Looking Back on Two Decades of the Haunted Mansion Gingerbread House
With Halloween in full swing at Disneyland Resort, that means the return of the fabulous Haunted Mansion Holiday which is a Nightmare Before Christmas takeover of the beloved New Orleans Square attraction.
Among the decorations in the Haunted Mansion every year is a Gingerbread House that has pride of place on the banquet table. Each year the amazing cast members at Disney come up with a brand new concept for the gingerbread creation with this year’s design serving as a gorgeous amalgamation of all the gingerbread houses that have come before.
As you can see from the image above, guests to Disneyland will “devour” the details in this year’s gingerbread house. There is one element representing each of the houses dating all of the way back to 2001!
Graphic Designer Tim Wollweber’s had this to say about this beloved Disneyland Hollywood tradition, “Looking at it from the point of view of Jack [Skellington], it felt like we should go down to our gingerbread graveyard and dig up all the pieces we love.” He continued, “And we wound up putting together this really fun, bright, obnoxious memorial to 20 years.”
How is each year’s masterpiece created?
The concepts are first designed on paper and then starts to take shape using a 3D model. Then its over to the Fabrication team who create the understructure for the house. Entertainment Technical Services lend a hand when it comes to the animated elements and then it’s up to the Central Bakery team spent hundreds of hours decorating the 13-foot house (the biggest ever) into 5 distinct pieces.
The mansion is then carefully moved into the attraction where its carefully assembled. Shingles and other finishing touches are added before this centerpiece makes its official debut.
So What Ingredients go into this confectionary masterpiece? Here’s a quick rundown:
- 200 lbs of gingerbread dough
- 200 lbs of powdered sugar
- 50 pounds of egg whites
- 1 lb of glitter.
Here’s a rundown of the themes of each years Gingerbread House since the tradition was first started in 2001.
- 2001 – Monster House
- 2002 – Present House
- 2003 – Giant Oogie Boogie House
- 2004 – Zero’s Dog House
- 2005 – Giant Man-eating Wreath House
- 2006 – Monster-infested House
- 2007 – Jack-in-the Box House
- 2008 – Giant Gingerbread Coffin House
- 2009 – Scary-Go-Round House
- 2010 – Pop-Up Sandy Claws House
- 2011 – Mimic Monster House
- 2012 – Jack Skellington’s House
- 2013 – 13 Days of Christmas House
- 2014 – Gingerbread Zombie House
- 2015 – Gingerbread Card House
- 2016 – Stitched-Up-Patchwork House
- 2017 – Oogie Boogie Bug-infested House
- 2018 – Giant Gingerbread Spider House
- 2019 – Haunted Mansion 50 Years of Hauntings House
- 2021 – Gingerbread Franken-House
Readers are encouraged to keep following along with MickeyBlog for more Disneyland Halloween news and updates!
Thinking about a visit to Disney World? Getting started is easy! Simply fill out our form below to get your FREE, no-obligation quote from MickeyTravels.
Find articles like this helpful? Then why not consider working with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner? As an agent with MickeyTravels, I’ll be on hand to assist you with everything from finding your perfect package to helping you plan lots of special touches to make your visit truly magical. Best of all my services are absolutely FREE. Get in touch at 1.800.801.4025 via email at mroden@mickeytravels.com or follow along on Facebook
