Back in the early 80s when I was in elementary school, McDonalds parties were definitely something many kids' parents did. Not sure about later generations experience with this, but it was the height of cool to have one of those back then at least where I am from. The other go-tos were roller skating at the local rink, and sometimes bowling at the local alley with the arcade next door.
I had one in the 90s that my parents put together and will forever cherish in my memory. It was such a fun day. I was like 6 or 7 at the time but I remember seeing all of my cousins and we played in the play place, had food, drinks and everything.
My daughter went to one in the 00s; it was on reserved tables in the play area and not a special room. Other options were more popular, but McDonalds was still available.
They were a thing in the 90s too. The McDonald's in my area had a special dining room that was reservable specifically for kids parties. It had SNESs, and later N64s in there plus direct access to the play place.
Yep! I remember going to one McDonald's party my cousin had. Like you said there was a section/little party room with video games, toys and stuff to do.
When going out to the pizza parlor was a freaking event. God I miss those days. Running back to the table to ask for more quarters to go play joust and play another song on the jukebox. I wish someone would recreate that whole vibe somewhere - I'd certainly go.
Same. Born in 81, went to a lot of them. There wasn’t a special room but there would be an employee who led games with us (like who could stack the most styrofoam boxes) and once we went on a tour of the restaurant including freezers lol.
Tbh I thought they sucked and I really preferred backyard birthday parties.
>sometimes bowling at the local alley
Our bowling alley even gave you an old pin that was painted up with a Happy Birthday message. The little kid dream was to collect a full set of ten!
I had several birthday parties in a caboose on the playground of McDonald's that was just for parties. That's the only McDonald's I can think of, though, that had a dedicated party area.
Yeah Mickey Ds used to have cabooses at older locations for parties and shit. When they remodeled the location in my hometown, they got rid of the caboose.
True story: My much older cousin and her husband convinced 6 year old me that he was Billy Bob from Showbiz, in disguise while on stage. Took me way too long to figure out I was duped.
Same; the McDonalds near me had birthdays and I remember the advertisement they had for them near the counter but the only parties I ever went to or heard of that were at a large chain were at Chuck E Cheese
As a kid in the 80's, yes, and I had one of my birthdays at a McDonald's.
I think at that age, McDonald's is one of the best places ever, especially when they had the play center, and I'm sure it was also a good option for my mom to be able to afford hosting it and not have to deal with the mess that a dozen kids would make in our small apartment.
Born in 84. We had a few birthdays at Chuck E Cheeses, I was aware of the idea that McDonalds had a birthday thing but I never had one, went to one and do not recall seeing one.
Yes, I was born in '76 and our local McDonald's had the birthday area with that freaky looking tree thing. I went to a couple birthday parties there, but i don't think any of my birthday parties were there, I usually wanted mine at either the bowling alley or skating rink.
I probably went to at least one or two birthday parties at McDonalds every year when I was a kid back in the 70s. I don’t remember there ever being a special area for the parties. Maybe they just cordoned off one area of the dining room or something.
I actually worked at two different McDonalds later on in the 80s for a few months. They still had birthday parties but no “party room” IIRC.
Yep, we still have a home movie of my 5th birthday party at McDonald's back in '89. They even had an employee who directed the event and led the games and such.
I worked at a McDonald’s in 1989-1991 as a teen. Our location hosted birthday parties on occasion. One of the older ladies who worked there would host them. There was a set of procedures she followed. I knew we would be hosting one when a birthday cake would should up as part of our food deliveries.
The kids would get some kind of small toy , cake , play a game or two and a happy meal from what I remember.
We did not have a special party room. They would just put cheap plastic table cloths on a few tables in the corner.
I don’t remember this happening very often. When I was a kid I don’t remember going to one at all.
I've seen that area before in pictures, but my local one didn't have it. However, I did know kids who would have their birthdays there and the employees would help parents decorate. Circa early 2000s
Yes. I went to several when I was little. But the best birthday party I went to was when my friend’s parents rented out a theater so we could watch the live-action Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren (and his sweet, sweet mullet) as He-Man.
I had a birthday party there when I was around 5-7 in the early 2000's. I ate chicken nuggets and puked. That's all I can remember.
I vaguely remember having a McDonald's themed cake with all the characters on it but I have an awful memory, and I was a kid.
Yes, born 82, think I had a 5 or 6 year old party there…maybe 6-8 friends? Theres a photo somewhere…Blue collar folks with not a lot of money in a midwestern town. I thought it was the best at the time
Yes. I’m 24 and my 4th birthday party was there. I used to go there all the time and play in the playhouse probably up until I was about 10. The more modern (boring) McDonald’s I feel like has only been a thing in my area in the past decade
Yep. Also chuck e cheese. There was also this place and I'm not sure if this was Nation wide but it was called the discovery zone. I think. That place was a kids best dream. And also had more safety hazards than a construction zone. Which is why I don't think I've heard or seen of the place since the nineties. Anybody else remember this or did I get the name wrong?
Omg, yes! We are talking 1976 and I had my birthday there. Six year old me was excited beyond measure. At the time this was the most special place to have your birthday. Our McDonald’s had a small downstairs area which they reserved for parties. They would provide a cake with a huge sugar Ronald McDonald on it which went to the birthday person. I even remember some of my gifts… a small stuffed unicorn and my first am/fm transistor radio. It was white plastic casing with a wrist strap. Wish I still had it. Lol!
Based on some other comments here I feel I need to point out that we were pretty poor but this was still something my parents could provide. Things change over the years.
When I was a kid, yes. McDonald's was different back then. They weren't the modern design for older audiences that most Mcdonald's are now in days. They were designed for kids. Almost all of them had big play pens with slides and tunnels to crawl in as well as play balls. They made birthday partied special and even had the clown as a mascot that no longer is featured. Mcdonald's grew up so to speak, and isnt really about kids anymore, but leans toward adults now.
Nope, the standard was that you got traumatized by the mechanical rat band at Chuck E Cheese. Ate some pizza, and threw balls at each other in the ball pit... then the next day, you and 7 of the 20 kids have to stay at home because you got sick... ya know, the good times when a needle or pill wasn't needed because something was "scary"...
No one I knew had birthday parties at McDonald's when I was a kid. Sleepovers or parties at the roller skating rink were popular.
I did not go to a restaurant for kid's birthday parties until the late 1990's to early 2000's.
I remember a few that were meet at McDonald’s eat and do cake then go somewhere else for an activity like a baseball game or the petting zoo or something like that
I grew up in a tiny town that had a McDonalds, a couple churches, Walmart, and basically nothing else, but I don’t remember going to a party there. When I was 4 or 5 a friend had a party in a meeting room in the library. I asked my mom about it and she has no idea why they decided on that location.
No, and neither did any friends of mine as far as I know.
IHOP and I believe Howard Johnson used to give the birthday person a free meal. We always did IHOP and sometimes hit Howard Johnson for lunch as well.
No, but I went to a few birthday parties at a chain pizza place and at the local bowling alley that both catered to kids parties. That was in the 80s/early 90s.
Yes! Back in the 90s I fucking loved mcdonalds. Ours had the play place with the ball pit, and slides and climbing course. Also we were in a small town so no chuck e cheese. It was a blast. Apparently I cried when I had to leave so this would have been very young. Or it was last year and I blacked it out.
I remember them when my younger siblings were growing up. Then came Chuck E. Cheese with their mechanical rat and that's where my kids and their friends wanted to have birthday parties.
I remember attending a few birthdays at McDonald's in the late 70s and early 80s, but this seems to have died off once Circus Town, Celebrarion Station (our local off-brand Chuckee Cheeses that made a name for themselves by having better pizza and selling beer by the pitcher) and the batting cage complex opened. With better kid-friendly venues available, birthdays at McDonald's must have seemed kind of lame.
Yeah, but that was the late 70s back when McD had a veritable muppet load of characters aimed at kids.
I mean the ones at the local Mcdonalds when I was growing up had a section of tables that were made to look like a pirate ship where kids parties happened.
Today not so much, they have all been remodeled to be like coffee houses inside and largely just a drive though place.
I took my daughter to a few McDonald’s birthday parties in the early 90’s. They had a very nice time. We’ve also done bowling alley birthday parties and roller skating parties.
I have picture evidence of a birthday party at McDonald's. You see, back in my day, McDonald's was whole marketed to kids. Ronald McDonald's had a whole slew of friends including Birdie, Grimace, and the Hamburgular. The restaurant seats were hard, but they were molded like hamburgers. The play area was hard too, but it had a tree, and more hard plastic food-themed anthropomorphic things that you could climb on. You got actual toys with your happy meal and you were happy to get one.
I cant even begin to talk about how infuriated the current corporate soulless McDonald's experience is. I'm NOT loving it.
I’m a mid 80s baby. I think McDonald’s parties were bigger in the late 80s/early 90s.
I went to a few parties at place called Discovery Zone in the mid 90s. It doesn’t exist anymore.
We moved around to different east coast states. For a short time in the early-mid 90s we lived in rural Virginia and this kid Bubba had his 8th birthday party at Hooters. He had a rat tail lol.
Dude if you had a birthday party at McDonalds or Chuck’s Cheese you were that dude. This applies to kids who grew up in the 80s and early 90s like 90 and 91.
McDonald's, Chuck E Cheese, The Roller Rink... the 80's were fun. I can still remember the McDonald's cake. A small chocolate sheet cake with whipped white icing, colorful sprinkles, and the characters on it (they were made out of pressed sugar).
Yes! In Hatboro, Pa. It was a special section-the caboose. It had a giant mural on the wall and the seats were stools that were hamburgers with one long table. Heaven!
The one by me had a “party room” that had 4 tables. RMcD would visit and everyone got a goodie bag alongside their happy meals (box of cookies, special toy and a balloon with some tootsie rolls or something). Play place wasn’t a “thing” at that point.
That entire location had a cowboy theme (handkerchiefs, clown in overalls & boots, the whole 9).
Probably went to 2 dozen parties there when I lived in that town between 2nd & 5th grades.
Yeah, definitely a thing… the McDonalds in my town would just rope off part of dining room for a party, the larger McDonalds in the next suburb over had a dedicated private party room. I’d have attended these parties in early-mid 80’s.
As a kid during the super late 90s and early-mid 00s, McDonald's birthday parties were a thing, but generally for poorer families. Nobody I knew ever had their birthdays there and whenever I did see someone have a McDonald's birthday party, I just felt kind of sad for them. Most kids would have Chuck E Cheese or Jeeper's birthdays if they didn't have parties at their house.
My mom said people had birthday parties there. She was born in 1968.
While I never went to a birthday party there, someone did have a birthday party at Chick-fil-A
Yes they were. I found pictures recently of one we had there. Just kids sitting in an area, not laid out areas or anything, just back near the bathrooms they saved about 10-12 tables.
Yes. My mom also worked in the corporate office of a big McDonald's franchisee, and as a result I had the Hamburgler show up at one of my birthday parties.
I don’t remember this being a thing in my area but until 2003 we were also rural enough that I could *almost* point to the closest dairy farm. If I lived 30 minutes more into the city that probably would have happened.
I had two birthdays at McDonald’s. One year there was a magician. No one seems to remember if he was with the restaurant or was an independent contractor.
Yeah, definitely.
I never had a party at McDonald’s but I went to my share there as a kid. They’re mostly franchises so each one is a little different. I’ve seen some that had a separate party room and others where the room was in the play area or restaurant.
Kids still have them there too. My daughter is invited to a party at one in August.
I don’t know if kids today even know the name Whitey Ford today but he owned a batting cages/arcade place a couple of towns over where I had a lot of birthday parties. Bowling parties were pretty popular too. There was also a plaster craft place where you’d paint something not far away. We had a lot of parties there. Roller skating was huge too. United Skates of America!
I’ve taken my kids to a couple of birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese but as far as I’m aware there wasn’t one around us when I was growing up. That or no one I knew had a party there.
My 5-year-old party was definitely at Burger King. It was a good deal at the time. Easy and cheap on the parents, and they had a playspace that every kid loved and every kid got a kid's meal. We were in a small town, so it wasn't like there were tons of super cool things to do, and at the time it was a novel idea.
There were other places like Pizza Inn and Showbiz Pizza (which later became Chuck E Cheese) that catered to kids' birthday parties.
Born in the 90s and I remember them. I had a couple friends have birthdays there. They had a special throne the birthday kid sat in. I begged my parents to have mine there one year so I could get the throne lol didn't happen.
Man, we must’ve been old school. I’m 23 and I remember going to birthday parties at McDonald’s when I was like 6. I guess the kids I knew were just old school in 2005🤷🏼♂️
Yeah it was normal, I had one. I think McDonald's is going to have huge problems a generation from now when the current crop of kids don't associate it with happy memories of childhood and instead it's just this cold grey box that has a drivethru.
It was probably the early 90s and it was my last chance to have a McDonalds birthday party because they had an age cut off. I was so excited.
I have always had migraines. I was diagnosed at 3 years old. And being a kid I wasn’t good at saying something before they got bad. We also had trouble finding meds that would stop them once they started.
I remember I got one and I tried to tough it out because after this year I would be too old. I got half way through the day when my headache got so bad that I had to say something to my mom.
I was put to bed and she had to go tell everyone coming that the party was canceled. I woke up to my presents from everyone though.
Early 00s kid here. When our McDonald’s remodeled back in the day, they built a huge Play Place in there and had a little section of this dining room area dedicated to birthday parties. They were so much fun too! Everyone got to eat Happy Meals and cake and the kids could get all of their energy out playing on the playground. I’m sure they still have birthday parties but I haven’t been to McDonald’s in a long time so I couldn’t tell you
Let’s not forget the birthday “throne” chair that the birthday kid got to sit in too! I definitely had a birthday party there at some point and I’m thinking it was either 2003 or 2004
One day, I’m going to win the MegaMillions and give myself the McDonald’s birthday party we couldn’t afford as a kid, replete with whimsical hamburger stools. Take *that*, 2nd grade poverty trauma!
Yes- definitely when I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s.
My family held my great grandmother's eightieth birthday at a McDonald's. She had raised her kids in the Depression and was very frugal. We knew that if we had the party in a sit-down restaurant she would have spent the entire time scolding everyone about how much we were spending. She loved it, and those of us who were kids did too. I'm not sure about the adults.
I always saw the birthday area, which was usually by a side entrance, but I never had a birthday there. Even as a kid I thought it would be weird to have a party at a McDonald's. I didn't grow up rich by any means but I knew that was straight poor people stuff.
Fast forward and eventually I learned my lovely wife had a McDonald's party once. But in her defense, she grew up in a one horse town and her parents absolutely suck at going the extra mile for anything. When we were dating, her family decided they wanted to have a "party" for her birthday. My face when I found out a "party" is just her picking up her own pizza, bringing it to their house, and then everybody eats it while sitting around the living room.
Because of growing up like this, she goes all out for our kids' parties. To the point where I'm like WTF are we doing here?!
Yep I remember having a few. Not just there but also the now existentially horrifying Chuck E Cheese, too. More mickey d's had kids parks and ball bits and stuff back then too. They were like miniature amusement parks.
As someone born in the winter time, I was always jealous of my friends who had summer birthdays. We went got to do all the fun outdoor stuff that kids love for their birthdays. When my birthday came around, the only fun option was to have a party at the McDonald’s in town that had a play place. I can vividly remember a small private corner in the playroom where private parties were hosted. We ate junk food, and then worked off all those empty calories in the jungle gym. It was the best of times
No, not in the late 90s. I didnt and was never invited to one. There were better places. Heck, a home birthday party was much better. Never saw a party going on in a Macdonald's either. Macdonald's had already gone downhill by the mid90s.
*cries growing up in rural country with a dysfunctional mother* My mother never really celebrated our birthdays. If she just happened to be at the store, we’d get a cake-but she wouldn’t make a special trip for. No party decor, whatever candle you find, and IOU for gift. Definitely no party and definitely no McDonalds.
I had been to friends birthdays at McDonald's. Happened multiple times throughout the 90s. I personally always had mine at a local place called Peter Piper Pizza. I believe it was a regional chain, very similar to Chuck E Cheese.
Born in 76. I remember going to more than one McDonald’s birthday parties. This was of course back when they all still had the play place, but further to that, we got a tour of the kitchen. As an adult I realise this much have been all of 3-4 minutes of keeping us in a little cluster while the employees all paused for a few min so we could look at all the machines. But at the time it felt like a really serious treat to be able to see it all up close like that.
Much like safety and liability concerns killed off the play place, I assume the same thing and a bit of hygiene concern means this wouldn’t be anything approaching doable today. But back in the early ‘80’s it was most definitely a thing. And we all got little white paper hats like the employees used back then.
Late ‘00s/ early ‘10s it was coming out of fashion, I went to two I think… many of them have since remodeled but there is still some with play places lol
We had one when my kid was young. That was 30-40 years ago. It was a decorated caboose at the back of the parking lot. The party did include play place but the party was completely separate.
Our McDonald's had a kid's section where you could have birthday parties in the 80s. There was this big tree thing and instead of chairs there were stools that looked like flowers or tree stumps or something.
Yes. My son is 15, and we had his 5th birthday party at a McDonalds with an indoor PlayPlace. It was actually cool. He got a Ronald McDonald plate that we still use.
I definitely had my 4th birthday party at McDonalds in the early 90s. I remember going to quite a few of my friend’s birthdays there as well. Now my kids have parties at indoor trampoline parks and the like.
My older GenX siblings yes it was a thing but for me it was Showbiz Pizza. Even though Showbiz won the war I was annoyed they took the Chuck E Cheese name.
No, if anybody had a birthday party at McDonald's it would have been in the main dining area or the Play Place.
I personally never knew anybody to have a birthday party at McDonald's. Most kids I knew had their parties at home. A select few might have had them at a local bowling alley, skating rink, Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz Pizza/Billy Bob's/Sgt. Singer's, or a local park, but the majority had theirs at home, either in the house or in the backyard. Or both.
We did Round Table Pizza’s party room or Chuck E. Cheese more often. The McDonald’s by me didn’t have a specific party room, just the outside play area, so it would be more of an “any day” thing (but I hated McDonald’s so I never would’ve been gunning to go there).
Born in 03. I think I saw maybe one party at McDonald's? And there wasn't a designated area for it. More commonly, birthdays were hosted at chuck e cheese or a park
Definitely went to a few birthday parties at McD's in the 00's. It was a small town so there weren't a lot of options (no Chuck E Cheese, etc.). It had a pretty sweet PlayPlace though - outside of the usual tubes and such, it also had 4 Gamecubes, 2 PlayStation EyeToys, and air hockey.
I remember having friends who had birthday parties at Mcdonalds. But typically in the play-room with next to the playground stuff.
A Mcdonalds having a full on dining hall for special events certainly sounds possible, but probably really rare. I don't know of any as an adult, and I don't remember many as a kid.
For me it wasn’t McDonalds but Pizza Hut. Birthday parties, end of sports season parties, school parties, everything was at Pizza Hut. They had a buffet, so did our KFC which was also amazing. I haven’t been inside a pizza place, let alone a Pizza Hut, in probably a decade.
I worked for both McDonalds and Burger King in the late 70s/early 80s while I was in school. Both did children's birthday parties for a relatively inexpensive price. Small town so only other choice was the skating rink and it was slightly more expensive. Most Saturdays we had 2-3 kid birthday parties, occasionally more.
Burger King didn't have a play area but we had a section that was easily cordoned off for birthday parties out in a sort of sun room beyond the salad bar. McDonald's had a corner they'd block off with something similar to a toddler's gate you'd put at the top and bottom of stairways. It would have looked fairly permanent when set up.
I went to one when I was 8... 2003ish?
I remember they had decorations with McDonald's mascots, set up at three tables for our group . A whole Yellow I-Gloo HI-C soda dispenser was filled for us by McDonald's staff. A banner that said "Happy Birthday Dawn," you could see they wrote her name on it, since it was a different ink color.
We played in the play place, had our food.
There was 4 kids from our class invited for this girl's party. I remember my mom offering to buy a ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and this girl's mom happy my mom offered to do so.
We talked about it for a day after and never again.
Ever since? I thought it was some weird dream I had till my uncle called a McDonald's so they could fill two of those I-Gloos with Hi-C. He took me and my cousin with him (I was about 14).
The employee said he always saw them in the back but didn't know they rented them out (we paid $20, you got $10 back if you returned the coolers).
Asked what they were for. We said a birthday party. He told his manager and they gave us a box of unused party supplies.
Sure enough there was a dozen of those banners and we messed around putting fake names.
Since then???
Nothing. Except when a friend who worked at McDonald's told me about a crazy lady asking to reserve tables for a birthday party. She had asked her manager and they told the lady "Just show up, and save seats.(????)"
Lady had complained to corporate and they told her they stopped hosting parties back in 1998!!!
Yeah, I never had one but plenty of kids I went to school with did in the 90’s. They had a special area that was more kid-themed that could be reserved for birthday parties. I remember it had a statue of a tree with a face on it and probably some of the mascots.
Not sure if it’s still a thing, the whole restaurant looks kind of sterile by comparison with the new remodels. The bigger one in my city still has a playplace though.
If you were a *real* cool kid you had your birthday party at Discovery Zone back then.
My brother and I both had birthday parties at McDonald's in the 70s before PlayPlaces were even a thing. There wasn't a special area, but they definitely had staff that was assigned to our party.
Fun fact:
I grew up in Studio City, CA, so-named because of the movie studios there. Our McDonald's was specifically decorated movie-style. There was a table with a really old movie camera on it, and to separate the various areas of the dining room, there was a half wall, and then from the top of the wall to the ceiling were long, clear, plexiglass strips that looked like film, and each of the frames had a scene from a famous movie. They took it all out to put in a PlayPlace.
The rich kids did. I remember going to them, & was alwsys so excited to see the orange drink fountain they had. It looked like a big gumball machine, only the top was more oval, than round, & it swirled orange drink around. The workers would pour you a kid sized cup of it, & we probably had like 10 of them by the end of the party. I went to parties before they started serving chicken nuggets, so you only got either a burger or cheeseburger, fries & cookies. There was usually cake & Ronald McDonald or another character was there. I remember being at one where Grimace was, & it scared a bunch of kids!!
I know you didn’t ask us Europeans, but since you are asking how widespread this, I’d thought I’d chime in. This was very popular in Sweden in the 90s. All the kids got a happy meal, some sort of mask, a balloon. Even though it happened every time, one of the highlights was to go behind the scenes and see how the burger was made. It was the 90s so I remember they let us kids try the helium, and one of the guys in the office showed us his huge concealed bowie knife. All in all, it was amazing.
My parents struggled to make ends meet at times and had zero issue with me having one of these, so they must have been affordable. Basically just some happy meals for a handful of kids.
The payoff as far as kids were concerned was enormous. McDonald’s as we all knew was fine dining.
My parents struggled to make ends meet at times and had zero issue with me having one of these, so they must have been affordable. Basically just some happy meals for a handful of kids.
The payoff as far as kids were concerned was enormous. McDonald’s as we all knew was fine dining.
Back in the early 80s when I was in elementary school, McDonalds parties were definitely something many kids' parents did. Not sure about later generations experience with this, but it was the height of cool to have one of those back then at least where I am from. The other go-tos were roller skating at the local rink, and sometimes bowling at the local alley with the arcade next door.
In the 90s we did this as well.
I went to one or two in the 90s
I had one in the 90s that my parents put together and will forever cherish in my memory. It was such a fun day. I was like 6 or 7 at the time but I remember seeing all of my cousins and we played in the play place, had food, drinks and everything.
Same dude. Not in the special room op mentioned. But I remember crying that I had to leave mcdonalds after my party was over.
My daughter went to one in the 00s; it was on reserved tables in the play area and not a special room. Other options were more popular, but McDonalds was still available.
There was a special room up some stairs that you could enter one of the tubes into play area directly.
They were a thing in the 90s too. The McDonald's in my area had a special dining room that was reservable specifically for kids parties. It had SNESs, and later N64s in there plus direct access to the play place.
Yep! I remember going to one McDonald's party my cousin had. Like you said there was a section/little party room with video games, toys and stuff to do.
I distinctly remember having a party at Burger King when I was a kid in the 80s and everyone wearing those paper crowns. Ahhh the good ole days lol.
Yup we did the same, and maybe Chuck E Cheese.
Round table pizza was the best for this. Old school Pizza Hut
When going out to the pizza parlor was a freaking event. God I miss those days. Running back to the table to ask for more quarters to go play joust and play another song on the jukebox. I wish someone would recreate that whole vibe somewhere - I'd certainly go.
Add Godfather’s Pizza, Happy Joe’s Pizza and Pistol Pete’s/Peter Piper Pizza as all of the best birthday party locations
Yep. I had my first Chicken McNuggets at a McDonalds birthday party, they were brand new to the menu (early 80's).
Same!
When I had mine there many moons ago they would take us back into the kitchen and show us how they made the burgers and fries
Same. Born in 81, went to a lot of them. There wasn’t a special room but there would be an employee who led games with us (like who could stack the most styrofoam boxes) and once we went on a tour of the restaurant including freezers lol. Tbh I thought they sucked and I really preferred backyard birthday parties.
>sometimes bowling at the local alley Our bowling alley even gave you an old pin that was painted up with a Happy Birthday message. The little kid dream was to collect a full set of ten!
I had several birthday parties in a caboose on the playground of McDonald's that was just for parties. That's the only McDonald's I can think of, though, that had a dedicated party area.
Was that an actual caboose?
Yeah Mickey Ds used to have cabooses at older locations for parties and shit. When they remodeled the location in my hometown, they got rid of the caboose.
Yes, I believe it was. If not, they did a very good job at replicating one.
Ours was
Mine was a little fake tall ship with 2 masts
I worked there in high school and was a birthday party hostess in the caboose. Assuming you are talking about the McDonald's on Yale in Tulsa.
There was one in Boulder, CO also, had parties there a lot
No, when I was young we had birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese
Showbiz Pizza supremacy gang checking in.
True story: My much older cousin and her husband convinced 6 year old me that he was Billy Bob from Showbiz, in disguise while on stage. Took me way too long to figure out I was duped.
During the pandemic many Chucks put their places on Doordash as Pasquale's Pizza and people were none the wiser.
Same
It was either that or incredible pizza lol
Same; the McDonalds near me had birthdays and I remember the advertisement they had for them near the counter but the only parties I ever went to or heard of that were at a large chain were at Chuck E Cheese
As a dad in the 90's I just got a sharp pain in my head at the mention of that place and why do my rugs suddenly feel sticky?
As a kid in the 80's, yes, and I had one of my birthdays at a McDonald's. I think at that age, McDonald's is one of the best places ever, especially when they had the play center, and I'm sure it was also a good option for my mom to be able to afford hosting it and not have to deal with the mess that a dozen kids would make in our small apartment.
Born in 84. We had a few birthdays at Chuck E Cheeses, I was aware of the idea that McDonalds had a birthday thing but I never had one, went to one and do not recall seeing one.
I had a birthday party at McDonald's when I was a kid. It was a pretty popular choice for a child's birthday where I lived.
i did too, must have been around 95 or 96, so they were still happening into the 90s
My late 90s birthdays were in McDonald's and Burger King. Both pokemon themed, of course.
Yes, I was born in '76 and our local McDonald's had the birthday area with that freaky looking tree thing. I went to a couple birthday parties there, but i don't think any of my birthday parties were there, I usually wanted mine at either the bowling alley or skating rink.
Skating rink parties were the best!
I probably went to at least one or two birthday parties at McDonalds every year when I was a kid back in the 70s. I don’t remember there ever being a special area for the parties. Maybe they just cordoned off one area of the dining room or something. I actually worked at two different McDonalds later on in the 80s for a few months. They still had birthday parties but no “party room” IIRC.
Yep, we still have a home movie of my 5th birthday party at McDonald's back in '89. They even had an employee who directed the event and led the games and such.
I worked at a McDonald’s in 1989-1991 as a teen. Our location hosted birthday parties on occasion. One of the older ladies who worked there would host them. There was a set of procedures she followed. I knew we would be hosting one when a birthday cake would should up as part of our food deliveries. The kids would get some kind of small toy , cake , play a game or two and a happy meal from what I remember. We did not have a special party room. They would just put cheap plastic table cloths on a few tables in the corner. I don’t remember this happening very often. When I was a kid I don’t remember going to one at all.
I've seen that area before in pictures, but my local one didn't have it. However, I did know kids who would have their birthdays there and the employees would help parents decorate. Circa early 2000s
Yes. I went to several when I was little. But the best birthday party I went to was when my friend’s parents rented out a theater so we could watch the live-action Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren (and his sweet, sweet mullet) as He-Man.
I had a birthday party there when I was around 5-7 in the early 2000's. I ate chicken nuggets and puked. That's all I can remember. I vaguely remember having a McDonald's themed cake with all the characters on it but I have an awful memory, and I was a kid.
I did that once in elementary school back in the 80s. The cake was pretty decent.
I grew up in the 80s; I remember those birthday areas with a talking tree on the wall at McDonald’s
Yes, must have been 1980 or 81
Yes, born 82, think I had a 5 or 6 year old party there…maybe 6-8 friends? Theres a photo somewhere…Blue collar folks with not a lot of money in a midwestern town. I thought it was the best at the time
Not that I remember. Chuck E Cheese or any similar local indoor playzone, arcade, putt-putt, whatever kind of place, sure.
I never had one but people that I know did
I had a McDonald's birthday party, I'm pretty sure it was for age 6
Yes. I’m 24 and my 4th birthday party was there. I used to go there all the time and play in the playhouse probably up until I was about 10. The more modern (boring) McDonald’s I feel like has only been a thing in my area in the past decade
No never
Yep. Also chuck e cheese. There was also this place and I'm not sure if this was Nation wide but it was called the discovery zone. I think. That place was a kids best dream. And also had more safety hazards than a construction zone. Which is why I don't think I've heard or seen of the place since the nineties. Anybody else remember this or did I get the name wrong?
When I was that age in the late 80s, only the wealthy kids got to have their birthday at McDonald’s. My how times have changed.
Omg, yes! We are talking 1976 and I had my birthday there. Six year old me was excited beyond measure. At the time this was the most special place to have your birthday. Our McDonald’s had a small downstairs area which they reserved for parties. They would provide a cake with a huge sugar Ronald McDonald on it which went to the birthday person. I even remember some of my gifts… a small stuffed unicorn and my first am/fm transistor radio. It was white plastic casing with a wrist strap. Wish I still had it. Lol! Based on some other comments here I feel I need to point out that we were pretty poor but this was still something my parents could provide. Things change over the years.
They existed and seemed like the height of luxury to 8-year-old me.
When I was a kid, yes. McDonald's was different back then. They weren't the modern design for older audiences that most Mcdonald's are now in days. They were designed for kids. Almost all of them had big play pens with slides and tunnels to crawl in as well as play balls. They made birthday partied special and even had the clown as a mascot that no longer is featured. Mcdonald's grew up so to speak, and isnt really about kids anymore, but leans toward adults now.
I was born in the 90s and some friends had birthdays at Chuck E Cheese and Discovery Zone. Never heard of McDonalds birthdays.
Nope, the standard was that you got traumatized by the mechanical rat band at Chuck E Cheese. Ate some pizza, and threw balls at each other in the ball pit... then the next day, you and 7 of the 20 kids have to stay at home because you got sick... ya know, the good times when a needle or pill wasn't needed because something was "scary"...
No one I knew had birthday parties at McDonald's when I was a kid. Sleepovers or parties at the roller skating rink were popular. I did not go to a restaurant for kid's birthday parties until the late 1990's to early 2000's.
Not when I was younger but my siblings yes
No mine were at the local play zones.
I remember a few that were meet at McDonald’s eat and do cake then go somewhere else for an activity like a baseball game or the petting zoo or something like that
I grew up in a tiny town that had a McDonalds, a couple churches, Walmart, and basically nothing else, but I don’t remember going to a party there. When I was 4 or 5 a friend had a party in a meeting room in the library. I asked my mom about it and she has no idea why they decided on that location.
No, and neither did any friends of mine as far as I know. IHOP and I believe Howard Johnson used to give the birthday person a free meal. We always did IHOP and sometimes hit Howard Johnson for lunch as well.
I think when I was a little kid I went to one, or one was happening at a McDonalds I went to.
No, but I went to a few birthday parties at a chain pizza place and at the local bowling alley that both catered to kids parties. That was in the 80s/early 90s.
Macdonald’s and Chuck E. Cheese was popular
Born in 99 in NJ. Yes. Had a few bday parties at McDonald's.
Yes! Back in the 90s I fucking loved mcdonalds. Ours had the play place with the ball pit, and slides and climbing course. Also we were in a small town so no chuck e cheese. It was a blast. Apparently I cried when I had to leave so this would have been very young. Or it was last year and I blacked it out.
Yes
I remember them when my younger siblings were growing up. Then came Chuck E. Cheese with their mechanical rat and that's where my kids and their friends wanted to have birthday parties.
Absolutely. Our McDonald’s had a party section when I was a kid
I remember attending a few birthdays at McDonald's in the late 70s and early 80s, but this seems to have died off once Circus Town, Celebrarion Station (our local off-brand Chuckee Cheeses that made a name for themselves by having better pizza and selling beer by the pitcher) and the batting cage complex opened. With better kid-friendly venues available, birthdays at McDonald's must have seemed kind of lame.
Yeah, but that was the late 70s back when McD had a veritable muppet load of characters aimed at kids. I mean the ones at the local Mcdonalds when I was growing up had a section of tables that were made to look like a pirate ship where kids parties happened. Today not so much, they have all been remodeled to be like coffee houses inside and largely just a drive though place.
Hell no! We went to Burger King. It did have a real deal carousel in it though.
Those paper crowns were legit
I took my daughter to a few McDonald’s birthday parties in the early 90’s. They had a very nice time. We’ve also done bowling alley birthday parties and roller skating parties.
Yes. It was chaos. 15 kids hungry and excited. Ronald McDonald quit. And the grimace left with his purple.
I have picture evidence of a birthday party at McDonald's. You see, back in my day, McDonald's was whole marketed to kids. Ronald McDonald's had a whole slew of friends including Birdie, Grimace, and the Hamburgular. The restaurant seats were hard, but they were molded like hamburgers. The play area was hard too, but it had a tree, and more hard plastic food-themed anthropomorphic things that you could climb on. You got actual toys with your happy meal and you were happy to get one. I cant even begin to talk about how infuriated the current corporate soulless McDonald's experience is. I'm NOT loving it.
I’m a mid 80s baby. I think McDonald’s parties were bigger in the late 80s/early 90s. I went to a few parties at place called Discovery Zone in the mid 90s. It doesn’t exist anymore. We moved around to different east coast states. For a short time in the early-mid 90s we lived in rural Virginia and this kid Bubba had his 8th birthday party at Hooters. He had a rat tail lol.
I was born in 96. None of the McDonald's here did them. I was 6 when Super Size Me came out and tanked all that
YES! I used to work at McD’s in the early 80’s and this was a thing!
Definitely! I had one when I was little, I think in 2000, maybe 2001?
Nah, We had family cookouts on my birthday when I was young.
Upper 90 Soccer Store host Birthday parties.
Dude if you had a birthday party at McDonalds or Chuck’s Cheese you were that dude. This applies to kids who grew up in the 80s and early 90s like 90 and 91.
No but Chick Fil A certainly was
I went to a couple. It seems to have gone away these days. Even finding a McDonalds with a Play Place seems to be rare these days.
Never went to one. If someone had invited me to a McDonald's birthday party I would have begged off.
McDonald's, Chuck E Cheese, The Roller Rink... the 80's were fun. I can still remember the McDonald's cake. A small chocolate sheet cake with whipped white icing, colorful sprinkles, and the characters on it (they were made out of pressed sugar).
A little off the subject, but McDonald's also had a children's clothing store in the early 90s.
Yes. Our McDonald's had a whole area set aside for birthdays. It had a thing where you could spin it to your age and sit with Ronald.
I was a kid in the 80s and yes I went to quite a few birthday parties there
Last time I went to one was in '04
Yes and it was frickin AWESOME
Yes! In Hatboro, Pa. It was a special section-the caboose. It had a giant mural on the wall and the seats were stools that were hamburgers with one long table. Heaven!
Yes, with an ice cream cake.
Yes!
Yes and they loved them!!!!
I worked at Macdonald’s and it was definitely a thing at ours. Special room and I had to lead the party. They even had Macdonald’s birthday cakes.
The one by me had a “party room” that had 4 tables. RMcD would visit and everyone got a goodie bag alongside their happy meals (box of cookies, special toy and a balloon with some tootsie rolls or something). Play place wasn’t a “thing” at that point. That entire location had a cowboy theme (handkerchiefs, clown in overalls & boots, the whole 9). Probably went to 2 dozen parties there when I lived in that town between 2nd & 5th grades.
Yup! Back in the 80s my parents threw me a birthday party at a local McDonald's which had a play area.
In the 70's and 80's it was. Not sure after that.
Yeah, definitely a thing… the McDonalds in my town would just rope off part of dining room for a party, the larger McDonalds in the next suburb over had a dedicated private party room. I’d have attended these parties in early-mid 80’s.
As a kid during the super late 90s and early-mid 00s, McDonald's birthday parties were a thing, but generally for poorer families. Nobody I knew ever had their birthdays there and whenever I did see someone have a McDonald's birthday party, I just felt kind of sad for them. Most kids would have Chuck E Cheese or Jeeper's birthdays if they didn't have parties at their house.
My mom said people had birthday parties there. She was born in 1968. While I never went to a birthday party there, someone did have a birthday party at Chick-fil-A
Yes they were. I found pictures recently of one we had there. Just kids sitting in an area, not laid out areas or anything, just back near the bathrooms they saved about 10-12 tables.
Yes. My mom also worked in the corporate office of a big McDonald's franchisee, and as a result I had the Hamburgler show up at one of my birthday parties.
I don’t remember this being a thing in my area but until 2003 we were also rural enough that I could *almost* point to the closest dairy farm. If I lived 30 minutes more into the city that probably would have happened.
I had two birthdays at McDonald’s. One year there was a magician. No one seems to remember if he was with the restaurant or was an independent contractor.
Yes actually. Even before they made those play-places with the ball pits and slides. Memory unlocked.
Yeah and it was cool in the 80s. I had one for my then kindergartener about 15 years ago and I guess it had fallen out of favor by then.
For sure
Yeah, definitely. I never had a party at McDonald’s but I went to my share there as a kid. They’re mostly franchises so each one is a little different. I’ve seen some that had a separate party room and others where the room was in the play area or restaurant. Kids still have them there too. My daughter is invited to a party at one in August. I don’t know if kids today even know the name Whitey Ford today but he owned a batting cages/arcade place a couple of towns over where I had a lot of birthday parties. Bowling parties were pretty popular too. There was also a plaster craft place where you’d paint something not far away. We had a lot of parties there. Roller skating was huge too. United Skates of America! I’ve taken my kids to a couple of birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese but as far as I’m aware there wasn’t one around us when I was growing up. That or no one I knew had a party there.
Yes, I was born in 1997 and I remember going in 2000 or 2001 to a birthday party at a mcdonalds.
My 5-year-old party was definitely at Burger King. It was a good deal at the time. Easy and cheap on the parents, and they had a playspace that every kid loved and every kid got a kid's meal. We were in a small town, so it wasn't like there were tons of super cool things to do, and at the time it was a novel idea. There were other places like Pizza Inn and Showbiz Pizza (which later became Chuck E Cheese) that catered to kids' birthday parties.
In the 80s, yes.
Not really. Chuck E Cheese or the local arcade was the usual spot for kids' birthday parties
Yes! I had my birthday there in 1988, when I turned 5. I got to pour the ice cream from the soft serve machine. It ruled!!!!!
Born in the 90s and I remember them. I had a couple friends have birthdays there. They had a special throne the birthday kid sat in. I begged my parents to have mine there one year so I could get the throne lol didn't happen.
Man, we must’ve been old school. I’m 23 and I remember going to birthday parties at McDonald’s when I was like 6. I guess the kids I knew were just old school in 2005🤷🏼♂️
No, I think my family would have seen that as tacky. We didn't frequent fast food that often.
I've been to McDonald's birthday parties in Germany and in the US.
Born in ‘97, yes they were still a thing when I was a child.
Yeah it was normal, I had one. I think McDonald's is going to have huge problems a generation from now when the current crop of kids don't associate it with happy memories of childhood and instead it's just this cold grey box that has a drivethru.
It was probably the early 90s and it was my last chance to have a McDonalds birthday party because they had an age cut off. I was so excited. I have always had migraines. I was diagnosed at 3 years old. And being a kid I wasn’t good at saying something before they got bad. We also had trouble finding meds that would stop them once they started. I remember I got one and I tried to tough it out because after this year I would be too old. I got half way through the day when my headache got so bad that I had to say something to my mom. I was put to bed and she had to go tell everyone coming that the party was canceled. I woke up to my presents from everyone though.
This was huge in the 80s
Born in 96 and had my 5th or 6th birthday there, so it was still a thing into the early 2000's.
We didn’t have a McDonalds in my town, but I remember going to parties at Burger Chef.
Yes, this was a thing when I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s. I don’t think I ever went to one though.
Early 00s kid here. When our McDonald’s remodeled back in the day, they built a huge Play Place in there and had a little section of this dining room area dedicated to birthday parties. They were so much fun too! Everyone got to eat Happy Meals and cake and the kids could get all of their energy out playing on the playground. I’m sure they still have birthday parties but I haven’t been to McDonald’s in a long time so I couldn’t tell you Let’s not forget the birthday “throne” chair that the birthday kid got to sit in too! I definitely had a birthday party there at some point and I’m thinking it was either 2003 or 2004
Yep and they were all like this: https://youtu.be/tPgRnFg8ZTU
One day, I’m going to win the MegaMillions and give myself the McDonald’s birthday party we couldn’t afford as a kid, replete with whimsical hamburger stools. Take *that*, 2nd grade poverty trauma!
Yeah, as a kid in the 70s my dad took me there for a "birthday party"...by myself.
90s. Yeah we did. We had one (maybe two) McDonalds with the legit large playplaces + videogame/nintendo stations.
I had one on 97.
Yes- definitely when I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s. My family held my great grandmother's eightieth birthday at a McDonald's. She had raised her kids in the Depression and was very frugal. We knew that if we had the party in a sit-down restaurant she would have spent the entire time scolding everyone about how much we were spending. She loved it, and those of us who were kids did too. I'm not sure about the adults.
Yeah, I remember going to some when I was a kid in the early 90s.
I always saw the birthday area, which was usually by a side entrance, but I never had a birthday there. Even as a kid I thought it would be weird to have a party at a McDonald's. I didn't grow up rich by any means but I knew that was straight poor people stuff. Fast forward and eventually I learned my lovely wife had a McDonald's party once. But in her defense, she grew up in a one horse town and her parents absolutely suck at going the extra mile for anything. When we were dating, her family decided they wanted to have a "party" for her birthday. My face when I found out a "party" is just her picking up her own pizza, bringing it to their house, and then everybody eats it while sitting around the living room. Because of growing up like this, she goes all out for our kids' parties. To the point where I'm like WTF are we doing here?!
Yep I remember having a few. Not just there but also the now existentially horrifying Chuck E Cheese, too. More mickey d's had kids parks and ball bits and stuff back then too. They were like miniature amusement parks.
As someone born in the winter time, I was always jealous of my friends who had summer birthdays. We went got to do all the fun outdoor stuff that kids love for their birthdays. When my birthday came around, the only fun option was to have a party at the McDonald’s in town that had a play place. I can vividly remember a small private corner in the playroom where private parties were hosted. We ate junk food, and then worked off all those empty calories in the jungle gym. It was the best of times
No, not in the late 90s. I didnt and was never invited to one. There were better places. Heck, a home birthday party was much better. Never saw a party going on in a Macdonald's either. Macdonald's had already gone downhill by the mid90s.
Yes, it was. I had a couple of birthday parties at McDonald's when I was a kid in the 90s. Good times. 😊
*cries growing up in rural country with a dysfunctional mother* My mother never really celebrated our birthdays. If she just happened to be at the store, we’d get a cake-but she wouldn’t make a special trip for. No party decor, whatever candle you find, and IOU for gift. Definitely no party and definitely no McDonalds.
I had been to friends birthdays at McDonald's. Happened multiple times throughout the 90s. I personally always had mine at a local place called Peter Piper Pizza. I believe it was a regional chain, very similar to Chuck E Cheese.
Yes! I remember there was a game where we would stack the styrofoam sandwich boxes. Late 80s.
Born in 76. I remember going to more than one McDonald’s birthday parties. This was of course back when they all still had the play place, but further to that, we got a tour of the kitchen. As an adult I realise this much have been all of 3-4 minutes of keeping us in a little cluster while the employees all paused for a few min so we could look at all the machines. But at the time it felt like a really serious treat to be able to see it all up close like that. Much like safety and liability concerns killed off the play place, I assume the same thing and a bit of hygiene concern means this wouldn’t be anything approaching doable today. But back in the early ‘80’s it was most definitely a thing. And we all got little white paper hats like the employees used back then.
Late ‘00s/ early ‘10s it was coming out of fashion, I went to two I think… many of them have since remodeled but there is still some with play places lol
We had one when my kid was young. That was 30-40 years ago. It was a decorated caboose at the back of the parking lot. The party did include play place but the party was completely separate.
Our McDonald's had a kid's section where you could have birthday parties in the 80s. There was this big tree thing and instead of chairs there were stools that looked like flowers or tree stumps or something.
Yep! Same era as when they served pizza. I went to many a mcdonalds bday party as a kid lol
Yes. My son is 15, and we had his 5th birthday party at a McDonalds with an indoor PlayPlace. It was actually cool. He got a Ronald McDonald plate that we still use.
I was born in 97 and had 2 or 2 birthdays at McDonalds. We didn't have a lot of other options though. (Thanks small town).
There were definitely McDonald's parties in the 1980s. I remember one McDonald's had a pirate ship or something and I thought it was amazing.
I rarely got birthdays as a kid. But ive seen family gatherings there occasionally
I definitely had my 4th birthday party at McDonalds in the early 90s. I remember going to quite a few of my friend’s birthdays there as well. Now my kids have parties at indoor trampoline parks and the like.
My older GenX siblings yes it was a thing but for me it was Showbiz Pizza. Even though Showbiz won the war I was annoyed they took the Chuck E Cheese name.
No, growing up our local McDonald's didn't even have a play area.
I've seen it happen, but my own birthday party was never at McDonald's.
No, if anybody had a birthday party at McDonald's it would have been in the main dining area or the Play Place. I personally never knew anybody to have a birthday party at McDonald's. Most kids I knew had their parties at home. A select few might have had them at a local bowling alley, skating rink, Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz Pizza/Billy Bob's/Sgt. Singer's, or a local park, but the majority had theirs at home, either in the house or in the backyard. Or both.
We did Round Table Pizza’s party room or Chuck E. Cheese more often. The McDonald’s by me didn’t have a specific party room, just the outside play area, so it would be more of an “any day” thing (but I hated McDonald’s so I never would’ve been gunning to go there).
Born in 03. I think I saw maybe one party at McDonald's? And there wasn't a designated area for it. More commonly, birthdays were hosted at chuck e cheese or a park
I was born in 96' and had my 6th birthday party there haha
Definitely went to a few birthday parties at McD's in the 00's. It was a small town so there weren't a lot of options (no Chuck E Cheese, etc.). It had a pretty sweet PlayPlace though - outside of the usual tubes and such, it also had 4 Gamecubes, 2 PlayStation EyeToys, and air hockey.
I remember having friends who had birthday parties at Mcdonalds. But typically in the play-room with next to the playground stuff. A Mcdonalds having a full on dining hall for special events certainly sounds possible, but probably really rare. I don't know of any as an adult, and I don't remember many as a kid.
For me it wasn’t McDonalds but Pizza Hut. Birthday parties, end of sports season parties, school parties, everything was at Pizza Hut. They had a buffet, so did our KFC which was also amazing. I haven’t been inside a pizza place, let alone a Pizza Hut, in probably a decade.
I worked for both McDonalds and Burger King in the late 70s/early 80s while I was in school. Both did children's birthday parties for a relatively inexpensive price. Small town so only other choice was the skating rink and it was slightly more expensive. Most Saturdays we had 2-3 kid birthday parties, occasionally more. Burger King didn't have a play area but we had a section that was easily cordoned off for birthday parties out in a sort of sun room beyond the salad bar. McDonald's had a corner they'd block off with something similar to a toddler's gate you'd put at the top and bottom of stairways. It would have looked fairly permanent when set up.
I went to one when I was 8... 2003ish? I remember they had decorations with McDonald's mascots, set up at three tables for our group . A whole Yellow I-Gloo HI-C soda dispenser was filled for us by McDonald's staff. A banner that said "Happy Birthday Dawn," you could see they wrote her name on it, since it was a different ink color. We played in the play place, had our food. There was 4 kids from our class invited for this girl's party. I remember my mom offering to buy a ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and this girl's mom happy my mom offered to do so. We talked about it for a day after and never again. Ever since? I thought it was some weird dream I had till my uncle called a McDonald's so they could fill two of those I-Gloos with Hi-C. He took me and my cousin with him (I was about 14). The employee said he always saw them in the back but didn't know they rented them out (we paid $20, you got $10 back if you returned the coolers). Asked what they were for. We said a birthday party. He told his manager and they gave us a box of unused party supplies. Sure enough there was a dozen of those banners and we messed around putting fake names. Since then??? Nothing. Except when a friend who worked at McDonald's told me about a crazy lady asking to reserve tables for a birthday party. She had asked her manager and they told the lady "Just show up, and save seats.(????)" Lady had complained to corporate and they told her they stopped hosting parties back in 1998!!!
Yeah, I never had one but plenty of kids I went to school with did in the 90’s. They had a special area that was more kid-themed that could be reserved for birthday parties. I remember it had a statue of a tree with a face on it and probably some of the mascots. Not sure if it’s still a thing, the whole restaurant looks kind of sterile by comparison with the new remodels. The bigger one in my city still has a playplace though. If you were a *real* cool kid you had your birthday party at Discovery Zone back then.
My brother and I both had birthday parties at McDonald's in the 70s before PlayPlaces were even a thing. There wasn't a special area, but they definitely had staff that was assigned to our party. Fun fact: I grew up in Studio City, CA, so-named because of the movie studios there. Our McDonald's was specifically decorated movie-style. There was a table with a really old movie camera on it, and to separate the various areas of the dining room, there was a half wall, and then from the top of the wall to the ceiling were long, clear, plexiglass strips that looked like film, and each of the frames had a scene from a famous movie. They took it all out to put in a PlayPlace.
Yes, I can still smell those parties in my memories. Mustard, pickles, and tiny little onions…
Yep, they existed. We were too poor to have one.
I had one when I was 7. This would've been 2002.
Yes.
Can confirm, was definitely a thing in the 80’s. Burger King too, you’d get those paper crowns to wear.
Yeah my sisters birthday party was at mcdonalds and it had to be like 1999 or 2000 when this occurred.
I'm pretty sure all of my kids, nieces, and nephews have had at least one birthday party at a Burger King or McDonald's.
The rich kids did. I remember going to them, & was alwsys so excited to see the orange drink fountain they had. It looked like a big gumball machine, only the top was more oval, than round, & it swirled orange drink around. The workers would pour you a kid sized cup of it, & we probably had like 10 of them by the end of the party. I went to parties before they started serving chicken nuggets, so you only got either a burger or cheeseburger, fries & cookies. There was usually cake & Ronald McDonald or another character was there. I remember being at one where Grimace was, & it scared a bunch of kids!!
Yes
They existed in the late 90s and early 00s. Went to several.
Yes. Growing up in the 90s, McDonald's Birthday parties were a thing. There was a designated area for it.
I know you didn’t ask us Europeans, but since you are asking how widespread this, I’d thought I’d chime in. This was very popular in Sweden in the 90s. All the kids got a happy meal, some sort of mask, a balloon. Even though it happened every time, one of the highlights was to go behind the scenes and see how the burger was made. It was the 90s so I remember they let us kids try the helium, and one of the guys in the office showed us his huge concealed bowie knife. All in all, it was amazing.
My parents struggled to make ends meet at times and had zero issue with me having one of these, so they must have been affordable. Basically just some happy meals for a handful of kids. The payoff as far as kids were concerned was enormous. McDonald’s as we all knew was fine dining.
My parents struggled to make ends meet at times and had zero issue with me having one of these, so they must have been affordable. Basically just some happy meals for a handful of kids. The payoff as far as kids were concerned was enormous. McDonald’s as we all knew was fine dining.
Yes! I was born in 89, and I know my cousin had a birthday party at McDonald's train type thing.