15 'expectation vs. reality' posts where reality pleasantly exceeded expectations

Reddit's "Expectation vs. Reality" subreddit can sometimes be a bummer, filled with cake fails, misleading packaging, and dashed hopes. But every now and then, someone shares a pleasant surprise, moments where reality actually outshined their expectations. These posts are little beacons of hope! Here are some of our favorite examples of when reality pleasantly exceeded expectations.

This person sent the picture of these cute cartoon animals to the cookie maker and was wildly impressed with the result they got back! It probably helps that these characters were basically designed as 2-D cookies. But it's still an amazing effort!

It's hard to even spot the real frozen pizza among the box picture because it's that accurate. Frozen pizzas almost never look like they do on the box! This one is uncanny.

We've all seen some attempts at those Cookie Monster cupcakes that have gone totally awry, but these are incredible! So accurate! So neat! The Muppets themselves would be proud. 

The top is the illustration given to the cake maker, and the bottom is the result, which is so on point it's almost worse than if it looked terrible because now I don't want anyone to cut into that perfect cake! Those otters are too cute to be eaten!

Now that is what I call an ice cream chipwich. Man alive, that thing is enormous. The only bad thing about it is that you'll have to unhinge your jaw to take a bite.

When you see the cake, you're initially like, "Uh oh, that didn't go well." But when you see that it's trying to look like the cake from Sleeping Beauty, you realize it's actually perfect! I don't know how they got it to stand up, but that is a feat of physics.

The problem with this is that now your expectations for Kinder Bueno cones are ruined forever. if they don't all have that massive, thick shell, you're going to be quite disappointed. Enjoy it while it lasts!

This cute little mushroom night light looked fine on the box, but the greenery is even lusher and the mushroom caps are even brighter on the real thing! Seriously, they should take a picture of this one and put that on their box. 

The detail in this chocolate Santa is extremely impressive. They never actually look like the wrapper does on the inside! Too bad you're about to bite his head off.

This person said they ordered a pet portrait blanket from a "sketchy seeming website" so they weren't expecting much, but what they got is incredible! This definitely captures the essence of those two cute pups. 

Not going to lie, I think this homemade Grinch cake is even better than the example! He looks way creepier and more devilish. To say this person nailed it would be an understatement.

Boxed frozen pies never ever look like they do on the box, so the fact that this one came even close is a miracle! The person posting said it even cut cleanly just like the box promised.

This person's 3-year-old asked for a "rainbow dinosaur donut party," so they drew this wild cake design and gave it to a local baker to see what they could do. Needless to say, I think they were impressed. 

OK, not only is this just great in general, but it was also this person's first time painting. Ever. I think they've uncovered a new talent they definitely need to continue to explore.

I love this one so much. This person ran out of filament while 3-D printing this golden lion, so they decided to make him a teeny tiny Kansas City Royals baseball cap. It's even better than a regular lion would have been.

This article was originally published on October 19, 2020. It has since been updated.