I wanted to give a final update on this very important subject of the peppermint ice cream shortage
while it was still fresh on my mind, and in case some of you didn't see my update about it in the Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread when I got back from DLR last week.
I wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery because bits and pieces of info were coming in from different sources and certain things were conflicting.
On my first day at DLR last week I marched over to Ghirardelli -- one of the places that was reportedly carrying the peppermint ice cream according to at least a couple of folks, even though DIS'er
longtimedisneylurker said it was not there anymore.
The Ghirardelli CM elaborated a bit on what I had already learned from the Clarabelle's CM back in November. It is apparently not
just that Dreyer's "won't send the right size," as I'd been told. It's partially that, but the bigger issue is that Dreyer's is no longer making the tub size (in that specific peppermint flavor) that DLR needs to keep in stock.
Usually, every year, the ice cream can be found at the expected locations such as Gibson Girl and Clarabelle's. The Main Street Cone Shop had it in the past as well. This year, for some weird reason, at the very beginning of the holiday season -- like early to mid-November -- Dreyer's sent the peppermint ice cream to Ghirardelli (where no one had really thought to look for it before, because they don't advertise it), and also to sit-down restaurants such as the BBQ in Frontierland and the Blue Bayou!?!
Now, who would really think to be looking for peppermint ice cream at the table service restaurants is beyond me, and why Dreyer's sent it to those places instead of where they usually send it is beyond me, but there you have it.
So it is possible that some of the ice cream (left over from November) can still be found at the BBQ or at Blue Bayou -- maybe even in a couple of other table service restaurants around DLR as well. I would guess that those places kept the ice cream in stock longer than Ghirardelli did because, again, no one would expect to buy or find peppermint ice cream at those restaurants.
Ghirardelli eventually ran out of the ice cream and they will not be getting anymore in. The CM there told me in no uncertain terms that Dreyer's stopped making the tub size they need, and will no longer be supplying that flavor to
Disneyland Resort (
unless they get enough feedback or complaints to influence them, that is!). She wasn't sure why they ever got it in stock in the first place this year, or why it would have been sent to the BBQ or the Blue Bayou (maybe they use different tub sizes??) but once Ghirardelli ran out of it that was it. All gone.
So it looks like any new shipments of the peppermint ice cream for future holiday seasons at DLR are not happening...for now. I have no clue why Dreyer's would not continue to supply DLR with the "right size tub." It's great exposure for them. It's not like they'd be wasting money on making a tub size for some mom & pop operation that no one had ever heard of. It's Disneyland!
How could they not want to keep their holiday ice cream in Disneyland?
Also, a Trolley Treats CM told me that she was trying to find the peppermint ice cream at her store -- when she realized that Clarabelle's wasn't getting any in stock this year -- and it was all gone. She was going to next look in Target. So Peppermint Wonderland continues to be elusive and mysterious...and in hot demand, apparently.
(Remember, the peppermint bark stuff at Haagen Dazs is not the same thing! Don't be fooled!)
Dreyer's also has a contract with Knott's Berry Farm, if I recall. What I am wondering is... could they have possibly sent the "right size tub" of Peppermint Wonderland to Knott's this year?? Hmmm...
. Mmmmmmmm. The good news was that it was on sale for $2.99. The bad news is that it was on sale for $2.99 and therefore made it that much easier to decide that today I must buy multiple cartons. Do you have any idea what this will do to my plan to limit calorie intake this season? 
Seriously, I LOVE peppermint icecream, but only let myself buy it ONCE during the holiday. As tempting as it is to buy it when it first hits the shelves (or should I say freezers? 
.
It will have to wait until after the pumpkin pie is gone, but it will be a perfect treat after we decorate the tree this weekend. Thanks, Sherry E!
). 
