CARMEL, Ind. — The grand opening of a popular central Indiana restaurant and bakery at Walt Disney World is now expected to happen in 2024.
The Cake Bake Shop, which has locations in Broad Ripple and Carmel, announced the opening of the new store at "The Happiest Place on Earth" in March 2022, saying the restaurant was expected to open in 2023.
"I am so excited to announce that I will be opening my next Cake Bake Shop at Disney’s BoardWalk in Walt Disney World® Resort," Cake Bake Shop owner Gwendolyn Rogers wrote at the time.
This week, the restaurant announced the new shop is still in the works, but the wait will be a little longer than previously expected.
"As the excitement is building and our hearts are brimming with anticipation, we expect to open our doors early next year to welcome you to an unforgettable dining experience," The Cake Bake Shop wrote on Instagram Monday.
The new restaurant will feature everything Hoosiers have come to enjoy about the Cake Bake Shop since Rogers opened her Broad Ripple location in 2014.
"(T)his restaurant will offer both savory and dessert menus, along with afternoon tea service, in a whimsical atmosphere that complements the magic of the idyllic charm of Disney’s BoardWalk that guests know and love," the DisneyParks Blog wrote last year.
Five years after opening her first location, and experiencing an explosion in popularity thanks to Oprah Winfrey, who picked her Mint Chocolate Chip Cake as one of her "Favorite Things" and Williams-Sonoma, Rogers built her second restaurant, a much larger location in Carmel City Center.
The Carmel restaurant opened in July 2019.
"Never in a million years, didn't expect it," Rogers told 13News shortly before the opening.
Rogers said cooking and baking was her "happy place" as a stay-at-home mom to her three sons. Baking for her kids' events led to catering parties, which eventually turned into finding a larger kitchen before opening the first Cake Bake Shop.
"I never take it for granted. I still throw my heart and soul into it every day because I can't imagine doing something else, but I'm very pleased that people like it," Rogers said in 2019.