Well, I survived.
My baby (my oldest baby, actually) just celebrated his fifth birthday. Five! When asked what kind of party he desired, he responded with a resounding "Let's go to Chuck E. Cheese!"
Now, listen. My kids are far from sheltered, but I try to avoid garbage-y/gimmick-y food attractions, namely because I value my self-preservation. But it's not every day that my baby turns five, so my husband and I grimaced wildly (and repeatedly), and then sucked it up and booked the party.
Here are the positives:
[x] At my last Chuck E. Cheese adventure, I'm fairly certain it went by the name of Showbiz Pizza (anyone remember this? Did I just give away my age? ;) so it's been a long ass time. That said, I was pleased to see that someone was at the door stamping and checking stamps (numbering system for child safety) accordingly--the whole time we were there.
[x] Our hostess (Taylor?) was amazing. Enthusiastic but not sickeningly so; completely helpful and not at all pushy. She ran the party without really running the whole thing over--just awesome..
[x] Apparently, they now have some sort of new pizza. It was surprisingly decent. I was expecting total garbage, and while I wouldn't wake up craving it in the night, it was still better than I expected it to be.
[x] The manager came over to each party and introduced herself, checking to see how we were doing, if we needed anything, and if we were all having a great time. I think her name was Angie. And she was great, too.
[x] It was overall a LOT cleaner than I had anticipated. I can't speak for the bathrooms since I didn't experience them, but the restaurant was well lit, as clean as it probably could be (all things considered equal), and didn't make me feel like peeling my own skin off.
[x] Every game is one token. The kids were all over this. And you get lots of extra tokens if you book online or at certain times, etc.
[x] We booked the party package of $17.99 per child and they spared no expense in making sure my son was one of Chuck E.'s "guests of honor". He loved it. The other kids fared pretty well, too.
Here are the negatives:
[x] The party area is pretty close quarters which makes it A.) even more ridiculously loud and B.) hard to maneuver through the aisles to your table/seat. We were seated right in front of the "performance piece" (read as: creepy motorized animals), but I could see how someone with a party at one of the back tables might be pissed. Make sure you reserve extra seats so you have a place to set your gifts. Rather have extra seating than not enough.
[x] As it turns out, my four year old daughter was terrified of the costumed Chuck E. making the rounds. If you have a kid who doesn't jive with life size animal costumes, I'd exercise extreme caution during the birthday show.
[x] That brings me to the actual birthday show. It was cute, engaged the kids, celebrated birthdays, etc., but the motorized animals performed once during our two hour party package. I mean, I know I'm old school, but I remember those motorized Showbiz creepers taking, like, a ten minute "break" every hour. I think it would've been a bit more engaging had they turned on the motorized entertainment.
[x] This should probably go without saying but there are a lot of little kids at this place. If you're not willing to dodge the errant two year old on the run or deal with the bossy seven year old who won't take turns, chances are you'll leave this place a little steamed.
[x] Per my husband (who was on "bathroom duty" at the party), the bathrooms were okay but could've stood a more regular once-over.
[x] It is loud. Not like Ozzy Osbourne in concert loud, but loud enough. So while you don't need earplugs, you should come armed with Excedrin.
[x] Cashing in the tickets is a lot easier with the automated machines, but since all games only cost one token, the "prizes" are total garbage. My kids wound up with a TON of tickets and it bought a load of crap. One small, temporary (i.e., last through one bath maybe) tattoo? 10 tickets. Lots of tickets, little prizes; hope they recycle those suckers.
All in all, it was a pretty decent experience. My now five year old loved it to bits and that's what matters the most. On a rainy day, we'd probably return, but I don't know if it would be, say, my restaurant of choice for my personal birthday celebration. But the sweet siren song of the motorized Rat? It will lure my kids in for many years to come, I think. :) read more