For years, many McDonald's restaurants swapped the indoor playground for extra seats and touch screens. The slides went away. The ordering screens stayed. Now the company wants some of that play back.
In late September 2026, McDonald's said it would put about $8.5 billion behind a long plan called NEXT. The money is not a one-night rebuild of every store. It is support for franchise owners through 2036, a mix of rent relief and extra capital, with about $5 billion due by 2030. Owners still remodel about once a decade. The new look will arrive store by store, market by market. There is no public list of which restaurants go first.
Pictures shown to investors include larger dining rooms, stronger lighting, and bigger play areas. Other pieces of the plan include lockers for delivery orders, coffee counters that are easier to see, and more open kitchens. The idea is to split "sit down" from "take it and go."
A company spokesperson said the exact changes and timing will vary by restaurant and market. Families waiting for a local slide should not treat this as next week's news. The work is meant to fold into ordinary remodel cycles over about ten years.
McDonald's still wants faster kitchens and more accurate orders. That part of NEXT is quieter: scales to check bags, and software to help the drive-thru. The louder message is spatial. After a decade of screens and pickup, the chain is betting that people still want a room, a table, and, in some places, a place for children to climb.
The $8.5 billion is the headline. The slide is the point.