The Cake Bake Shop® by Gwendolyn Rogers — Restaurant in Bay Lake

Alright, I WANTED to dislike everything about the Cake Bake Shop Bakery before arrival, but I do have some good things and some critical feedback too.

First, for the food, I tried the Earl's Court Chocolate Cake and the Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bar. If anyone tells you that the baked goods are made with low quality ingredients then you should immediately brush them off. That doesn't indicate flavor, of course, but it's pretty clear these treats are not your run of the mill, local bakery quality treats. That said, that doesn't mean they're all homeruns. The Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bar was a very nice balance between the crumb topping and the cheesecake, and definitely not overly sweet like most cheesecakes can be. The Earl's Court Cake had some highs and lows. I really enjoyed the fudgy chocolate cake part of the slice, however, I can see how someone may not like their cake with that texture. As for the icing & filling, I felt they were fine, but nothing out of the ordinary. Presentation for both were great, if that counts for anything.

Second, for atmosphere and staff, it wasn't too surprising. Disney Cast Members are top tier to begin with and I knew everything would be clean and covered in glitter going in. I'd imagine this would be very exciting for younger kids, but I appreciate the cleanliness as an adult. Not sure why anyone would think this place fits in with the rest of the Boardwalk area, but I guess that's on Disney for approving the location.

Third, I will say the ordering process is fine, but could be improved. It was a little odd that I had to project my voice over a glass bakery case to a Cast Member who didn't have a set POS station, but then move on to the register itself. The queue goes down the middle and then splits left and right, but there's no one really to direct you left or right, which was causing backups on one side but not the other. I was confused as to why they bothered with the beautiful glass bakery cases showing off all the options, but you don't really get a good look at them until AFTER you've already placed your order. I think it'd make more sense if the layout had the queue direct people along the bakery case up until the register so they have a better idea of what they want to choose. There's an outdoor queue and Cast Member that limits occupancy anyway, so this would be fairly easy to do.

Side note, why are Cast Members erroneously called "Team Members" here? Seems like an obvious oversight.

Fourth, the pricing. Again, I can get behind higher cost with higher quality ingredients. And I do believe that everything on the menu probably is concocted with these higher quality ingredients, but I'm also not convinced everything will be a grand slam, especially considering how many options there are. A lot of people are saying that this is a one and done or a special occasion place for them, and while I agree, it's also insanely hard for me to recommend trying it to anyone else. I don't WANT to suggest it to someone and have them come up disappointed, because it's just TOO expensive to risk being a let down. Sure V&A's is expensive, but I recommend it to everyone I know because I'm 100% sure the food and experience will never disappoint. Obviously the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant & Bakery aren't V&A's, but I think where Gwendolyn Rodgers is going to struggle is return visits AND word of mouth referrals. This first few months of business will be fair, especially through the holiday season, but I do have serious concerns about the longevity of these locations. Double the price for a piece of cake that's only marginally better quality, not even necessarily in taste, than a certain bakery at Disney Springs is just way too difficult for me to ever recommend to anyone.

Finally, and most importantly, I do not want Gwendolyn to succeed. I find my review here to be fair, but the pricing strategy she tried to employ before the major public outcry & subsequent discount of menu items before open proves that her priority is not to make a typical Family's meal magical- it's to pad her...

The Cake Bake Shop Bakery and Restaurant was an absolute treasure and treat yesterday for lunch and of course CAKE!!! I was blown away by the enchanting beauty of this lovely restaurant and bakery! My husband and I walked up yesterday and made a reservation and were seated 20 minutes later. Because I researched the 2 original cake bake shops in Indiana prior to the visit, I immediately recognized the owner and Chef Gwendolyn, out front. She was SO kind and talked with my husband and I. She even asked if we had been inside the bakery yet and because we had not, she took us in and showed us around herself! Now to the main event…. The FOOD! Well, actually first I need to share that the atmosphere and decor make you feel like you have walked into a storybook set up for a magical meal! The employees are all dressed in very nice attire, and the chandeliers oh my they are divine! Our waiters Zach and Cam, were wonderful! Zach’s recommendations for what to order were spot on! He even encouraged us to relax, and take our time to enjoy our meal. When Zach described Gwen’s signature Cosmopolitan, I knew instantly I wanted to try this cocktail. It was incredibly refreshing, and a perfect Cosmo, not too sweet, not too bitter, the balance of ingredients was spot on. The orange notes in this drink were my favorite, just delicious! Now, let me just introduce you to something magical that this restaurant is famous for…. ✨ EDIBLE PIXIE GLITTER! ✨ Y’all everything sparkles at The Cake Bake Restaurant, including the drinks! Our wonderful waiter Cam had his own bottle of pixie glitter and even made my husband’s iced tea sparkle when he wanted to join in the fun! ✨ Ok now the food… we started with the Chicken Velvet Soup - This savory chicken soup was a 10/10! Absolutely Delicious!!! For our entrees I ordered the Broccoli Quiche with a side of the blackberry avocado salad, and my husband ordered the Shrimp Poe Boy with Fries. Portions were VERY large, we absolutely could have shared my husband’s meal. But y’all, I’m so glad I got the quiche because it was delectable! When Zach told me the crust is prepared with vodka, I just needed to experience it, and it was perfect. And my blackberry avocado salad? It tasted amazing as well and was a perfect pairing to the generous slice of yummy warm quiche. The Shrimp Poe boy my husband ordered was an enormous serving! The bread for this Cajun inspired sandwich is flown in from New Orleans daily! The yummy sandwich was fantastic, shrimp are huge and the rémoulade sauce was amazing. Next up I ordered a pot of Earl Grey tea. The presentation was so lovely, the honey I requested even had edible glitter of course! This tea service is a new favorite for me, and I can’t wait to return for a real afternoon tea party with my daughter! Now, onto the main event, CAKE! We ordered Gwendolyn’s award winning Earl’s Court chocolate cake…..and just before it arrived Gwen visited our table. Again, she is so kind and because I mentioned we just moved from Georgia, she shared with me that Paula Deen has requested this chocolate cake for 3 of her birthdays! I asked Gwen to sign my coaster and I plan to include it with my collection of favorite Disney memories. Back to business now ….CAKE….we were presented with a GIANT size of stunning Chocolate Cake and Zach sprinkled it with glitter pixie dust of course. From the first bite I fell in love! Earl’s Court Chocolate cake is very moist, rich, just right and not overly sweet, it was what CHOCOLATE CAKE DREAMS are made of!! We also included a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. Yes, all the ice cream is prepared in house and the vanilla is just so creamy and delicious….a perfect accompaniment to our rich chocolate cake. The Cake Bake Shop’s cake and ice cream are 2 of the best things I’ve ever tasted at Disney!!! This meal was so lovely and special from start to finish! I can’t wait to return!! This is a perfect place for special occasions like showers, luncheons, birthdays, and other special...

Please do yourself a favor and come experience this restaurant for yourself before you form an opinion. For the reviews from people who have actually visited here, we heard great things so we decided to try ourselves. This is located on the Boardwalk, close to the Epcot walking path. You could access by walking/boating from Epcot, or any of the Epcot resorts (Yacht club, Beach club, Swan/Dolphin, or Boardwalk. Or you could bus to the boardwalk, or walk or boat from Hollywood Studios. We decided to see if we could check in early so we arrived at 7pm. The hostess outside said they are running a bit behind, and they can check us in, but no guarantees that we will receive a text message any earlier than our reservation time. The people in front of us asked if they could join a walk up list and the host told them it would be about two hours (so eating at 9pm), so keep that in mind if you do not have a reservation. So we checked in and then walked around the boardwalk to see some entertainment. They had a jump rope group out performing. Although we have also seen jugglers and magicians and acapella singers. We got the text at 7:25pm which was a great surprise. After checking in we were brought to the host stand inside to be seated. There is a main room in the middle, and two “solarium type” rooms to the side that are smaller, and a patio. We were sat in one of the smaller side rooms. It was great because it was a quiet atmosphere. The atmosphere is very fancy garden feel with fake trees and roses with lights. You could tell our server Aubrey was very busy, but when he came to your table he spent as much time as you needed and you never felt rushed, and felt like you were his only table. Since it was our first time, he explained the concept of the restaurant and the owner Gwendolyn, as well as the menu with his personal favorites as well as the most popular items. We started off with the chicken and sausage gumbo soup/appetizer portion and it was a huge hit, super flavorful and delicious. If we come back, we would get an entrée size portion of the gumbo because it was so good. We also got the French onion soup starter, which was tasty, but just your standard French onion soup. We got the shrimp po boy, which our server explained that the bread for the sandwich is flown in from a specific bakery in New Orleans every three days. The sandwich was huge, the bread was delicious, the remoulade was great, and it came with fries and garlic aioli which was also great. We also got the 3 cheese cavatappi, which was a decent sized portion. It was cheesy and great. We were full so we ordered a chocolate chip cookie dough cake slice to-go for dessert which we enjoyed later at the hotel. We asked for boxes and the server came over with really sturdy reusable containers and boxed our leftovers for us, as well as brought a reusable bag with the cake bake shop logo on it (really pretty actually) and placed our to go slice in the bag as well for us. It was a nice send off. For those who have an issue with the price, you are paying for high quality food (think the flown in bread), high quality dessert (think celebrity baker), nice atmosphere (think upscale restaurant and reusable bag with sturdy containers), location (think boardwalk Disney property), and brand name. Everything we ate we had no problem paying for as it was delicious. We walked out of here with a bill that was less than Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge and less than Le Cellier at Epcot. So in reality it is in line with a signature Disney Dining Restaurant, so don’t think too much or be too put off by what the internet is saying about the price. For us this was a splurge for a night date night and Valentine’s night. We would like to come back again as we really like the Cajun forward menu that they have here. Overall we really enjoyed our experience here and I would recommend you come try...