What have they done to the cathedrals that used be called “Play Places” at fast food restaurants?
If you’ve walked into a place like McDonald’s or Burger King lately, you’ve probably noticed that something is missing. There’s been a trend in recent years of businesses going with a color scheme and design style that could only be described as “corporate.” Looking for any resemblance of color? You won’t find it at a fast food joint anymore.
And you won’t find playgrounds attached to the eateries either.
Why? Well as far as the play places are concerned, the fast food chains slowly realized that the equipment that encouraged kids to play while they waited for their food was not worth the trouble. Places like McDonald’s have slowly fazed out their PlayPlaces, citing health concerns, maintenance issues and costs, and most importantly, liability issues (parents suing after their kids bumped their head or broke a bone).
Nowadays, kids don’t even know what they are missing out on. For those of us that played in fast food restaurant playgrounds, you likely remember making a 5-minute friend, or getting a stomach ache from hell after stuffing a Happy Meal down your gullet in a rush to get back to the swirly slide. Those things used to be a rite of passage… and now they’re evidently a thing of the past.
That’s on full display with this viral post depicting an incredibly sad and pathetic “PlayPlace” at a McDonald’s in Franklin, Tennessee. Try looking at this and not dying a bit inside:
This is so heart breaking. I’m at a new McDonalds in Franklin, TN and look at their “play place” for children. Two screens/two chairs.
pic.twitter.com/j2gxrJZklq
— Nancy French (@NancyAFrench) March 5, 2025
That’s the poorest excuse for a PlayPlace that I’ve ever seen (the waving Happy Meal mascot somehow makes it even worse).
But guess what? Two mounted screens and two chairs is what society gets for suing fast food restaurants out of their playground era. Today’s kiddos deserve better. You never know what you had until it’s gone, and social media is having a hard time wrapping their heads around this one:
This ruined my day
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) March 5, 2025
The shift in McDonald’s vibe from 90’s to today captures everything wrong with society.
— Adam Brown (@itsadambrown) March 5, 2025
That’s so depressing
— Brittany Hugoboom (@BritHugoboom) March 5, 2025
Take me back to better days pic.twitter.com/sAsT36UOei
— Jonathan Cogburn, LMFT (@SystemicTexism) March 5, 2025
Ball pit, a slide, and a creepy Ronald in the corner sitting on a bench with his legs crossed 1990s Man Style…
That’s how you Mickey D Play Place
(And yes, Ronald was creepy AF, but it taught you how to call for parents when some old dude showed up not in clown costume)
— Jake Donnelly (@RedWhiteBlueJew) March 5, 2025
This is horrific. At least they used to be able to burn off some of the toxic empty calories with physical activity.
— Lisa Clark O’Neill (@LisaClarkONeill) March 5, 2025
Where have all the ball-pits gone? I gained 90% of my immune system from those growing up..
— Tobias Holgersen (@HolgersenTobias) March 5, 2025
Guess that’s one way to make sure nobody falls off a playground and brings a lawsuit.
— Keith Levenberg (@KeithLevenberg) March 5, 2025
Well that’s the most dystopian thing I’ve seen all day.
— Andrew Moser (@Andrew_Moser_) March 5, 2025
And in a small consolation, the person who originally posted this now viral picture went back to the McDonald’s location soon after and discovered that they had added some sort of tower game into the “play place area.” Not really sure what it is, but I can confidently tell you that it’s not what things used to be:
I went back in to make sure I didn’t miss something. There was this column thing that might be for getting kids to exercise. But I don’t think this is temporary. I think this is it. pic.twitter.com/NkpTvACJ2J
— Nancy French (@NancyAFrench) March 5, 2025
Even that falls short of the plastic, germ-infested castles we all climbed through in our young lives. This generation of kids deserves to much better than a couple of screens and some weird electronic tower.
Fast food restaurants, I’m talking directly at you all when I type-yell, “BRING BACK THE JUNGLE GYMS.”
The post Nashville-Area McDonald’s Goes Viral Over Pathetic Excuse For A PlayPlace: “Most Dystopian Thing I’ve Seen All Day” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.