5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The 2012 Olympic Games, London

1. The Olympic Park is home to the world’s largest – and busiest – McDonalds. Seating 1,500 people and serving the broadest menu ever provided at an Olympic Games (Happy Meals will be available for the first time, for example), the principle of sustainability is at the heart of this enterprise.

McDonalds in the Olympic Park, East London. Image: McDonalds

About 75 per cent (more than 5,500) of the items (furniture, kitchens, even the cooking oil!) are designed to be recyclable or reused after the Games, and will be moved to other McDonald’s outlets (vehicles in the case of the oil) in the UK. Once the Games are over, Moscow’s Pushkin Square branch will regain its crown as the biggest McDonald’s in the world.

2. Tickets are still available. According to latest reports, 200,000 football tickets and 200,000 tickets for other sports will go on sale, returns from international Olympic committees. But you’ll need to move very, very quickly and be flexible! Tickets are being released day by day from now until July 27. You can still get lucky and end up with access to the Closing Ceremony, Athletics – Marathon, Football, Handball, Hockey, Sailing, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Water Polo, as well as for medal sessions in the men’s Beach Volleyball competition.

Olympic tickets – there are still some floating about

There are also a limited number of suite tickets available at North Greenwich Arena (also known as O2 Arena), where you can watch women’s basketball medal sessions, Gymnastics – Artistic and Gymnastics – Trampoline.

The Orbit in the Olympic Park. Image: london2012.com

3. You can soak up all the atmosphere and excitement of the Olympic Park and visit the Orbit. Olympic Park tickets are still available (don’t hang around!) from the london2012 website for £10. Pay by Visa (debit, credit and prepaid cards) only. Tickets for the Orbit cost £15, but are only available with a ticket for the Olympic Park or for a sport session in the Olympic Park. Don’t forget to search the Paralympic events for these tickets too, if you’re planning a later trip to London.

The Anish Kapoor-designed Orbit is the tallest art structure in the UK and from the viewing platform (at 85 metres high), London’s skyline is laid out in all its splendour. It will close after the Games, but re-open in late 2013, when it will no doubt vie with the Shard for view-hungry visitors.

4. For London 2012 the costume department is producing so many outfits you could wear something new every day for 63 years. Sixty-three also happens to be the age difference between the youngest performers (just seven) and the oldest (a sprightly 70). Some volunteers are delighting in the opportunity to don dungarees!

Wenlock and Mandeville in chocolate. Image cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk

5. The Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, were formed, it is said, from two blobs of steel in a Bolton steelworks.

Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock, a town in Shropshire where the the Olympian Society Annual Games, a forerunner of the modern Olympics, were held.

Mandeville is named for Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which organised the Stoke Mandeville Games, the precursor of the Paralympics.

You’ll find the pair taking lots of forms in London’s shops! Chocolate, jelly, plush…

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