So we need to talk about what happened at Port Orleans French Quarter on Valentine’s Day because the beignet line was absolutely out of control. Like, we’re not talking about a normal “oh there’s a bit of a wait” situation. We’re talking about a line that stretched through the ENTIRE resort lobby, past the check-in desks, out the doors, and nearly to the outdoor pool area.
For beignets. Pink beignets, specifically, but still beignets.
Here’s the thing about Port Orleans beignets: they’re good, they’re a fun Disney resort treat, and they’ve been popular for years.
Scat Cat’s Club Cafe has always had decent lines, especially during busy seasons, with switchbacks and queue management systems that usually handle crowds pretty well. But Valentine’s Day 2026 brought something we’ve literally never seen before at this location.
The Berry In Love Beignets, which are basically regular beignets dusted with raspberry powdered sugar and drizzled with marshmallow sauce to make them pink and Valentine’s themed, created a demand situation that completely overwhelmed normal operations and had people questioning whether any food item at Disney World is worth this kind of commitment.
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The limited-time offering playbook that Disney uses for everything from popcorn buckets to seasonal treats creates this FOMO (fear of missing out) effect where guests feel like they HAVE to experience specialty items before they disappear, even when those items are available for weeks and even when the specialty versions aren’t necessarily better than the regular versions you can get any day with minimal wait. It’s this weird psychology where the fact that something won’t be around forever makes it feel more valuable and urgent, regardless of whether it’s actually worth the time and money you’re investing compared to alternatives.
Nick Chappell posted photos on X showing the absolutely ridiculous extent of the line, captioning it: “There’s no way I’m waiting in a line this long for some beignets.”
There’s no way I’m waiting in a line this long for some beignets. 😂 pic.twitter.com/HdsvVyEDmP
— Nick Chappell (@NickChaps96) February 16, 2026
And honestly? Same. Most people looking at those images had the exact same reaction.
What Even Are These Beignets?
The Berry In Love Beignets are a limited-time Valentine’s Day offering featuring raspberry powdered sugar (making them pink) and marshmallow sauce drizzle. They were available throughout February, not just on Valentine’s Day itself, which makes the concentrated Valentine’s Day demand even more baffling.
People who tried them before the Valentine’s rush described them as tasting like “a cross between a jelly donut and fun dip powder.” The reviews were generally positive but characterized them as a “fun alternative” to regular beignets rather than being better. The pink coloring was Instagram-friendly, which definitely contributed to the appeal.
So we’re talking about a novelty version of a food item that’s always available in standard form, with flavoring that’s nice but not revolutionary, that was accessible with short waits any other day in February. Yet Valentine’s Day specifically brought wait times reportedly reaching 90 minutes.
Let that sink in. Ninety minutes. For beignets you could have gotten with a 10-minute wait literally the day before.
The Social Media Reactions Were BRUTAL
The X post documenting the insane line generated a ton of commentary, and people were NOT holding back with their opinions.
On quality: “What’s funny is they’re not even that good. Theme park good (maybe) But nothing close to The Vintage’s beignets in New Orleans. Not even as good as Cafe Du Monde, which are just mid in all honesty.”
This is a fair point. Port Orleans beignets are fine for what they are (convenient Disney resort treats), but they’re not authentic New Orleans quality. If you’re from Louisiana or you’ve actually been to New Orleans, you know the difference. Paying Disney prices and waiting 90 minutes for “theme park good” beignets is… a choice.
On wait time tolerance: “I won’t lie, as a passholder I basically don’t get in lines over 25 minutes. That probably sounds elitist. It has to be overwhelming if you’re a one and only visit and you’re trying to experience everything you can in a day. There’s places I haven’t been in 25 years.”
This is actually a really honest take. Passholders who visit regularly can afford to skip things with crazy waits because they’ll be back. First-time visitors feel pressure to do EVERYTHING because they might never return. That creates different value calculations where the same 90-minute wait feels worth it to one person and absolutely ridiculous to another.
On the confusion: “Ok but why? I’ve been there a ton of times and NEVER seen the line like this!”
Even regular Port Orleans visitors were shocked by the Valentine’s Day crowds, which shows this wasn’t normal even by busy-day standards.
On the timing irrationality: “I assume this is for the Valentine’s Day Berry Beignets. 2 points: 1. These have been around all month. 2. The plain powdered sugar ones and the plain cinnamon sugar ones are better.”
THIS. The beignets were available ALL OF FEBRUARY with way shorter waits. And apparently the regular versions are better anyway! So why specifically wait until Valentine’s Day when everyone else had the exact same idea?
On Disney guest behavior paradoxes: “Disney adult: You have to get to the park more than 60 minutes before opening to rope drop, and get LLMP and get the single pass to save time. Also Disney adult: I’m cool with waiting 90 minutes for average tasting overpriced beignets because Disney made them.”
This might be the most savage and accurate take. Disney guests will obsess over optimizing every minute of park time, arriving before dawn to rope drop, strategizing Lightning Lane selections down to the minute… and then turn around and wait 90 minutes for pink beignets that aren’t even that special. The cognitive dissonance is WILD.
Why Did This Happen?
Several factors created the perfect storm of beignet demand:
Limited-time FOMO: Even though the beignets were available all month, the “limited-time” label creates urgency that makes people feel like they HAVE to try it before it’s gone.
Valentine’s Day specifically: Something about Valentine’s Day itself made people feel like that was THE day to get Valentine’s themed food, even though any other February day would have been way more efficient.
Social media amplification: Posts about the pink beignets created awareness and drove traffic as people saw Instagram photos and wanted their own.
Visual appeal: Pink beignets photograph well, which adds value beyond just taste for people who want content for their social media.
Herd mentality: Long lines signal that something is valuable and desirable, which creates self-reinforcing cycles where the crowd itself validates joining the crowd.
All of this combined to create a situation where rational behavior (visiting literally any other day in February for the same product with minimal wait) got overridden by psychological factors that concentrated demand on the worst possible day.
Was It Worth It?
Based on the social media commentary and reviews, the honest answer is: probably not.
The beignets were fine. Fun. Instagram-worthy. But they weren’t transcendent culinary experiences that justified 90-minute waits. They weren’t even definitively better than the regular beignets you can get any day.
For passholders or locals who could have visited any other February day? Absolutely not worth it unless you specifically wanted the Valentine’s Day experience and crowds.
For first-time visitors on limited Disney trips? Maybe slightly more defensible if Valentine’s themed treats were high priorities, but even then, using 90 minutes of precious vacation time on beignets seems questionable when there are so many other Disney experiences competing for that time.
For people who just wanted beignets and didn’t care about the specialty flavoring? Definitely not worth it. Regular Port Orleans beignets with standard powdered sugar are available year-round with way shorter waits.
The Bigger Lesson About Limited-Time Offerings
The Port Orleans Valentine’s Day situation perfectly illustrates how Disney’s limited-time offering strategy manipulates guest behavior.
By creating items that are only available temporarily, Disney generates artificial urgency that drives demand beyond what the products themselves would command based on quality alone. The scarcity principle makes things feel more valuable simply because they won’t last forever, even when identical or superior alternatives exist.
And by associating items with specific dates (Valentine’s beignets on Valentine’s Day, Halloween popcorn buckets on Halloween, etc.), Disney creates additional artificial concentration of demand on specific days when the items are actually available much longer.
Smart guests recognize these patterns and adjust accordingly. Dumb guests (or guests caught up in FOMO) wait 90 minutes for pink beignets on Valentine’s Day when they could have walked up with a 10-minute wait on February 10.
What You Should Actually Do
If you’re planning future Disney trips and you’re interested in limited-time food offerings, here’s how to be smart about it:
Visit during off-peak times: Get Valentine’s items on literally any day except Valentine’s Day. Get Halloween items in early September, not on Halloween itself. You’ll get the exact same food with a fraction of the wait.
Assess whether specialty versions actually appeal: If raspberry powder and marshmallow drizzle don’t specifically excite you, regular versions probably provide equivalent experiences without the FOMO tax.
Know your tolerance: If you’re a passholder visiting regularly, skip anything over 25-30 minutes and come back later. If you’re on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, decide whether that specific item is truly a priority worth significant time compared to everything else you could be doing.
Follow social media for intelligence: Posts documenting crazy lines give you advance warning to adjust plans rather than discovering the chaos when you arrive.
Question the hype: Just because something is limited-time doesn’t mean it’s actually better or worth extreme waits. Disney is very good at creating FOMO, but you don’t have to fall for it.
Seriously, if you’re planning a Port Orleans beignet visit for any future limited-time offering, please learn from the Valentine’s Day chaos and go literally any day except the actual holiday the item celebrates. You’ll get the same food, save yourself an hour or more of standing in line, and you’ll actually enjoy the experience instead of spending it questioning all your life choices while slowly shuffling through a resort lobby wondering if pink beignets are really worth this kind of commitment to queue culture.
