menu Home chevron_right
SLACK! : NOSTALGIA

Burger Invasion: The History of McDonald’s and Disney

Defunctland | May 8, 2026



Buy Defunctland T-Shirts:
https://teespring.com/stores/defunctland

Donate on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/defunctland

In this Defunctland minisode, Kevin explores the history of McDonald’s and Disney’s relationship, from Dinoland to Happy Meals.

Make sure you check out Rob Plays video that covers Disney’s partnership with Burger King.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/HvrenscuS2s

Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/Defunctland-1142494142561537/

Defunctland Twitter:
https://twitter.com/defunctland

Defunctland Subreddit:
https://reddit.com/r/defunctland

For more great content, visit defunctland.com

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Written by Defunctland

Comments

This post currently has 45 comments.

  6. @ner.tan11

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    Westward Ho! Fry stand is specifically a special spot for me. Me, my mom, and my 2 siblings had season tickets that my grandma bought us, so we could go as a free thing so it only costed us gas! We’d go to Disney a lot, but we wouldn’t spend money. Just experience it, which was one of the most rewarding experiences ever in ways I can’t describe without going on forever. I’m very thankful. My mom would spend money on some McDonald’s fries, and we’d eat them and feed some to the ducks in the pond right behind the fry stand. Such a simple little thing to do in a place like Disneyland, but it was so special to me 🙂

  11. @dana7506

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    Disney should look into Brian Ford and Eric Davis. Eric Davis opened the McDonald's fry cart in the late 90s. They were trying to set me up to take the blame for theft. I wasn't stealing money, and Leslie Gen Kuong should never have neglects her job trying to catch me in the act and if I got written up, I would have had info about that. But they come after me, I get written up and I don't have a chance to defend myself. Goodbye Disney, I can prove that you are mixed up in a mess. Ask Brian Ford, he knows I like him. He told me in 98. And in 2022, Aaron at Trader Sam's said the same thing in a group.

  13. @tandnmom100

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    Important to note that of the two McDonald's locations on Walt Disney World property, the one in Downtown Disney (now called Disney Springs) closed in 2010, while the one on West Buena Vista Drive near Blizzard Beach is still operating to this very day.

  15. @alexcarr2925

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    I used to work at westward ho at times. I don't think it was still McDonald's at the time but it was nuggets and fries. I used to eat them frequently. Fuck disney rules.

  21. @dollminatrix1375

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    You know, it’s funny, I used to live in San Bernardino. I’ve actually been to the very first McDonald’s ever built, it’s now currently a museum. And I’m just reminded of how funny it used to be. Nowadays it’s so bland and boring. I understand parents being concerned when it came to the general health of their children, but honestly, I don’t think McDonald’s was to blame for that. I feel like so many generations of parents always want to blame other things instead of blaming themselves at the end of the day, they are providing their child. The necessary means to go to these fast food places. If a parent has a problem with the dietary options regarding these places, they should not be bringing their child there. It just doesn’t make any sense. At all. When I was a kid, I think we got to experience McDonald’s right before they started transitioning into what they are now. And honestly, it broke my little heart back then seeing it change. I feel like at the end of the day, if you’re going out to get fast food, you should never expect healthy options. Because it’s fast food. Healthy does not really fit to the equation. I remember when I was a kid, I would go to Fleet markets and I would get so excited whenever I would find McDonald’s toys, old and new. And some of my favorites were the Disney ones.

  22. @2Absorbent2Individual-y4l

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    The fact that Ray Kroc and Walt Disney met each other during World War I, decades before they became titans of their respective industry is the craziest instance of real-life foreshadowing! 🤯

  23. @wrinkledhermit

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    Throughout the late 80s to the late 90s my mom worked at a market research company and I was in hundreds of market research studies throughout childhood. I remember one was testing out how people would perceive a McDonald's and Disney and carnival cruise partnership. I don't remember the year but it is very likely around that same time

  26. @Zlodej5

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    its few years latter, and now I would see McDonalds being ashamed to be related to disney, who has to contract its branding to smaller town safari's

  28. @connorgibes709

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    12:17 Dude! I remember the fry stand! I went to Disneyland for my 13th birthday. I was walking around with my sister when I suddenly realized I was starving (I have ADHD so I can sometimes forget to eat). We looked for something to eat but all we could find was the fry stand. I remember thinking "why only fries? I'm going to be hungry again in no time!"

  32. @jessicacallaghan8082

    May 8, 2026 at 9:20 pm

    Surprised you didn't mention that there's still a McDonald's on property in Florida. They got rid of the Downtown Disney location and anything in the Parks themselves, but there's still a McDonald's near Blizzard Beach. …the prices are abysmal, though it's one of the largest and cleanest McDonald's I've seen

Comments are closed.

Related
Dave’s Archives Retro Watch Party🍻📺📼 7/18/2026
Dave's Archives | July 19, 2026
Related
1987-92 The Electric Youth Era: School/Fads/Crushes/Mix Tapes/Nelson ...
My So-Called Gen X Life | July 19, 2026
Related
That Time Murder, She Wrote got SAVAGE.
PushingUpRoses | July 19, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play