First Look: 2018 Haunted Mansion Holiday Gingerbread House at Disneyland Park

Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort is happening now and we have your first look at one of the most popular Halloween Time traditions – the Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread creation. This is the 18th year for this creepy cool gingerbread display and it also marks the 25th anniversary of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Tim Wollweber, associate art director for Disney Parks, has been involved with Haunted Mansion Holiday since the beginning in 2001, and took the creative lead on the gingerbread display again this year.

“We wanted to create a monster movie vibe, and a scary spider is a classic and iconic Halloween image. With that in mind, we designed a giant 5-foot spider with eerie glowing eyes and moving legs and mandibles. This multicolor spider is suspended above the Haunted Mansion’s Grand Hall table, attempting to pry the edible mansion from its foundation, revealing candy cane rebar and sparking lights. General chaos ensues as gingerbread zombies watch in astonishment and cocoon-wrapped gingerbread zombies wait to become spider snacks.”

To turn this ginger-“dread” vision into something edible, Disneyland Central Bakery started baking gingerbread over a month ago. No less than 12 pastry chefs – led by Assistant Pastry Chef Christina Orejel – get involved, transforming gingerbread, icing, and fondant into this scary fun masterpiece.

We asked the creative team at Disneyland Resort Central Bakery what they pulled from their pantry to make this year’s over-the-top creation – and it is quite the list!

• 90 pounds gingerbread
• 30 pounds of confectioner’s sugar
• 10 pounds of white chocolate
• 45 pounds of fondant

Check out this frightfully festive gingerbread creation during Haunted Mansion Holiday, which lasts through early January 2019.