the Walt Disney World Resort Monorail. The gingerbread display will be in the Contemporary’s public-facing dining and retail area, not inside Magic Kingdom.
The project comes as Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will not bring back its large gingerbread house for Christmas 2026. Disney previously said it would use smaller gingerbread displays at the Grand Floridian, citing a goal of maintaining movement through the renovated lobby.
