The Simple Costco Hack To Make An Ice Cream Float At The Food Court

When one of our staff writers tackled a list of the best Costco food court hacks found on the web and social media, we learned about homemade ice cream sandwiches and DIY chicken Caesar wraps. One of the cheapest and tastiest ways to manipulate the warehouse retailer's bill of fare only requires two cheap ingredients, however ... a cup of soft serve and a fountain drink. The result? A scrumptious, super customizable ice cream float.

Some Costco shoppers have issues with the food court's fountain drinks due to allegations of improperly-calibrated carbonation, but we say that, for $0.79, beggars can't be choosers. Also, if you smother your soda of choice in delicious soft serve — you can get a generous cup o' vanilla for just $1.99 – you are getting an ice cream float for less than a regular drink might cost at a sit-down restaurant, where fountain drinks can run around $3. Simply empty some of your soft serve into the fountain drink cup and then fill it up with your drink. 

Costco has been saying for a while that it will be updating the soda fountains from Pepsi to Coke products, but, either way, you have several choices. If you want to get a little crazy with your ice cream float, Costco sells cups of strawberry soft serve as well. We can see a fruity, chill dessert made of this pink-tinted treat and either Sprite or Mountain Dew, depending on what's on tap.

It seems like social media is divided into two camps when it comes to Costco food court ice cream floats — those who absolutely love the ingenious trick, and those who are baffled by hacking the menu. "This combo SLAPS," one Redditor enthused. "I get it once in a while especially in the summer and while it would be better with root beer, I'm content with Pepsi for now." On the same thread, however, others expressed disapproval and implied that DIY crowd were being a bit extra. "Do that at home," another poster countered disparagingly.

When a YouTuber showed herself splitting one cup of soft serve between three fountain drinks for a very cost-efficient summertime treat for her kids, commenters got excited at the parenting win. However, on TikTok, when the float's creation was depicted, commenters roasted the creator for being a "big back" (derogatory Gen Z slang for somebody with questionable eating habits) and derided the treat for being overly saccharine. "Too much sugar..." one commenter tsk'ed.

Perhaps the Costco ice cream float is a "know your audience" type of situation. As far as we're concerned, Judgy McJudgersons can take several seats. We'll be having silly, delicious fun making dessert at the warehouse soda fountain, and refusing to let haters rob our joy.