Dole Whip Pineapple Frozen Treat - In the Freezer Aisle - Taste Test compared to the real thing

It's time for another fun Dole Whip taste test! 
I've been seeing posts about this new frozen treat in the freezer section of the grocery store! All the Disney enthusiasts are posting all over Facebook about Dole Whip that you can take home! But my big question is how does it compare to the real thing? 

And so, to test it out and compare, we bought a bag of the actual real thing! This is the real Dole Whip mix that they serve at the Disney parks and in Hawaii. All you have to do is mix it with water, freeze it, then process it! With our new Ninja Creami that's super easy! 

The best people to try it with are friends who also love Dole Whip! We're visiting friends in Michigan who we previously did a taste test to compare Disney's suggested recipe, Dole's suggested recipe, and the real thing to see what comes closest. I wrote all about that taste test here! Now we're together again to give this new frozen treat a shot!

The frozen Dole Whip treats can be found in grocery stores for about $7 for 4 cups (3.6 fl ounces each), making each cup $1.75. The entire bag of Dole Whip mix costs $32, but makes 13 containers. Each container holds 24 ounces, making each equivalent 3.6 ounce serving about $0.37. 

I like the bright tropical packaging that the frozen treats comes in. It's bright pineapple yellow with lots of green island symbols. 

Dole Whip - Pineapple

It's the treat with a touch of charm! New Dole Whip brings fruity, smooth, and creamy satisfaction right to your freezer. Just thaw for 5-10 minutes then immense yourself in the fun. Bursting with real fruit, no artificial ingredients and enchanted flavor, your dessert dreams really can come true! 

Those are some pretty bold claims. We're going to test that. 

The picture on the package has a nice big swirl on top. Hopefully no "void of disappointment" in the middle, compared to what we ALWAYS get from Disney. 

The side of the package for completeness. 

The ingredient list is interesting. 

Pineapple puree, that's a good start. Organic Coconut Cream, that's weird. The real Dole Whip has no coconut flavor. Honey. Interesting. And like the original Dole Whip, it's dairy free. 

The package it comes in. 

There we go. Per the instructions, I let it sit out for 10 minutes before doing our taste test. 

The original Dole Whip suffered a little with the extended wait. Normally it's much more firm coming straight from the Ninja Creami. This makes it a little more soft than we'd normally serve it. 

And as for ingredients, well, let's just say it's not as natural as the other one. 

Comparing the two together, the Dole Whip frozen treat has a much more pale color than the Dole Whip mix. It also doesn't seem to be changing form, even though it's been sitting out for 15 minutes by this point. 

Alright, that's enough talking. Let's taste it! 

First up, the original Dole Whip! 

Ian - Regular Dole Whip is delicious as usual. 

Theresa - When it's hard frozen, it's better than Disney! The machines at Disney work so hard, you usually get really soft Dole Whip. It's better hard frozen! 

Tyler - Soft. Melted. Juice. It's good! 

Alli - I love Dole Whip!

Ethan - It's a weird texture. 

Richard - There's a little bit of a banana flavor to it. 

Anna - Like a Laffy Taffy. Not quite as strong though. 

Becky - The texture is weird. The taste is different. And it's got a bad aftertaste to me. 

Rita - It does have a banana taste. 

Joe - Yeah, that aftertaste is not good. 

Becky - Like a plasticky something. Definitely not good. And that aftertaste just keeps getting worse. 

Tyler - That's a weird...

Todd - That tastes like Playdoh...

Tyler - Not as salty as Playdoh though. 

Todd - Or a clay. 

Alli - Like banana Playdoh. 

Josh - The texture reminds me a little of Astronaut Ice Cream. 

Chi - That's not a good a taste. 

Joe - It's not creamy. It's kinda gritty. 

I ended up slicing just (1) 3.6 ounce container into pieces for everyone to sample, and just that one container was more than enough for all 12 of us. No one went back for more. 

Alli - I'm washing my spoon before I eat more Dole Whip. 

That texture is really odd. We talked a little bit about those super cheap ice cream sandwiches where the "ice cream" never melts. This was 25 minutes after we started. 

45 minutes. 

And a full 90 minutes after coming out of the freezer. Strange indeed. 

Well this was certainly definitive. The Frozen Dole Whip from the grocery store does not compare in any way to the real thing. 

It promised Fruity (but tasted more like banana than pineapple), Smooth (I thought it was gritty), Creamy (nope), Satisfaction (hahahaha). Not one person of the 12 tasters liked it. 

This was a giant miss and in no way compares to the real Dole Whip. Thank you Becky for providing it for us to try out.