Aloha Isle
Aloha Isle is a quick-service refreshment stand in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Florida. Sponsored by the Dole Food Company, it is the original park home of the Dole Whip, the pineapple soft-serve dessert introduced there in 1984 that has become one of the most recognisable snacks sold at Disney parks. The stand's site dates to the park's opening day in 1971, when it operated as the Veranda Juice Bar.
History
The location opened with Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971, as the Veranda Juice Bar, an outlet attached to the Adventureland Veranda restaurant. From 1977 the Veranda complex was sponsored by Kikkoman, and the juice bar sold drinks and fruit under that arrangement until the sponsorship changed at the start of the 1980s.
Dole then took over the stand, and it was renamed Aloha Isle. Under Dole the menu was rebuilt around pineapple: juice, fresh pineapple spears and soft serve. In 1984 the stand began serving the product that would define it. Dole had developed a dry-mix, non-dairy pineapple soft serve, formulated in part so that it would hold its texture in Florida's heat, and launched it as the Dole Pineapple Whip before the name shortened to Dole Whip. Walt Disney World had the product first; it did not reach Disneyland until 1986.
On March 12, 2015, Aloha Isle exchanged physical locations with its Adventureland neighbour, Sunshine Tree Terrace. Aloha Isle moved into the Terrace's former site, closer to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, while the Terrace took over the old Aloha Isle position. Both stands kept their existing menus through the swap, so the Dole Whip simply changed counters.
Setting
Aloha Isle is an open-air stand with a thatched, South Seas appearance in keeping with the Polynesian end of Adventureland, near the entrance to the Enchanted Tiki Room and the walkway towards the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and Frontierland. It has no indoor seating; guests order at the counter and use the surrounding outdoor tables and terraces. Signage notes the Dole presentation, and the stand's position on a main Adventureland path means queues regularly extend into the walkway.
Menu
Pineapple Dole Whip is the core of the menu, served in a cup or swirled with vanilla or other soft-serve flavours. The second signature item is the pineapple float, in which Dole Whip is served over pineapple juice. The flavour range has widened over time to include coconut and raspberry soft serve and swirl combinations of those flavours, and limited-time items have included themed cones and floats tied to films and park anniversaries, such as the raspberry Hei Hei cone. Pineapple juice and bottled drinks complete a short menu that has remained focused on frozen pineapple desserts for four decades.