Remember when getting a soda at McDonald’s meant you could mix Sprite with Hi-C Orange or create your own custom blend? Those days are coming to an end. McDonald’s just announced they’re removing self-serve soda fountains from all their restaurants across the United States. The change won’t happen overnight though. The fast-food giant has given itself until 2032 to complete the switch, which means some locations still have the self-serve stations while others have already made employees responsible for pouring every single drink.
The timeline is longer than you’d expect
When McDonald’s announced this change, they didn’t set a quick deadline. Instead, they’re taking nearly a decade to phase out self-serve fountains completely. Some restaurants have already started the transition, while others won’t change until the late 2020s or early 2030s. This slow rollout means your local McDonald’s might still have self-serve drinks for years to come, depending on when the franchise owner decides to make the switch.
The extended timeline makes sense when you consider how much money it costs to redesign a restaurant’s front counter and move all the plumbing behind it. Franchise owners interviewed by the State Journal-Register mentioned that some locations won’t complete the change until late 2024 at the earliest. If you walk into a McDonald’s today, there’s a good chance you’ll still see those familiar soda fountains sitting in the dining area. But if you visit that same location in five years, you’ll probably be handing your cup to an employee instead.
Keeping machines clean became too difficult
Anyone who’s used a self-serve soda fountain at McDonald’s has probably noticed the sticky counters, overflowing drip trays, and occasional mystery substances around the nozzles. Keeping these machines clean throughout a busy day turned into a constant challenge for employees. They’d wipe down the station only to see it messy again 20 minutes later. Kids spill drinks, adults overfill their cups, and ice ends up everywhere except in the cup.
Some customers shared concerns online about finding mold or dirty conditions at drink stations. One person commented on Facebook that the last McDonald’s drink station they used wasn’t clean at all, and there weren’t enough staff members to monitor and clean them regularly throughout the day. With employees already stretched thin during rush hours, asking them to constantly check and clean self-serve stations just wasn’t working out. Moving the fountains behind the counter puts cleanliness directly in the hands of staff members who work in that space all day.
Fewer people eat inside the restaurant now
The way people order McDonald’s has changed dramatically over the past few years. Drive-thru orders have always been popular, but now mobile app orders and delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats make up a huge chunk of sales. When someone orders through an app or goes through the drive-thru, they never interact with a self-serve fountain anyway. An employee fills their drink before handing over the order.
Walk into most McDonald’s locations during lunch or dinner, and you’ll notice the dining room isn’t as packed as it used to be. More people grab their food and leave, or they never come inside at all. According to a McDonald’s spokesperson, the change aims to create consistency across all ordering methods, whether that’s delivery, the app, kiosks, drive-thru, or eating inside. Since most customers already have employees pour their drinks, it makes sense to do it the same way for everyone.
Free refills aren’t going anywhere
The biggest worry people expressed when they heard about this change was whether they’d still get free refills. Good news: McDonald’s has confirmed that free refills will continue even after self-serve fountains disappear. Instead of walking up to the machine yourself, you’ll need to ask an employee to refill your cup. Some franchise owners emphasized that free refills are a major reason people choose to eat at McDonald’s, and they have no plans to take that away.
How exactly will refills work at different locations? It depends on where the restaurant is in the transition process. At one location in Lincoln, Illinois, employees bring your first drink to your table along with your meal. After that, you can still walk up and pour your own refills from the self-serve station until the restaurant completes its remodeling. Once the renovation is done, you’ll ask an employee for refills just like you do for your first drink. The process might feel a little awkward at first, but you won’t be paying extra for that second or third cup of Coke.
Table service is becoming more common
Have you noticed that many McDonald’s locations now bring food directly to your table instead of calling your number? This shift connects directly to the removal of self-serve fountains. When you order at a kiosk or counter, an employee delivers your complete meal to wherever you’re sitting. It makes sense to bring the drink along with the food rather than handing you an empty cup and making you fill it yourself.
This table service approach changes the whole dining experience at McDonald’s. Instead of standing at the counter waiting for your order, you can sit down immediately after ordering and have everything brought to you. The drink arrives already filled and ready to drink. Some locations even use automated beverage systems that mechanically fill drink orders, which minimizes how much employees have to handle each cup. The trade-off is losing the ability to control exactly how much ice goes in your cup or to create those wild soda combinations.
People have strong opinions about ice levels
One of the most common complaints about the change involves ice. When you fill your own cup, you control exactly how much ice goes in before adding the soda. Some people want their cup packed with ice, while others prefer just a few cubes or none at all. With employees filling drinks behind the counter, you lose that personal control. Sure, you can ask for light ice or no ice, but that requires a conversation instead of just doing it yourself.
Social media reactions highlighted this concern repeatedly. One person wrote on Facebook that they go inside McDonald’s specifically so they can fill their own drink with the exact ice level they want. Another mentioned they like mixing mostly unsweet tea with a little sweet tea, something that becomes impossible when an employee fills a single drink type. These personal preferences matter to customers who’ve enjoyed controlling their drinks for years. McDonald’s is betting that the benefits of employee-poured drinks outweigh the loss of customization for most people.
Theft prevention plays a role in the decision
Here’s something McDonald’s doesn’t advertise loudly but franchise owners admit: self-serve fountains make it easy for people to take drinks without paying. Someone can walk in with an old cup, fill it up, and walk out without anyone noticing. Or they might order a small drink but grab a large cup from the stack. With hundreds of customers coming through each day, employees can’t monitor every person at the soda fountain.
Moving drink service behind the counter eliminates most of these problems. Employees control which size cup you get based on what you ordered, and they’re the only ones with access to the fountain. This change might seem small, but it adds up when you consider how many drinks McDonald’s serves every single day across thousands of locations. Franchise owners mentioned theft prevention as one of several factors in their decision to support the switch to employee-poured drinks.
The dining room layout is changing completely
Removing self-serve fountains frees up quite a bit of space in McDonald’s dining rooms. Those fountain stations and the area around them take up room that could be used for more tables, self-order kiosks, or mobile order pickup shelves. As more orders come through apps and delivery services, McDonald’s needs space dedicated to fulfilling those orders rather than serving dine-in customers.
The company has also mentioned developing something called CosMc’s, described as a small-format concept launching in 2024. These future locations might have tiny dining areas or no dining rooms at all, focusing instead on drive-thru, pickup, and delivery. When you don’t expect many people to eat inside, having a self-serve fountain makes even less sense. The removal of fountains represents a bigger shift in how McDonald’s thinks about its physical spaces and where customers actually consume their food.
Not everyone is happy about the change
Social media lit up with reactions when people heard about self-serve fountains disappearing. Some folks supported the change, especially those concerned about hygiene and cleanliness. Others expressed frustration about losing the convenience and control they enjoyed. One common worry is that getting refills will become harder when you have to flag down an employee instead of just walking up to the fountain yourself.
People also wondered whether McDonald’s Sprite would taste the same when an employee pours it. There’s something about that super carbonated, extra crisp Sprite from McDonald’s that has become legendary on social media. Will it hit different when you can’t control the pour yourself? Only time will tell. Mixed reactions show that this change affects different customers in different ways. Those who rarely eat inside won’t notice much difference, while regular dine-in customers who liked customizing their drinks will need to adjust to the new system.
McDonald’s isn’t the first fast-food chain to remove self-serve fountains, and they probably won’t be the last. The shift reflects broader changes in how people order food, what they expect from restaurant service, and how businesses think about cleanliness and efficiency. While saying goodbye to mixing your own soda combinations might sting a little, free refills are sticking around. The experience will just look different. Instead of walking up to a fountain with your empty cup, you’ll catch an employee’s eye and ask for another round. It’s not quite the same as controlling everything yourself, but at least you won’t have to deal with those sticky counters anymore.
