Chuck E Cheeses Memories (Make me want to go to back there)

200STM

200STM

CAGiversary!
Hey there CAGs its 200STM here again and I got an interesting thread full of cheesy memories! It all started after I got frustrated playing Silent Hill 1 that I decided to check out some youtube videos and I found a video of a family enjoying themselves at a chuck e cheeses from the mid 1990s. I watched it and it brought back memories of my visits to chuck e cheeses here in Bakersfield. CAGs what are some of your memories going to a chuck e cheeses if you were able to during your childhood or recently?
 
I remember when I was little (I think 5) I used to be afraid of chuck e when he walked around hugging kids and what not I always used to go hide in the tube section (I thought I was smart since he wouldn't fit in the tubes :3 lol). I also remember when I was 16 I took my girlfriend there on a date once and she was like I'm not going to hug him being typical emo 16 year old girl and I went to get a soda and I saw chuck e there and told him to go hug her and he walked to our table as she got up to get her salad, she said "no hugs" to him and I said go for it and he gave her a hug lol she was so embarrass it was funny haha. I also remember my friend Alex and I went there (Age 20) to celebrate us beating Resident Evil 5 and it was very funny and slightly homo erotic but we just had a blast since the same day we were going to see some bands play at jerrys pizza.
 
As a kid that place seemed massive, as least the one I went to - this would be like mid to late 80's. It was a Chuck E Cheese, not a Showbiz...although I think a year or two after I was too old for it, it did become a Showbiz, then later a Pizza Time Theater.

Arcade games out front, about 12-14 of them. Beyond that was the dining area which resembled a school cafeteria, just with lower lighting and carpet. That's where the animatronic puppet stage was. I wouldn't say I was "scared" of them, but every once in a while when the stage was dark and there was no performance going on, one of them would like jolt up, open its eyes, and look back and forth or something, then go back to "sleep." That was just weird.

Beyond the dining area were the back rooms, which consisted of a small room with 4 or 5 more arcade games, then beyond that were the plastic ball pits, which were my favorites. Thinking about how gross that shit was is a little disturbing now, but at the time I couldn't have cared less.

The whole place beyond the front lobby/arcade games area seemed really dark. That sort of added to the atmosphere for me, really.

My friend's young brother had his birthday party at a Chuck E Cheese in the mid 90's - I went along and was pretty surprised to see how different it was. It wasn't the same location but it was just nothing like what I remembered from the one I went to. It was essentially one big room with a few arcade machines, a few ski ball ramps, small indoor tubes/slides for kids to crawl around on (nowhere near as large as the ones you see at BK & McDonalds), and tables to sit at while eating. No creepy animatronics, no giant pits full of plastic to jump in. Everything was well lit and it seemed too crazy with everyone packed in the same giant room.

Clearly, the dream was dead.

...uh, this may not make you want to go back there.
 
@KaneRobot I am 21 and I grew up during the 1990's when chuck e cheeses was becoming a much lesser experience. I think it's because the focus used to be having a fun entertaining eating experience backed up with animatronics and arcade games. Sadly during the late 1990's as I remember in 1996 our Bakersfield Chuck E Cheeses still had all of the pizza time players as individual animatronics I think they decided to downsize and use cost effective measures. This meant less fun shows, all the stores were the same nothing made them stand out, group animatronics were reduced to 3 or 1 (just Big C himself) and instead of having many rooms just break down the walls and stuff it in a big room. I wish I could have experience the better time of chuck e cheeses and the other show biz offerings in the 80's but I was born too late (1989). Thanks for sharing your memories!
 
I've taken my nephews and niece to the one in Bloomington, IL a couple times. They always have a lot of fun.

That location has 40(?) or so arcade games, all of which are one token (that rocks). They even have a few games there I like to play (Mario Kart GX 2). Then, they've got the "playplace" which essentially looks like an old Burger King/McDonald's playground area. And the rest of the store is that eating area. We never eat at the place though, so I can't comment on the food.

Overall though, it's nice taking a few kids in there and letting them run around. But then, the location I have taken them to has been a madhouse everytime we went. Wall-to-wall kids and parents.
 
Sadly I missed this. Our best and only arcade was gone in the late 80's and I've had to deal with 'food court arcade' since then, except for one tiny but good one that didn't last very long. I gotta go on vacations to find them, lol. Or keep adding to my console collection to compensate. A D&B would be nice.
 
Chuck E Cheese fucking sucks now. They don't have the animatronic band anymore. The rat is still there, some poor bastard that works in the kitchen probably, has to come out between cooking pizzas to put the suit on and have all his female co-workers point and snicker at them. Then he gets to point and snicker at them when they all have to sing "Happy Birthday" to a kid in monotone harmony. Then they literally kick you out because your time is up. The ball rolling game and basketball shooting game are the only remaining hallmarks.

The one in Flint, Michigan is awesome though. They have more rumbles than a back-to-back viewing of Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse. One night they had some gangbanger girls get in a fight and the cops came to break it up. The next night some bikers got into a battle royale, throwing chairs at eachother, the whole nine yards. Cops came out again and didn't know what the fuck to do so they pepper sprayed everyone, kids included.
 
^^^ That sounds like the Mecca of Chuck E Cheeses. I'm only about an hour from F-F-F-F-Flint town, I may have to make the journey some day.
 
^^^ You might not be able to find it. All the road signs have been changed since the Mayor renamed it to Thunderdome.
 
[quote name='200STM']I remember when I was little (I think 5) I used to be afraid of chuck e when he walked around hugging kids and what not I always used to go hide in the tube section (I thought I was smart since he wouldn't fit in the tubes :3 lol). I also remember when I was 16 I took my girlfriend there on a date once and she was like I'm not going to hug him being typical emo 16 year old girl and I went to get a soda and I saw chuck e there and told him to go hug her and he walked to our table as she got up to get her salad, she said "no hugs" to him and I said go for it and he gave her a hug lol she was so embarrass it was funny haha. I also remember my friend Alex and I went there (Age 20) to celebrate us beating Resident Evil 5 and it was very funny and slightly homo erotic but we just had a blast since the same day we were going to see some bands play at jerrys pizza.[/QUOTE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzU9_J5Iuw&feature=related

You took your girlfriend on a date to Chuck E Cheese? And went there as a 20 year old man to celebrate beating a video game?
 
When I lived in AZ as a kid, my mom would take Summer courses at NAU in Flagstaff. The Chuck E Cheese there was kinda small, but I still thought it was awesome. Any time I went there, it was pretty much mandatory that I first play TMNT. I also remember that place being the first time I ever played APB. I thought the wheel and pedal was "OMG SO REALISTIC!" at that age.
 
My friend use to work at one way back when and everytime he hears Fleetwood Mac's "Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow" he wants to get up and start hugging people. Almost like instinct now.
 
All I ever hear about Chuck E Cheese anymore is that the police are constantly responding to everything from fistfights between parents to freaking full-scale riots there.
 
My parents told me that while I lived in H (I was only 6 months old at the time), the town I lived in had both a Chuck E Cheese and Showbiz Pizza. This was back in 1983. Showbiz Pizza was closer, so that's what my Mom took my sister and I too. When I moved to Indiana, we only had Showbiz Pizza, so that's what I went to for years.

Despite my awesome memory, I don't remember much as a kid outside of going on the rides, getting tickets to get random stuff, eating pizza and cotton candy. I was always excited to go.

ShowBiz Pizza commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LHVYdIFMRw

Then back in 1991 or 1992, my Showbiz Pizza turned into a Chuck E Cheese. They remodeled the place a bit. As a kid I was a tad hesitant on the change (figuring the pizza I loved would be different), but it tasted the same. Most of my Chuck E Cheese time was spent playing games (such as Ski Ball, the Bozo the Clown game, etc.), pizza, and getting games. I think the last time I went was in Junior High school.

In the Baltimore area, I've seen 4 Chuck E Cheese locations, but I hear the one in Bel Air, MD is the best because it has quite a bit (maybe had stuff for adults too?). I am tempted to enter a Chuck E Cheese one day, but I'm old and have no kids right now.

Yeah, I also grew up with Children's Palace instead of Toy's R Us throughout the 80's.
 
Chuck E Cheese always blew. I remember playing ski ball and whack a mole there as a child, but I hated the pizza and all the prizes sucked. Couldn't we just have ordered a pizza while I played SNES at home? Oh, and someone get me fucking toy...
 
Yeah, their pizza is lackluster. But I was there for my niece and nephew's 5th birthday this past March. We had a lot of fun though. Me and my niece kept playing this arcade racing game and this shooting game where you're on a boat and have to turn this wheel. We had a blast, but I couldn't imagine going there as far as by myself is concerned.
 
At least as a parent it's a place for kids to have fun while ya grab a beer. And while the pizza isn't as good as it used to be, it's not the worst.
 
I think the reason I can't remember any of the times going there is because it was too creepy in some way or another.

[quote name='200STM']@ Mana I have never been to Dave & Busters I don't think theres one in Bakersfield.[/QUOTE]

BE THANKFUL, also... DON'T go to the one in Milpenis, Ca... You've been warned.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']I think the reason I can't remember any of the times going there is because it was too creepy in some way or another.



BE THANKFUL, also... DON'T go to the one in Milpenis, Ca... You've been warned.[/QUOTE]

Haha you said Milpenis.
 
I'd love to see what the one I used to go to in San Diego in the 80s looked like. In my memories it was the giant, magical place with tubes going up through the ceiling to climb around in, a bottomless ball pit, and hundreds or arcade machines.

Then again, maybe it's better to remember it that way.
 
My friend Taylor had his 16th or 17th birthday party there. We (Taylor, our friend Megan, and myself) were sitting at the table stuffing as much crap into our friend Sam's drink as possible. Yes, we were and still are immature if you were asking yourself. Megan decided to take a drink, and I vomited all over my pants.
 
There's 2 Chucks out around here but I haven't been to one in like 15 years.

Even as a kid I disliked those places and only went to play the video games. The pizza was always horrible and the atmosphere was like a Disney ghetto with trash all over the floors.

One hilarious time though we were watching the robots singing (one had it's pants half off and you could see the wires and bars inside). They began singing the song "Why Can't We Be Friends" and everyone was wondering about the part where they sing the part "I saw you standing in the welfare line". When the verse came up it was changed to something like "i saw you standing in the pizza line" and the whole place started cracking up.
 
thank nolan bushnell for chuckee cheese he came up with it as a place to have videogames and he pretty much admitted the pizza was shitty games came first. im surprised people would even bother going to those places anymore with all the pedos and ghetto family fights that inhabit those places.

on top of that you can just eat pizza at home and play some console games with your friends without having to worry about picking up some weird kind of disease.
 
The last time I went to a Chuck E. Cheese, I saw a kid walking around with an obviously full mouth. It was full of tokens. When he was going to play a game, he'd spit one out into his hand.
 
Alright, time to make me feel old.

Like a few of you, I remember when it was Showbiz Pizza. I was getting tests done in Illinois (For what, I can't remember. Probably seeing a eye specialist or some shit.). I got rewarded with a trip to Showbiz for being good. I don't remember much beyond the animatronic band and a few rounds of Skee-Ball, honestly. But, if I rummage through my junk boxes, I might be able to find my Showbiz Pizza wallet somewhere.

Most recently, I went to Chuck E. Cheese in Merrillville, IN. This was probably 2005 or 2006 when I went, though. My stepbrother and his kids came up into town for the week, so I tagged along when they were going. Also, had to be at work shortly after we got there. Work was right across the street. I remember that I wasn't particularly thrilled with the gaming selection and that the pizza was rather mediocre. Haven't went back since.

However, for anyone here who might be familiar with the Northwest Indiana region, I remember a bitchin' place called Celebration Station. This place had it all and was pretty big, too. It had a two-floor arcade, mini amusement park outside with go-karts, huge ball pit, and a dining area with a dance floor right in the middle. It was the bee's knees when I was little. Unfortunately, they tore it down here a few years back. That bummed me out when I heard about it. Heck, even in the last few years their arcade was one of the best in getting the more recent stuff in. One of my pals went there constantly for his DDR fix.

So yeah. There's my reminiscing my childhood post.
 
I had my 3rd birthday party there. I was a spoiled SOB. I also liked their pizza a lot- is it actually good or is it just the nostalgia talking? Anyone had it recently? We just moved and there is one just down the road.
 
[quote name='CosmosTheMouse']There's 2 Chucks out around here but I haven't been to one in like 15 years.

Even as a kid I disliked those places and only went to play the video games. The pizza was always horrible and the atmosphere was like a Disney ghetto with trash all over the floors.

One hilarious time though we were watching the robots singing (one had it's pants half off and you could see the wires and bars inside). They began singing the song "Why Can't We Be Friends" and everyone was wondering about the part where they sing the part "I saw you standing in the welfare line". When the verse came up it was changed to something like "i saw you standing in the pizza line" and the whole place started cracking up.[/QUOTE]

cool story bro
 
The one in Saginaw, MI is so bad I won't go near there with a 10 foot pool. Gang fights, SHOOTINGS, I don't know how the place is even still open to be honest.
 
Yeah, the Saginaw one is shit now. The city of Saginaw as a whole is fucking sad.

When I was a kid you didn't have these thug kids anywhere. Now you can find them all over the place like locusts, especially the rural townships. Raised by MTV and hip hop culture to only value bitches, bling, and baller dollars. A girl I used to work with went to Saginaw High and said they had to move the prom to the civic center for more security. They had SWAT snipers on the roof of the parking garage across the street. Yes, for a prom.

Now Bay City is getting bad because all the well-meaning people want to leave Sagnasty and move to a safer place to raise their thug children.
 
I remember going to the local Chuck E Cheese (or it might have been Showbiz Pizza) in the 80's. I somewhat remember this large play area I think called the cheese factory, it wasn't a modern type with tubes to crawl through, it looked like a real factory with different rooms.

Then in the early 90's, a more modern location opened up near me with ticket games and a newer play area. I remember one ball pit was for kids 3 - 7 and the other for 7 - 12 and then there was a tube slide. I also remember the video games being Jurrasic Park, with a bench that moved, some Sega helicopter game and later in the 90's, they got some Street Luge game from Namco, Star Wars Arcade and Sega GT.

I haven't been to a Chuck E Cheese in close to 10 years but if I didn't feel so weird about it (and I hear some locations require you to have a kid with you, but for some reason I remember my local one having a rule posted that you have to be 18 to enter alone), I would go back. They advertise all games are 1 token, and with the 100 tokens for $10 I sometimes see posted on SlickDeals, I could play a round of Pump It Up for 10 cents. 1 game can last over 6 minutes if you get the bonus stage which is an awesome deal.

I go to Dave and Buster's once in a while now but it is such a ripoff, even with a coupon. Even the cheapest games are around $0.60 before any discounts and 16 year old games like Daytona USA are around $1.50 before any discounts.
 
[quote name='Halo05']I'd love to see what the one I used to go to in San Diego in the 80s looked like. In my memories it was the giant, magical place with tubes going up through the ceiling to climb around in, a bottomless ball pit, and hundreds or arcade machines.

Then again, maybe it's better to remember it that way.[/QUOTE]

You're not far off.

The Chuck E Cheeses in the 80s had many more videogames. Maybe not hundreds, but around 100. And none of this Vegas-like dump in your tokens and maybe get a ticket crap. Real videogames. Enough to form a maze to get lost in and not have to see the animatronic band or your parents.

I remember: Sinistar, Gorf, Berserk, Dig Dug, Robotron, Defender, Donkey Kong, Tempest. There were rows of them. Yeah, it looked bigger because I was smaller. But there really were many, many more games. At this time, Chuck E Cheese was not aimed at the 3 and under crowd with Teletubby rides, coloring games, and token-munching gambling games.

It was the only place I ever saw (and heard) a Gorf and I put token after token into Sinistar and Robotron despite sucking at them. (Back then, I had no hope for dual stick coordination. I guess some things get better with age.)

Chuck E Cheese had the third best arcade I remember -- the best was Starcade at Disneyland and the next best were the miniature golf places. But Chuck E Cheese was no slouch (although back then the pizza really was terrible).

And I do think the ball pit was bottomless.
 
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