The Ganachery Opens at Disney Springs, Offering Boutique Chocolate Experience

Hi everyone!

The Ganachery opened this past week in Disney Springs. Located in the Landing across from Jock Lindsey’s and near The BOATHOUSE and other new restaurants and shops, The Ganachery is a boutique chocolate location which creates 16 different kinds of chocolates each day for guests. It isn’t an inexpensive experience, but the chocolate is made fresh each day by chocolatiers passionate about the product.

The interior only holds about 20 guests, and I don’t think they were allowing quite that many in on the day we visited. That is for the best, as it allows a much better experience inside. We waited about 10 minutes outside at 11am, but I know waits have been longer at other times.

We will have a video soon, and a segment on our next Mousesteps Weekly YouTube Show about The Ganachery. We will also be adding more information to this article this week.

A sign outside shows the established year as 2015. The Ganachery is big on storytelling, as is usual with Walt Disney World. From the Disney Parks Blog, “the shop used to be an apothecary where residents of the springs came for medicinal needs. Then, as the story goes, the space was taken over by a South American couple who turned their love for the cocoa bean into a fantastic chocolate shop.”

A Cast Member hands out samples of chocolate on sticks, explaining the best way to taste it.

Spoons are the handles on the doors.

Nothing quite prepared me for the size of the shop. It really is tiny, but there are several sections that offer the same items.

A Cast Member was working on chocolate behind the glass. This is an open kitchen area, but they cannot hear you. It is temperature controlled at 61 degrees inside.

We were told that it takes about 26 hours to make the chocolate here. It is a lengthy process with many steps, and the chocolate is alternated each day – dark or milk.

Cacao Barry is shown on a shelf.

A Cast member works on the chocolate. There is no freezer here, everything is made fresh.

Disney Pastry Chef Stefan Riemer showcases a holiday chocolate-covered miniature stollen. The stollen itself is created at Disney’s Boardwalk Bakery, and then covered here in chocolate and brushed with a metallic looking coating. It has a lovely finish to it, reminiscent of copper (which is a theme in The Ganachery). We were told that Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company Tom Staggs requested that stollen be made. Expect other seasonal items as well around the year. Chef Stefan said that “Dark chocolate is our star”.

The stollen was being displayed, but nearby there were plenty in boxes ($12 each). It was one of the items we brought home. It is harder to see the copper look to it here, but it really looks nice.

Up above is a chandelier made of copper pots.

A Cast Member reaches for chocolate in the case.

There are a handful of signs scattered about the shop.

Mickey pops are sure to be a favorite here.

Chef Stefan talked glowingly about Amanda, who is the head chocolatier. He said that she is “running the show”.

Crispy Chocolate Pearls come in several flavors.

Here is a look at the tag.

The Crispy Chocolate Pearls cost $5.00.

And you can see what the different ingredients are.

The chocolate bars are not made in-house, but are made by Vosges in Chicago. Chef Stefan asked them how they would make a chocolate that tasted like you’d expect Donald Duck to be. The chocolate bar comes in white chocolate with blueberries and habanero chili, “white, blue and a little fiery”.

Ingredients are listed on the back.

The Pluto bar is milk chocolate and comes with peanut butter and peanuts. Each bar costs $8.00. I mentioned it isn’t inexpensive earlier. However, the chocolate taste does linger. We ended up spending about $40 here (for sampling purposes, of course) and have been parsing out the items very slowly. I’ve found that I can still taste the chocolate – especially on one piece of chocolate from the case – as long as an hour later. It isn’t like buying Hershey’s.

Different parks are represented in chocolate bars as well. This is the Disneyland Paris version, with dark chocolate with salted caramel.

Prices are noted close to the items.

These are the chocolates in the case, 16 different flavors. There are several types: the classic line, fruit, and trendy. Flavors are much more unique than what you’ll usually find elsewhere, including the peppermint and spearmint with dark chocolate (which we didn’t try, but it sounds very good).

Chef Stefan searched for the highest quality ingredients, including cinnamon from Sri Lanka. He isn’t a fan of regular cinnamon, and is very passionate about putting only the finest ingredients into the chocolate.

We purchased 3 small squares of chocolate, so there were many flavors I didn’t try. Both the Mango-Curry and Matcha-Yuzu sound interesting and unique.

Here is a listing of the prices. I looked at similar chocolatiers online and didn’t find prices here to be out of line with many of them. Each piece is $3.00, but 12 cost $27.00. If you are only looking for a few pieces, maybe share the cost of 9 or 12 with friends (12 comes out to just over $2.00 per piece).

We did bring home a chocolate orange, but haven’t eaten it yet.

The Chipotle Pepper was on the stick outside. It is very tasty.

Chocolate is Good Medicine.

The Ganachery hands out this card.

This isn’t a place we will stop often, but every so often for a chocolate fix. It is a terrific location for homemade gifts, and I saw many guests carrying around bags in Disney Springs while we were there.