
Which McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines are Working Today?
The Foods That Instantly Remind Me of Summer
This morning, we were all sitting around chatting about the foods that remind us of summer. For me, it’s fried baloney with Kraft Mac & Cheese and peas. That was the go-to meal at my best friend’s house growing up. I’m pretty sure it was the only thing his dad knew how to make, but we absolutely loved it.
McDonald’s Happy Meals Were a Summer Staple
Another summer classic? A Chicken McNugget Happy Meal from McDonald’s. That sweet and sour sauce still slaps, even as an adult. And on those hot days, my mom would almost always grab me a soft serve cone to go with my nuggets, fries, drink, and toy. I'm guessing that she probably wanted one too.
The Arrival of the McFlurry in the 90s
I still remember when MickyD's introduced the McFlurry in the mid-90s. It was soft serve blended with crunchy bits like cookies or candy. I always chose Oreo, and my best friend was loyal to "toffee crisp" aka Heath.
Fun Fact: McDonald’s Has Served Ice Cream Since the 1940s
Out of curiosity, I did a little digging and found out that McDonald’s has been serving some version of ice cream since the 1940s. According to The Food That Built America, ice cream has been big business since the golden age of fast food. Since the 40s, it’s been a must-have on menus across the country. Can you imagine a world without soft-serve ice cream?
Why I Prefer Dairy Queen for Ice Cream
Now, full disclosure. I prefer DQ when I’m craving a sweet treat. They have a more comprehensive ice cream menu, and their ice cream is pretty much the only one that doesn’t upset my stomach. My only complaint is that the chocolate soft-serve machine always seems to be down at my local location.
The Truth About McDonald’s Broken Ice Cream Machines
Speaking of machines being down, I had given up on McDonald’s ice cream a while ago because their machines were constantly out of service. Then I stumbled across a YouTube documentary by Johnny Harris called The REAL Reason McDonald's Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken.
I won’t spoil it here, but it turns out I wasn’t imagining things. I’m just glad to know I wasn’t gaslighting myself all those years. It really was broken. A lot. If you'd like to know the particulars, I suggest you watch the documentary. It's very... involved... but worth the time.
McPleaseDontBeBroken
Now, this documentary was posted four years ago on YouTube. I can't tell you if things have changed or if there's been a turnaround in the number of issues McDonald's has had with their ice cream machines since then. But, if you don't want to go to McDonald's only to find out that the machine is down, there is a website that tracks broken machines. Users can log onto mcbroken.com to see what locations are up and running and which ones are down. At the time that I wrote this article, all of the locations in Owensboro were up, but three in Evansville were down. I called these locations to verify, but I got sent to voicemail. Wa Waaa.
I wondered how McBroken operates. Is it like Gasbuddy, where users report the downed machines, or was it some other way? According to the website,
I reverse engineered mcdonald's internal api and I'm currently placing an order worth $18,752 every minute at every mcdonald's in the US to figure out which locations have a broken ice cream machine
Need a Sweet Treat?
Again, I can't verify if this website holds water, but if it's worth a check, if you are going out of your way. Now, I'm going to have to stop at MickyD's for an Oreo McFlurry - and yes, the Newburgh location is up and running! Praise the Lord!
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