Gideon's

[CableKC]

You need to go to the store to join the waitlist, you can't do it remotely. They do give you an estimated wait time but it isn't always right.

Darn......

I guess that's a no for me then. Given my limited schedule and when we could possibly go to DS, it would be too late after the close of HS or AK to wait that long.

 

[Lilsia]

We got there at 9am last week on a Thursday. Were about the 15th-20th group in line. We had cookies in hand and were out the door by 10 (they opened a scootch early). We got the pistachio, the coffee cake cookie, the peanut butter crunch, and the cookie of the month espresso-peanut butter...and the cold brew.

I'm SO happy we went, because now we never have to go there again. MEH.

If you love the taste and feel of eating a pound of raw cookie dough, then this will be your jam. I love cookie dough...but a little sneaky spoonful when I'm making cookies, not a Big Mac sized lump. I know, I know...it's supposed to be that way. No thanks.

The coffee cake cookie was okay. I'd rather have an Entemann's coffee cake. It was a big greasy, soft, mound of dough with crumb topping. The flavor was good, but I cannot get past the texture. Same with the peanut butter one. There was NO crunch. Just more raw dough.

I tried the cold brew, but I am not the one to take a review from since I don't like coffee....and I did not like this drink either. I couldn't discern any peanut butter flavor, and neither could DH (who loves coffee. He wasn't a fan either).

If there is a time then there is no wait, we may try the cake.

We got a DELICIOUS chocolate chip cookie from 4 River's Smokehouse in Daytona the day before. It was heavenly. And the Cookie Num Num is way better too. Best cookie on property is the one in the Norway bakery.

We were not impressed with their food either. Full disclosure, I worked as a baker making thousands of cookies a week for many years. The ones at Gideon's are more cake then cookie and they actually gave us day old ones. The cake slice that we had was overly sweet and the icing was grainy. Maybe I have just been spoiled with really good baked goods, especially cookies but we did not like them at all. I would also hesitate to call them cookies.

 

[MomOTwins]

We were not impressed with their food either. Full disclosure, I worked as a baker making thousands of cookies a week for many years. The ones at Gideon's are more cake then cookie and they actually gave us day old ones. The cake slice that we had was overly sweet and the icing was grainy. Maybe I have just been spoiled with really good baked goods, especially cookies but we did not like them at all. I would also hesitate to call them cookies.

I’ve seen many posts now indicating cookies at Gideons were old or stale. That is just bizarre—seems like bakery 101 that baked goods are made in the morning before the shop opens. Do they ship them from somewhere instead of baking them onsite I wonder?

 

[BrianL]

I don't know if the cookies that we got were "stale" but they tasted good and I ate on mine for about 4 days. I finished it when I got home from the trip and it still tasted pretty good. I do agree that their texture is denser than a typical cookie - a lot like a solid mass of cookie dough - but I LIKE cookie dough so I was enjoying it.

 

[hbrock4]

Thank you so much! We were thinking we would sign up before dinner and hopefully be able to get cookies later for dessert. I have read that they often close down the virtual line at 6:00 or 7:00, so we should be able to get there by then. I've also heard that the selection later in the day may be slimmer, but we're not too picky. It will be our arrival day, and we just want to try a Gideon's cookie!

Update: Our plan worked out perfectly. We arrived at Gideon's at about 5:40 and got into the virtual line. We then checked in at Raglan Road for our 6:00 reservation. Just as we were getting ready to leave Raglan Road, we got the text from Gideon's. We walked straight over and got in line there, waited 15-20 minutes in line and had a delicious dessert!

 

[Lilsia]

I’ve seen many posts now indicating cookies at Gideons were old or stale. That is just bizarre—seems like bakery 101 that baked goods are made in the morning before the shop opens. Do they ship them from somewhere instead of baking them onsite I wonder?

I think that they bake too far ahead and often overbake not knowing how busy it will be. Most bakeries are pretty consistent and can easily make more cookies quickly. But the nature of these giant bombs, not only is it time consuming, they are really expensive to just toss at the end of the night. Not that that is any excuse for then to be selling day old as fresh. They could easily have a day old section that sells for less. They are counting on people not knowing the difference. I blame the owner in allowing that. Baking is a passion to most who do it and from what I have read, he was an interior designer that decided to make this one type of cookie. They need to focus more on their baked goods and less on the interior of their shop.

 

[BrianL]

I think that they bake too far ahead and often overbake not knowing how busy it will be. Most bakeries are pretty consistent and can easily make more cookies quickly. But the nature of these giant bombs, not only is it time consuming, they are really expensive to just toss at the end of the night. Not that that is any excuse for then to be selling day old as fresh. They could easily have a day old section that sells for less. They are counting on people not knowing the difference. I blame the owner in allowing that. Baking is a passion to most who do it and from what I have read, he was an interior designer that decided to make this one type of cookie. They need to focus more on their baked goods and less on the interior of their shop.

That's a good point, but the interior of their shop is so freaking cool!

 

[Lilsia]

That's a good point, but the interior of their shop is so freaking cool!

Lol, yeah. But all I see, as someone who has been in the business for decades, is a royal PITA to keep clean. Lol

 

[BrianL]

Lol, yeah. But all I see, as someone who has been in the business for decades, is a royal PITA to keep clean. Lol

Oh, I can imagine. That's the nice thing about a motif like that for say, the Haunted Mansion - it can be dusty because it's just a natural part of the ambiance, but they're not serving food in there! It was pretty awesome in Gideon's though - they nailed it for sure.

 

[jabrown40]

Went to Boathouse for lunch last week, put my name in for the three hour line. However, we decided to leave early. Later went into Orlando to do some shopping ( I just moved here three weeks ago), so I went to the original Gideons in Orlando for about a 10 minute wait. I got the chocolate chip and peanut butter one. They're just not my type of cookie. We had them laying around for 4 days, but even though they stayed pretty fresh, we never finished them, and I threw out about a third of each. We much prefer the desserts at Amorettes, but at least there's plenty of choices for everyone!