Ample Hills Creamery - Creator of the Star Wars Ice Cream coming to Disney's BoardWalk?

DonaldDoleWhip

DonaldDoleWhip

Well-Known Member
anchorman314 said:
Don't forget about Ghirardelli. Sundaes are at least $9.45, with shakes starting at $6.50 for a small. Ample Hills seems comparable, if not a higher-quality product.
Click to expand...
As someone who currently lives in San Francisco and enjoyed Ample Hills while still in NY, I can say this definitively: Ample Hills is much, much better.

Ghirardelli is basically a 'Walmarted' brand out here, a mass machine that churns tourists in and out who pay stupidly high prices (which are always 'discounted', funnily enough) for chocolate items when the exact same chocolates are available in generic pharmacies and grocery stores (at lower prices) across the city/state/country.

If you came to San Francisco, Ghirardelli wouldn't be the first place I'd recommend to buy chocolate. It wouldn't be in the first 5 places for ice cream, or 10 places for dessert. In comparison, Ample Hills might be a top 3 ice cream spot in NYC, and the visitors of WDW should be thanking their lucky stars that Iger got a brand like this to open a storefront in a beautiful Boardwalk location and only charge a few more cents than comparable servings of icy, conventional Edy's/Dreyer's (talk about overpriced!).
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
wdwmagic said:
I actually thought the pricing would be higher.

The closest chain comparison is probably Coldstone Creamery, and they charge $5 for a smilier size small cup. Now most Coldstone stores are in malls, and aren't a particularly nice to place to be. Ample Hills has great service, is in a great spot, and has a better product. When viewed like that, its not a bad price. It of course isn't as cheap as factory made ice cream from a grocery store. But that rule can be applied to almost everything in a restaurant setting.
Click to expand...

I went to WDW last week, and decided to try Ample Hills Creamery. I had one scoop of ice cream in a cup and it was priced about $6.17 with tax or whatever. Thought the scoop was a reasonable size, but it was pricey.

(The flavor name I chose was Sally Sells Sea Shells. Just be prepared to read the ingredient descriptions, because none of the ice cream selection of "names" tell you what kind of flavors they contain. ;) It was a cute marketing technique, though. ) The ice cream was very good, but IMO, not necessarily better than some other ice cream locations I tried in WDW.
 
Adam N

Adam N

Well-Known Member
The oatmeal cookie ice cream was honestly the best ice cream ice ever had. It was like eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch but just the milk afterward. So good! And their cones are great.
 
3WaltFans

3WaltFans

Well-Known Member
DonaldDoleWhip said:
As someone who currently lives in San Francisco and enjoyed Ample Hills while still in NY, I can say this definitively: Ample Hills is much, much better.

Ghirardelli is basically a 'Walmarted' brand out here, a mass machine that churns tourists in and out who pay stupidly high prices (which are always 'discounted', funnily enough) for chocolate items when the exact same chocolates are available in generic pharmacies and grocery stores (at lower prices) across the city/state/country.

If you came to San Francisco, Ghirardelli wouldn't be the first place I'd recommend to buy chocolate. It wouldn't be in the first 5 places for ice cream, or 10 places for dessert. In comparison, Ample Hills might be a top 3 ice cream spot in NYC, and the visitors of WDW should be thanking their lucky stars that Iger got a brand like this to open a storefront in a beautiful Boardwalk location and only charge a few more cents than comparable servings of icy, conventional Edy's/Dreyer's (talk about overpriced!).
Click to expand...

Boy, I could not disagree with you more and I will leave it at that.
 
DonaldDoleWhip

DonaldDoleWhip

Well-Known Member
3WaltFans said:
Boy, I could not disagree with you more and I will leave it at that.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Which part do you disagree with? Because I can definitely back up where I'm coming from.

Better chocolate in SF: Dandelion, Charles Chocolates, Recchiuti, TCHO
Better ice cream: Bi-Rite, Humphry Slocombe, Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous, Three Twins, Smitten
Better 'other' dessert spots: Tartine, b. patisserie, Craftsman and Wolves, Chantal Guillon, Vive la Tarte

Ghirardelli: Available at your local Walmart or Rite Aid and still manufactured with artificial flavors

SF locals don't go crazy over Ghirardelli. It's a tourist trap, like most of Fisherman's Wharf (the area where Ghirardelli Square draws people in with its admittedly impressive signage and waterfront location). Their ice cream and chocolates are expensive, but the stores are always pitching some kind of deal (the signage is impossible to avoid). This is the chocolate that's masqueraded as a premium product at Disney for years, and it only works because compared to everything else Disney is peddling, Ghirardelli comes across as a step up. I mean, ice cream tastes good most of the time - I can't argue with that. Thanks to evolution, those saturated fats and sugars just do something for us! But that doesn't mean the quality is the same, just like a McDonald's burger might taste good but isn't on par with Shake Shack.

Ample Hills is a real step up in quality, and if a small cup/cone costs a few cents more than $6 that's completely justified compared to the baseline concession prices at Disney (which have only grown more egregious lately). I mean, we're talking about a corporation-fueled destination where Starbucks is better than the previous standard (Nestle), Dannon holds a monopoly on the yogurt market (and charges how much for a cup - is it $3-4 now?), and Coca-Cola, well, you know. Ample Hills doesn't fit that mold, and yet here it is - that's a big win for the WDW guests who ultimately give it a chance.
 
Last edited:
JohnWD

JohnWD

Well-Known Member
We ate there a few days ago. Without a doubt it is delicious (3 cones x 2 scoops of different ice creams)! But to those who think it is too expensive - don't go! It is not so amazingly better that it will be worth sacrificing the premium. So you really aren't missing anything. But to me the portions are large, and the price compared to other Disney resort areas or theme parks is not much different. So if I'm at the Boardwalk, I will not think twice about the price when I need my ice cream fix. But if I want to sit indoors for a sundae, I will go to Beaches.
 
cornandacobb

cornandacobb

Well-Known Member
Next Big Thing said:
Speaking of Starbucks, i'm semi-surprised they haven't opened a small location (sort of like the Marketplace walk-up window) along the boardwalk. It would seemingly do pretty well there.
Click to expand...

You can take the short walk to the Swan & Dolphin where they sell/serve Starbuckscoffee at a few locations. Just coffee I believe and nothing more fancy than that.

But yes, an actual Starbucks store or window or kiosk would do exceptionally well on the Boardwalk .As an Epcot resort frequenter and coffee lover, I would certainly appreciate it.
 
Last edited:
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Hubby was addicted to this ice cream during our most recent vacation. Three visits in five days. He was sad that I hadn't introduced Ample Hills to him earlier in our trip.
I thought it was excellent, although I can take or leave hard ice cream generally.

We went whole hog, and paid OOP for the cookie cones the first time. After that, we just used snack credits. Hubby loooooooved the cookie cone. It was just way too much for me.
 
Last edited:
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
They would probably double the sales if they sped up the line. It’s literally the slowest ice cream line I’ve ever stood in. And that’s not just at Disney, it’s actuallt even SLOWER in the NYC stores that I’ve visited.
 
Andrew C

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
TrainChasers said:
They would probably double the sales if they sped up the line. It’s literally the slowest ice cream line I’ve ever stood in. And that’s not just at Disney, it’s actuallt even SLOWER in the NYC stores that I’ve visited.
Click to expand...

I am against flavor trying....
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom