According to an employee at my local McDonald's, they use the same vanilla syrup that they use for the rest of their McCafe beverages (it is also possible my local McDonald's jumped the gun and started offering it before actually getting the new syrup, if there is one). So basically if said employee was correct, it's just a Vanilla Latte, which technically wasn't on the menu before (they've always offered a latte with a choice of syrup if you so chose).
Update 12/1/12 - McDonald's confirmed that the syrup is a newly-developed syrup with a "sweet, creamy vanilla flavor."
Update 10/31/12 - I stopped by another McDonald's in my area. The menu board now only offers "French Vanilla" and "Sugar-Free French Vanilla" syrups with no mention of plain "Vanilla" syrup.
It is also possible that McDonald's just decided to rename their vanilla syrup as "French vanilla syrup." In support of that, here's a screenshot from the McDonald's website with a description of the new French Vanilla Latte:
So what is French Vanilla? It doesn't actually refer to a type of vanilla bean (like Tahitian or Madagascar), but actually refers to the French method of making ice cream with a egg custard base (which explains why French vanilla tends to be more yellow than regular vanilla ice cream). How that applies to coffee I'm not sure. But, I would hazard a guess that it should be a vanilla custard flavor, which makes sense with the popularity of egg nog this time of year.
The price is the same as a regular McCafe Latte which ranges form $2.29 to $3.29 in my area.
McDonalds may be slowly but surely attempting to expand then expand some more until Michelin gives them one or more of those coveted stars.
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