Meet the Disney World Cookie Entrepreneur Commanding Lines Longer Than Any Ride

It's worth the wait.

On any given day in Walt Disney World, visitors can expect lines that last up to five hours—not for a ride, though, but for cookies. That's because the hottest queue in the Most Magical Place on Earth is Gideon's Bakehouse, a buttery crumb of an idea named after a handwritten moniker found in the back of a vintage cookbook, which evolved into the sweetest sensation in Disney World. And it's all thanks to its founder, Steve Lewis, an entrepreneur with a Walt Disney-like sense for storytelling and immersion.

"Gideon's Bakehouse was basically an accident," recalls Lewis, who opened his first cookie-centric bakeshop at Orlando's East End Market in 2016. "I call myself an overachieving home baker, because I never meant to open a bakery." Baking since he was a kid, Lewis spent 15 years honing his chocolate chip cookie recipe. "I tend to bake when I'm sad, so it happened over years of stress-baking while facing challenges and loss in life," he says. "That is why Gideon's is so personal to me—it's packed with so many memories and so much heartache. The secret ingredient in the cookies is my tears."

Initially trained in music, Lewis started a band at 14, but pivoted to owning a comic shop and art gallery in Orlando when medical issues with his hand forced him to put down the guitar. When the 2008 financial crash closed his shop, he returned to baking. "At first, it was to cope and, eventually, to pay some bills," Lewis says. "After a few years of tinkering, I gained some home baker steam and was asked to do a 30-day pop-up at the East End Market." When he first arrived at the market, he had $800 to his name, no staff, and no idea what he was doing. "I thought I could evolve into a full-service bakery with tons of selections, but the universe just pushed me into focusing on cookies. Who am I to argue with the universe?" Acclaim for his bakery quickly spread, and lines started forming for his buttery half-pound cookies, made in small batches and overloaded with chocolate chips and other flavors like candied walnuts, cinnamon streusel, banana chips, and toffee.

""The secret ingredient in the cookies is my tears.""

Fate once again opened new doors—this time at Disney World. "Originally, I had no intention of expanding," he says. "I loved feeling like Orlando's little secret at the East End Market." However, after his first year in business, Lewis realized a few things: He lacked buying power if he couldn't get ingredients or prices fluctuated wildly, he felt inspired to spread the spotlight on the Central Florida food scene, and most importantly, "I'm a creative brain and suffer from deep depression without forward momentum."

Since he didn't want to grow by juggling numerous locations and diluting the feeling of exclusivity and discovery, he set his sights on opening one shop with the power of 10. "In Central Florida, that means Disney." The perfect match for Disney, Lewis describes the Gideon's brand as one of escapism, "and who does that better than the Mouse?"

To get Disney's attention, Lewis started offering his chocolate chip cookies at The Polite Pig, a barbecue restaurant at Disney Springs. Disney Food Blog posted a photo of the cookie on the very first day,  proclaiming it one of the best things to eat on Disney property. Lines formed immediately at The Polite Pig and they sold out in minutes. A few weeks later, Lewis says, he had a captive audience with the Disney Springs team. Although it took a few years of back-and-forth to determine the exact location, he says it's precisely where he wanted to be: an enchanting manor-like building in the middle of the shopping and dining district, bedecked with books and baubles, and adorned with a friendly gargoyle over the front door.

For Lewis, the leap from pint-sized cookie counter to center stage in the most visited theme park on Earth is an opportunity to platform  local small businesses on an international stage. With a creative fervor and ambition akin to Walt himself, Lewis describes a special authenticity to Gideon's. "In a way, Gideon's is more of an art scene than a bakery, and the Disney crowd embraces that identity, be it by lining up for hours to get a weekend-only scratch-made dessert or rushing to get their hands on a limited-edition collectible pin or signed piece of artwork promoting a charity for animals." Much like Disney World isn't a one-note destination for rides, Gideon's is much more than chocolate chips. Says Lewis, "We are also about telling and sharing stories, and we have an interesting and weird little universe of characters that art director Michael Reyes and I have created." Said characters can be seen on menus, on limited-edition merch, and on trading cards hidden in boxes. "It's so much fun, and I wouldn't have had this kind of creative growth without the support of the family we've created with our customers."

""Gideon's is 100% scratch-made by hand with no corners cut.""

No matter how in demand Gideon's is, how many employees he hires, or how long the queue gets, Lewis adheres to the same diligence as day one. "Gideon's is 100% scratch-made by hand with no corners cut," he says. "There is no automation. We're the real deal." Always one for forward momentum, Lewis has dropped hints about a book deal to expand on Gideon's characters, noting that several could move out into the world with sister culinary concepts —"some that were secretly tested already at Gideon's," he hints.

"I absolutely love my relationship with my friends at Disney," Lewis says. "I feel we connect creatively, and they trust my dedication to the guest experience and storytelling." For a small single-owner business that started as a happy accident, before commanding the longest lines in Disney World, the future for Gideon's is bright. “I'm sure we'll do more in and out of Disney," he says. "The team and I are excited to see which doors present themselves next."

Read the original article on All Recipes.