All McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys – Past, Present, and Future

McDonald's has been distributing it's famous Happy Meal toys since 1979, including many popular Disney inspired toys throughout the decades. As a Disney loving kid growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, I have many fond memories of collecting Disney Happy Meal toys, and still enjoy them today as an adult! The love for Happy Meal toys remains very strong today, and there is even a dedicated Happy Meal Facebook page with over 57,000 subscribers. 

Happy Meals are one of the most popular meals for both kids and adults at McDonald's. McDonald's offers a Hamburger, 4 piece Chicken McNugget, or 6 piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal that come with kids fries, a 1% low fat milk jug, and apple slices. More importantly, each Happy Meal comes with one specialty toy which rotates every month or so. If customers want to purchase a Happy Meal toy without the meal, they can simply ask the counter employee for a toy only and pay the same price as a Happy Meal. Additionally, many Happy Meal toys come with downloadable material such as activity sheets such including coloring books or puzzles also on theme with the toy, creating lots of entertainment and fun for customers. 

In this article will go over the most iconic Happy Meal toys throughout the decades, with a strong emphasis on Disney-inspired toys. We will also discuss confirmed and rumored future Happy Meal toys that we can look forward to in the coming year. We visit the Disney parks monthly and always try to stay on top of all things Disney both in and outside the parks, including toys and collectibles such as Happy Meal toys. Some of these Disney Happy Meal toy collectible sets are worth hundreds of dollars!

Current McDonald's Happy Meal Toys – Just Dance

McDonald's newest Happy Meal toy is based on the video game called Just Dance. The video game focuses on the ability for players to learn and replicate the dance moves performed by dancers on a screen. 

You can collect up to six Just Dance characters and even try out your own dance moves with the fun dance cards they come with!

Future McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

You may be surprised to learn that all Happy Meals toys through the beginning of January 2026 are already tentatively scheduled and planned for release. Many of these are celebrating the release of upcoming Disney movies which is obviously exciting for us Disney lovers. Although we won't know what the exact toys will be or the exact dates of when some of these will be released, we will definitely be on the lookout for them in the coming months.

The upcoming Disney Happy Meal toys include:

• Inside Out 2 (June 2024)
• Moana 2 (November and December 2024)
• Mufasa: The Lion King (December 2024 and January 2025)
• Captain America, Brave New World (February 2025)
• Soul, Turning Red, and Luca 3D (March 2025)
• Snow White (March or April 2025)
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (April or May 2025)
• Zootopia 2 (November or December 2025)
• Avatar 3 (December 2025 or January 2026)

Other notable future Happy Meal toys releases include:

• Columbia Pictures 100th Anniversary (April and May 2024)
• Happy Meal's 45th Anniversary (July and August 2024)
• Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (August 2024)
• DreamWorks' 30th Anniversary (October and November 2024)

Past McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

As previously mentioned, McDonald's has been providing toys in each Happy Meal since the late 1970s. It has been fun to see and collect the different Happy Meal toys over the years, especially the Disney-inspired collections. In this section we will detail our favorite Happy Meal toys throughout the years, with a special emphasis on our favorite Disney-inspired toys.

2024 Happy Meal Toys So Far

• Squishmallow Surprise: Although we are not far into 2024, there have already been a few great Happy Meals toys released. One favorite is the Squishmallows Surprise Happy Meal toys which were available between December 26, 2023, and January 29, 2024. Squishmallows are extremely popular soft stuffed animals with hundreds of cute characters, including some inspired by Disney. Some of our favorite Disney squishmallows include Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Green Alien, and Chewbacca. There were twelve Squishmallow characters in this Happy Meal toy collection which included: Archie the Axolotl, Gordon the Shark, Fifi the Fox, Sunny the Bee, Cam the Cat, Grimace, Hans the Hedgehog, Maui the Pineapple, Kevin the Koala, Micheala the Tie-Dye Cheetah, Prince the pug, or a mystery character. Each of these characters came with their own unique playlist accessible by QR code. This was a great addition to the Happy Meal toys legacy and fit a popular trend of the last few years.

• Roblox Adopt Me!: Similar to the MultiVersus toys, McDonald's launched toys based on the release of the new Adopt Me! multiplayer online pet adoption game. Customers could collect up to six different characters from the game which included stickers and a character card. The stickers included different accessories and features to customize your new pet to celebrate the release of the game. This was another cute and fun customizable Happy Meal toy. The six characters in this release included Penguin, Chipmunk, Dog, Unicorn, Lion, and Dragon.

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2020s Happy Meal Toys

In this section we will list our top McDonald's Happy Meal toys between 2020 and 2023. Although this time period isn't nearly a full decade, there have been some great releases in the past few years that are sure to continue to be fan favorites and collectibles for years to come.

Our favorite Happy Meal toy releases between 2020 and 2003 include the following:

• Disney 100 Years of Wonder (October 31 – December 4, 2023): McDonald's released a whopping 62 Happy Meal character collection in celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary. These characters included favorites from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel films. Each Happy Meal came with two different characters such as Mickey Mouse, Simba, Grogu, Loki, Ironman, Buzz Lightyear and many more. This was a very special release that I'm sure will remain popular for many years to come and remain a coveted collection for Disney fans. If you missed out on this release and have money to spend on the complete set, we found one eBay seller offering the complete set for $200. 

• The Marvels (July 18 – August 4, 2023): To celebrate the release of the Marvels movie, McDonald's released eight collectible figurine toys including two versions of Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers), Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Monica Rambeau, Nick Fury, Prince Yan, Dar-Benn, and Goose. 
• Elemental (June and July 2023): These Happy Meal toys celebrated the release Disney's Elemental movie and included eight different character collectibles including Gale, Bernie, Clod, Lutz, and two different versions of Ember and Wade. Each were riding in different vehicles which is not only on theme for the movie but very fun for kids to play with.

• Live Action Little Mermaid (June 2023): We absolutely loved the live action remake movie of the Little Mermaid, as well as the Happy Meal toys that were released in celebration of the movie's release. Customers could collect eight different versions of characters in water including Ariel, Eric, Sebastian, King Triton, Flounder, and Ursula.
• Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary (September and October 2021, with a re-release in May and June 2022): The Disney World 50th Anniversary toys are probably the standout Happy Meal toys from the past several years if not more. In celebration of this milestone anniversary, McDonald's released 50 different mystery characters between September and October 2021, with a re-release in May and June of 2022. Each of the characters stood on a platform with a lenticular backdrop which depicting a scene from Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom.                    

• Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway (November and December 2020 and May 2022): Another favorite Happy Meal toy collection was the late 2020 and spring 2022 re-release of the Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway Happy Meal toys. Customers received one of ten iconic Disney attractions, including the newest Runaway Railway car. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is one of our favorite rides at Hollywood Studios, and therefore we were very excited to see this Happy Meal toy release celebrating this attraction. Our favorite toy in this collection was Daisy inside the Soarin' hang glider vehicle going over Spaceship Earth. However, there were many other adorable toys included Mickey riding the Tower of Terror and Minnie inside the Dinosaur time rover vehicle. 

Other notable Happy Meal toy releases between 2020 and 2023 included:

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May and June 2023)
• Mickey and Friends (January and February 2023)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November and December 2022)
• Cars on the Road (September and October 2022)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (July and August 2022)
• Lightyear (June and July 2022)
• Disney's Stitch (February and March 2022)
• Encanto (November and December 2021)
• Luca (June and July 2021)
• Star Wars and Disney Princess (April and May 2021)
• Raya and the Last Dragon (March and April 2021)
• Soul (December 2020 and January 2021)
• Mavel Studios Heroes (October and November 2020)
• Disney and Pixar Celebration Plus (July – September 2020)
• Onward (February and March 2020)
• Discovery #MindBlown (January and February 2020)

2010s Happy Meal Toys

Throughout 2010 and 2019, there were a lot of great Happy Meal toy releases including several that celebrated Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars movie releases. Our favorites from this decade included:

• Frozen II (November and December 2019): Frozen II was arguably one of the best Disney sequels, and these Happy Meal toys that celebrated the movie's release were just as good! Customers received one of nine Frozen II characters including Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, Nokk, Mattias, Salamandaer, or Earth Giant. These toys are still very popular today and are being sold on eBay for up to $15 per toy! 

• Mr. Potato Head Halloween Pails (October 2010): Another extremely popular Happy Meal toy release were the Mr. Potato Head Halloween pails from Halloween in 2010. These classic Halloween pails featuring the beloved Toy Story character can still be seen on resale sites such as eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari for up to $25 each! Each Happy Meal also came with stickers to customize Mr. Potato Head's outfit and facial expressions on each of the pails. McDonald's always does a great job with their Halloween toys and almost all of them are considered collectibles. 

• The Lion King (July and August 2019): With the release of Disney's The Lion King live action remake, McDonald's released Lion King figurine toys in the summer of 2019. The Lion King is one of our favorite classic Disney movies and we even wrote an article with 10 facts about the iconic movie that you probably didn't know. Although reviews of the live action remake were mixed, we were still excited to see new Lion King Happy Meals toys being released to celebrate the movie. The toys included favorite characters in different landscapes such as grass, logs, and Pride Rock. Characters included Mufasa, adult Simba, Simba cub, adult Nala, Nala cub, Pumbaa, Timon, Rafiki, and Zazu. 

In addition to our favorites, other notable Happy Meal toy releases from the 2010s included:

• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (December 2019 – January 2020)
• Toy Story 4 (June and July 2019)
• Avengers: Endgame (April and May 2019)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (December 2018-January 2019)
• Ralph Breaks the Internet (November and December 2018)
• Incredibles 2 (June and July 2018)
• Angry Birds Star Wars/Monster High (October 2013)
• Star Wars Episode 1 in 3-D/Build-a-Bear Workshop (February and March 2013)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars/Strawberry Shortcake (July 2011)
• Marvel Heroes/Littlest Pet Shop (July and August 2010)
• Star Wars/iCarly (February and March 2010)

2000s Happy Meal Toys

We were fortunate to have many great McDonald's Happy Meal toy releases between 2000 and 2009. There were several that promoted upcoming Disney TV and movie releases, along with several milestone Disney celebrations such as 100 years of magic. Our favorite Happy Meal toys from the 2000s included:

• 100 Years of Magic (March and April 2002): This was the first large release of collectible Disney toys to celebrate Walt Disney's 100th birthday, and it did not disappoint. These are still considered collectibles today, and we even spotted an eBay account selling the complete set of 100 toys for a whopping $389.99. This release included many Disney characters standing on gold platforms displaying their names. We saw favorite characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Mowgli, Quasimodo, Aladdin, each of the seven dwarfs, and our favorite Band Concert Mickey. 
• Disney's Video Showcase (November 2000): If you grew up in the 1990s or early 2000s, you definitely remembered watching classic Disney movies on VHS tapes. In November 2000, McDonald's released Disney Happy Meal toys which were miniature replicas of Disney VHS tapes with different Disney characters inside. This collection featured 16 different toys from six different Disney films including Toy Story 2 (Woody, Jessie, or Bullseye), A Bug's Life (Flik, Heimlich, or Dot), The Little Mermaid II (Melody, Flounder, or Penguin), Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas (Mickey, Minnie, or Pluto), Dinosaur (Brontosaurus, Triceratops, or Iguanodon), and Winnie the Pooh (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, or Eeyore). These Happy Meal toys bring back the nostalgia of growing up on Disney movies in the 1990s and are still very collectible today. 
• Disney's House of Mouse (February 2001): This Happy Meal release included six different mystery toys featuring your favorite Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck. These toys were miniature stuffed animals with a plastic head. Although these weren't particularly unique, these are some of our favorite classic Happy Meal toys which were high quality compared to the other toys which are primarily plastic. Daisy Duck even came with a hologram mirror that showed different expressions when it moved. 

Other notable McDonald's Happy Meal toys released in the 2000s included:

• Avatar (December 2009)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (August and September 2008)
• Disney Princess/Pirates of the Caribbean (March and April 2008)
• Pirates of the Caribbean (July and August 2006)
• Cars (June and July 2006)
• Disneyland and Disney World Parks & Resorts toys (August and September 2005)
• Pixar Pals (March and April 2005)
• The Incredibles (November and December 2004)
• Aladdin and Madame Alexander (October and November 2004)
• The Lion King 1 1/2 (February and March 2004)
• Lilo & Stitch the Series (January and February 2004)
• The Haunted Mansion (November and December 2003)
• Brother Bear (October and November 2003)
• Kim Possible (September and October 2003)
• Finding Nemo (May and June 2003)
• The Jungle Book 2 (February and March 2003)
• Beauty and the Beast (September and October 2002)
• The Country Bears (July and August 2002)
• Lilo and Stitch (June and July 2002)
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (May and June 2002)
• Peter Pan in Return to Neverland (February and March 2002)
• Monsters, Inc. (November 2001)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (September and October 2001)
• Disney's The Book of Pooh (July and August 2001)
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire (June and July 2001)
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (January and February 2001)
• The Emperor's New Groove (December 2000 and January 2001)
• 102 Dalmatians (November 2000 – January 2001)
• The Tigger Movie (August and September 2000)
• An Extremely Goofy Movie (March 2000)
• Tarzan on Video (January – March 2000)

1990s Happy Meal Toys

Although some of these were hard to track down, below is the list of the most popular 1990s Happy Meal toys. The 1990s is when Disney Happy Meal toys began to significantly grow in popularity. As a '90s kid myself, I couldn't wait to visit McDonald's and see the toys of the month displayed in the clear case near the counter. Some of our favorite Happy Meal toys from the 1990s included:

• Mickey & Friends EPCOT Adventures (1994): This Happy Meal toy released in 1994 included eight of your favorite Disney character figurines with different outside correlating to a ride or attraction at EPCOT. EPCOT in the 1990s brings back so much nostalgia, and as EPCOT continues to transform, many of the attractions in the 1990s are no longer there. These retired rides included Horizons, Body Wars and the other attractions in the Wonders of Life pavilion, and Universe of Energy. Therefore, these are one of our favorite releases from the 1990s. 
• Disney Video Favorites (September and October 1998): Another classic Disney Happy Meal toy collection from the 1990s was the Disney Video Favorites collection from 1998. Customers received one of six different connectable toys consisting of various characters standing on top of VHS tapes. The six characters included Gurgi from The Black Cauldron, Waiter Penguins from Mary Poppins, Lady and the Tramp from Lady and the Tramp, Pocahontas from Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, Flubber from Flubber, or Band Leader Mickey from The Spirit of Mickey. We loved this collection due to the connectable aspect which we have seen which several Happy Meal toy collections. This release also consisted of more unique characters which was a nice change from the typical classic characters.

• Disneyland Adventures (June 1995): This Happy Meal toy release in the summer of 1995 celebrated Disneyland Resort's 40th anniversary. Customers would receive one of eight different iconic Disneyland rides ranging from Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, and more. As you can probably tell by now, we are big fans of the milestone anniversary Happy Meal toys celebrating the Disney parks, and this collection was another great release that I'm sure most of us wish we had in our collections.
• Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection (April and May 1996): The Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Happy Meal toy collection was another nostalgic group of figurines that came in VHS tapes of their movie. There were eight different toys customers could receive and included Cinderella from Cinderella, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Scat Cat from The Aristocats, Robin Hood from Robin Hood, Merlin from The Sword in the Stone, Pocahontas from Pocahontas, Aladdin from Aladdin II: Return of Jafar, and Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

Other popular Happy Meal toys released between 1990 and 1999 included:

• Toy Story 2 (November and December 1999)
• Tarzan (June and July 1999)
• Winnie the Pooh: Sing a Song with Pooh Bear (February and March 1999)
• Mulan (January and February 1999)
• A Bug's Life (November and December 1998)
• The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (October and November 1998)
• Tamagotchi Toyz (July and August 1998)
• Mulan (June and July 1998)
• Disney's Animal Kingdom (April and May 1998)
• Peter Pan (February and March 1998)
• Hercules (January and February 1998)
• 101 Dalmatians (December 1997 and January 1998)
• The Little Mermaid (November and December 1997)
• The Jungle Book (October 1997)
• Sleeping Beauty (September and October 1997)
• Hercules (June and July 1997)
• Walt Disney Home Video Masterpiece Collection (April and May 1997)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (March and April 1997)
• Mighty Ducks pucks (February and March 1997)
• 101 Dalmatians (November 1996 – January 1997)
• Space Jam (November 1996)
• Aladdin and the King of Thieves (August and September 1996)
• Marvel Super Heroes (May and June 1996)
• Muppet Treasure Island (February and March 1996)
• Spider-Man (May 1995)
• Muppet workshop (January and February 1995)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (August 1993)
• Aladdin (1993)
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (July 1991)
• The Rescuers Down Under (December 1990)
• Talespin (November 1990)
• The Jungle Book (July 1990)

1970s and 1980s Happy Meal Toys

Last but not least is the late 1970s and 1980s decades. Although Happy Meal toys were just beginning to pick up steam and popularity during these years, there are several classic toys, especially Disney-related, that were released. The very first Disney related Happy Meal toy was sold in July 1987 which included a Snow White movie promotional poster that was sold for one dollar. We also saw the release of the first Halloween pails, as well as hot wheels which are still well-known Happy Meals toys today. Other cool toys released in the 1980s that we wish McDonald's would bring back are the plush ornament toys inspired by Oliver and Company and Cinderella.

Our favorite Happy Meal toys from the 70s and 80s included:

• Halloween Pails (1985): McDonald's released the first set of iconic Halloween pails in 1985. Customers could purchase one of three pails which had their own unique names: McBoo, McPunk'n, and McGoblin. Although they were plastic and not very sturdy, lots of kids even used these pails to go trick or treating. I vividly remember these pails being Halloween decoration stapes in my childhood home, and it's no surprise that there has been re-imagined versions that were released throughout the past few decades. Over 35 years later, I think I can safely say almost everyone can recognize these pails and where they originated. 

• Disney World Mickey's Birthdayland (March 1989): One of our favorite Disney Happy Meal toys released during the 1980s were the Disney World Mickey's Birthdayland toys. This Happy Meal release consisted of five mystery vehicles with various classic Disney characters inside. The vehicles included Mickey's Roadster, Minnie's Convertible, Goofy's Sports Coupe, Pluto's Rumbler, and Donald's Locomotive. 

The other notable Happy Meal toys from the 1970s and 1980s included:

• The Little Mermaid (December 1989)
• Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers (October 1989)
• Oliver & Company Plush Ornaments (December 1988)
• Oliver & Company (December 1988)
• Bambi (July 1988)
• DuckTales (February 1988)
• McNugget Buddies (1988)
• Fraggle Rock (1988)
• Muppet Babies (1987)
• Cinderella Plus Ornaments (November 1987)
• Disney Favorite Activity Books (November 1987)
• Snow White and Seven Dwarfs (July 1987)
• Bernstein Bears (1986)
• Ronald McDonald Cloth Doll (1984)
• Hot Wheels (1983)

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