The 2000s KFC Kids' Meal That's Dripping With Nostalgia

Hard to believe it, but the "kids" who were born in the year 2000 are now fully fledged adults. Their childhoods were filled with iconic toys, popular weekend cartoons, and, of course, fast food kids meals, many of which featured TV and movie tie-ins. Others went in a different direction, instead capitalizing on the newfound and growing ubiquity of the latest technology, like mini gaming consoles. The chicken chain KFC was another such example — in the 2000s it did kids meals so right with its super-cool Laptop Meals.

These meals came in a box with a flip-up lid (like a laptop, hence the name) that revealed the food within, and the colorful boxes featured a variety of characters or themes, like "Curious George" and "The Land Before Time." Upon lifting the lid, kids would typically find chicken, two sides, like the chain's mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, as well as a drink, a packaged snack, like Cheetos, and a dessert-like item, like a granola bar or Teddy Grahams.

Even better, you (or rather, your parents) could purchase all that food in a neat little package for anywhere from $2.99 to $3.49. That was a pretty satisfying meal for not a lot of dough, which should have made parents just as happy as their kids.

Once reminded of these KFC Laptop Meals, naturally, 2000s kids were hit with a big wave of nostalgia. "These were like a fever dream for me because [I] thought about them for YEARS after they went away," a Redditor wrote. Another commenter said they consumed so many of the meals that they can "still taste" them.

Over on Instagram, a content creator posted a video about the Laptop Meals, to which one commenter replied, "You just unlocked a memory in my mind like I've been a sleeper agent for [20-plus] years," while another person said the meals were a must-have for them as a kid and that they would still buy them if KFC sold them today.

It does raise an interesting question, though. While diners may never get back KFC's discontinued Country Style Ribs, the chain has brought back fan favorites in the past, like its fried pickles, Original Honey BBQ Sauce, and Twister wraps. So why shouldn't the chain capitalize on Millennial and Gen Z nostalgia by reinstating something so beloved? Someone definitely thinks the Laptop Meals need to make a comeback, as they started a Change.org petition, so never say never.