Build-A-Bear’s three-story ICON Park Workshop on International Drive opens in November with an appointment-only Design Studio, a Bakeshop for decorating cupcakes and a custom embroidery station.
Build-A-Bear Workshop is about to open its biggest store yet, and it’s in Orlando.
The company’s three-story Workshop at ICON Park on International Drive is set to open in November, Build-A-Bear announced on Oct. 5. It hasn’t named an exact date. More features and grand opening details are coming “in the coming weeks,” the company said.
Chain Store Age called it the company’s largest and most immersive location to date. Build-A-Bear CEO Chris Hurt called it “our most ambitious experience yet.”
The building already looks finished from the outside. Attractions Magazine filmed the giant screens lighting up on the new storefront this month:
What’s inside the ICON Park Build-A-Bear?
The classic stuff, plus three things you won’t find at the mall. Here’s what Build-A-Bear has revealed:
Build-A-Bear Design Studio: an appointment-only experience where you work one-on-one with a Design Consultant
Build-A-Bear Bakeshop: a hands-on spot to decorate your own cupcakes and cookies
“Personalize Me” Station: custom embroidery and screen printing on T-shirts and hoodies
Build-A-Bear stressed that the Bakeshop isn’t a traditional cafe. You’re there to frost and decorate, then eat your work.
Hurt promised as much early on. “There will be a lot of new experiences and a lot of enhancements to our current experiences,” he told FOX 35 in 2025.
How does the Build-A-Bear Design Studio work?
By appointment. You sit down with a Design Consultant and pick your bear’s style, fur, color, eyes and paw design, the company said.
Digital tools show you the design before it’s built. Then you watch a seamstress make it.
It wraps up with a Heart Ceremony and keepsakes, including a birth certificate and a “Design Studio Cub Condo.” Build-A-Bear hasn’t posted prices for the Design Studio, the Bakeshop or the embroidery station yet.
What can you personalize at Build-A-Bear ICON Park?
Clothes, mostly. The “Personalize Me” Station does initials, names and numbers on T-shirts and hoodies, plus patches and custom prints.
Select bears can get their ears embroidered, too. That’s a small detail, but it’s the kind of thing that turns a souvenir into a keepsake for a lot of families.
Where is the new Build-A-Bear in Orlando?
At ICON Park, the entertainment complex on International Drive, with a facade facing I-Drive, FOX 35 reported when the project was announced. Its neighbors include Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE Aquarium and the Museum of Illusions, Chain Store Age noted.
ICON Park is also home to The Wheel, the giant observation wheel you can see from much of I-Drive.
FOX 35 said Build-A-Bear picked ICON Park partly because it sits close to Walt Disney World and Universal, where the tourists already are.
Who designed the ICON Park Build-A-Bear?
Design firm Chute Gerdeman, which also worked on the FAO Schwarz flagship in New York, where Build-A-Bear runs a shop-in-shop, the company said.
Chute Gerdeman started on the design in June 2024, and the project broke ground on July 31, 2025, the firm said.
ICON Park’s president and CEO, Chris Jaskiewicz, said it “will be the largest combination of experiential retail and entertainment at ICON Park.”
Back when the project was first announced, Hurt, then the company’s chief operating officer, hinted at the layout. “There will be reasons to go to different levels,” he told FOX 35. He took over as CEO in June 2026, Chain Store Age reported.
How big is Build-A-Bear now?
Pretty big for a teddy bear company. Build-A-Bear has more than 650 company-owned, partner-operated and franchise locations in more than 30 countries, according to Chain Store Age.
It was founded in St. Louis in 1997, and the company says it’s been doing make-your-own experiences for nearly 30 years. The ICON Park opening lands right as it closes in on that milestone.
If you’re planning a winter Orlando trip, keep an eye on the Design Studio. Appointment-only experiences in tourist areas tend to fill up fast, and booking details haven’t been posted yet.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Build-A-Bear Workshop via PR Newswire (Oct. 5, 2026), the opening, the three new experiences and Chris Hurt
Chain Store Age, Marianne Wilson (Oct. 5, 2026), size, neighbors and company facts
FOX 35 Orlando (Aug. 1, 2025), the I-Drive facade, location and Hurt’s earlier comments
Chute Gerdeman (Sept. 25, 2025), the design timeline, groundbreaking and Chris Jaskiewicz
Attractions Magazine on YouTube (Oct. 3, 2026), the construction video
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