I Tried the New McDonaldland Meal, With Its Mystery Flavor Pink and Blue Shake

The disappointing “toy” is a collectible tin full of Grimace, Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese-era stickers.

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials

Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won “Headline Writer of the Year” award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.

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. Now, McDonald’s has introduced the McDonaldland Meal, which goes straight after that market of adults who have a nostalgic feeling for the Golden Arches. And it comes with a shake in neon colors like you’ve never seen before.

The McDonaldland Meal came out on Tuesday, and I grabbed one at my local McD. 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 the 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.

You know what regular McDonald’s food tastes like, but you’ve perhaps never had this flavor of shake before. McDonald’s teases in its press release that it’s “up to you to discover the surprise flavor.” (You can order the shake without the meal if you just want to try it.)

I braced myself for a super-sugary shake that I’d take one sip of and then dump out. But I was surprised. It was an acceptable flavor that I drank about half of. Sweet, yes, but not mouth-puckeringly so. There was a vague fruit flavor that I couldn’t exactly nail down.

Maybe cotton candy? Maybe blue raspberry? Maybe both of those, mixed? I would not order the Mt. McDonaldland shake again, but it’s a fun, colorful twist for a one-time purchase. If you don’t want to try it, you can choose a regular drink or another flavor of shake with your McDonaldland meal.

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.

McDonaldland tin — Nostalgic characters from McDonald’s advertising are displayed on the small tins included in the meals.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNET

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 guess the flavor, and then go back to chocolate or another good old standard flavor.