February 2001 – September 2010
LOCATION
Paradise Pier – Catch A Flave overlooked the bay and California Screamin’s launch point, on the far side of the land. Today, this space houses Paradise Pier Ice Cream Company.
EXPERIENCE
Details:
- Service Type – quick service
- Seating – nearby benches
- Entertainment – none
Catch A Flav wasn’t your typical ice cream stand. The stand only sold one flavor: vanilla – with your choice of a swirl of flavor. Choices included bubblegum, butter pecan, chocolate, cotton candy, grape, lemon, orange, and strawberry. Each individual flavor provided a tasty twist to a cone, complete with bright and dramatic colors swirled into each serving.
CLOSURE
Though the color/flavor swirls were a popular twist on ice cream, Disney scrapped the idea to make way for generic soft-serve cones in 2010 (no one is really sure why). Paradise Pier went through the major expansion and renovation of California Adventure around this time, but the rebranding didn’t necessarily demand the loss of swirls. Whatever the reason was for the change, the generic menu made it easy for Disney to rebrand the stand, which reopened as “Paradise Pier Ice Cream Company” by the end of 2010.
TRIVIA
Catch A Flave took its name from the 1963 Beach Boys song Catch A Wave.
The ice cream cone marquee survives today, though with a vanilla swirl the swirl rather than a colorfully striped one.
Catch A Flave’s exterior gave off a 1970s vibe. During the transformation, Disney softened the pastel colors and curvy font to better match the boardwalk’s new look.
ice cream stan? sounds good
I don’t see why the new ice cream place can’t bring back the color cones. I feel like they’d be ALL OVER instagram.
I completely agree! And Paradise Pier Ice Cream is so close to Ghirardelli. They’re never going to outdo Ghirardelli’s flavors, so why not focus on color instead?! I’m with you.