The Only McDonald's Location That Will Take Your Order On A Boat
Have you ever been out on a fishing trip and thought "Man, I could really go for some McDonald's fries right now." Have you ever wondered how much money McDonald's would make if it opened a few locations on some Carnival cruise ships? Truth be told, McDonald's itself may have some interest in taking its burger-slinging operations to the water, considering some of the more "interesting" locations it's decided to set up shop.
While you're more familiar with the average McDonald's on the corner or by the strip mall, certain McDonald's locations are more about their locations and atmosphere than they are about Quarter Pounders and Happy Meals. According to Smithsonian Magazine, should you visit Roswell, New Mexico, to prove once and for all that aliens do exist, you can beat the New Mexico heat by stopping in a McDonald's that's shaped like a UFO right out of a '50s B-movie. If you were to visit Melbourne, Australia, you could satisfy your craving for American food in a McDonald's that was once a gorgeous Art Deco-style hotel in the 1930s (via Real Commercial). While the food may be more or less the same as what you could get at your neighborhood McDonald's, you can at least get a pretty nice change of scenery while you're there.
In Germany, however, McDonald's offers hungry boaters, fishermen, sailors, and whoever else calls the water their home a chance to grab some cheeseburgers and fries — all without leaving the comfort of their boat.
This McDonald's takes the drive-thru to the water
Imagine taking the drive-thru model, in which a car pulls up to a window where food is handed to the driver, and adapting it so that it could work on water. Sound outrageous? For McDonald's Germany, the idea sounded just crazy enough to work.
According to the New York Post, on Germany's Elbe River, there is a McDonald's located along a small canal, looking very similar to your everyday Mickey Dee's. The only difference is that, behind the restaurant, is a set of staircases that lead down to the waterfront, where a small dock is located. This dock is called the "McBoat," and serves as a "drive-thru" for hungry boaters or kayakers to "pull up" and pick up an order of McDonald's and be on their way.
YouTuber Tom Scott explored this waterfront McDonald's in 2021, his video detailing how this unique 'paddle-thru" concept has been in place since 2015. While it once had its own speaker system for water-traveling customers, it now relies on mobile phone orders from river travelers. There's also a closed-circuit television, where employees can see travelers float up and place an order, before having an employee come down to the dock and deliver the meal. The "McBoat," unlike your average drive-thru, closes during the winter months for obvious reasons and reopens during the spring and summer months.
Of course, for a company as big as McDonald's, it's not enough to focus on land and sea alone.
You can eat McDonald's in a plane or a train
Would you eat your fries on a train? Would you eat your Big Mac on a plane? Although these questions may sound like a bad Dr. Suess joke, the idea that McDonald's can be found on a train or a plane isn't too far off from the truth. If you were to go to Taupo, New Zealand, you'll be able to find a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 airliner that looks remarkably well-preserved for its age.
What you may not see at first, Insider tells us, is the fact that the interior has been outfitted to serve as a dining room for McDonald's patrons, allowing customers to dine inside the plane and explore a small "museum" detailing the airliner's history. While the plane is unable to take off (no matter how many times you may ask nicely), the concept was so unique that we previously gifted it the title of one of the "World's Coolest McDonald's."
If you visit Barstow, California, you can visit a McDonald's that is composed entirely of old train carriages at Barstow Station. The "station," according to Weird California, is actually a fake train station/fast-food hub, where restaurants such as Wetzel's Pretzels, Subway, and McDonald's have set up shop. Customers can order their burgers and fries, and dine inside the remodeled chrome dining cars, or take a quick bathroom break in the nearby caboose.
It's all planes, trains, and Ronald McDonald.