Oh, is that why Disney park fans mention those things so much, because they were only available at the parks? I’d wondered about their cult-like appeal.
Originally yes. I always think some things are better experiences when you only get them on special occasions. Like having certain foods on holidays or even hearing certain music during certain times of year. Absense makes the heart grow fonder. Familiarity breeds contempt. It’s an Ok dessert. (I actually do enjoy it. It’s like a sort of pineapple sherbert) But really what made it special was only having it at Disneyland. The last few years it’s become more widely available. I saw a burger place in iowa had it. That sorta makes me sad in a way. If it stops being special it loses something.
I noticed a similar phenomenon with songs. If I hear a song I haven’t heard since I was a teenager the feeling come flooding back in a powerful way. But if I hear a song that I heard as a teenager but that has been on steady rotation on the radio constantly since then, the feeling is greatly diminished.
For similar reasons I think this is why the sense of smell is so powerful for a lot of people - specifically because it’s a type of sense memory that is harder to reproduce and so it hits harder when you do sense it again…
If you live in the Midwest you can buy it fresh at Hawaiian Bros restaurants, although they no longer refer to it as Dole Whip. They recently started calling it Dole Soft Serve. I’m not sure if there’s a difference. I had one at lunch today.
An aside (my Debbie downer take): although I have enjoyed many Dole Whips at Disneyland, I can’t help but feel guilty patronizing a company that thrived directly because of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. the Dole family were directly responsible for the coup: https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/americans-overthrow-hawaiian-monarchy
Tell it! “Dole” means one thing to me: Sanford B. Dole, insurrectionist, traitor, and embodiment of the old Native Hawaiian saying: “The missionaries told us to cast our eyes to Heaven, and when we looked back down their children had stolen our land”.
There are some foods and beverages that lose their magic when they are taken out of their native environment, like diner coffee or Dole Whips or most any food you could buy at a carnival.
It’s like taking the Holy Grail past the Great Seal in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Either make use of it where it is or don’t seek it out at all.