Mike Johnson
Google
Having previously only been to the Disney Springs location, this was quite a different experience. On the plus side, this location is in a food hall and there are a number of tempting things you might try as your meal, then have cookies for dessert. Or like me, you could do take-out and get the cookies to go (possibly eating part of one cookie before making it home but there is only circumstantial evidence of this). On the negative side my favorite regular menu item at the DS location is the evening cookie. Not sure the official name but it's available only after dark. Spooky! Well, turns out the evening cookie, and its morning counterpart, are DS-only items. But the nice lady here advised me that if you call a few days ahead they might be able to do something for you. Haven't tested that but if you're a big fan of the morning or evening cookie at DS, it's at least a possibility. Now, to the quality of the cookies. We found them very much on par with the DS location. You know how sometimes you think the original location of something might be a revelation compared with some newer location? This would not be the case here, although I will say it was pretty nice to just stroll up the counter in an unhurried manner and order my cookies, rather than the ordeal one typically faces at the DS store because of crowds. If you've never had a Gideon's cookie before (or cake slice for that matter) I would for sure say give it a try only because (a) they do really nice quality work in my experience, and (b) whether it's the flavors or the massive size, it is likely you have never had anything quite like it....so why not give it at least one chance, right? And if Winter Park is somewhat convenient for you, this is a simpler and lower stress way of checking it out versus the DS location. Caveat: if you happen to be at DS anyway, that location has a very cool atmosphere inside that I would also consider worth braving the crowds at least once to experience. But back to Winter Park now, there is ample (at least from my observation) parking, both on the street and in a dedicated lot, which of course serves the entire food hall so it could be if you were there at prime dinnertime the parking wouldn't be so easy. Hope you enjoy it!