Somewhere in Taupo on New Zealand’s North Island is a McDonald’s restaurant with a full-size retired airplane parked right outside it, something I’d heard about long before I ever made it here. It sounded like the type of roadside oddity that could be either genuinely cool or just a little sad and gimmicky, and I wasn’t sure which until I pull into the car park. And honestly?
I kind of loved it.
Why This Airplane McDonald’s Is So Fun
Airplane McDonald’s Taupo
It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like on the tin, turns out. It was one of those detours that makes the entire trip a little more memorable. We stopped on a drive through the central North Island because we really needed lunch, but it was mostly for the novelty.
You can’t miss it; there’s a huge plane sitting on the lawn next to what appear to be a perfectly normal McDonald’s. It is situated right off the main road, and we arrived mid-afternoon to find a surprisingly busy car park filled with tourists like us who had come to see the plane, as well as families out for fast food. And they’ve gone all in.
A hedge has been shorn into a sign out front that says this is the “World’s Coolest McDonald’s.” It’s an ambitious assertion, and maybe one that isn’t totally undeserved with a vintage airliner for a dinner companion.
According to the information boards, the plane is a Douglas DC-3, which is cool because it’s in pretty decent condition given its age and long outdoor exposure. It still has that old-school aviation feel. It has big propellers, a round nose, and a polished fuselage that catches the light.
It is the kind of airplane you’d expect to see in an old movie. There were a few little details to take in as I walked around the entire plane, then went inside to place my order. Up close, the engines is huge, and standing beneath the wing makes you appreciate how large it actualy is.
Not many days do you get to eat fast food beside a piece of aviation history.
You can even get inside the plane. They’ve fitted out the cabin with more seats, and there’s a metal staircase up to the fuselage where you can go inside. We got our food and went straight upstairs.
It’s been kitted out with booths and tables but there’s still a lot of the original fittings inside. Eating a Big Mac in a retired plane were ridiculously awesome in all the right ways. Kids on there was having a ball pretending to be pilots.
It’s pretty worn down and there are notices stuck to the windows, but that’s part of the charm, it doesn’t feel like a sanitized museum piece; it feels like a proper plane. This is a fun one if you are passing through Taupo and just want a quick bite. It’s not the best food (it’s McDonald’s) but the setting is cool enough to make it worthwhile stopping at.
I ended up spending much longer exploring the plane than anticipated and was in a happier mood by the end of my visit than I was when I went in… something that can’t be said for many fast food visits. What other uniquely themed restaurants/roadside attractions have you visited that were better then what you thought they would of been? Let me know in the comments!