I’d love to know what everyone else thinks about this. Having somewhere you can get food that is open 24/7 would be very useful, but I can see why the locals wouldn’t be happy about it. A McDonald’s wouldn’t really suit the area.
Caveat: I’ve never been to wanaka.
But McDonalds can make restaurants in the middle of many old European cities look “in place”, surely they can do Wanaka?
Wanaka was a beautiful dream when I visited. A truly beautiful place.
McDonald’s would have turned it into an outer Sydney western suburb.
It’s pretty much that simple.
I don’t have strong opinions, but I have traveled through some Canadian towns up through the Rockies, and I think if there was a big 24/7 McDonald’s at the entrance to Banff it would have given the place a completely different feel. So I can understand why 30% of residents may have signed a petition to stop it.
I’ve been to Wanaka, and it’s one of the few parts of that area of NZ that still felt “real”. Queenstown, on the other hand, just felt so manufactured, I really don’t like the place at all.
I can definitely see how a McDonald’s would change the place for the worst.
