I Ordered Off The Mariah Menu for McDonald’s 12 Days of Christmas & It Made My Life a Little More Interesting

Do you see those golden arches? Doesn’t it give you a vibe?

As a child, I truly enjoyed the Happy Meal, which consisted of a box of 6-pieces of chicken McNuggets, fries, and a toy.

I rarely eat McDonald’s, especially after watching “Super Size Me” over a decade ago. We all know that McDonalds has a bad reputation, but then again, it’s fast food. Did fast food ever have a good reputation other than for it being fast and inexpensive?

But if you are too bougie to eat at McDonald’s, maybe you wouldn’t do what I just did these past two weeks.

Mariah Carey (“The Bougie Queen” herself) teamed up with McDonald’s to promote “12 Days of Christmas,” where every day for twelve days, customers can get a free item from the Mariah Menu through the McDonald’s app with a minimum $1 purchase.

But it got me thinking: Does Mariah Carey even eat at McDonald’s?

Maybe not? Unless fries were fried in truffle oil or her McFlurry with topped with 24K gold flakes. Only then would I believe that Mariah Carey would be eating at McDonald's?

Maybe.

I Did McDonald’s 12 days of Christmas.

I’m all about celebrity-endorsed promotions, particularly when it comes to food (see article: “Starbucks Taylor’s Latte Is My New Favorite Latte”. When I heard about the Mariah Menu, I was all in. Then when I heard that it was with McDonald’s, I thought, “Oh no!”.

But I still did it.

Day 1: Big Mac

I was never the one to go for the hamburgers at McDonald’s, but this one was a big disappointment and not the same burger I had when I first tried it out as a child. Back then, the top layer of the hamburger bun was coasted in sesame seeds. The one I got? Had only 14!

Yes, I counted. I was not happy; I didn’t enjoy the Big Mac at all, and I contemplated whether or not I should continue celebrating Christmas with Ronald McDonald.

But I am a forgiving person, so I continued anyway.

Day 2: McChicken

Now, if I had to have any sandwich at McDonald’s, I would definitely go for any chicken sandwich. It wasn’t that great but good enough. Much more satisfying than the Big Mac from the day before.

The bun didn’t have sesame seeds, but that’s okay. They never had them to begin with, so all expectations were met with this one.

Day 3: Cinnamon Roll

I don’t usually get bakery items on the menu unless I get ice cream; I might pair it with an apple pie. But we all know that the ice cream machine at McDonalds is always not working. Am I right?

The cinnamon roll wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t dare compare McDonald’s cinnamon rolls to the cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon, though. But this was was probably a few notches above the cinnamon roll from Ikea.

Good enough, you know?

Would I get it again? Probably not.

Day 4: 6 Chicken McNuggets

This was by far the best day ever! You know I’m all about the chicken nuggets. Like my childhood, I ordered a small fry to go along with it.

When I was a child, I used to get the sweet and sour sauce to go along with my nuggets. But as my taste palate as I got older (haha yeah right!) I betrayed sweet and sour for the hot mustard.

Because I’m saucy like.

The BBQ sauce is okay, as well but not my first choice. My second choice is probably honey mustard.

Yeah! I like mustard. I even like eating them with my fries.

Day 5: Cheeseburger

I wasn’t looking forward to this. But this time, I chose not to eat for the whole day because, let’s be honest, food just tastes 1000x better when you are starving. I’m pretty sure I would have hated this too if I wasn’t super hungry.

While I was eating it, I decided to inspect the burger after my first bite. The first and only thought that came to mind was, “this meat looks fake.”

I continued to eat it nonetheless. I’m used to fakeness anyway.

Day 6: Breakfast Pancakes

Another disappointment, not because of the pancakes but because they didn’t give me any maple syrup or butter to go with it. It might be my fault, I don’t know. I don’t get these often. But I assumed that because they were pancakes, they would automatically give me syrup.

You can only imagine my disappointment when I opened it up when I got to work. I wanted to cry, but big girls don’t cry. Instead, I got angry.

Again, it could be my fault that I didn’t check the bag before leaving. But yeah, I didn’t enjoy these pancakes too much.

Day 7: McDouble

Oh no! Another burger…

I didn’t eat at all prior. Pretty much all the burgers taste the same.

Day 8: Apple Pie

The only time I would get an apple pie would be with ice cream. But guess what? The ice cream machine was not working…as always.

Day 9: Sausage McMuffin

This is probably one of my go-to breakfast foods at McDonald’s. Some days I was actually looking foward to, and Day 9 was one of them.

The Sausage McMuffin never disappoint, like ever.

Day 10: Double Cheeseburger

No comment. Edible but not enjoyable.

Day 11: Sausage Biscuit

My new love! Do you know how I said that the Sausage McMuffin was my go-to breakfast food? I take it back.

It’s the sausage biscuit now…

This is probably one of the cheaper breakfast items on the menu, and for that, I am thankful. I wouldn’t have it every day, though, but it’s definitely a comfort food on its own.

It sure comforted me on Day 11. When I took my first bite, I felt like everything would be okay. It was like a warm hug on a rainy day because it did rain that day.

Yes, it rains in Los Angeles.

Day 12: Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the last day of the promotion, you’d think McDonald’s would go all out. But they didn’t. After writing this post, I learned to not expect too much from McDonald’s, and I had to remind myself that they were McDonald’s.

They should have ended with a Happy Meal or something. But whatever.

In conclusion…

I’m glad it’s over!

Would I do it again?

Knowing me, probably.

Based on the title of this article, you may wonder how ordering off the Mariah Menu for McDonald’s 12 Days of Christmas made my life more enjoyable?

Firstly, McDonald’s is never my first choice of fast food restaurant, but it made me appreciate that every day is a gift. A free food item was enough to make my day. Some days were a disappointment, but even if it was I am happy that I didn’t have to go hungry.

Gratitude does go a long way, that’s for sure.

Thank you, McDonald’s, for feeding me, but I hope you guys can get the ice cream machine running one day. That would be the best Christmas gift ever.

Don’t worry, I’m not holding my breath.