Nostalgic trip: Visit a McDonaldland reunion decades in the making

A McDonald's in Times Square was converted into McDonaldland ahead of the release of the McDonaldland Meal on Aug. 12.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime invite, like receiving the Golden Ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I was told, quite simply, to “get myself ready for a trip to McDonaldland.”

The year 1971 suddenly came to mind. That’s the year the film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” came out, and that January, Americans received another kind of “Golden Ticket,” this one from the “Golden Arches.” That’s when we were first invited to take a trip to the trippy place that was the mysterious world of McDonaldland, a child’s paradise with Apple Pie Trees, a milkshake-oozing volcano, a lake teeming with Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, a flower-power-era landscape of fabulous flora, and an idyllic McDonald’s mansard restaurant, then an architectural novelty.

All around, mischievous mascots delighted us with their misadventures in the ads — Grimace, once sprouting four arms and labeled as “Evil,” hunting for milkshakes; the Hamburglar coveting thy neighbor’s hamburgers; the Fry Goblins (aka Fry Guys, Kids, Friends) stealing French fries; and of course, Ronald McDonald himself trying to impose order while keeping things fun. (He had a little help, too, in the law-and-order department from Officer Big Mac and Mayor McCheese.)

(Even before McDonaldland, Ronald had been around, first appearing in the Washington, D.C. market in 1963, and played by future “Today” show weatherman Willard Scott, who was then working as Bozo the Clown on the NBC station there.)

The McDonaldland characters jumped from television screens into restaurants, McDonaldland Parks and PlayPlaces, toy and video-store shelves, and, most importantly, the hearts of late Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials.

The old-school McDonaldland aspect faded — we said goodbye to Mayor McCheese, the Professor and Officer Big Mac — and the core characters that survived, like Grimace, the Hamburglar, and the 1980 addition Birdie, carried on in commercials that were delightful sketches. (Mac Tonight, introduced nationally in 1987, is not part of McDonaldland. He’s too cool for that, anyway, with his suave piano-lounge ways.)

And then, all the mascots went away, not at all once, more in the way that once deep friendships fade until you realize they are no more. Even Ronald was barely seen anymore. By the late aughts, the characters were vestigial, lingering here and there in restaurants that had yet to be remodeled and increasingly the subjects of nostalgia by those who began to wonder whether they had dreamed the whole thing.

Well, McDonaldland was no dream, but an iconic piece of marketing and Americana, and McDonald’s, after years of taking small bites from its McDonaldland heritage, has gone all in, to the delight of McFans like me.

And you realize, like those faded friendships, that if they had any meaning at all, you can pick up right where you left off.

McDonaldland is back to promote the McDonaldland Meal. And yes, at long last, the gang was all going to be here, reunited for the first time in decades.

Well, back to that invite I received. I RSVPed while trying to restrain my glee — and failing, as you can see from the photos of me, below.

McDonaldland, in my case, was the McDonald’s in Times Square, where the second floor was cleverly converted into a celebration of vintage McDonald’s for a press event. On hand was Ronald McDonald himself, holding down the fort by a McDonald's ball pit, seeming to surreally levitate over Times Square from its corner perch. There was a step-and-repeat with a map of McDonaldland (see high-res map below) and Grimace standing by, and Birdie was greeting us at the door. The Hamburglar was lurking about, too, though I never heard him say “robble robble.”

The campaign officially begins on Tuesday, Aug. 12. As with the Grimace’s Birthday campaign of 2023, it will feature at its core a new, limited-time shake: the Mt. McDonaldland Shake, a pink-and-blue concoction reflecting the pink clouds and blue lava that emerged from the volcanic Mt. McDonaldland, located on Grimace Island, in the original McDonaldland commercials. This is a meal, after all, so you have your choice of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese or a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, and of course, French fries. (Just keep an “eye on your fries,” because those Goblins might be around!) But the best part is the collectibles, a tin themed with one of six McDonaldland characters, along with stickers and other goodies.

There are also partnerships with PacSun, for McDonaldland apparel, and Away Luggage, where they will be offering complimentary McDonaldland charms with purchases starting Aug. 18.

McDonald’s embraced McDonaldland because they were listening to us. A rep told me:

"McDonaldland and its characters are not only legendary, but deeply nostalgic - this is why they are so enduring, so we created the meal in response to fans' eagerness to be immersed in the world and to see the characters reunite," a representative for McDonald's said in an email interview.

They continued:

"We brought back the beloved McDonaldland crew in response to strong fan interest. For years, fans have been sharing their favorite McDonaldland memories in social and diving deep into character lore. This campaign offers consumers a nostalgic opportunity to reconnect with the characters they grew up with, or discover them for the first time.”

Here are highlights of my trip to McDonaldland on Thursday!

Mayor McCheese greets you by the door …

Along with Birdie, whose first job as an “early bird” was to promote McDonald’s breakfast items in the 1980s …

And then, I had my first encounter with the Hamburglar. The Hamburger prop is from the first McDonaldland commercial in 1971, I was told …

And there was Grimace. I first noticed him stopping to admire the flowers, a nice nod to the pastoral fantasy land that is McDonaldland …

And being his delightful self …

And letting me enjoy a fan-boy moment with him …

And admiring a collection of McDonald’s memorabilia, on loan from the company’s archives …

The items on display included an original Hamburglar hat ..

And the McDonald’s board game! (I’m going to have to find one on eBay.)

The event featured a clever nod to the PlayPlace ball pits of yore …

In a throwback to the days when Ronald would make appearances at McDonald’s restaurants on weekends, the man himself was on hand to act as an emcee for the event. That’s Rolando and Ronald, below …

The Hamburglar tried to snatch my QPC. But I caught him in the nick of time, and he gamely posed for this photo with me …

The tins you’ll be receiving with your McDonaldland Meals starting Aug. 12 (I’ll have an unboxing in a future post!) …

And the cool nostalgic packaging for the meals, along with the Mt. McDonaldland Shake, which I began to consume before I stopped to take the picture. (If you liked the Grimace Shake, you’ll LOVE this one.) …

And one more close-up of the vintage Hamburger Patch prop …

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of McDonaldland. I’ll have an unboxing post of the swag, along with a video, in the next few days!

BTW, have you checked out the new McDonaldland commercial?

It’s a fantastic riff on the 1971 original, right down to the Bubblegum-style music that was popular at the time:

From the indispensable Filming in McDonaldland page:

GET YOURSELF READY FOR A TRIP THROUGH McDONALDLAND’. The first commercial was called "McDONALDLAND" and appeared on TV in January of 1971. (Filmed in November 1970). The original words for "Get Yourself..." were written by Keith Reinhard, Fred Braidman and Rudy Dochermann, all creatives at Needham, Harper & Steers ad agency. The McDonaldland music was composed by Don Piestrup. The McDonaldland singer was Sonny Curtis (Sonny also composed and sang The Mary Tyler Moore theme song “Love is All Around”.) **

Fun fact: In the first ad, Mayor McCheese is referred to as Big Cheese!