Do you love chocolate? Do you love Disney? Do you want your own personal chocolatier? Then, PLEASE, for the love of chocolate and all things Disney, do yourself a favor and visit the Ganachery, where the slogan is “the cure for the common chocolate.” Read on for more info about my visit to this brand new addition to Disney Springs.
The Ganachery opened on December 15, 2015 and is a welcome addition to the ever growing Disney Springs (formerly known as Downtown Disney). Disney Springs is a dining, shopping, and entertainment district at Walt Disney World and is FREE to visit – no park admission required. I usually recommend visiting Disney Springs on your arrival or departure day. A visit during the middle of your stay is also a nice break from the parks – especially if you combine it with a day to relax and enjoy your resort.
Disney Springs is quickly growing and changing in such great ways. There are already many new dining and shopping options and always something going on. On our recent visit we got to see the red carpet festivities for the Star Wars premier, enjoy live musicians stationed by the food trucks (yes! food trucks!), and stop in on some of the brand new shops.
OK, have I convinced you to stop by Disney Springs yet? While you are there, you MUST, MUST, MUST stop in at the Ganachery. Weird name, GREAT experience. Experience? YES! A stop here is definitely an experience!
The Ganachery Experience
When you arrive, you may have to wait a few minutes to enter the shop. You will be given a flavor reference card to peruse which lists all the chocolate flavor creations available. Because the whole idea is a personal shopping experience, they only let up to about 20-ish people in at a time. Wait for it…it’s worth it. When we arrived 2 days after opening we only had to wait about 3 minutes before we were allowed in. The doors open and the smell of chocolate washes over you. As soon as you enter, a chocolatier is ready to assist and tell you all about the Ganachery while you watch the Disney Chocolatiers work their magic through a glass window overlooking the kitchen. All the ganache is made fresh in-house. The only product they don’t make in-house are the chocolate bars…more about those later.
Next, you will proceed further into the shop where your personal chocolatier will introduce you to the products and assist in picking out just the right chocolates for you – or to give as a gift – but let’s be real, we know YOU are going to eat the chocolate. They will ask questions to determine the best recommendations for your taste.
The Chocolate (and the people who make it great)
On our visit, Chef Stefan, Master Pastry Chef, and the man behind the whole Ganachery concept (in addition to many other dining concepts at Disney), was there and we were given the unique opportunity to hear him tell us how he came up with the concept of the Ganachery and some of the flavors. He handpicked the chocolatiers and taught them all himself. We were also introduced to Amanda who is Disney’s very first Chocolatier!
Chef Stefan traveled around the world to capture the experiences he needed to develop each special product. Flavors like Mango Curry have an Indian influence with real Indian curry, while Egyptian Sea Salt actually incorporates salt from the Red Sea! There is a South American flare in the Passion Fruit, and pistachios from Sicily. It’s like a chocolate covered world tour.
Chef Stefan also conceptualized each Disney Resort (including Walt Disney World, Aulani, and Disneyland Paris) – as well as the “Fab 5” characters – into specially flavored chocolate bars. We heard him describe, firsthand, walking onto the beach at Aulani, closing his eyes, smelling coconut and pineapple and feeling the gritty sand beneath his feet. All of those sensations are represented in the Aulani chocolate bar. The Donald Duck bar is white chocolate (white like his feathers), blueberries (blue like his shirt), and some spice (like his personality).
To celebrate the opening of the Ganachery, Chef Stefan, who is from Germany, handmade a limited number of chocolate covered stollens (a German holiday cake). We bought one, along with a few ganache flavors, and loved every bite. The mango curry was my favorite. I love curry and I love chocolate…never thought about putting them together but the Ganachery did it to perfection. The chocolates are more expensive than most places but they are a fun vacation splurge. Each ganache piece is $3, or you can buy them in packs where you save a bit on each one. The chocolate bars are $8 each and would make great gifts for the folks back home who didn’t get to visit Walt Disney World with you! The Chocolate Stollen is $12 and only available for a limited time….but I can tell you it is worth every penny!
On your next visit to Disney Springs, plan to stop in at the Ganachery. You will step out of the hustle and bustle, learn a little bit about the world of chocolate (and the world!) and walk out with the best chocolate treat you can find. It truly is the “cure for the common chocolate”.
Aleshia Sokoloski, Travel Planner affiliated with Travel with the Magic
Specializing in Universal Resorts and Disney Vacations including Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Adventures by Disney, and Disney Cruise Line.
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