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Excuse me, But You Can Dine Inside An Old Plane At This New Zealand McDonald’s

Excuse me, But You Can Dine Inside An Old Plane At This New Zealand McDonald’s

On the surface, it may seem like all McDonald’s are more or less the same. The food is the same, except for that one ‘special’ menu item meant to represent the country it’s in. The playgrounds are all the same, although obviously some are larger and therefore superior. The dining set ups are all the same — except one.

The Macca’s in Taupo, New Zealand really let their imaginations fly (see what I did?) when they made a dining room out of a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 plane 30 years ago. It’s now become something of an icon to the locals and all who travel through.

 

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I have no idea why this is a thing that happened, but I can tell you I just got done adding this small resort town on the North Island to my bucket list.

The plane has 10 tables seating a total of 20 people, which I’m willing to bet means there’s a bit of a line up to get in. Still, you’ve got to do it for the ‘Gram.

Foodie website The Daily Meal clearly agree, as they awarded it the ‘Coolest McDonald’s‘ back in 2013. Frankly, I cant imagine what could possibly beat it now. I can’t stop thinking of my Dad, a plane nut, and how nerdily excited he’s going to get when I send him this link.

The plane itself was was built in 1943 (ie. it’s old) and was used by South Pacific Airlines from the early to mid-60s. After it was put out of action, the Taupo Mayor, Rick Cooper, happened across it in 1985 when he popped out of his car to stretch his legs — then decided to buy it. As you do.

While nothing is set in stone, there are plans to open up a ‘Trans-Tasman bubble’ allowing us to travel to New Zealand possibly as early as July. So you can guess where my first stop will be. Just saying.

(Lead Image: Instagram / @cindy_lum)

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