Mickey Mouse is booting burger giant McDonald’s from his two Orange County theme parks.
Officials at both Disneyland and McDonald’s have confirmed with the Orange County Register a recent story posted on MiceAge, a Disneyland chat forum: McDonald’s is history after Labor Day.
“As part of a planned refurbishment, three McDonald’s-branded quick service restaurants in Disneyland Resort — Burger Invasion, Conestoga Fries and Harbour Galley — will close on September 2,” Betsy Sanchez, a theme park spokeswoman, said in an email statement.
Many of you know I frequent the Happiest Place on Earth because my husband, Brady MacDonald, pens a theme park blog dubbed Funland for the Los Angeles Times. In all the years that we’ve visited Disneyland, McDonald’s French fries have always been available in two spots: the covered wagon across from Big Thunder M
ountain and the little shack near the Haunted Mansion.
In 2001, Disney added a full service McDonald’s burger joint (shown right) inside Disney’s California Adventure, otherwise known as DCA to locals.
Now, those joints will shut down to make room for new eats, according to MiceAge.
Sanchez did not say why McDonald’s was getting the ax.
McDonald’s seemed a bit disappointed by the news when I asked the chain to confirm its soon-to-be departure from the Anaheim theme parks.
Yes, McDonald’s is leaving because of the remodel, said spokeswoman Danya Proud. But: “It is also important to note that we continue to have a relationship with Disney — that includes providing foodservice at Walt Disney World.”
Proud said the closures had nothing to do with a report released Monday that said fast-food chains such as McDonald’s were failing to serve children healthy meals.
(Photo courtesy of Sonya Smith, The Register’s Around Disney blogger)
Is it just me or does the food service offereings get a little worse every year at DL and DCA?
You are incorrect with your statement. The contract expired between McDonalds and Disney, and neither chose to renew it, and it is not Disney saying “get out” to McDonalds. Just a little real research will show a 10 year contract with McDonalds from the late 1990’s. You can also find this information from MiceAge.
For heaven’s sake! When these McDonald’s locations went in nearly a decade ago, all anyone did was complain in the loudest voice possible that Disney was taking the cheap route, and that the presence of the golden arches would destroy the magic of Disneyland. Now that they’re leaving, it’s suddenly a tragedy all over again?
Who cares that’s just less CRAP food for the people visiting.
Thank goodness.
I can get McDonalds on ever coner on the world.
When people pay $80 to go some place the food offering should be special and unique.
Food is amazing at DCA now. Such a variety and high quality.
So glad they are outta there!
Jason — do you work at Disneyland?
I gave Disney and McDonald’s every opportunity to elaborate on this.
Bottom line: Disney owns the property. If the theme park really wanted McDonald’s to stay, then a lease agreement would have been renewed.
YAY for no more McDonald’s at Disneyland!
I remember when that covered wagon showed up with a picture of the golden arches on it. I was in high school and would go to Disneyland almost every other day after school (and sometimes during school).
I was so disappointed in Disneyland for letting them be there. Ever since, I’ve avoided all McDonald’s products at the parks like the plague. So now I’m glad they’re leaving!
Maybe they need to make room for Starbucks?
Mouseburgers…yum!
All food at disneyland is gross…. my daughter and i have eaten at the mexican place , the new orleans place, the meat kabobs and the food near space mountain.. (sorry, i dont know the actual names) the food has always been disgusting.. now we go across the street to mimi’s cafe and then go back..
Nancy:
My, my, we’re a little touchy!
I don’t work for Disney, and never have. Nor do I work for McDonald’s.
I do have a strong feeling that news stories should be accurate and truthful, not editorial unless on the opinion page.
Your article did say that Mickey Mouse is booting McDonald’s out, and you also implied that McDonald’s has always been there. 10 years may be forever to you, but it’s only a short time in the history of DL.
If you want to write opinion columns, don’t be sensitive if people call you out on inaccurate research/reporting.
sopadecaracol, you lost all credibility when you endorsed Mimi’s Cafe.
I’m a Disney Geek, and I’ll stick up for Ms. Luna. The story is very accurate. It doesn’t have the dishy tone that Miceage always has (which I enjoy, by the way), but it is very accurate.
It’s a shame neither Disney or McDonalds wants to elaborate more. This is very likely another case of Miceage scooping the Mouse before they were ready with a pre-fabricated spin release, and they kept it curt and simple.
Off the top of my geeky head, I think the first McDonalds in a Disney Park was out at WDW at Animal Kingdom. The Restaurantasauras in Dinoland was a full service McDonalds from opening day in April, 1998. It’s interesting that Disneyland would ditch them before Disney World, but that sort of thing has happened before. Disneyland ditched General Motors in favor of Honda several years ago as a big sponsor, while GM continues to sponsor a huge pavilion at Epcot.
Disneyland is probably more sensitive to booting McDonalds because of all the OC Soccer Moms who have Annual Passes and complain about the unhealthy food for their precious little Kelsey and Hunter. If you’ve ever seen the size of the Midwest tourists at Disney World you would know that McDonalds fits in better out there.
I go to Disneyland all the time, and I have never eaten the McDonalds food there. Why pay $4 for french fries when you can get them across the street when you leave the park for $1.89?
At least you’re more likely to burn off any calories consumed from McD’s food when walking around Disneyland all day long. With McD’s outside Disneyland, you’re more likely to go home and hibernate on the sofa after your Happy Meal.
Never did eat at McD’s whenever visiting Disneyland or CA Adventures. I prefer the much more greasy and delicious (and huge) footlong corn dogs.
Good move, bring on more delicious and original food like the those fantastic corn dogs they sell!
fullerton, FYI the McDonalds french fries sold at the Harbour Galley near the Haunted Mansion and the Conestoga Wagon near BIg Thunder Mountain both charge $3.00 even for a large serving of McDonalds fries.
The $3.00 includes tax.
So if McDonalds is charging $1.89 for a large serving of fries on Harbor Blvd., it looks like we are paying a surcharge of $1.11 per serving for the convenience of having the fries inside Disneyland in a themed environment. The Harbour Galley location is actually very nice, and I like to sit there and have a Coke and look at the gorgeous Columbia Sailing Ship when it is docked there, or the traffic out on the Rivers of America when the Columbia is out during the day.
Just being at Disneyland in such a pleasant environment is enough for me to shell out an extra buck and eleven cents for a serving of fries.
Nancy, good article. FYI doesn’t seem like an opinion article. Seems accurate and truthful enough for me. I liked having Mcdonalds in Disneyland, my kids love those french fries and I don’t mind paying a little extra for them.
The article that Ms. Luna wrote seemed thin and tabloid like in my opinion.
Sources listed in the article are websites/blogs. I do not consider these sites reliable in all cases.
I did like the comments by David Michael. This seemed like an article worthy of a credible news paper.
I get tired of reading one sided/slanted/skewed reports. I hate having to search through multiple articles to figure a true story, but that seems to be the way some reporters are trending.
I do not work for either company listed in the article, nor do I know Mr. Michael or Ms. Luna.
And for those who thought this was not a news story…
AP, Reuters and Bloomberg News Services picked up this OC Register article for international coverage.
Glad to see the golden arches are on their way out. They never belonged at the Disneyland Resort in the first place.
All you have to do is go across the street to mc donalds and you pay the dollar menu vs. an arm and a leg inside. Disneyland takes advantage of people with their high prices. It’s a shame but they should be considerate when pricing their food.
I love Mac fries!! They are cheaper then the Disney’s fries!!
I always buy the fries from MacDonalds inside the Disneyland. They are good snacks, cheap, and fast.
I cannot believe you like the lines and the prices at the other restaurants.
Robert, I take it you don’t get out much. You’ve never seen the prices at Knott’s, Sea World, Anaheim Stadium, Honda Center, Six Flags, Universal Studios, Qualcomm Stadium, John Wayne Airport, any movie theater in OC, the county fair, Long Beach Aquarium, etc., etc., etc???
Disneyland does not have an exclusive on pricing food and souvenirs higher inside their gates than what you can find at Wal-Mart or the local strip mall. Every entertainment enterprise in America worth their turnstile does that. It’s not just Disneyland.
But Disneyland tends to offer a superior product than Knott’s or the county fair or a movie theater.
Yes, they offer a superior product now that they stopped using McDonalds fries instead of making their own fries.
Smartest move Disneyland has ever made. No one should ever eat McDonald’s, it has to be the worst of the worst. If there was an In-N-Out burger close to every McDonald’s; this poor excuse of a burger chain (McDonald’s) would be history. Be smart, DO NOT EAT McDONALD’S EVER!
Maybe they are jealous of all of the chains Knott’s has put in over the past few years. The Contestoga Fries will become a Cinnabon. The Harbour Galley will become a Panda Express and Burger Invasion will become a Johnny Rockets. They can take all originality out of Disneyland too.
Or, maybe Burger Invasion will become Mrs. Disney’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant, which will be moved from Knott’s to make way for an Applebees.
They just got tired of seeing all the fatty’s walking around at Disneyland, then again the US is the fattest nation in the world. How about some fresh fruits and veggies…..yumm!