A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: French Fries in Frontierland

By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

MCDONALD’S FRENCH FRIES IN FRONTIERLAND

By Jim Korkis

McDonald’s executive Ray Kroc wrote the following letter to Walt Disney on October 20, 1954:

“Dear Walt, I feel somewhat presumptuous addressing you in this way yet I feel sure you would not want me to address you any other way. My name is Ray A. Kroc….I look over the Company A picture we had taken at Sound Beach, Conn., many times and recall a lot of pleasant memories…I have very recently taken over the national franchise of the McDonald’s system. I would like to inquire if there may be an opportunity for a McDonald’s in your Disneyland Development.”

A young Walt Disney was assigned to the American Red Cross Ambulance Corps unit training in Sound Beach in 1918 and eventually went to France even after the Armistice officially ended World War I. Kroc was also in that unit but did not go to France.

Walt responded with a warm letter informing Kroc that his request had been sent to C.V. Wood, who was in charge of Disneyland concessions, because things were too hectic at the moment for him to handle it personally. Kroc claimed he never received a response from Wood.

McDonald’s did get a presence in Disney theme parks due to an agreement with Disney from 1997 to 2007.

The McDonald’s Fry Cart that opened in 1999 was located near Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café and sold its famous French fries and soft drinks. Disney Imagineers wrote the following back story for that location:

With the rush of prospectors passing through Frontierland in search of gold, lots of folks in town started looking for ways to cash in on all the excitement. Back in 1853, ol’ McDonald (who had a farm, “ei-ei-o”), a potato farmer, decided to set up his cook wagon on the hill under the big oak tree, just off the main trail.

To drum up interest in his French fried delicacies, McDonald even came up with a catch phrase and posted it on the front of the wagon: “There’s gold in them thar fries!” (with a symbol of a golden arch to emphasize the fact).

Business was booming for a couple of good years, right up until the great flood of 1855. Legend has it that white men disturbed the spirits of the mountain by removing gold from Big Thunder, causing all sorts of havoc from earthquakes and avalanches to storms and floods.

In fact, the nearby river rose so much, the water reached right up to McDonald’s wagon on the hill. The wagon survived, but when the water receded, the wagon started to go with it. It slid down the hill, crashed through a fence (and sharp-eyed guests could see the poorly repaired fence), and got lodged in the mud down below.

This didn’t stop ol’ man McDonald, though. He just laid down some planks so folks wouldn’t get their boots muddy, and he has kept right on selling his delicious French fried potatoes until the Disney agreement ended.

There was also a sign placed nearby that proclaimed, “Same location since ’53.” The “53” was scratched out and painted over with a “55.” Not only did this help support the story that the wagon had moved, it was also a reference to McDonald’s history.

Brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened their original restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1953. Kroc, who pitched the idea to the brothers of expanding their restaurant into a franchise, opened his first location in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955.

The Frontierland Fry Cart closed in December 2007.

The Golden Oak Outpost opened in the same location on January 11, 2009. The name is a tribute to Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch in California, an 800-acre movie ranch where Disney filmed a great many live-action television shows and films.

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Thanks, Jim. And come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

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