Cake Bake Shop Restaurant at Disney World: Full Menus w/ Prices, Opening Date & ADR Details
The Cake Bake Shop Restaurant by Gwendolyn Rogers is a new sit-down dining spot and bakery at Walt Disney World, replacing ESPN Club at the BoardWalk within walking distance of EPCOT. This covers everything you need to know: opening date, full menus for breakfast, lunch & dinner with prices, how to eat here during the soft opening, as well as a bit of commentary about the controversies (plural) of this new WDW dining concept.
Let’s start with the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant’s opening date, as this has become a common reader questions for the last couple of years. Not since Space 220 and Toy Story Roundup Rodeo has a restaurant had as many construction delays as Cake Bake. (So really, not that long ago since those are still two of Walt Disney World’s newest restaurants.)
The lethargic pace of this project has actually become a bit of a punchline. Or at least, it was until this month. The Cake Bake Shop Restaurant has been doing limited testing and trial operations for invited guests, Cast Members and various VIPs over the course of the last week–and had its walls down before that as of the first week of October. So we knew its debut sometime this month was inevitable. It’s been 84 years, but that day has finally arrived…
The latest update is that the Cake Bake Shop is NOW (soft) OPEN as of October 24, 2024!
The bakery side of The Cake Bake Shop quietly opened its doors and greeted guests bright and early this morning. The table service restaurant will open for dinner service at 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 24.
Starting on Friday, October 25, the restaurant side of the Cake Bake Shop will open at 7 a.m. for breakfast, which will be served until 11 a.m. Immediately thereafter, lunch and dinner will be served from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. The bakery side will be open daily from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m.
During these soft openings, the Cake Bake Shop is only accepting walk-ups. Expect it to regularly reach capacity over this coming weekend as it works through long lines of bloggers, vloggers, influencers, and Floridian fans who have to be “first.” Given the high menu prices (more on that in a minute), it’ll be interesting to see what organic demand looks like among regular Walt Disney World guests once the artificial initial rush is over.
Reservations for Cake Bake’s grand opening and beyond will be available in the My Disney Experience app and via DisneyWorld.com at some point in the near future. (Within the next week is what we’ve been told, but no specifics beyond that.)
It’s worth noting that Walt Disney World still has yet to announce an official opening date for the Cake Bake Shop. It’s possible they want to give this a longer runway for making adjustments during trial operations, as the Cake Bake Shop has already proven receptive to guest feedback. It might behoove them to heed a bit more of that.
Here are the full and final menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant by Gwendolyn Rogers:
The Cake Bake Shop has been mired in controversy since it was originally announced.
Many Walt Disney World fans were upset about ESPN Club closing, period. It offered a convenient spot within walking distance of both EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios to watch major sporting events, making it the rare non-lounge venue serving such a purpose.
The Cake Bake Shop was basically the antithesis of ESPN Club. I don’t want to paint with too broad of a brush about guest demographics or anything, but the vibe of the Cake Bake Shop is basically Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for cakes. You are more than welcome to draw your own conclusions about to whom that appeals versus a sports bar.
In any case, this was exacerbated when Walt Disney World announced the “surprise” closure of Big River Grille & Brewing Works over on the other side of the BoardWalk earlier this year. Air quotes around surprise since it was anything but, as this restaurant had been unpopular (and awful) for a while nothing. Abrupt is probably the more apt term. The bigger surprise was that Big River didn’t close years ago.
Regardless, it’s fair to say that the closure of Big River added more credibility to concerns about the dining slate at BoardWalk. From an objective perspective, it was hard to take seriously complaints about ESPN Club’s closure. If it were as popular as some fans claimed, it would’ve stayed open. The difference with Big River gone is that BoardWalk now has a shortage of easy and approachable options, and I can see why that would upset frequent BoardWalk guests or DVC owners here.
Thankfully, Trattoria al Forno still exists–and is one of the best mid-tier table service restaurants at Walt Disney World. Not to mention the many other options around Crescent Lake in the Swan & Dolphin or Yacht & Beach Club Resorts. And those via the Skyliner at other nearby resorts. Oh, also the ones a short walk away inside EPCOT’s World Showcase.
Construction walls came down a few weeks ago, revealing menus posted outside at the Cake Bake Shop. With this, a newer and bigger controversy emerged–the astronomical prices drew a tremendous amount of backlash on social media. While outrage is the normal currency of the internet, these complaints were understandable.
Honestly, we expected prices to be high and warned fans to brace themselves for the Cake Bake Shop at Walt Disney World to be expensive given its other locations. It stood to reason that if those were expensive despite being located in Indiana, the one at Walt Disney World would be even worse. We recently saw something similar with the premium pricing at Din Tai Fung at Downtown Disney versus its location in affluent areas of Southern California.
Even expecting high prices, I was shocked by what I saw when the Cake Bake Shop menus were posted outside the restaurant. I’ve been doing this a while–it takes a lot to shock me at this point. But you know what? Kids menus with $18 PB&J sandwiches and $18 grilled cheese, $8 Cokes, $26 eggs, and $26 fruit plates will do it! (Unlike some, I was not shocked by the $32 burger. Ridiculous, yes, but Space 220 already has a ~$40 burger if you do the math on the lunch prix fixe menu!)
In any case, Ms. Rogers must’ve heard the chorus of complaints, because the Cake Bake Shop menus posted outside were quickly updated with adjusted costs. For the most part, prices were pretty much lowered across the board. (The menus above are the final ones, reflecting the mostly-lowered prices.)
Some went down by as little as a penny (kudos on the $0.99 consumer psychology, I guess?), whereas others dropped by over $10. Some items did increase by a couple of dollars to keep consistent with their categories (which saw other items decrease). Without doing any math, I’d guesstimate that the menu prices dropped by around 10-15% on average. It was a huge win for online complainers, and proof that our tireless efforts do make a difference.
Before we strain our shoulders patting ourselves on the backs, it is worth noting that–since the Cake Bake Shop was not yet open–it was unclear how these price reductions were achieved. Perhaps it was a hollow victory, after all. Maybe portion sizes were decreased, supplier substitutions were made, or lower-quality ingredients will now be used. Personally, I’m not too worked up about all of that. Something tells me that the $18 PB&J was all markup and the quality of the Coca-Cola (with free refills) is more or less unchanged.
I have a lot of thoughts about the Cake Bake Shop prices, some of which you may not like. (Don’t worry, I’m sure most of you will agree with most of it.) But, you know what, it’s been a long week of price increases and this is already a lot to digest, so I’m going to hit pause on that.
In part, this is because I also want to hear from readers to incorporate some of that reader feedback into an upcoming article. So now is your chance to impress your family, friends, former classmates, inlaws & outlaws, and so forth by having your thoughts published in what is easily among the top 1,570 Disney-related blogs on the internet. When preparing your smartest and most astute insights into the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant’s menu prices (and whatever else), please consider the following:
- The Cake Bake Shop is owned and operated by a third party, meaning that Disney is not responsible for these prices except indirectly to the extent that they charge rent. (However, the existence of other third party restaurants–including in-park ones–that have cheaper menus sort of undercuts that line of reasoning.)
- Cake prices are per slice (albeit massive ones), not for entire cakes.
- Here are the menus for the Broad Ripple and Carmel Cake Bake locations, for reference.
- The other locations are incredibly popular, despite being expensive and in Indiana.
- Cake Bake Shop does not use gold flakes, endangered animals, or any other rare/exotic ingredients in these dishes or drinks.
I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s thoughts on this one, hopefully taking into consideration the above points. I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect, but am nevertheless open to a variety of opinions, including ‘unpopular’ or contrarian ones.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your thoughts about the Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers? Will you be dining here or skipping it? Surprised by just how expensive this is? Think the prices are worth it, even if they do require a second mortgage? Excited for this new bakery and restaurant or will you miss ESPN Club? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m really intrigued by the menu, a lot looks very yummy, and I would l probably want to try and make it work for the rare date night my husband and I sometimes finagle on a WDW trip. But I’m not sure I would actually want to make it work when push comes to shove with those prices. They seem like fine dining prices and even my former manager at the Capital Grille husband who dreams about our honeymoon meal at V&A would take a whole lot of convincing that we should carve out so much of our vacation budget for one meal there. I’m bummed because yummy cake, desserts, and a beautiful interior is right up my alley, but those prices! Yikes.
RIDICULOUS PRICES ! sorry how much more can Disney squeeze from visitors ? Just don’t understand the GREED ? enough already. The ESPN CLUB had a wide variety of affordable meals for all. It would appear now being a BCV member we will be cooking many more meals for this place will not be on our to eat out list.
Wow! So many negative comments. How about showing some support for a person taking a chance and wanting to fulfill a dream! My cup is half full, not half empty. For some, this will be a hit, others maybe. Good luck on your venture!
It’s a business. Success or failure is based on product provided at a price point and quality that is acceptable to the consumer. It’s perfectly acceptable to comment rejecting it. Bar isn’t ’negative.’ Nobody is obligated to finance someone’s ’dream’, and if they are, let me know your PayPal and I’ll send you my bill.
Unless the slices are large enough to share between three people and each person would get a normal portion each, quite frankly, they can sod off. Were the cakes baked by Tinkerbell herself or something? What an absolute rip off.
Wow! You obviously don’t own a small business! There are risk takers and just plain takers, right?
My dad was a CEO in Indianapolis and my parents lived in Carmel, IN and the restaurant there was great. We have been eagerly awaiting the WDW opening. Yes, the first menu prices were absurd even for Disney. The $8 coke really bothered me but I thought, ok I’ll just drink water! We have been looking for a fun girls day out tea kind of place. The Ritz in Orlando does a teddy bear tea focused on kids. The GFL tea room still isn’t open. There are some smaller tea places but they are just too cute. My husband, who lived in Paris for three years, looked at the menu and even he thought it sounded good especially the wines. So yes, it’s pricy, but I think there is an audience here for it in Orlando. I hope it succeeds.
As an adult who will die bitter that I never got to experience the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, I am SQUARELY in the intended demographic for this restaurant. I love an afternoon tea (wither thou, Garden View?) and I will pay a premium for the experience.
However.
It’s like many have said since this whole conversation started – these prices are shocking FOR DISNEY. Everyone knows that you’re going to spend more in the bubble and we brace for it, even as we complain. For a menu to stun and appall the way this one did it really has to rise above the usual noise. We’ll see if everyone comes to accept the cost as part of The Experience or not.
What I would be interested to know is if these greatly inflated prices were almost entirely about rent. Disney has been hiking everything far beyond what inflation justifies, so why wouldn’t they be doing the same thing to their third party vendors?
I was actually searching breakfast menus today and the prices for Cake Bake breakfast really are basically in line with entrees at Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe, etc. I guess it depends on what you want. Cake is obviously the specialty item, so it will cost more.
27 bucks for a burger without fries. Wish a Raglan Road or actual good brewery type place would find a home at the boardwalk. A cigar city location would be solid. Oh yeah and a real counter service place at one of the 3 nearby hotels. This cake place sounds good for an expensive dessert but not much else.
@David Z-nicely put. I really loved it there during my visit in IN last summer. We can all nicely and *quietly* opt to not go right? Or go? I mean it’s America still sooooo…..
My big thing is (besides prices), why should I eat here? It obviously meets a need at the two other locations, but now it’s going up against SO many other options. I get that it’s seen as a splurge-type experience, but Disney is filled with those options. I was watching this project since the shop’s announcement highlighted afternoon tea, and now I don’t see afternoon tea as an option. Will it be added later, when/if they get their feet under them at this location?
Sorry another thought – if Orlando locals take to this as a fun birthday/bachelorette party/splurge dining thing that they enjoy doing, then I think it could survive. I will say we sat next to some locals that were having a birthday dinner at Teppan Edo a couple weeks ago and one of the people ordered the $120 lobster entree, and that’s inside a park .. so the fact that this doesn’t require a ticket could be a way for locals to get another Disney fix/cool restaurant/instagram photos/ splurge meal … if that happens and word of mouth is good, then I think it will work. Thankfully they put it outside of a park. I still think it would’ve done better in the grand Floridian though.
I hope it succeeds,I really do.. it’s adorable. but I really think this would have been a home run if it replaced Grand Floridian Cafe instead. It’s a match made in heaven for GF. Hopefully they will put in a shake shack / sports pub combo type thing in big river grille space so all can be appeased. It’s honestly unfortunate timing. If this had opened in 2021 during the height of the Disney World revenge travel craze I think it would’ve done really well. But just look at dining reservations for all table service options at WDW right now… as much as most people love to do sit down at Disney. The prices are just getting so high that they are hard to justify anymore. It’s just sad that such a cute place that obviously has high-quality food is opening when everyone is really stressed about the price of food right now 🙁 I do think the breakfast menu looks great and I probably will try it as a splurge item; but that will definitely be in lieu of some other Disney splurge, not in addition to it. We already cut back our dining for Nov trip to 2 cheaper sit downs. You can get any reservations you want at WDW right now.
It’s very obvious that I am not the target audience for such a restaurant, in spite of loving Disney. Admittedly, due to high prices and concerns over quality, I have yet to do a sit down meal at Disneyland over the course of two trips now. (WDW is still a far-off dream) The closest was going to Marri’s Pizza and Pasta on Katella and taking the pizza to go because it was too loud inside.
$22 for a single slice of cake is a non-starter for me unless I just discovered I were dying or had won the lottery. Even then I would think twice about spending that kind of money on cake.
The entree prices are even more obscene. I don’t expect cheap at Disney, but for the price of a meal for my family here we could do so much better.
I’m sure there is an audience for Cake Bake Shop. Convention goers with expense accounts likely being near the top of the list. If I were dropping that much money, Cake Bake would not be where I would do it. Not even in that area of WDW, let alone the entire resort.
I will sometimes get something inexpensive from a menu just for the experience. My son and I had appetizers at Space 220 and we had THE BEST time without it costing a fortune. Looking at Cake Bake, even a yogurt and a sweet tea will land me $30. I’m sure the place is charming and the food absolutely delicious. I was really looking forward to visiting, but will sadly have to pass.
I guess they were more interested in listing their truly outrageous prices, and neglected to proofread the menu.
1. There are two entries for Lemon Caesar Salade with different descriptions and prices.
2. The Roasted Salmon Filet has the same exact description as the Crab Cakes entrée, with the former considerably lower in price than the latter.
3. There are two listings for Dom Perignon but the prices are at least consistent.
Personally, I will not be gouged to pay for food at this place, and will be going someplace, anyplace else.
I want it to succeed. Maybe I’ve lost my mind, but I don’t want things like this (or Galactic Starcruiser) to fail. I don’t understand that kind of warped justice. I do want them to come *close enough* to failing to reevaluate operations, expenses and pricing, but I do ultimately want them to succeed. The food sounds mostly very good. The ambience probably isn’t for me but it could very well be for a lot of other people (I could see my wife loving the interior.)
And I do have to wonder if anyone warned Ms. Rogers about the online Disney community. I’m sure the vitriol thrown at her and Cake Bake Shop are beyond what she could have imagined possible when she signed up for this.
If you’ve lost your mind, then so have I. While I didn’t agree with that sentiment regarding Starcruiser, it at least made sense. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, Starcruiser was basically a rounding error for Disney. (Okay, a bit worse than that–but you get the idea.)
It’s a different story with Cake Bake, and at least for me, a lot of the hate crosses the line. At the end of the day, this is a small business. Gwendolyn Rogers is the classic rags to riches success story. She embodies the American dream and, in my opinion, part of what makes this country great. (For those who haven’t, this is worth reading: https://thecakebakeshop.com/pages/our-story)
I have no problem poking fun at the prices and all that, but I also think it’s worth remembering that there are real people behind this. Not only that, but there are things we don’t know. (There are other things that we DO know. For example, that this project was plagued by delays and, I assume, had some construction cost overruns as a result.)
If the cake is terrific, I hope it succeeds too. I love cake and great bakeries are hard to come by. I just think it’s a bit out of the way (maybe Disney Springs would have been a better location for it) and the prices need to come down just a bit. My dissatisfaction comes from the decor. The flagship restaurant looks like a winter wonderland. I thought we were getting that. I was super excited. I couldn’t wait to eat there even if it was only once. But then social media posts came out. I am going to try the cakes and give the Cake Shop a chance, but like I said before, it is a bit out of the way. I just hope they are so good that I want to go out of my way to eat there again.
Bring back ESPN.
The Cake Bake made the same mistake as the Galactic Starcruiser – the prices are so high that they dominate the conversation. Every review will be “Is it worth the price” instead of whether or not the underlying product is any good.
The underlying product isn’t very good. It’s a beautiful, fairytale like atmosphere but every time I’ve been the cake has been dry. And that was back when a big slice of cake was $12.
Some hot takes:
– I’d guess the place in Indiana can do well because it’s seen as a fun splurge vs. at Disney when it’s quite expensive among a sea of already marked up options.
– I don’t think this will last more than a year (two tops). If I’m wrong I’ll definitely remember and venmo you like 50 schrute bucks.
– I’m sure everything is quite good from there, but I don’t see how prioritize a fun/special sit down meal over this place at those prices.
I totally agree with this take. Disney is a tough market, and with so many similar options that cost much less nearby, not sure how it will make it.
I expected pricing to be similar to Amorette’s in Disney Springs, so I was pretty shocked to see the prices when they came out. We ill not be dining here! As a side note, I know you don’t control the ads on your site, but I found it amusing that the first ad that popped up on the Cake Bake Shop article was for the -day no sugar challenge. 🙂
I give it a year before they announce a closure. That’s a tough location for a 3rd party as we’ve already seen. No character’s is a huge minus. Seems like a place that would do well at GF but they already cater to this niche. Sad, seems like this was green lighted during the Bob Paycheck era. Figures