Gideon's Bakehouse coming to Disney Springs

Jun 17, 2020 in "Gideon's Bakehouse "

Gideon's Bakehouse overview
Posted: Wednesday June 17, 2020 9:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney Springs will welcome popular local Orlando bakery Gideon's Bakehouse to The Landing later this year.

Currently sold in limited numbers at Polite Pig, Gideon’s is best known for small-batch, handmade cookies and cakes. Cookie flavors include Peanut Butter Crisp, Cookies & Cream and Pistachio Toffee Dark Chocolate. 

Gideon’s original location opened in late 2016 at Orlando’s East End Market with one employee and an $800 budget. The Bakehouse quickly gained international recognition for its almost ½-pound, small-batch handmade cookies. Word quickly spread, and lines up to 80 minutes long became a regular sight – with locals and visitors alike all hoping to get their hands on their favorite flavor before Gideon’s sold out.

“This opportunity is truly a dream come true and will allow us to flex all of our creative muscle in both desserts and décor. We’re passionate, inspired, and ready,” said Steve Lewis, owner and creator of Gideon’s Bakehouse.

Gideon’s Bakehouse plans to bring an expanded menu of its cookie and cake slices to The Landing at Disney Springs. Taking advantage of this larger space, Gideon’s will add its own line of unique iced coffees, like the Original Peanut Butter Iced Coffee, built to pair flawlessly with their desserts. Guests can expect to see all of their favorite cookie flavors, plus new limited editions available exclusively during timed daily releases. Guests will be able to enjoy the ever-popular Coffee Cake Cookie (previously only available one month a year) every morning at Gideon’s in Disney Springs. For those looking for something extra special after dinner, Gideon’s is introducing a Hot Cookie Hour each evening. “We’re also excited to bring more cake flavors to our new location, offering never-before-seen creations like our special line of Double Frosted Cakes,” said Lewis. “There are more than a few secrets we have up our sleeves, but you’ll have to wait and see. It’s not Gideon’s if it isn’t a little dark and mysterious.”

Guests can expect a whimsical Victorian design to the new shop, but they can also look forward to collectible art becoming a part of their product packaging. “We aim to make the wait in line entertaining by immersing everyone in a transformative environment that will share our story as they progress towards the counter. Experience is everything to us, so memorable sweets and whimsical atmosphere exist hand in hand. This opportunity is truly a dream come true and will allow us to flex all of our creative muscles in both desserts and decor. We’re passionate, inspired, and ready,” said Lewis.

Gideon’s buildout is being led by STUDIO 407’s Hospitality Studio Director, Diana Chase, AIA. Diana is an Architect and Interior Designer with over 20 years of experience. She has completed a wide variety of projects, including several restaurant projects at Disney Springs.

The new bakehouse will take over from the Rustic Cuff, just across from Wine Bar George.

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Doberge9 days ago

I enjoyed Lou Mongelo's interview of him last year. His story is great. I've mostly given him the benefit of the doubt throughout but not everything he says makes sense. I guess we'll eventually see what "secret things" he's talking about.

MissingDisney9 days ago

Agree to disagree. 😉

_caleb9 days ago

Price increases are only inevitable if the business is not making a profit or if the owner/management are greedy.

Lilofan9 days ago

Entry level pay is a slippery slope. A cast member with no exp can start in parks and resorts at least at $18 per hour. The same rate is paid to a TSA employee at MCO to ensure you and I have a safe flight and a slip up can mean life or death. One role has a bit more responsibility and stress than the other role.

MissingDisney9 days ago

Raise wages for all-10, 20% across the board. More? Of course-raises all around. Then everyone is getting paid better. What inevitably follows-prices of goods and services go up in relation so....everyone is back where they started.

jaklgreen9 days ago

I never said that it wasn't legal. I said that it is a crappy thing to do. Way too many people are OK with this and that is sad.

_caleb9 days ago

I'm not sure this is the case. This statement is true. But I don't think it should be this way, or that it's necessary. Special skills may not be required to work at the bakeshop, but it seems to me that some people might have the personality, temperament, and aptitude that might make them more valuable to the operation than others. If I was running Gideon's, I wouldn't want the instability, costs, or risks of a revolving door of personnel. I'd want to make it possible for the best of the lot to stick around so my business could reliably provide excellent service over a long time. You don't get that by treating employees like cheap, easily-replaceable cogs in a machine. Right. But that's a choice Gideon's is making, isn't it? Aren't we all under the impression that their operating costs are lower than the revenue being generated? Yes. I just think it's sad.

Lilofan10 days ago

Steve is a rags to riches story. He opened up his first bake shop with one employee and $800 in the bank in 2016.

UNCgolf10 days ago

It's essentially impossible for every single job in the country to be more than a minimum wage job. I'm certainly not opposed to people being paid more, but I acknowledge the reality of it. Working at Gideon's is an entry level job that requires no special skills of any kind; it's an easily replaceable position. People are never going to make any significant amount of money working a job like that. Anyways, it seems like Gideon's workers do make more than minimum wage.

Lilofan10 days ago

Since Unite Here 362 is representing the Gideons staff then its negotiating with company and union to agree on pay , etc and union paying members to vote to approve. It is not mandatory to join the union.

Doberge10 days ago

I'm dubious about Steve's statement about not increasing his own salary and never taking a bonus and investing profits into "new and secret things." What a weird thing to say. By his own words there are lines all day every day. The big tips we've seen are presumably off big sales, and profit margins seem high for cookies and cakes (could be wrong here). So he either was taking a huge salary initially or he's sitting on a sizeable war chest to fund secret projects. And whatever that salary is, if he's truly happy with it then he can open just one more location and use the income from that to increase the salary of all his employees.

_caleb10 days ago

I know we have this debate every time there's mention of CMs or employment, but "if you don't like it, get a different job" doesn't seem like a great response to people asking for higher wages. What would we prefer–that people to not work at all because they're holding out for a management position? I get that this whole fandom is about something that falls squarely in the category of wants-not-needs, but it really bothers me how consumeristic everyone can be about people's work. The $6 cookies cost like $.30 to make. Gideon's has a line out the door nearly all day almost every day. If guests are feeling gouged and workers are feeling taken advantage of, can we not think of anything that could be done to address this? I, for one, would prefer to have a well-paid person who loves their job making and serving these cookies than an underpaid, indifferent (or worse) person who's just biding their time until something better comes along.

lazyboy97o10 days ago

Decent and legal are not the same thing. One can think it’s not decent without concocting legal intents that are clearly not present in the criteria laid out by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

UNCgolf10 days ago

You keep repeating the same thing while missing the point.