New $200 Santa Claus Christmas Dinner Coming to Cake Bake Shop Restaurant at Disney World
One year ago, Walt Disney World fans united around a common enemy. It was around this time in October when the Cake Bake Shop, already controversial for replacing ESPN Club and offering an upscale dining experience at the BoardWalk, posted its first menus outside the restaurant.
Disney diehards immediately tore into these. It was a mix of mockery and outrage the likes of which we hadn’t seen in a while. It was also a rare moment of unity. Rather than arguing about whether the Rivers of America was ‘obsolete’ or if Cars belonged in Frontierland, or whatever else was the controversy of the day, Walt Disney World fans all agreed that Cake Bake prices were astronomical.
Being familiar with the other Cake Bake locations and likely differences in rent between Indiana and Walt Disney World, I was expecting high prices. But I was nevertheless shocked. 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!
Cake Bake must’ve heard the chorus of complaints, because the Cake Bake Shop menus were updated before the restaurant even opened with lower prices pretty much across the board. It was quite the roller coaster week, but it felt like fans had prevailed, and won by whining. (Emboldened by that, we tried similar strategies for saving Rivers of America and MuppetVision. Lightning did not strike twice.)
Here’s hoping some good ole fashioned internet outrage can work its magic once more, as Cake Bake Shop has announced a new Dinner with Santa Claus dining experience during the Christmas season and–surprise, surprise–it is pricey.
It also looks and sounds kinda awesome, and something we’d love to take our daughter to experience if they ever have a coupon day. Here are full details via the Cake Bake Shop’s Dinner with Santa Claus page:
Celebrate the season with a festive evening filled with sparkling cocktails and Champagne, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dessert, and a family gift to take home. Delight in a family photo and special visit with Santa Claus himself. Dinner with Santa Claus at Cake Bake Shop is available on the following dates:
- November 18, 2025
- November 25, 2025
- December 2, 2025
- December 9, 2025
Three-Course Holiday Dinner
Prepared especially for this festive occasion, we have crafted a delightful three-course dinner to sprinkle your evening with holiday cheer. The menu begins with sparkling holiday Champagne and cocktails, an elegant hors d’oeuvre, followed by a sumptuous main entrée designed to warm the heart, and concludes with a seasonal dessert, sweetly inspired by the magic of the season.
Professional Family Photo with Santa
Included with your visit, each family will receive a beautifully captured photograph to download from Disney PhotoPass to treasure for years to come. Every family will have the chance to meet Santa Claus himself, sharing their Holiday Pixie Glitter Wishes® while basking in the magic of the season. From twinkling smiles to whispered wishes, this special moment is designed to become a sparkling memory, a keepsake as timeless as Santa’s own story.
A Sweet Gift from Santa
Santa has hand-selected this delightful cookie just for you to take home and assemble with your loved ones. And it’s in the shape of our Bubbles the Bear! Inside you’ll find a handmade sugar cookie and all the ingredients you need to make a scrumptious cookie good enough for Santa. This enchanting activity extends the magic of the season into your home, letting you continue the celebration as you craft a dessert as whimsical as it is delicious.
Dinner with Santa Claus Includes
Adults: $200 per person
- Up to Three Beverages (Additional beverages are available for purchase)
- An Entrée of Your Choice
- A Seasonal Dessert From our Menu
- A Professional Family Photo with Santa Claus
- Digital download through Disney PhotoPass
- A Gift to Take Home
Children: $150 per person
- Any Beverages of Your Choice
- An Entrée of Your Choice
- A Seasonal Dessert From our Menu
- A Professional Family Photo with Santa Claus
- Digital download through Disney PhotoPass
- A Gift to Take Home
Kindly note, price does not include tax and gratuity. Full, non-refundable cost is required at time of reservation confirmation, including tax and 24% gratuity.
You can learn more or request a reservation for Dinner with Santa Claus at Cake Bake Shop here.
Our Commentary
The easy play here would be to dunk on Cake Bake Shop for the exorbitant pricing of its Dinner with Santa Claus. And to be sure, this is extremely expensive. For the cost of this Santa Claus character dining experience, if you want to call it that, you could do Breakfast à la Art with Mickey & Friends at Topolino’s Terrace — Flavors of the Riviera and Story Book Dining Dinner with Snow White at Artist Point, and still have money left over. You could probably do both of those plus a fireworks dessert party once a more reasonable tax and tip are factored into the mix, if you want to really splurge.
While the price of Dinner with Santa Claus is objectively expensive, there’s also the subjective side of this that I find mildly off-putting. Perhaps this is partly because I first saw this on Instagram, where the chorus of comments is inexplicably, unanimously positive (although engagement there is often vapid and insincere), but there are elements of the announcement that just strike me as unnecessarily pretentious. That’s the vibe of Cake Bake, in general, though. Needless capitalization and accent marks, hoity-toity word choices, etc.
I’ve learned to mostly ignore this. It’s what the target audience for Cake Bake seems to like, so who am I to spoil their fun? Even if it’s a style I happen to find grating, I’ve come to accept that a bit of personality in writing isn’t the worst thing. Disney press releases are similarly flowery; at least it beats the vanilla language of AI slop!
I’ve also learned to mostly ignore this because I’ve found myself in the position of reluctant Cake Bake Shop defender. The restaurant doesn’t deserve all of the hate it gets, and frankly, if more Walt Disney World fans were willing to give it a chance, it would become one of their favorites. The primary appeal of Cake Bake Shop is very similar to what made so many fans fall in love with Walt Disney World in the first place.
I’ll admit that when initially seeing this Dinner with Santa Claus announcement, I was intrigued! I love Christmas and it’s great when restaurants and resorts offer special (bespoke if you want to use pretentious language) experiences for the holiday season.
We have a young daughter who isn’t quite old enough for the meal this year, but it’s definitely something we’d consider in the future. Or at least, I thought we would until seeing the price. That probably makes it a no-go for us, unless Walt Disney World brings back VIPassholder month and this is among the 40% off meals. That seems doubtful, but I’m not giving up hope for a Christmas/Festivus miracle.
Minus the price, this scratches me right where I itch! More Walt Disney World restaurants should be offering special experiences like this. If there’s a market for this (and there assuredly is), there’s a market for something downstream of it that charges ~$79 per person. We’ve made the case elsewhere for more upcharges returning to Walt Disney World even if they’re not for us (see Little Big Things Walt Disney World Needs to Bring Back); it’s hard to request things like this on the one hand, but then criticize them when they’re offered.
I would also add that Disney is no stranger to exorbitantly-priced character meals, as the Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures at the Grand Californian Hotel costs $149 for kids or adults.
And that’s currently being housed in a temporary flex space in the convention center while Napa Rose is being reimagined. We’ve never done that for the same reason we won’t do this, but if I were in the market for a $150 character breakfast, I could easily justify a $200 character dinner.
Notably, the Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures is offered for multiple seatings from 8 am to 11 am every single day, and books up fairly far out. So not only is demand clearly there, but supply is high. It is less bespoke, you might say. By contrast, Dinner with Santa Claus at Cake Bake has 4 dates in total during the holiday season, and they’re each one week apart.
Given that, a better comparison might be Tiana’s New Year’s Adventure at California Grill, which was $800 last year. (If I recall correctly, that sold out.) This isn’t to attempt justifying the high price of Dinner with Santa Claus; just to point out that when it comes to offerings that are limited capacity and niche, sell outs are common even at high prices.
There’s a lot of demand for premium experiences like these; people are willing to splurge on offerings that feel custom-made and personalized. It’s not just these specific examples, either.
We’ve seen a proliferation of pricier prix fixe menus at restaurants (Takumi-Tei and Monsieur Paul being two of many examples that immediately come to mind) in the post-reopening era. Even as revenge travel has faded, people still are prioritizing experiences; there’s a larger subset of consumers willing to splurge on luxury-level ones.
That’s true not just at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, but pretty much wherever you go. It’s perhaps worth noting that the Dinner with Santa Claus pricing for the Indiana location of Cake Bake Shop is $200 per adult and $135 per child, so not really that different from the BoardWalk location. So much for Walt Disney World price inflation!
All of this is to say that, while I wouldn’t pay $200 for Dinner with Santa Claus at Cake Bake Shop, I don’t doubt for a second that there’s an ample audience for this. I also don’t begrudge those consumers who are willing and able to pay for such an experience, nor do I really fault Cake Bake Shop for meeting that market.
I’d also add that if there’s this hypothetical scenario where I won ~$750 in the lottery (guess that means I was doing scratch-offs?) and could only spend that on taking our family to Dinner with Santa Claus or buying Lightning Lane Premier Pass, I would do the dinner without hesitation. If that top-tier line-skipping is “worth” over $400 at Magic Kingdom, than surely this meal is underpriced at “only” $200! 😉
To end on a sincere note, we dined at Cake Bake Shop last Christmas and had a positive experience. The menu was undeniably expensive, sure, but we ordered smartly (for the most part) and felt that the restaurant was not out of line with other Walt Disney World locations.
To the contrary, had I not been deeply ingrained in the fan community and unaware of the pricing controversy, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. That’s largely because the overall experience was downright magical, with the restaurant’s interior transformed into a veritable winter wonderland. It was resplendent, by far the most gorgeous dining room at Disney during the holiday season.
I’ve written this elsewhere, but if Walt Disney World offered a Candlelight Processional Dining Package at Cake Bake Shop, that would be the ultimate Christmas dinner-and-a-show or date night experience at Walt Disney World. It would be expensive, but it would be truly special and memorable. And isn’t that why we keep revisiting Walt Disney World–for those memories that form the foundation for lifelong nostalgia and sentimentality?
This is probably why I’m a bit forgiving of Cake Bake Shop for the Dinner with Santa Claus pricing…and am maybe, possibly leaving the door open to doing it in the future. (Probably not, but maybe if I really doubledown on my investment in scratch-offs!) It’s also why Cake Bake Shop was on our shortlist of restaurants to revisit during our Christmas-time trip to Walt Disney World.
Cake Bake is not going to make the cut for Christmas 2025 because one of us (not naming names) would rather eat with Winnie the Pooh, but it was in the running. All of this to say, if you previously dismissed Cake Bake Shop out of hand for a regular meal, we’d encourage you to reconsider. I really believe that many Walt Disney World fans, even those who hate on it, would end up loving it if they gave Cake Bake Shop a chance. Here’s our full review: The Best Thing About Walt Disney World’s Controversial New Cake Bake Restaurant Is Not Cakes.
It’s also worth remembering that almost all Christmas entertainment still runs between Christmas and New Year’s Eve (some runs even further into January), so check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World for more planning tips with regard to which holiday entertainment you might want to see on New Year’s Eve. For Walt Disney World trip planning tips and comprehensive advice, make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Dinner with Santa Claus at Cake Bake Shop? Will you be booking this or is it not for you? Let’s say you have the money and are willing to spend it…is this your ideal event or would you prefer splurging on something like Lightning Lane Premier Pass? Have you dined at Cake Bake Shop since it opened? Would you ever do it? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts and questions in the comments!
We have visited Cake Bake multiple times and never had a poor experience; always with excellent food and service. We go each year we visit while staying at BWV. If we weren’t just there this past month and visiting during the upcoming holiday, I would definitely try to score a spot. I love this idea and theming. The Epcot Santas are one of my most favorite things about Christmas in Disney. I hope this is offered again next year.
My perspective is definitely similar (minus the trying to score a spot part). I love that third parties are stepping up to fill the gap with unique seasonal experiences like this (the Parisian Breakfast at Chefs de France is another good example), and I hope Walt Disney World takes notice of their success and finally brings back more. Even if it’s not for us, it sets a positive precedent and shows that there’s unsatiated demand for unique experiences!
If you have money to burn and like quiet elegant atmosphere with decent food , sure why not. But otherwise that’s a lot of mula to burn . Was there once for brunch and our entrees were good. The $25 cake was really not a good size slice. I prefer Gideon Bakeshop in Disney springs . More bang for your buck if you don’t mind standing in a 45 minute line . Cake Bakeshop should have been put in Grand Floridian hotel instead of adding the ridiculous bar in the lobby. Sure will miss that grand gingerbread house at Grand Floridian at holidays . But I understand the heavy flow of traffic was really clogging up the monorail transportation flow . Shame to lose that awesome Disney attraction, the other hotels gingerbread displays really don’t measure up .
We dined at Cake Bake a couple of months ago and I have to admit I was prepared to be disappointed.
But, the service, ambience, entrees (which were surprisingly affordable for WDW fine dining) and, yes, the cake, were all exceptional. Just a great experience.
I doubt we’d buy this package, but wouldn’t hesitate to go back to this restaurant.
We’re not sold on the Cake Bake being worth the price. We’ve done all the character dining experiences and most restaurants at Disney and nothing in the parks are special, though this is a Boardwalk one. Everything is delivered by Sysco and pre-made, with a few last minute changes to make it seem special. There is no magic in any of it anymore. I was an eternal optimist, hoping Disney would go back to it’s magical roots, but everyday it seems I was wrong. $200pp to dine with Santa, I can fly my entire family to Germany for less than WDW park tickets, Cake Bake dining, and Disney resort fees and have a real Santa dinner and Christmas, and in a real castle for less. We are actually looking at not doing any Disney trips next year, we usually do 3 luxury resort stays a year, because Disney is a bore and broken. We’re hoping for someone other than D’amaro or Iger
great
good gravy, i hope it’s a michelin 5 star meal at that price
(Michelin only goes to 3 stars) Honestly, I wish we had more besides Victoria & Alberts. I’d be all for it.
I had no idea this was a chain in the first place until I read this post. I just thought Disney scraping the bottom of the creative barrel for an excuse to sell cheap cakes at high prices.
“ sharing their Holiday Pixie Glitter Wishes®”… truly this language did make me chuckle/eyeroll! I think it’s bold to have that topline price not include tax or the mandatory 24% tip, but at least it’s disclosed. I don’t know if it was accurate info, but I remember hearing or reading something about autogratuities being added to people’s bakery purchases at the cake bakeshop counter! I’d definitely give the restaurant a whirl for a regular meal if/when I’m on a trip there, but the menu looks not particularly appealing for vegetarians (a proportion of my traveling party). That is consistent with what we found in New Orleans though!
Unless people just hate (this) theme, the only language I think is worth complaining about right now is that a two course meal is being called a three course meal.
Later I’ll complain about the three drinks, but I’m not sure yet whether to complain that they’re watered down, or that they’re making us pay for three of them whether or not we (can) drink them, or that they’re making it sound like alcohol is included when it’s not.
Really enjoyed this article.
We will ‘check out’ Cake Bake’ on our next tip but I would be surprised if we purchase anything.
My issue with the price is not that it’s exorbitant – as you note, there are those who will pay, and this is an upcharge extra. It’s more that I think for $200, the prix fixe menu could include more choice than one appetizer and three entrees. Then again, maybe that indicates more clearly than anything that this event isn’t really selling food.
We do MVMCP, Jollywood, always stay at the Contemporary Resort, buy the dining plan, and buy the premier LL passes so we do splurge on our vacations but we would not do this! I also have a huge problem with them adding automatic 24% gratuity to the already $200 meal cost per person. If the $200 included tax and gratuity and they gave you guaranteed seating to candlelight processional then I would do this.
For us, when the price gets this high it’s too hard not to compare other experiences, especially with so much to do in Orlando. I think you could swim with otters at Discovery Cove for less, or spend a couple of nights at Great Wolf Lodge. I’m pretty bad about “splurge spending” but even I find myself having to say no to holiday events that, aside from price, would be a perfect fit for our family this year. I think we’re finally reaching the tipping point for this kind of thing. Even the most aesthetically perfect experience can only cost so much. Maybe I’m wrong though, perhaps this will end up selling out.
Are Children under 3 years free?
For $200 per adult and $150 per child, I hope Santa will explain to the kids why they won’t be getting any presents this Christmas.
That was supposed to be laugh-crying emojis!
This is beautiful but definitely out of my league. I will be strolling for cookies around EPCOT and then enjoying the lunch I packed in.
I too, found the overly flowery language annoying. But at least they weren’t afraid to use the word Christmas, so at least there’s that. What really astounds me though, is whoever is setting their pricing was not content with a $200 dinner, but also pre-payment at the time of reservation, and also a pre-set tip(!), and ALSO that tip being 24%. Is the extra 4% that necessary??? It’s almost they’re looking for ways to grab attention regarding their pricing.
To entice guests into paying for high-priced character meals Disney has for years been paying teenagers to dress up as Princesses so I suppose employing an older gent to costume up is consistent,.. I looked it up and the average hourly pay rates for Princesses is said to range from approximately $24 to $32 which to me seems terribly unfair considering how much revenue this brings in,.. and how skilled they are at improvising,..
I will say if it looks anything like these pictures, it’s gorgeous. We’re going on a Disney cruise in 26 days, so this experience will be out for this year. Thanks for info!
We wouldn’t pay for this experience but I’m sure it will be popular for some. You know what would make me happy? The reopening of the Garden View Tea Room!!!! 6 years now and NOTHING! We ask every visit
same here,.. but I also recall that the tea experience was $35 which back then seemed like a splurge,. now, when and if it re-opens, what do you suppose you would be willing to pay for the elegance of tiered sandwiches, sweets, fine china, tablecloths and bygone atmosphere?