In the 1960s, McDonald's began their quest to initiate children into a life of fast food when they introduced Ronald McDonald. In the '70s, they went all in by adding playgrounds to their outlets that they called PlayLand. The kids loved it, but the metal playground equipment wasn't all that safe. But McDonald's wasn't giving upon kids. The playgrounds moved inside gradually through the 1980s and '90s, when metal equipment was replaced by plastic that included tall tunnels, spiral slides, and ball pits. The new indoor playgrounds were called PlayPlaces. Parents loved the PlayPlaces, where they could eat in peace while their children burned off energy on the safe and modern playground equipment, away from stranger danger.
But the PlayPlaces had their own problems. If you've ever taken a good look at the structures, they were very hard to access for adults. My youngest once laughed at me from the top tube for twenty minutes because she didn't want to leave. McDonald's employees didn't want to climb up there to clean, either, and you can imagine what little children can leave behind in those small spaces. That was just one of the factors that rang the death knell for PlayPlaces, which you can read about at Mental Floss.
(Image credit: Sikalar)
Newest 1 Comment
My kids loved those playhouses which were germ traps. One time my kids went into one of those crawl tubes and suddenly exited it because some kid had left poop streaks all through the tube. I pitied the poor person that had to clean up that mess and I'm certain that type of incident must have been pretty common back then. Those playhouses were perfect breeding grounds for all sorts of diseases. I, for one, am glad they are gone. Looking back on how infectious those playhouses were and now with us dealing with Covid it sort of boggles the mind to even remember how acceptably germy those things were.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)