I tried the McDonaldland Meal at my local McD's on Aug. 12, the day it came out. And I don't want to say that I've been thinking about the mystery flavor of its pink-and-blue Mt. McDonaldland shake ever since, because that would make me sound truly bizarre, but...I have pondered it.
When I tasted the shake, I guessed it was maybe blue raspberry, maybe cotton candy, maybe mixed berry. It's sweet but not sickeningly so, though I'd 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 McDonald's Canada's own nutrition page for the shake, the blue beauty features a "mix of creamy vanilla soft serve and raspberry flavored syrup." (I tried to confirm this on the US nutrition page, but it just spun and spun and never loaded. Get on that, Ronald.)
RASPBERRY! The Mt. McDonaldland shake is raspberry flavor! And it's blue in color, so my guess of blue raspberry was correct! Raspberry is the hot fast-food flavor these days, as Starbucks just brought back its much-loved raspberry drink syrup in late July.
If you're wondering what I'm even talking about, McDonald's continues to capitalize on the love of its customers for the company's goofy history. Recently, Happy Meals included McDonald's-themed toys -- such as drink machines, fryers and trays with food on them -- delivered in mini-Happy Meal boxes. And the much-longed-for Snack Wraps finally returned after a viral fan campaign.
The McDonaldland Meal goes straight after that market of adults who have a nostalgic feeling for the Golden Arches. It's not cheap -- here in high-cost-of-living Seattle, the medium meal was $16.59 and the large was $18.29.
You can choose from a Quarter Pounder with cheese or a 10-piece McNugget order. It also comes with the chain's famous french fries and your choice of drink. But the specialty drink that's made to go with the meal is called that mystery-until-now-flavored Mt. McDonaldland shake, and it's a blazing blue color, topped with hot pink whipped cream. It's supposed to look like a volcano, with the pink cream as lava, I guess.
Unlike the Happy Meal, the McDonaldland Meal is made 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 sampled the hot pink whipped cream by itself, 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 tins included in the meals.
Instead of a simple toy, the McDonaldland Meal comes with a 5-by-7-inch tin with one of the McDonaldland mascot characters on it. I ended up with Hamburglar, who, after Grimace, would probably have been my choice.
Tins come embossed 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 tin, but it was definitely a classier included item than most of the Happy Meal toys.
Inside the tin is a card with a code you can scan to explore McDonaldland online, an ID card for your particular character, two postcards and four stickers. One of my stickers said "robble robble," the Hamburglar's favorite saying, and one read, "Keep up! Hamburglar and I are mid-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'd recommend you just stick to ordering your usual at the Golden Arches and skipping the meal. But if you just don't get enough blue and pink food in your life -- and who does? -- try the Mt. McDonaldland shake once, pass it around to let your friends make them guess the flavor before you smugly deliver the big reveal, and then go back to chocolate or another good old standard flavor.