As a parent, you look for every single moment of peace that you can get. Your toddlers have been howling at you for McNuggets for an hour. Finally, you give in. You head to McDonald's, order, and as you sit down to eat you see it. A light at the end of the tunnel. A place you can let your kids run around as you enjoy 10 minutes of relative quiet. It is the oasis known as the McDonald's Play Place. They used to be a staple at most large McDonald's restaurants. But just like snack wraps, they've disappeared. Why McDonald's? Why?

The McDonald's Play Place faded away for some fairly simple reasons. Over the past decade, fast food consumption has increased by 20%. It continues to rise each year. Mashed reports that in order to keep up with customer demands restaurants like McDonald's had to streamline services and modernize. That meant adding ordering screens, adding more drive-thru lanes, getting rid of seating, and yes, ending play time in the McDonald's Play Place.


Mashed also points out that fewer people were actually eating inside of fast food restaurants, choosing instead to hit the drive-thru or newly created food delivery services like Door Dash. But there was another factor that ended indoor playgrounds. Safety. Mashed points out that injuries were an issue, especially on those Big Mac Climbers. Numerous tests were done on the playgrounds that found bacteria present. There were reports of rotting food found in the dark recesses of the indoor play space.


Playgrounds in restaurants are officially a thing of the past. If you want to eat and play you can go to Chuck E Cheese or Spare Time Entertainment in Cedar Rapids. And while many say that kids are the ones losing out I say it's the parents. All we wanted was five minutes of peace while we enjoyed our chocolate shake. I guess we'll always have the memories of a simpler time.

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