I tried the McDonaldland meal at my local McD’s on August 12, the day it was released. And I don’t want to say that I’ve been thinking about the mysterious flavor of her pink and blue Mt. McDonaldland shake ever since, because that would make me sound really weird, but… I’ve been thinking about it.
When I tasted the shake, I guessed maybe it was blue raspberry, maybe cotton candy, maybe mixed berries. It’s sweet but not cloying, although I would never order it again. (I’m a chocolate fan.)
But I kind of wanted to know what the mystery flavor was. And now I do: according to the McDonald’s Canada nutrition page for the shake, the blue beauty contains a “blend of creamy vanilla soft serve and raspberry flavored syrup. (I tried to confirm this on the US nutrition page, but it just went around and around and never loaded. Go for it, Ronald.)
RASPBERRY! The Mt. McDonaldland shake has a raspberry flavor! And it’s blue in color, so my blue raspberry guess was correct! Raspberry is the hottest flavor in fast food these days, as Starbucks just brought back its popular raspberry drink syrup at the end of July.
If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, McDonald’s continues to capitalize on its customers’ love of the company’s wacky history. Recently, Happy Meals have included McDonald’s-themed toys – such as drink dispensers, fryers and trays containing food – delivered in mini Happy Meal boxes. And the long-awaited Snack Wraps have finally returned after a viral fan campaign.
The McDonaldland Meal is aimed at this market of adults nostalgic for the Golden Arches. It’s not cheap: here in Seattle, where the cost of living is high, the average meal cost $16.59 and the large, $18.29.
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You can choose from a quarter pounder with cheese or a 10 piece McNugget order. It also comes with the chain’s famous fries and your choice of drink. But the special drink prepared to accompany the meal is called this Mt. Mysterious-tasting McDonaldland shake so far, and it’s a flaming blue color, topped with bright pink whipped cream. It’s supposed to look like a volcano, with the pink cream like lava, I guess.
Unlike the Happy Meal, the McDonaldland Meal is intended for adults.
You can order the shake without the meal if you just want to try it. If you don’t want to try it, you can choose a regular drink or another flavor of shake with your McDonaldland meal.
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I tasted the bright pink whipped cream on its own, and it seemed to have no flavor, so maybe they just took regular whipped cream and dyed it pink.
Nostalgic characters from McDonald’s advertising are displayed on the small boxes included in the meals.
Instead of just a toy, the McDonaldland meal comes with a 5 x 7 inch box featuring one of the McDonaldland mascot characters. I ended up with Hamburglar, which, after Grimace, probably would have been my choice.
The boxes are engraved with Hamburglar, Grimace, Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese, Birdie the Early Bird and the Fry Guys. Honestly, I’m not sure what anyone would do with this box, but it was definitely a classier included item than most Happy Meal toys.
Inside the box is a card with a code that you can scan to explore McDonaldland online, an ID card for your particular character, two postcards and four stickers. One of my stickers said “steal, steal,” Hamburglar’s favorite saying, and one of them said, “Keep going! Hamburglar and I are in the middle of a heist.” I can’t really imagine anyone putting these on their water bottle or laptop, but to each their own.
Honestly, unless McDonald’s nostalgia is your thing, I recommend just ordering your regular meal at Golden Arches and skipping the meal. But if you just don’t get enough blue and pink food in your life, well who will? – try the Mt. McDonaldland shake once, pass it around to let your friends guess the flavor before smugly delivering the big reveal, then go back to chocolate or another good old standard flavor.
