Current McDonalds Happy Meal Toy

For parents, McDonald's restaurants can be something of a mixed blessing. On one hand, kids seem to love at least one thing on the menu, even if it has to be customized to their specifications. All around the world, children get bright eyes and happy faces when they find out that the day's meals includes a trip to McDonalds.

Once there, the ritual is the same. No parenting skills are necessary to know just what little Johnny or Susie wants to eat at McDonalds. Most kids are ordering before they even get through the door. I want a Cheeseburger with no onions and no pickles. Or, even more commonly, something plain. Plain is a very big thing with kids at McDonalds.

For younger kids, nothing is more important though than getting a Happy Meal toy. The idea of getting a fun lunch in a restaurant where being a little bit loud isn't a sure fire way to get into trouble, along with the bonus of a free toy, is just too much to resist. However, this is one of the places where McDonalds can become a negative experience instead of a positive one.

Nothing ruins a fun outing to McDonalds faster than a lame toy inside of a Happy Meal. What was a wonderful anticipation turns to a bitter dissapoiintment, especially since most kids know that a visit to McDonalds for lunch isn't an every day affair. A bad toy, makes it seem, not unreasonably, to many children that this trip has been wasted. Worse, an unfun Happy Meal toy makes kids feel cheated.

Unfortunately, there is little parents can do in this situation. It would be helpful to parents to be able to see in advance what toy was in the local McDonalds Happy Meal.

There is a website at HappyMeal.com that shows what the current promotion is according to the corporate headquarters. (As of the last update it was toys from the movie, The Last Airbender.)

Unfortunately, that is just wishful thinking much of the time. Popular toys run out quickly and local McDonalds franchises are quick to substitute whatever they have laying around as the surprise toy. Kids hoping for a talking doll from the latest hit movie are sucker punched to find whatever the last promotion was that was so unpopular that they couldn't get rid of all the toys during the scheduled time.

Trying to collect all five, or whatever the number may be, is just as big of frustration. Stores may wait to introduce the next toy even though it is the scheduled week so that they can finish giving away last week's toy. Sometimes, a popular children's movie Happy Meal toy will run out so quickly that they start giving away toys early, and even worse, run out of them early, sometimes before they are even scheduled to be released!

Complaining may help a little bit, with a free ice cream cone or other token to assuage an angry customer, but even a free desert can still leave what should have been a fun trip out with the kids an unmemorable experience at best, and a disappointing waste at worst.

The only real solution is to call the restaurant prior to mentioning anything to the kids and ask directly what toy they are giving away that day. That, or arrange a local calendar or parents group bulletin board that shows what the current Happy Meal toy is, and if possible, what toys are coming up.

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