Nostalgic Disney Happy Meal Toys Are, Gulp, Arriving At McDonald's
Starting September 14, McDonald's will offer “never-before-seen” Disney-centric Happy Meal toys.
Now that '90s kids are '90s adults, those '90s adults are cashing in on the nostalgia craze—hard. Remember earlier this year, when McDonald's marked Pokémon's 25th anniversary with a promotional Happy Meal bundle that included collectible Pokémon cards? If you recall, Pokémon-crazed adults mass-purchased the Happy Meals to get the cards, either for their personal collections or for savvy eBay resale. That left very little merch for the actual children. Now, McDonald's is launching a similarly nostalgic promotion to celebrate Disney World's 50th anniversary. There's no way this one could go wrong.
Per a press release sent to The Takeout, McDonald's is continuing its "longstanding partnership with Disney" this fall. The burger giant is celebrating 50 years of Disney World with a line of with never-before-seen Disney Happy Meal toys. McDonald's writes: "From cheery Olaf to the unforgettable Mickey Mouse, each Happy Meal will feature one of 50 different figurines of fan favorite Disney characters from over the years."
The Happy Meals will include Disney icons like Mickey Mouse, Flounder, Tinker Bell, Lumiere, Nemo, Lady AND the Tramp (can't have one without the other), Simba, Woody, and Pinocchio. The lineup also includes more current favorites like Olaf, the singing and dancing snowman from Frozen. Although the release says the toys are "never-before-seen," it's unclear whether these toys were recently manufactured or whether they were produced at the time of each movie's release and just never distributed. Hmm.
The promotion starts September 14 and runs for a limited time at participating restaurants nationwide. All right, now, let's approach this like adults. I get that this is an exciting time for Disney fans, of which there are many. But please, grown-ups—let's exercise some restraint and leave some Happy Meal toys for the kiddos. There's a whole new generation of Disney fans out there waiting to be indoctrinated via little pieces of collectible plastic.