Cupcakes - I don't agree with the hype

[Tinkerbellie16]

I have heard so much about Disney cupcakes. They look and sound so good that I HAD to try them. So I tried a few and I can't figure out what the hype is about. The cake is dry, the frosting is too sugary and not a creamy, buttery type and the fillings, while most are redeemable, seem to be too sugary for the rest of the cupcake. Here is what my family tried (we all had at least one bite of each to judge them):

White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake - Oh, the thought of coconut set my heart a flutter!!! But alas, there is just no coconut taste only some toasted coconut flakes that must have seen better days. The chocolate cupcake is dry, the frosting is too sugary, and the white elephant is grey and tasteless.

Smores - This was the BEST cupcake out of all of them. The cake itself was a bit moister than the rest we had tried and not as sugary. It had hints of graham in it with chocolate the the frosting was a marshmallow frosting that was light and not so sugary as the others. We determined this is one cupcake we would get again and share...but it is not something we would seek out.

Caramel Dos Leches - Oh, this was sickening. The dry yellow cake had a filling of too sweet caramel and topped with a sugary sweet frosting. None of us would eat more than a bite.

Black Forest - The redeeming feature of this cupcake was the cherry filling which we picked out and ate. The chocolate cake was again dry and the frosting (again) was that too sugary frosting.

Red Velvet - I had high hopes for this one. I thought the cream cheese would really mellow out the sugar but alas, they managed to over sugar the cream cheese filling. The cake was even drier than the others and crumbled into oblivion when we cut into it. And the frosting was still that too sugary frosting.

My family - whom 2 of us are sugar-aholics and 2 others that love to eat dessert - could not eat most of these. We actually threw them all away and got ice cream.

So I don't get the fuss? Well, at least I tried it and can safely look at them in the bakery case, and easily pass them up.

On the other hand, don't get me started on the dole whip....We can not go one day without these at Disneyworld!

 

[tyniknate]

I will tend to agree with your reviews. The cupcakes are nice to look at, but taste wise are not-so-good. I think if you are a homemade baker, these may be a big disappointment. Even my grocery store bakery has better. I, too, will stay with the dole whips.

 

[catne]

we have only tried a few (mostly from Starring Rolls in DHS, but also from Boardwalk Bakery) and have found about 1/2 of them are stale...and way too sweet for us. We love desserts, but all of the cupcakes we have had were way too sweet for one of us to even try to eat. For the 1/2 that are stale, yes, they looked way better than they tasted.

Now I will have to say the cupcakes that we have had which were fresh were very good...still too sweet, but when the cake part if fresh & moist it makes a big difference on the overall taste of the cupcake.

For the most part, though, 50% chance of stale is too high for me...we usually stick with snacks & desserts which have a better chance of being fresh (or at least not cake component which can really dry out when stale.)

 

[Letsbgoofy]

We tried 2 cupcakes at Starring Rolls, Butterfinger and ?? Both were too sweet for me and I love sweets! I ate less than half of one and felt sick for hours...no more cupcakes for me.

 

[NancyIL]

I am not much of a cake eater, but I LOVE frosting. I have always thought of the cake part of the cupcake as required only to hold the frosting! The exception is angel food cake (my favorite) - which is the one cake that I love all by itself.

I am willing to try a decadent cupcake from Starring Rolls Bakery on my trip in December - just to see if WDW's cupcakes can change my mind.

 

[karrit2000]

I haven't personally gotten onto the whole "cupcake" bandwagon. I've got a few friends who every time we get together in NYC they have to stop at one of the Cupcake bakeries & get at least a 1/2 dozen to take home. I'll usually pick up one or two to take home but I only eat 1/2 at a time. Personally I'd rather have a yummy Italian or French pastry. I always find most bakery cake products to have overly sugary icing & extremely dry cake. At the prices Disney charges for their cupcakes unless I'm on a meal plan I'm certainly not shelling out the $ for a cupcake.

 

[MinneyME]

We tried 2 cupcakes at Starring Rolls, Butterfinger and ?? Both were too sweet for me and I love sweets! I ate less than half of one and felt sick for hours...no more cupcakes for me.

I agree. My DH and I shared the butterfinger cupcake at Starring Rolls and could not finnish it. We also felt sick for a bit afterwards.

 

[Ramsfan28]

Disney cupcakes are very overrated in my opinion. A good dessert from a signature restaraunt beats them each and everytime.

 

[Sunshinedaydream]

Completely agree. They look really good but taste not so good!

 

[goofyintoronto]

We tried 2 cupcakes at Starring Rolls, Butterfinger and ?? Both were too sweet for me and I love sweets! I ate less than half of one and felt sick for hours...no more cupcakes for me.

I am soooo with you on that! I tried the butterfinger after reading rave reviews. I honestly didnt care for it. I LOVE sweets, but this just wasnt good. The frosting was too grainy sugary.....it wasnt my cup of tea at all. Plus theyre way too big!

 

[MikeOhio]

Like just about any food, some people love them some people don't. It all depends on your individual tastes. The majority of people like the cupcakes but of course no food can appeal to everyone.

 

[3pletprincesses]

I have to agree with you. For the past 3 trips ,I've tried several of them because It's impossible that everyone love them and I hate them and yet I am to find one to our taste. It's too sweet and more frosting them cupcake. Even my sugar lover Dh can't have more then a bit or 2 of the cupcake.

 

[sweeteypie1118]

I dont usually like the cupcakes from most places as I also find them too sweet, but I did enjoy the red velvet cupcake. Mine was very moist. I on the other hand don't get the fuss over the dole whips LOL. I just don't get it. I got one as a must have, and it did nothing for me.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Agree. Way too sweet and dry. I don't like that much frosting on my cupcakes and tend to scrape most of it off. Guess I will mostly stick to my cupcakes I make from scratch. They taste better anyhow even if they aren't as impressive to look at in the bakery case.

 

[mom2daisyandonald]

ITA I fell in love with the looks of a Strawberry cupcake at the Contemporary and well it was no better than a Sam's club cupcake. in fact I have had better ones from Sam's. We also tried several others through out our trip and they were all the same one big disappointment.

 

[Bob NC]

How dare you tell the truth about Disney cupcakes.

Do I need to run for cover before I blow the lid off the true taste of Zebra Domes?

 

[sweeteypie1118]

How dare you tell the truth about Disney cupcakes.

Do I need to run for cover before I blow the lid off the true taste of Zebra Domes?

LOL....I didnt have them this trip, but I did on my last trip and didn't see what the big deal was. I found most of the "must haves" to be less than what I expected them to be.

Dole Whip....I still don't get it!
School Bread....not so great
MK Bakery Ice cream cookie sandwhich....while as big as everyone said, I didnt really care for it. I thought the cookie was way over baked and kind of hard and dry.

Things that did live up to the hype "for me"....
Ooey gooey toffee cake from LTT
Carrot Cake Cookie
Napoleon from France
and pretty much anything from Karamel Kuche!

 

[Micca]

I haven't had any WDW cupcakes, but I'll agree that look fantastic. I'm beginning to wonder of the whole cupcake phenom is overrated. We had some cupcakes from a supposed top-notch bakery here recently and they were just ok. They looked great, but they weren't nearly as moist and flavorful as a regular piece of cake.

BTW, shout out to BobNC. Best. Trip Report. Ever.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I will tend to agree with your reviews. The cupcakes are nice to look at, but taste wise are not-so-good. I think if you are a homemade baker, these may be a big disappointment. Even my grocery store bakery has better. I, too, will stay with the dole whips.

This is pretty much my thoughts. They look way better than they taste.

 

[quigs3]

I agree! I think they focus on the decorative icing so much that they neglect the cake. I've gotten cupcakes from those specialty boutiques, and they were as dry as saw dust! They're adorable, but not worth the ridiculous price. Give me a Publix or Sam's cupcake any day over those fancy things!