If you’re a Disney food aficionado then you’re probably very familiar with the famous DOLE Whip. But TRUE Disney experts also know to look for another delicious frozen treat when in Adventureland in Magic Kingdom — the Citrus Swirl.
This much beloved treat features a mixture of Vanilla Soft Serve and Frozen Orange Juice Slushy. It’s tart, it’s sweet, it’s refreshing — and it’s themed to Orange Bird — what more could you want?! Well, if this snack was a staple item in your Disney World diet, you were likely VERY disappointed when it disappeared back in 2021. Recently, we were able to get a Citrus Swirl update, but it wasn’t exactly the news we wanted… .
First, a quick recap. The Citrus Swirl has changed over the years. There have been some different formulas used over the years, but the OG formula (and the one that also came back to the park in 2012) is basically like frozen orange juice swirled with vanilla soft serve. Back in 2018, we saw it changed for an “Orange Swirl” that wasn’t quite the same. Things changed back to the way they were meant to be a few days later in 2018.
Back in July of 2020, we grabbed a Citrus Swirl — LOOK at that beauty! And we had it again in March of 2021 and May of 2021 (at which point we got in a very unique and fun way!).
And then, the unspeakable happened. Around July of 2021, we noticed that the Citrus Swirl had gone MISSING.
It disappeared from Mobile Order and, at that time, we were told that the machines used for this delectable treat were down. The natural expectation was that the treat would return once the machines were back up and running. But then things got worse.
We checked again a few days later and noticed that the Citrus Swirl still wasn’t available on Mobile Order. The Cast Member we spoke with said “the product they use is on back order, and it’s still not available.” At the time, the Cast Member told us that they though the Citrus Swirl would be coming back soon. That’s good news right?!
Well, as you can tell, it’s been some time since July of 2021. This post is actually being written in February of 2022. And still, the Citrus Swirl has not returned to Sunshine Tree Terrace in Magic Kingdom. That’s right folks, we’ve been without our beloved Citrus Swirl for months now. Someone sound the alarms. This is a Citrus Swirl EMERGENCY.
So recently we made our way over to Sunshine Tree Terrace to see if we could get an update. And we got one, but it wasn’t good news.
When we spoke to Cast Member at Sunshine Tree Terrace, they said that Disney has “discontinued” the Citrus Swirl. Not paused, not suspended, not temporarily put away — DISCONTINUED. We asked if they would be getting it back at some point and the Cast Member said not to their knowledge. Y’all. What is happening?!
As the Cast Member indicated, there isn’t anywhere else on Disney property where you can really get the Citrus Swirl right now (Sunshine Tree Terrace was truly its home). The Cast Member just continued to repeat the word “discontinued” when speaking with us, which wasn’t great.
BUT you do have to take this with a grain of salt. Our interaction was with just one Cast Member (and therefore just based on that one Cast Member’s knowledge) and things at Disney change constantly. You never know if or when the Citrus Swirl might just pop up (at least, we hope it does!).
We’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for updates. In the meantime, you can still grab the DOLE Whip Orange soft-serve at Sunshine Tree Terrace , which is something we’ve seen offered here for quite some time. This is the version that sort-of replaced the Citrus Swirl for a tiny bit back in 2018. This version is much more sweet (since it is a soft-serve) and doesn’t have that same deliciously tart flavor that the Citrus Swirl had.
You can also get specialty floats here like the I Lava You Float (which we do love) or other unique items.
Still, it’s not the same as getting a Citrus Swirl. For OG Citrus Swirl fans, this is a serious blow. Like we mentioned, we’ll keep an eye out for updates and cross our fingers and toes that we hear some good news about this beloved treat soon.
Click here to see the 10 DOLE Whip flavor combos you need to try in Disney World!
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Are you a fan of the Citrus Swirl? Tell us in the comments!
The post The Mysterious Citrus Swirl Saga Continues in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.