Follow-up: APMcF Review

The tale of the Apple Pie McFlurry:

It's really a shame that the BB8830 isn't a camera phone.  You'll have to settle for the scanned receipt and a verbal account.

The Tale
Thoughts on APMcF


The Tale
I headed out to lunch late, and as I was leisurely driving towards a cluster of restaurants, I realized I had a meeting to make at 1:30.  It was 1:11.  There was only one choice, especially with that APMcF in the back of my mind.



I rolled up 3rd in line at 1:13 PM.  Almost as soon as I pulled up, the car that was ordering pulled forward.  Nice. 1 more to go.  Quick order.  Now I get up to the window:

"Hi, welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order?"

"Yeah, can I have a small McFlurry, but with an apple pie mixed in?  Just charge me for the pie."

"Sure, but I think it'll be cheaper if I just ring it up as a sundae and one pie."

"Cool, thanks alot. Can you make sure that you put the apple pie in there and mix it in the McFlurry machine for me?"

"Ummm...I...uhhh--"

"You guys have done it for me before -- promise," I fibbed.

"Well, uh...yeah -- OK, sure, we can do that."

"Great.  Thank you."

"1.63 is your total, pull around to the next window please."

It's now 1:16.  3 minutes from pulling up to payment.  Masters of the lunch rush.  I pay and pull forward to pick up the APMcF.

"Do you need a bigger cup?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you need a bigger cup?"

"For what?"

"So you can mix the apple pie and sundae together in the same one."

They had given me a cup of vanilla and an apple pie on the side.

"Actually, could you guys stick the apple pie in a McFlurry for me?  That's what I meant."

"Uhh...hold on...(hushed spanish to a manager) 'McFlurry' (more hushed spanish)"

"Hello, sir.  I'm gonna do this today for you, but we usually don't."

I wondered what the big deal was -- it's not really much different than putting toppings in.  The disposable spoon attachment makes each McF self-contained.

"I'll never ask again, really.  I appreciate it."

"OK, no problem."

He ran over to quickly remake the McFlurry.  It actually did prove a bit difficult because he didn't want to touch the pie with his hands but he wangled it using the spoon.  He used a good bit less ice cream than would be in the real McFlurry to accommodate the pie's volume -- no complaint here.  He then ran back to give it to me.  By his sense of urgency, I finally realized what the big deal was, and he confirmed it:

"Here you go.  If we have time, we'll do it for you, but it's real busy right now."

I looked in my rear view to see the line that had formed.  If not for that IAmA post, I wouldn't have fully grasped what was going on -- they were really torn by both a desire to please me but also to make sure the average service time stayed down.  Anyway, I was happy.  But it did cost them about 2 minutes of me just sitting there blocking the line's progress.

APMcF Thoughts:

Not nearly as mouthgasmic as anticipated.  You really forget how jelly like that filling inside the pie is until you have it blended into ice cream -- the best chunks were of the crust itself.  The "apple stuff" mostly just got lost in the mass of ice cream, which gave it less of an apple-cinnamon flavor than desired.  Not too bad though, I still consider it one of the best FF hybrid ideas that I've heard to date.

Nutrition (est): 380 calories, 16 g Fat (9 Sat.), 30 g Sugars, 15 mg Cholesterol, 220 mg Sodium, 53 g Carb, 4 g Fiber