On September 14, the Tim Burton inspired Haunted Mansion Holiday opens its doors. This is the 12th year that Disneyland has given the attraction a seasonal overlay and each year there are new elements to discover.
One very unique element is the gingerbread house that is on the table in the attraction’s ballroom scene. Every year, Disney’s pastry chefs have created a new themed gingerbread house for the attraction. In some years, the completed house has weighed a few hundred pounds and towered several feet high.
The pastry chefs have added animation elements, which have become increasingly complex over the years. And in a little dose of Disney magic, there is a faint gingerbread smell pumped into the air as you travel through the ballroom scene.
While most guests don’t realize that that gingerbread house is real, it is a wonderful touch that Disneyland has continued to provide over the years. But those who know about this detail anxiously await the new design each year.
The Disney Parks Blog gave a sneak preview of the 2012 design. At nine feet in height, it will be one of the tallest gingerbread houses that the pastry team has ever created.
The design will depict Jack’s idea of the Haunted Mansion with candles eerily flickering in the windows. The house will be perched atop a steep, snow-covered peak, with gingerbread steps to his door. Along the way, there will be lighted pumpkins in the ‘snowy’ cliffs.
Below is the concept art for this year’s gingerbread house and photos (some blurry, sorry) of the previous year’s gingerbread houses. We can’t wait to see this year’s creation when it is unveiled September 14!
2012 – (Photo via Disney)
Updated: 2012 Gingerbread House
2011 – (Via Flickr)
2010 – Haunted Mansion gravestone with giant gingerbread Jack popping up from behind (via Flickr)
2009 – Scary Go Round – Carousel with gingerbread Bonedeer as vehicle, and Zero as one of the vehicles (via Flickr)
2008 – Mansion in the shape of a Coffin, with a lid that lifts, and a giant gingerbread man that sit up in the coffin (Photo via MiceChat)
2007 – Giant Jack in the Box Mansion with a Jester Jack and Jack O’ Lanterns bouncing on springs (Photo via MiceChat)
2006 – Possessed Gingerbread house with giant arms breaking apart the mansion from inside, and lifting off the roof of the mansion (Via Flickr)
2005 – Mansion with the Maneating Wreath with tentacles with forks going after gingerbread men (via MiceChat)
2004 – Zero Haunted Mansion Dog House (via MiceChat)
2003 – Oogie Boogie on a Gingerbread Roulette Wheel (via MiceChat)
2002 – Giant Sack of Presents in the shape of a mansion (via MiceChat)
2001 – Haunted Mansion with arms counter balancing each other (via MiceChat)
This is one of my favorite parts about the Halloween theme. I can’t wait to see what the gingerbread house looks like this year.