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Credit: Edited by Inside the MagicIs Universal secretly developing a McDonald’s coaster?
McDonald’s has been heavily enveloped in the theme park world for years, especially when it comes to Walt Disney World Resort.
As we have noted in previous McDonald’s deep dives, “In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it wasn’t uncommon to see the bright golden arches of McDonald’s throughout the Disney parks. The partnership was part of a licensing deal between Disney and McDonald’s that also included Disney characters being sold as Happy Meal toys. McDonald’s became the official sponsor for DinoLand, U.S.A. in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, and the resort still has one location on the property near the park. Beyond that, unfortunately, there’s no other sign of the fast food giant in the Disney parks.”
Now, there is a McDonald’s location located next to Disney’s All-Star Resorts. It is open until midnight, making it the perfect late-night snack after a day in the parks.
In the past, the Golden Oak Outpost in Magic Kingdom used to provide guests with an affordable salty snack. The food location, which now sells chicken tenders and fries, used to be the go-to spot for McDonald’s french fries.
The last quick service location in Disneyland selling McDonald’s food sadly closed in 2008, after operating in Frontierland since opening in 1998. The fries were also available in an area of Critter Country, and Disney California Adventure had a restaurant serving Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and other McDonald’s menu items.
McDonald’s often has collaborations with Disney for their Happy Meal toys. Oftentimes, these collections are very successful and have many adults searching for specific toys to complete their sets.
Certain collections can even be found on eBay for quite costly amounts compared to what they are worth when purchasing them at McDonald’s. The most recent collection that had Disney Parks fans lining up in drive-thru’s across the country was the Disney World attractions‘ collection.
During the 50th anniversary, Disney and Mcdonald’s teamed up in more ways than one. Of course, we already know about the 50 Happy Meal toys that will represent the Fab 50 characters at Walt Disney World Resort. In case you missed it, Disney created golden statues and called them the Fab 50. Statues of iconic Disney characters can be found throughout Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom Park, and EPCOT.
The Walt Disney Company recently used McDonald’s to promote the upcoming second season of Loki on Disney+, employing multiple ads and special spots on TV with the company, including a new look for their sweet and sour sauce.
Most recently, Disneyland Paris announced that they would be adding a McDonald’s to their theme park resort. As we shared, “The Disneyland Paris Resort has just announced that a brand new McDonald’s location will be opening in its Disney Village area.
This new McDonald’s location will open sometime in 2026 and will be a completely new take on the iconic look of McDonald’s. This will take over the previous location when it eventually opens. Similar to the location found on the Walt Disney World property, this new location looks to be focusing on going green.”
With so much McDonald’s involved with Disney, it was interesting to see one photographer compare the Golden Arch icon to a new Universal coaster.
When DLP Report announced the new McDonald’s in Disneyland Paris, Bioreconstruct, a prominent photographer in Orlando said, “The green and yellow McDonald’s logo is something like the dual-racing track colors in Epic Universe.”
The green and yellow McDonald's logo is something like the dual-racing track colors in Epic Universe. pic.twitter.com/gTNPrQZmI6
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) September 19, 2023
The dual racing coaster will open in 2025, along with the rest of Epic Universe. The coaster is not intended to be a McDonald’s-themed coaster, nor is McDonald’s a current sponsor of Universal Orlando Resort.
When Islands of Adventure acquired the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the coaster Dueling Dragons, a Guest favorite, was rethemed to Harry Potter, but the ride track itself stayed the same. This lasted for a few years until Universal announced that Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure would be taking over the attraction. Hagrid’s would be a new coaster, meaning the original existing track for Dueling Dragons, renamed Dragon Challenge, would have to be demolished.
Soon, the Ministry of Magic will also be added to the Universal theme park world when Epic Universe opens in 2025.
One massive announcement made in 2019 would change the competition forever, as Universal announced Epic Universe. This brand-new theme park would serve as the third theme park at Universal Orlando Resort. Epic Universe has been through some tough times, due to the pandemic. At a point in time, Universal’s timeline on when Epic Universe would be complete seemed to be up in the air, as Universal could only note that it would be built “at some point.”
Although Epic Universe is not being built on the same property as Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, the location close to ICON Park is still visible from the rooftop deck of Aventura, one of Universal’s Resorts. The theme park will house Super Nintendo World, a Universal Classic Monsters section, a How to Train Your Dragon land, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, multiple hotels, and so much more.
Would you like to see McDonald’s return to an Orlando theme park?
When visiting Universal Orlando Resort, Guests can enjoy attractions such as Rip Ride Rockit, MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack, Transformers: The Ride, and more. Visit Diagon Alley in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where you can venture into Gringotts! Islands of Adventure has some fantastic attractions like the new Jurassic World VelociCoaster, Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Doctor Doom’s Fearfall, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, and more! Volcano Bay is also open for those who want to get their splash on.