2014 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival: Pineapple Promenade

Day Two of the Flower & Garden festival was wet and rainy, so I did not bring the iPad with me. It was challenging enough to try to stay dry, hold on to an umbrella, balance tiny plates of food, keep the food dry, and take photos (with the phone) all at the same time. Oh yeah, this was the PERFECT time to try "live blogging" for the first time- ha! Always an adventure.

Mary Poppins Topiary at UK Pavilion

My friend Rebecca warned that it might get windy, and I could fly away :)

Winnie the Pooh Topiary at UK Pavilion

Tim says, "Tut, tut, it looks like rain."

After visiting flower & topiary displays, our first booth was Pineapple Promenade, which we informally dubbed "the Dole Whip booth". They are calling it "pineapple soft serve" during the festival, which made me uncertain if this was THE Dole Whip that has a devoted cult following at Disney. I asked a cast member, and he said yes, the "pineapple soft serve" at the booth IS Dole Whip, but Dole opted not to sponsor the name brand for the festival booth, so it has reverted to a generic description in EPCOT during the Flower and Garden Festival. Never fear, it is still known as Dole Whip over in the Magic Kingdom and at the Polynesian resort.

One advantage of rain: fewer people in the photos :)

Although the pineapple soft serve is not noted as gluten free or vegetarian in the event passport, from what I've read on other blogs, Dole whip is both vegan and gluten free.

Here is a link to the manufacturer's web page, which lists the ingredients in Dole Whip. As always, if you have severe allergies to a particular ingredient, you should double check with a chef on duty during your vacation. Ingredients in many prepackaged foods (whether at Disney or your local health food store) are known to change based on manufacturer's availability, etc.

Passport page for Pineapple Promenade (say that 5 times fast)

Tim ordered the Sweet Potato Cinnamon Waffle with Dole Whip- er, I mean pineapple soft serve. It was melting quickly on the hot waffle, and as I mentioned, I am also balancing an umbrella and taking a photo here, so bear with my less-than-perfect photo:

You know I love waffles. I have to say, this teeny tiny sweet potato waffle (smaller than the palm of your hand) was the cutest waffle I've ever seen. 

I tried a little of the soft serve/Dole Whip. I thought it was VERY sweet- much sweeter than I expected. Personally, I don't think I could eat an entire serving of Dole Whip. Tim also found it too sweet on its own, but said it balanced very well with the waffle. 

There were pineapples growing in several areas throughout the festival grounds. I think pineapple plants are SO cool. One of these days, I will plant pineapple tops in my yard and watch them grow. 

And just for fun, because this is, after all, the Healing Kitchen, here is a link to more information about the health benefits of pineapple.