Disney’s newest dining reservation opened up in the past few months, The Cake Bake Shop. This place has caused quite the stir online, so I had to see it for myself. From the time they announced this I was so excited to experience this dining destination. And spoiler alert: to me it did not disappoint!
Click here to watch my vlog about our trip to The Cake Bake Shop after you read this!
On our most recent trip we were able to get a walk-up table at The Cake Bake Shop. While at this time they do accept reservations via OpenTable, you can put your name on a walk-up list as well. Our estimated wait time was 45 minutes, but we only ended up waiting around 25 minutes.
Upon walking in I couldn’t help but be in awe of the absolutely stunning holiday decor. If there is one thing I took away from this experience is that The Cake Bake Shop pays a ton of attention to detail! Everywhere you looked there were festive details – all still in the color scheme of their brand. The star of the show was certainly the slowly-rotating display on top of the “carousel” in the main dining room. Our server let us know that the display rotated very slowly – about one rotation every 30 minutes. It was stunning!
But let’s get into the nitty gritty – as it’s not Christmas all year ’round. From our first encounter with the host at the front, all of the staff was incredibly kind. Our waiter was fabulous! He was knowledgable, kind, and funny. He made for a great dining experience.
We decided to go for lighter menu items. They have a “pick two” of sorts, and that’s what we both decided to go for. I food was really good – definitely better than a Disney sandwich in my personal opinion. Everything tasted fresh as well. Is it the best food I’ve ever had? No! But was it above average for Disney food? Yes! I would love to go back for their brunch to sample that menu. However, we did enjoy our meals and would certainly order those menu items again.
After our meal we opted to go to the bakery to get a sweet treat to-go rather than eat it while seated. We ended up getting a slice of their chocolate cake to share, and I ordered a hot chai latte since it was chilly out. My chai definitely had something different about it, while it was good it was a bit more cakey sweet flavored…? I’m not sure if that is some sort of specialty for them or if it was a mistake. Either way I did enjoy it. The cake was delicious, in our opinion! I would say the only desserts on Disney property that I prefer over this cake are The Boathouse’s chocolate cake and Gideon’s cookies. But this cake was significantly better than Disney’s dessert, in my opinion.
The largest complaint of this restaurant is the cost. Does this really cost much more than any other Disney sit-down? Not really. Are the desserts higher priced? Yes, but that is also their “specialty”. We could also argue that Gideon’s charging $6 for one cookie is also overpriced. I personally think that the service, food quality, and overall experience are worth the cost in this scenario. And we need to remember, The Cake Bake Shop is a small business that got the chance of a lifetime to open at one of the most visited destinations in the United States! That’s awesome!
I truly noticed an attention to detail I haven’t seen in any other Disney World dining establishment, espeically when it came to families/children. The high chairs were beautiful and certainly custom (which made me chuckle with delight). The bathrooms were clean, and even had sanitizing diaper changing stations. While these aren’t resources everyone will be using there, it just shows the thought they put behind it all. Even the extravagant Christmas decor was unexpected and made the dining experience that much better. To me all of it shows that their founder, Gwendolyn Rogers, has a knack for details. She is a small business owner who has taken her business above and beyond with these small things that add up to make for an unforgettable experience!
I’ve decided that The Cake Bake Shop is for me! I love an elevated dining experience, I love all things feminine and glitzy, and I’ll always pay a little extra to support a quality small business. I understand not everyone may feel that way, or may not have the budget to visit. However, I think many reviews online are incredibly harsh, inconsiderate of the big picture, and twisting the truth.
I’ll be back for you, Cake Bake Shop! You were fabulous!
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Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Jayme
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