We just got a ton of news about the 2026 holiday season in Disney World. We got details about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, as well as Jollywood Nights. We also got some details about the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays, as well as the official dates of this year’s holiday season.

The Grand Floridian Gingerbread House!

However, the biggest news to come out of all the holiday announcements was Disney World confirming that the giant gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has gone away forever. And let’s just say, DFB readers had some thoughts about that news.

In 2025, we understood why the gingerbread house was missing from the Grand Floridian’s hotel lobby. The lobby was getting a massive refurbishment that included a brand new lobby bar, The Perch. However, this year, Disney World confirmed that the giant gingerbread house was permanently gone and would be replaced with smaller displays created by Disney chefs.

2021 gingerbread house

Needless to say, many Disney World fans took the news hard. When we asked DFB readers about it on Facebook, many of you shared your honest thoughts with us. A lot of you think the new lobby bar is at least partially to blame. Tommy wrote, “No more gingerbread house because they wanted a stupid bar.”

Yvonne agreed: “If you get rid of the BAR there would be plenty of room for the Gingerbread house.”

The Perch

Some just feel like it’s another example of Disney World removing more magic from the resort. Lena commented, “So sad. They’re taking away all of the annual traditions. Lights on the castle, lights outside and now this.”

Marla wrote, “Another piece of magic taken away.”

Others wrote about how they were “devastated” and “heartbroken.” We get that. We were certainly disappointed by the news, too. Joy said, “I don’t understand why. It’s been a loved tradition for decades.”

The Grand Floridian gingerbread house will be missed

Many of our readers are just sad. Jeri commented, “I’m very sad. That gingerbread house was magical. I wish I could have visited it one last time. “

Phil wrote, “Super sad. I actually looked forward to seeing it on the videos each year. I hope they still sell shingles though.”

Michael had an idea, though: “If they wanted to they could turn that eyesore of that bar into a Gingerbread Bar and maybe have gingerbread beer.”

A gingerbread bar?

However, we were surprised that a lot of folks applauded the change, especially those who spend the holiday season staying at the Grand Floridian. Here’s the thing…the giant gingerbread house brought a lot of crowds, including many non-resort guests to the hotel. Timothy commented, “Kudos Disney. If you’ve ever stayed at GF during Christmas then you welcome this change. I think they are taking care of their guests. Better still if they put it on an upper level that only GF guests could visit.”

Grand Floridian lobby

Becky agreed, “I’m happy about it. The only reason I stopped staying at the GF at Christmas time is i got tired of navigating the insane crowds in the lobby”

Adiel commented, “It’s been there since 1999. It had a good run. I’m sure GF guests will appreciate having a quieter lobby during the Christmas season.”

Amber wrote, “Good! It’s way too chaotic with everyone piling in to see stuff. Paying guests aren’t paying for that mess. They want to keep it they can move it into a building inside Epcot or something but these things need to come out of the resorts unless it’s restricted to guests of that resort only.”

The new lobby

Some just like the fact that things are changing, rather than staying stagnant. David commented, “I think it’s great. Welcome to change and different stuff to look at another reason to go there. How many years are you going to look at the same gingerbread house every year? The same thing same exact thing they they glue the gingerbread to the house. They take it down. They put it outside. They let the bees eat it. They put it back in the building. They do it again. I think it was enough they did it for 20 years enough.”

Nita wrote, “Nothing is permanent at Disney. Changes happen. New things are magically created. Grateful to have experienced them all, old and new.”

New Grand Floridian lobby

Disney World is always changing and has always meant to be changing, so we get that opinion, too. We’ll also be curious about the miniature displays the hotel will put out this year, so the tradition will still sort of continue, just on a smaller scale.

If you want to take part in discussions like this, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook. In the meantime, we’ll be covering more Disney news, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

Disney Just Announced Everything Returning to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in 2026

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