The @mcdonaldlands blog was created in April 2015 as a fun hobby to find more information about the pre-1987 designed McDonald's® playground equipment. This blog aims to be accessible and friendly to all. I welcome stories and corrections of all data. My own interest and research has led to a 35-page pinterest board and counting, one for each piece of playland equipment and McDonaldland® character! This tumblr blog is a better home to content sources and better, longer descriptions. This retro look back has inadvertently also become a fun look at 70s and 80s decor, fashion, mannerisms, and more. Enjoy! Follow @mcdonaldlands !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');
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MCDONALDLAND® is a trademark of
MCDONALD'S® CORPORATION, filed on July 22 (1971)
1,2,3) These close-ups of the Ronald McDonald teeter totter were posted by an online auction site.
4) Live auctioneers posted this Ronald McDonald See Saw from the 1970's, made by Setmakers Inc. Described as being aluminum, steel and fiberglass, 53" h, 74" w, 26" d.
1) This Grimace bounce and bend was for sale a few years ago, photographed on this campground.
2) This photo was posted unfortunately unsourced on a remembrance page for McDonaldland, featuring the Grimace bounce & bend.
3) This great Grimace bounce and bend photo isn’t sourced, unfortunately.
4&5) These unsourced photo’s were posted online showing a wild looking Grimace and the Grimace bounce & bend playground equipment.
6) David A Evans edited and posted this Grimace bounce & bend in April 2010, Pearsonville, California with the caption “Adjacent to the junkyard is an abandoned playground where this Grimace cage sits forlornly awating the children who will likely never return. Although in today's world this structure would probably represent a liability risk as a child could get his head stuck between those bars.”
1) These aging McDonaldland characters have been placed onto a Winnie the Pooh themed merry-go-round was captured in Aylmer, Ontario about a year ago by Cheri Wheeler.
2) This cute throwback found on yahoo images (originally, unsourced, from myspace) features a Filet-O’-Fish character on the McDonaldland themed carousel!
3) This vintage photo of a McDonaldland themed merry-go-round was found on an online auction site.
4) This great McDonald’s merry go round was found on ebay, also featuring a light up box with Ronald McDonald’s likeness in the corner.
5) Close-up of the Filet-O’-Fish McDonald’s merry-go-round character, posted by Taryn Peine.
6) This 80s McDonald’s Carousel was found on the Remembering Singapore webpage, which also gives a great history of McDonald’s there. In the background, the McDonaldland teeter-totter can also be seen.
7) Very interesting antique shop view of the McDonald’s three seated carousel!
1) Ray Conrado captured this photo of a McDonald’s playground in August 1988, featuring the Grimace Bounce & Bend, Captain Crook’s Spiral Slide, and the back of the Ronald McDonald waving statue.
2) David Manning shared these aging Officer Big Mac Climber and Grimace Bounce and Bend pieces from an old McDonald’s playground. He shares on his photoblog that they were found behind the Hallmark Mobile Home Park in Athens, Georgia in June 2009.
3) This unfortunately unsourced photo was found in a yahoo images search, featuring the McDonaldland themed park. The waving Ronald McDonald statue, Officer Big Mac Climber, Green Fry Gobblin Spring Rider, and the red and yellow ladder of the Captain Crook Spiral Slide can be seen!
4) This throwback posted by Cheri Wheeler is from the Scarborough, Ontario McDonald's outdoor playground in the summer of 1978. The yellow M in the front is atop a Captain Crook Boat spring rider, with a Mayor McCheese round-a-bout in the background, and the red and yellow striped Captain Crook spiral slide to the back left.
5) This awesome look back at the McDonald’s playgrounds was found on the Stronger than Dirt flickr page. Ronald McDonald waves in front of the Mayor McCheese roundabout, Officer Big Mac climber, and Captain Crook’s boat spring rider.
6) This photo from collectiblewebs shows many of the 80s McDonald’s playground equipment pieces. From left to right: The waving Ronald McDonald statue, Officer Big Mac half-slide, Officer Big Mac statue, the four-seated teeter totter see saw, and a hamburger climb-in igloo.
1&2) These photos of the Hamburglar and Officer Big Mac statues with Ashley and John were taken in 2006 in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
3) Amazing view of the Mayor McCheese statue in 2007 by flickr user Yotsuba&!
4) This close-up of McDonaldland’s Mayor McCheese statue also shows an Apple Pie Tree seating area in the far right. These appear to be at a normal playground, taken by flickr user Prowlinger in 2007.
5) Ray Conrado shared this August 1988 shot of a McDonald’s playland, atop an Apple Pie Tree statue.
6) These great McDonald’s statues were found on the Remembering Singapore wordpress (a very interesting read!). The Hamburglar, Ronald McDonald, and the green and red Fry Guys were most likely produced sometime in the 80s.
1) Claudia Castro shared this great vintage photo of the McDonald’s spring rider toys featuring Captain Crook’s boat and a toothy blue Fry Gobblin (or Fry Guy). The red and yellow ladder of Captain Crook’s spiral slide can also be seen in the background.
2) This retro blue Fry Gobblin spring rider, once belonging to the McDonaldland themed playgrounds, shows the original 70s angrier version of the now-named Fry Guys and Fry Kids. Found on ebay, this guy is described as being approximately 20" tall x 28" long and approximately 15 lbs plastic construction.
3) This great vintage Filet-O’-Fish bouncer spring toy, originally from a McDonald’s playland, was posted by Katie Bush and taken in Safety Harbor, Florida. The Bowling Ball House is now the center of "Whimzeyland," a riot of bright paint, tile, and yard sculptures. This is where the above piece of McDonaldland equipment has come to rest, welcoming visitors past the tikis.
4) This photo was posted in remembrance of the East Coast Park McDonald’s in 2012 when the Marine Cove Recreation Centre closed down. Featured is a vintage shot of the Filet-O’-Fish spring rider bouncer toy.
1) This great photo of the Hamburglar topper to the McDonaldland themed spiral slide he belonged to sits next to Elvis. Taken at an antique store on main street in Miami, Arizona. Shared by flickr user m.r. nelson.
2) Close-up of the Hamburglar slide topper at the Branson Toy Museum shared by Todd Franklin in 2006.
3) Heather Gibson shared this Hamburglar spiral slide topper in 2008, located in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida.
4) Amazing faded shot of a deluxe Hamburglar spiral slide, with stairs and a middle platform, from the 80s McDonald’s playgrounds. Found in Lockington, Ohio and photographed by Scott in 2009.
Some great retro photos of the McDonaldland playland ballpits, shared in order by:
1) This great 80s photo was posted by the Trapper Keeper website among other contestants for their 80s photo memory contest, unsourced unfortunately and the contest ended a long time ago so no further information is available but it’s a great reminder of the old McDonald’s playland ball pits and 80s fashion.
2) Cheryl Sawyer, at 8 years old playing in the McDonald's Playland area ball pit. So much nostalgia.
3) Instagram photo by stasiatoosquirrelly in a tbt of the ball pit!
Photos of the McDonaldland Play Areas! Shared, in order, with captions, by:
1) Kimberly Grove Hancock shared this photo of a McDonaldland themed playground in the rain featuring the Officer Big Mac climber, Mayor McCheese roundabout, and a Filet-O’-Fish character on what looks like the McDonald’s teeter-totter.
2) Monica Charles and friend/family Jennifer at an old McDonald’s playground featuring the Mayor McCheese round-a-bout, with pink Fry Gobblin and Filet-O’-Fish spring riders in the background. The black and white striped Hamburglar spiral slide can also be seen in the background!
3) Sandy Myers remembers the McDonald’s playgrounds with the McDonaldland themed equipment, featuring some great 70s fashion. This picture shows the Mayor McCheese roundabout merry-go-round carousel and a great close-up of the green Fry Gobblin spring rider bouncer toy.
4) Lee Lowery Tanner shares this McMemory of a McDonald’s playground featuring the yellow half-covered slide and the four-seated bouncer teeter-totter seesaw featuring Filet-O’Fish, Captain Crook’s boat, and Fry Gobblin characters.
70s nostalgia everywhere in this photo of the McDonald’s playland at North Parkway and Max Luther Drive in Huntsville, Alabama, posted by William H. Hampton to the Huntsville Revisited facebook page.
More bell-bottom jeans than you can count clamor Captain Crook’s striped spiral slide and the Mayor McCheese round-a-bout!
A great part of this photo, on the far right, is the rarely sighted caged slide McDonaldland playgrounds had in the very early 70s:
Discussed more on the blog post about page three of the Setmakers promo packet.
Grimace doesn’t look so evil against the backdrop of flowers and butterflies at the PeanutButter&jelly Daycare, refurbishing the bounce & bend in 2010.
McDonaldland Apple Pie Tree statues surrounded by debris at the Biggar Antiques store in Chamblee, Georgia. Lux Magna Designs shared the top right photo, and the top left was posted by Sharlisa Weekes. The third photo was shot by Faisal Nayani.
Christian Lau posted this photo in 2008, featuring a great vintage McDonald’s Hamburgers “1 million sold” sign at a restaurant in Ladera Ranch, California.
Absolutely stunning, and terrifying, place for a McDonald’s playland Officer Big Mac Climber to end up. Made into a rusted gazebo-island, this guy looks like he has been here awhile and most likely still is, though I am looking for more information on it so please contact me! This photo was posted by instagram user sycamoron in 2013, tagging it as being located at the Poor House Branch Marina in Talladega, Alabama.
Joseph Prosser shares this retro look at a McDonald’s playland featuring Officer Big Mac Climber, who is always seen on the sign of playground regulations, and the McDonaldland spinner!
Kyla Rae shares the first photo of these McDonald’s themed Air Hockey tables! Instagram user meaghannp_ shared the second photo, with better view of the equipment.
The GIF’s were clipped from a video by youtube user Cooper featuring a fun competition over the McDonaldland themed table.
Final photo shared by Dan Buffa shows the table in 2014.
A look back at McDonaldland @mcdonaldlands-blog - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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