Gideon's Bakehouse is a bakery in Disney Springs, which has a huge cult following. It has been open and operating in Disney Springs since January, 2021, and continues to be one of the top "attractions" to go to in Disney Springs. I say attractions because some Disney guests rope drop Gideon's when Disney Springs opens for the day, the bakery often operates on a virtual queue, and it continues to have hour plus waits to gain access to the exclusive indoors of the bakery. Here, I will let you know my real thoughts on Gideon's Bakery and if I think it is actually worth all of the hype.
Gideon's Bakehouse is located in "The Landing" section of Disney Springs. The bakery is known for its 1/2 pound cookies, but also features giant three-layer cake slices. Additionally, Gideon's serves cold brew coffee, in various flavors.
The cookies are made from scratch and take 24 hours to make. Guests are limited to purchasing 6 cookies per person! The bakery itself takes on a "curiosity" theme, and is decorated with strange works of art, aging books, and antiquities from the Victorian era. The ambiance makes visiting Gideon's a whole experience, getting to take in the Disney-esque theming while waiting to place your order.
When Disney Springs first open for the day, Gideon's Bakery operates with a standby line, which wraps around the side of the building. When the standby line gets too long, the bakery switches to a virtual queue. This means that guests can put their name on a list and can leave Gideon's location. They will eventually get a text to return to Gideon's, at which time they join the standby line. It is crazy to me that a virtual queue is needed to purchase a cookie.
On the particular day that we were in Disney Springs, there was only a standby line in place rather than a virtual queue. We ended up waiting in line 30-40 minutes before we were granted entrance into Gideon's Bakery. This wasn't a terrible wait, compared to the multi-hour wait that I have heard about.
Only about 20 people can be inside of the bakery at once, which is presumably why the line gets so long. Once inside, you can take in the full ambiance of the Victorian era theming. The decor is an experience in itself, and makes visiting Gideon's feel like a Disney attraction, rather than just any old bakery.
As you approach the counter to order, they have the various cookies available that day on display, so that you can see what they look like. There is a coffee cake cookie available every morning, until it sells out. There are also 6 other varieties, with a special seasonal cookie which changes each month. When we were there, there was a pistachio toffee chocolate chip, chocolate chip, banana bread chocolate chip, coffee cake, cookies and cream, triple chocolate chip, and peanut butter crunch. The seasonal cookie was pumpkin bread chocolate crumb cookie, which was the one we tried. It was fantastic.
The half-pound cookies are only $6 a piece, which I think is a very generous price. The cookies are huge, and can easily be split between multiple people. The 2 of us snacked on one cookie for 3 days. The cookies are extremely rich so I was only able to eat a couple of bites at a time. They are very delicious though!! Perfectly moist and soft, and the flavors were spot on. One bite of a cookie made me understand why people wait in line to come to Gideon's Bakery. Personally, I would not wait more than the 30-40 minutes we waited, as it seems silly to waste hours in line for a cookie, but to each their own.
K.C. also tried the pumpkin spice nitro cold brew coffee and he absolutely loved it. He went so far as to say it was the best cold brew he has ever had. The cold brews are also $6 each. The cake slices, which we did not sample because they are absolutely humongous and looked like way too much sugar, are $9 a piece. These prices are all very reasonable in my opinion, seeing how much you get per serving.
We really enjoyed our experience at Gideon's Bakehouse. The cookies are absolutely delicious. I do think waiting hours to visit the bakery is a bit extreme, but a short standby wait is not terrible to get your hands on one of the cookies. The virtual queue would also work out if you get on the list right when you get to Disney Springs. You could then do some shopping while you wait. If you haven't visited Gideon's I highly recommend it. Expect to have one of the best cookies you have ever had!
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