Okay, disclaimer- I’m only posting this cos the cold medicine is making me loopy.
I’m the only human being in the world who actually likes the fact that I get ice in my diet coke at fast food places, right?
Ice is fine in summer but not in the winter unless soda is hot. People feel that they are being cheated becuse the use of ice is excessive in fast food places ect.
I don’t mind a little ice. It’s when they put as much in there as possible so that I only get 6 ounces of soda in a 20 ounce cup that I feel cheated.
Supposedly the soda/syrup mix is calibrated to correspond to a half cup of ice. (Bear in mind the cup is tapered, so that an actual half cup will look like almost two thirds of a cup.) Too much ice and you get a watery drink, too little and you get a too-syrupy tasting drink. (This is what we were repeatedly told when I worked for a theater chain. We were admonished for both under and over icing.)
Me? I like ice.
They don’t usually advertise it but generally fast-food places offer free refills.
There’s something about the flavor of the ice at McDonalds which makes the Coke taste slightly different. So if I’m getting a coke at McD’s (which is the only thing I get there, being a vegetarian-type person) I get ice. If I’m getting a drink anywhere else, I go ice-free or ask for light ice, and make them take it back if there’s too much. I’m demanding like that. 
I have filled up a fast-food cup from a bottle of Coke, and I could taste the difference between the bottled Coke and the fountain Coke. What this means, I have no idea.
SanibelMan - different syrup/soda water ratio. I prefer fresh-mixed fountain coke, myself - someday I’m getting a Coke fountain installed in the kitchen.
Actually, fastfood joint’s syrup/soda drinks hurt my toung about 1/2 way through the drink…
You need the ice. You need it to put down people backs. You Coke wont taste the same otherwise.