Disneyland has introduced a new specialty donut at their Donut Cart in the Hub, and this tropical offering has been making waves! Introducing the Pineapple Donut, which Disney foodie fans have unofficially dubbed the Dole Whip Donut!
The Dole Whip Donut is made in small batches. They make roughly 30 each morning and an additional 30 each evening around 5pm, which makes it feel really special when you get your hands on one! I rope-dropped the park more than one morning in a row for my chance and finally got my hands on one today! It’s beautiful and so festive for spring! Possibly because of it being a small, craft item, these sell for a whopping $6 per donut!
Unfortunately, this much-anticipated experience left quite a bit to be desired. I am sure some of it was that the anticipation built the donut up so high that it would be difficult to live up to, but… that wasn’t the only reason this review is lukewarm.
While the donut was enjoyable, it was very sweet. Share this with a friend because it’s a lot to handle on your own, especially first thing in the morning. The top of the donut has a layer of sugary glazed icing with a giant swirly mound of marshmallow fluff. I’m not sure why they chose marshmallow for a pineapple donut because to me a cream of some sort would have been a closer approximation to the soft serve base in the Dole Whip. I talked to several people who also got some donuts, and all of us agree that the marshmallow is a weird choice and there is way too much of it on the donut.
It also left me wondering, “Where is the pineapple?” for over half of the experience. They have pineapple flavored jelly filling, but it seems to be extremely inconsistent from donut to donut. For my donut, there was a huge blob 2/3 of the way through my donut, but the rest of it was nothing but donut and marshmallow fluff. For a friend of mine, he said he had entirely too much of the pineapple marmalade and couldn’t taste the donut itself for all the jelly leaking out of it. A couple nearby this morning had the same experience; hers was dry and lacking and his filling was oozing out onto his plate!
While this donut looks beautiful and has Dole Whip fans clamoring for a taste, it needs some work on consistency and maybe swap the marshmallow for something softer and creamier! Rumor has it that these donuts will be disappearing on April 20th in favor of a new, unique donut experience, so get them while they last if you are a fan of marshmallow!