Grand Floridian

Easter Egg Masterpieces at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

24 March 2016 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Seeing the completely edible Easter egg displays put together by Walt Disney World’s pastry chefs at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort has become a rite of Spring for this local. I love wandering through the lobby, looking at what must be countless hours of work and workmanship – and did I mention they’re all edible??

The team of chefs are given complete creative freedom to come up with and execute their egg designs, and some of them have been creating Easter eggs for over 20 years! These designs took 3 weeks to create and will be on display until April 4th this year.

This season, we see some favorites from last year’s Easter Egg Display return, along with some new, captivating favorites. I was glad to see that Disney is able to save these creations and bring them back – so much work, I’d hate for them to be on display only once for a few weeks! Below I’ll share all of the amazing creations, in groups of characters and Disney favorites, as well as incredible sugar works of art. I bet you can’t pick just one favorite!

Disney character and movie Easter egg creations:

Grand Floridian Easter Eggs 2016 — Queen Elsa in egg form

Sugar artistry statement Easter eggs:

And this chicken – this Spring Chicken gets its own little gallery. It is AMAZING! Look at the feathers! This is all in chocolate or sugar or something edible. Unbelievable!

Can you pick just one favorite?? Big thanks to Walt Disney World and their amazing chefs for sharing these incredible creations with the world!

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort Edible Art Easter Egg Display Will Amaze

21 March 2015 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

I was scrolling through instagram and saw a photo in my feed of the penguin statue in the lobby of the Grand Floridian Villas (it just happened to be the fabulous @rbrent from the Disney Parks Blog!). I was about to double tap to like the picture (who doesn’t love penguins?), when I kept reading and saw that it said “(ps, this is made of chocolate!)” and I stopped and went “huh?” and re-looked at the photo. It was then that I noticed the giant bird cage in the background and said to myself, “oh! that’s the regular Grand Floridian lobby!” What I was seeing was one of the jaw-dropping creations made by Disney chefs for Easter on display around the main lobby. This is the fourth year that the Grand Floridian is showcasing these edible Easter egg works of art, and it’s hard to pick just one favorite. I headed over last night for a late dinner at the Polynesian to see the construction updates over there, and ended up at the Grand Floridian to see all the eggs first hand. I only wish I could also share the intoxicating chocolate scent that swirled around the displays. Heavenly.

The egg creations are placed in six different spots around the perimeter of the main lobby, with a few of them being accessible from all sides. Three of the displays are a bit hard to view from the back, but if you are visiting, do try to see them all, because many have incredible details on all sides. I’m not sure if perhaps they’ll rotate some of the eggs to give all of them a chance at being seen in full, but I’ve tried to capture them all here for you anyway, in case you can’t make it down in person. They definitely put me in the mood for Easter and Spring (and in the mood to see a few favorite Disney movies). Be sure to click on any image to see it larger – and let me know in the comments which one is your favorite (or favorites if you can’t decide like me!). The Easter Egg display will be up until April 10, 2015. Happy Spring to all – and thanks to the incredible bakers and pastry chefs at Disney for sharing their hard work with everyone.

Click to enlarge and view all:

Disney Monorail Resort Holiday Highlights

1 December 2011 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

It’s a family tradition to do a Walt Disney World Monorail Resort tour during the holidays, and my mom and I did just that this week. Of course we’ll venture back with the rest of the family, and go at night so we can see all the lights, but this was a lovely day and I captured some photos to share here: (click for full-sized photos)

Polynesian wreath — One of the many hanging wreaths at the Polynesian Resort

Looking back across the waterfalls to the Polynesian Christmas tree

Elegant Grand Floridian deer, which light up at night

Grand Floridian gingerbread house — Be sure to look for the golden hidden Mickeys!

GF Gingerbread House sign — A sign in the shop upstairs tells guests to seek out the giant gingerbread house

Grand Floridian tree upstairs — Grand Floridian tree viewed from upstairs

Contemporary gingerbread guard shack-smells delicious in person!

Contemporary tree Mickey Topper — Chef Mickey atop the world atop the Mary Blair gingerbread tree

Contemporary Mary Blair gingerbread tree details

Stay tuned for more posts on the individual resort goodies, starting with the delicious treats offered at the Contemporary Resort. We’ll also visit the Grand Floridian gingerbread house up close, see what the Beach and Yacht Clubs have to share and come back to the Polynesian when their little gingerbread houses are out!

2nd Annual Disney Social Media Moms Celebration!

10 March 2011 by Suzannah Otis 30 Comments

It’s hard to believe it’s been one year since the first-ever Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! It was such an amazing event and so much has happened since that time! I thought it would be great to go over some of my favorite moments from last year’s event as well as what I’m looking forward to this year. Then I thought it would be fun for all the 2011 attendees to link their blogs below so we can get to know each other and our blogs before we meet next week! It’ll also be a great way to connect during and after the event as well! Could I use any more exclamation points??!!

Last year I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect from Social Media Moms. One thing we knew, it was Disney, so it was going to be full of extra magic. We were definitely given the royal treatment and perhaps even a little spoiled with such great speakers like Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Maxine Clark, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Mary Ellen Hooper and Kathy Ireland. I know I l earned so much and became full of blogging passion by the end of the conference. We may have endured an unexpected cold snap, but pixie dust pulled us through and the surprises and special touches seemed to never end. (Feel free to check out my flickr stream of the 2010 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration!)

Chris Brogan and Zanna — Stalking Chris at a recent media event at Disney for another photo. 😉

One of my favorite moments was Chris Brogan’s speech, which makes me SO excited that he’ll be back this year. Another unexpected surprise was bumping into Chef Robert Irvine, who was there filming Dinner: Impossible and cooking for the amazing volunteers that Disney was honoring. Imagine my shock when I had the chance to meet Chef Irvine again later last year and discovered that the picture of Disney Moms Panelist Kathie and I with the Chef was in his desktop screensaver! These are just some of the amazing memories Disney is able to deliver, sometimes without even trying! I was also lucky enough to have the winning seat at our table for the Cinderella Build-a-Bear centerpiece and was able to take that home to share with the family. I cannot wait to see what magic this year brings.

As if knowing some of us were spoiled last year, Disney has upped the ante and given us accommodations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. This will allow me to check off almost all the Deluxe resorts on property (the only one I haven’t stayed at is Yacht Club, but I’ve stayed at Beach Club a million times and toured every hotel on property, so I’m not counting that!) 😉 I am excited to be able to share this experience with my family.

I’m also super excited that I get to hang out with fellow Moms Panelist and bloggy idol Oh Amanda. I haven’t seen her since Moms Panel training and can’t wait to be in the World with her again! Of course I’m thrilled to see lots of friends and people I met last year AND meet lots of new friends too.

Disney's Wedding Pavilion — Dreaming at the Wedding Pavilion (no, I'm not a natural blonde either)

Another highlight I’m looking forward to is the opening presentation and tour by Disney Fairytale Weddings. I have mentioned before that a Disney wedding was always my dream, since the pavilion opened the year we moved down and I worked at the Magic Kingdom. Sure, I had my reception at the Dolphin, but it’s not quite the same. And yes, it’s now been 14 years since I said “I do” but I still hold out hope that I can have a magical vow renewal on property at some point. Maybe for the 20th… 🙂

Anyway, our pixie dust princesses in charge of the Social Media Moms Celebration have hinted that there will be “special guests” during this presentation. I am crossing my heart and hoping it is the one and only David Tutera. To say I am a fan of him and his show is an understatement. I cry at pretty much every episode and wish he was around when I got married! I will try to hold myself back from hugging him to death in the off chance they let hundreds of mom bloggers near him… 😉 I really think he needs to do a special vow renewal episode, no? I’ve already got a built in flower girl and ring bearer!

Attendees, what are you most excited about the upcoming Social Media Moms Celebration? Did you attend last year or is this your first time? Have you been to Walt Disney World before? Share a bit about you and your blog – don’t forget to link it below! And be sure to say hello if you happen to see a crazy red head trying to camp out in the wedding pavilion!!

If you’d like, check out two posts I did last year for attendees planning for their Disney vacation:

Top 5 Must Sees for First Time Disney Visitors

Solo Parenting Tips to Visit Walt Disney World

Explore my Disney News section as well – including Fast Facts on Disney’s Wild Africa Trek and some Disney Merchandise highlights to be on the lookout for!

Thanks for visiting and see ya real soon!