McDonalds Closed

Mattie5 said:

Shake shack will have a drive through.  On another note this is the first time that I ever started a thread so pleased by all the responses.

Is there a timetable?  

Drive-through is a wonderful thing when you have littles in carseats!  I knew where all the drive-through fast food and ATMs were at that stage of my life. That McDonald's was the closest drive-through fast food place I knew about when my kids were little. (< 10 minutes from my Maplewood home and I could just get there from Vauxhall Rd.)  Shake shack ought to be a step up also.

sac said:

Is there a timetable?  

Drive-through is a wonderful thing when you have littles in carseats!  I knew where all the drive-through fast food and ATMs were at that stage of my life. That McDonald's was the closest drive-through fast food place I knew about when my kids were little. (< 10 minutes from my Maplewood home and I could just get there from Vauxhall Rd.)  Shake shack ought to be a step up also.

expected opening 2023 

Jaytee said:

expected opening 2023 

Lame. 

Is it a full tear down? Or maybe they have asbestos abatement to do. 

mrincredible said:

Lame. 

Is it a full tear down? Or maybe they have asbestos abatement to do. 

My understanding is that it will be a full tear down.

Mattie5 said:

My understanding is that it will be a full tear down.

Well, it was indeed a full teardown. Totally new building and yes, the Shake Shack does have a drive-through. It is a huge improvement over what was there before.

Best of all, you can still sneak out the back onto Vauxhall Road.

mrincredible said:

Well, it was indeed a full teardown. Totally new building and yes, the Shake Shack does have a drive-through. It is a huge improvement over what was there before.

Best of all, you can still sneak out the back onto Vauxhall Road.

Is it open?

Jaytee said:

it’s closed permanently. Maybe they’re closing them all down because of these  ‘turnstile jumpers’ 

I'd think they'd  call them "toll jumpers" since that's why we'd usually take that exit.  I agree it's tricky - and rarely came thru there on the Pkwy.  I'd most often end up going around the pkg lot more than once to find my way.

That's nice if they dedicated it to Whitney.  But now if they're closing -- poor Whitney can't ever catch a break.

@Jaytee -- did you hear that it was juveniles  jumping the turnstiles?  Why would there be turnstiles in a MdD's?

The McDonalds closed over a year ago and the rest stop was torn down. It just reopened as the brand new Whitney Houston rest stop. 

Sorry it was unclear. I revived a thread that was months old. 

No toll jumpers. I used the McDonald's to yet avoid the toll and avoid the traffic leading up to the toll based on where I live in Maplewood. It was always better off to get off before 78 whether it's at a rest stop or at the exit before. 

wendy said:

No toll jumpers. I used the McDonald's to yet avoid the toll and avoid the traffic leading up to the toll based on where I live in Maplewood. It was always better off to get off before 78 whether it's at a rest stop or at the exit before. 

I used it because it was just faster to get to my house than to mess with the I-78 exit, toll or no toll. You don't have to go through the rest stop if you just want to get on Vauxhall road. I usually just take Rt 22 the short distance to the Vauxhall ramp. 

sac said:

wendy said:

No toll jumpers. I used the McDonald's to yet avoid the toll and avoid the traffic leading up to the toll based on where I live in Maplewood. It was always better off to get off before 78 whether it's at a rest stop or at the exit before. 

I used it because it was just faster to get to my house than to mess with the I-78 exit, toll or no toll. You don't have to go through the rest stop if you just want to get on Vauxhall road. I usually just take Rt 22 the short distance to the Vauxhall ramp. 

Understood but the "Rt 22" is a nightmare imo.

The Rt 22 option has been a mess since they shut down the rest stop for construction.  Now that it's open again, maybe Rt 22 will get better.

Good to hear that we can still sneak through the rest stop.  That's the best option, imho.

Went through it on Sunday when i noticed the "closed" signs were gone. It looks really nice, and if it's anything like the JBJ rest stop, there should be some cool memorabilia in there, too. 

I've been taking 139B for the past year, still prefer getting to Vauxhall Road through the rest stop.

wendy said:

sac said:

wendy said:

No toll jumpers. I used the McDonald's to yet avoid the toll and avoid the traffic leading up to the toll based on where I live in Maplewood. It was always better off to get off before 78 whether it's at a rest stop or at the exit before. 

I used it because it was just faster to get to my house than to mess with the I-78 exit, toll or no toll. You don't have to go through the rest stop if you just want to get on Vauxhall road. I usually just take Rt 22 the short distance to the Vauxhall ramp. 

Understood but the "Rt 22" is a nightmare imo.

I don't disagree, but it's a very short stretch of 22.

jamie said:

Is it open?

Partially. POPEYES , Starbucks,  and a convenience store are open,however Shake Shack hasn't opened yet.   At least that is what I have been told Maybe I'll pass by on may way home from work tomorrow's.

Mattie5 said:

jamie said:

Is it open?

Partially. POPEYES , Starbucks,  and a convenience store are open,however Shake Shack hasn't opened yet.   At least that is what I have been told Maybe I'll pass by on may way home from work tomorrow's.

The gas station is open and you can definitely still cut through to Vauxhall Road.  Go to the left side of the building.

yahooyahoo said:

The gas station is open and you can definitely still cut through to Vauxhall Road.  Go to the left side of the building.

If you aim straight for the gas station, you can go through to Vauxhall without hitting the stop signs.

ridski said:

If you aim straight for the gas station, you can go through to Vauxhall without hitting the stop signs.

Phrasing!

mrincredible said:

ridski said:

If you aim straight for the gas station, you can go through to Vauxhall without hitting the stop signs.

Phrasing!

Point taken. If you don't turn before driving into the gas station, you'll probably end up landing on Route 22, so if you want to go to Vauxhall, trying turning first.

Wait... did they change the service roads back there? I don't think there was any way to get to Rt 22 from the rest area service roads... other than maybe through the shubbery. (Oh.. now I'm guessing that was the expected outcome of not turning).

sprout said:

Wait... did they change the service roads back there? I don't think there was any way to get to Rt 22 from the rest area service roads... other than maybe through the shubbery. (Oh.. now I'm guessing that was the expected outcome of not turning).

Nah. I was just kidding around.

I just opped in Whitney Houston rest stop....Popeyes is open...Applegreen is like a mini 7-11; shake schack is still "in training" but the place itself is fully built. The bathrooms are meticulously clean and its nice to know that when you're driving on the GSP and "mother nature" calls, you dont have to sweat your brains out hoping you can make it back to maplewood before having "an accident"!

ridski said:

yahooyahoo said:

The gas station is open and you can definitely still cut through to Vauxhall Road.  Go to the left side of the building.

If you aim straight for the gas station, you can go through to Vauxhall without hitting the stop signs.

Tried your advice today. Worked like a charm.

Is Shake Shack open yet?

sac said:

Is Shake Shack open yet?

It's not showing up on their app yet.

Shake Shack is open.  You have to go in - drive thru is for Starbucks.

They don't have online ordering.

They only have the basic burgers.  I was hoping to get their hot chicken sandwich - but not available there.  Also, they have a Spicy Shackmeister Burger, but that not available there either.

I just realized... I don't think I ever went inside the old rest stop. Drove through to get to Vauxhall a bazillion times over the past 20 years. (Remember the 'before times' when there wasn't yet a ramp to get onto 78 West directly from GSP?)  Maybe once I got McD drive thru for the kids. But as far as I recall, never went in.

Wonder if I'll ever go into this one. Shake Shack seems appealing.

Sometimes it was a convenient spot for a restroom break if I didn’t think I could make it another 10-15 minutes home. 

The state has torn down and rebuilt a number of the rest stops. They’re much nicer, brighter and more open. They throw in some NJ cultural history associated with the person the rest stop is named after. I personally like the Judy Blume one. 

I think I’ve said it before but it seems like they’re making them a little more appealing for people that might be stopping for 15-30 minutes to eat something and charge their EV for a little while. Not sure if that was the intent, but I think it will work out that way. 

Unfortunately I dont  think they added EV charging there, did they?  We did a college tour over the summer and stopped at a few rest stops in NY to charge.  The rates were high, but I didn't mind.  We also happily bought coffee and snacks.  

Of course I wouldn't need one at this stop, but travellers might.  

DanDietrich said:

Unfortunately I dont  think they added EV charging there, did they?  We did a college tour over the summer and stopped at a few rest stops in NY to charge.  The rates were high, but I didn't mind.  We also happily bought coffee and snacks.  

Of course I wouldn't need one at this stop, but travellers might.  

I didn’t notice, honestly. But the chargers seem to be appearing at more and more rest stops (I’m on the turnpike and parkway a lot for work).  I see Tesla chargers for the most part, which I think is smart marketing for them. If you’re considering an electric car and every rest stop and Wawa you see has Tesla chargers I’m sure that’s going to make the brand all the more enticing.