Fun With Chuck E.

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Last weekend we took our kids (5, 3, and 1) for their first visit to Chuck E. Cheese’s for an end-of-summer family outing and they loved it!

As soon As we walked in the door their faces had that I’m-so-excited-I-can’t-be-still-or-stop-asking-if-I-can-play-RIGHT-NOW looks. I love that.

The first thing you do when you go to Chuck E. Cheese’s is get a little stamp on your hand. Everyone in our group got one and I didn’t have any idea what it was for until I tried to go out to the car with Linus to get something we’d forgotten. Everyone in our group had the same number stamp on our hands and as we left they checked our hands to make sure we didn’t have any extras – it’s a brilliant child safety strategy.

I was really concerned at first because I was worried about losing track of my kids and someone running off with them, but this safety check point totally put my mind at ease. I knew no one was going to get out of the building unnoticed and certainly not with one of my kids.

The ink shows up under the blue light that’s only in the Kid Check area so creepers can’t peek at your number and reproduce it for child nabbing purposes. Whew! I honestly felt like we were all safe and I didn’t have to worry. I never feel like that!

Right away I noticed all the games required only 1 token each. This was my first time at Chuck E. Cheese’s too and I was prepared for the ridiculous carnival type ride fares…but 1 token! All games!

Game tokens are $.25 each or less, making Chuck E. Cheese’s a great place to go for a play group with friends, as a whole family, or on a daddy/daughter date!

So prices are great but what about germs? Mounted on a little half wall just in front of the games – Hand sanitizer! I saw dispensers throughout the restaurant and wanted to kiss them all, but that wouldn’t be very sanitary…so I didn’t. But YES! I worried less about germs and more about having fun!

We ordered our pizza (half Canadian bacon, half barbecue chicken) and got busy playing while we waited to eat. This monster truck was our introductory game and it was perfect for two rowdy little boys. They were a little scared but mostly thrilled. I like a little fear in their fun, there’s more caution that way…

We were armed with 30 tokens, more than enough for us to try almost everything out and go back for more of our favorites.

Boyd and I hit up the Basketball Game at the very end and were there for…a few minutes…while Elliot and Gus played on the little playground. We ran out of tokens on the basketball game…oops…sorry kids!

I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of ages the games served – there were games for every age group and we saw kids of all ages having a great time.

Meal times are usually a struggle…they’re kids and kids are trouble at the table! But honestly, these two ate their pizza (two pieces each, a Chuck E. Cheese’s miracle! and with a tiny bit of silliness…) in record time and wanted to get back to the games!

Boyd and I were impressed with the pizza – the barbecue chicken was really good. It comes with big chunks of red onion and green peppers – the veggies had great flavor and I loved the big chunks. Yum! The Large size we ordered was perfect for our family of 4 1/2.

These two are stinkers, yes, but sweet stinkers and such good friends! They were inseparable throughout the evening and had such a fun time together.

This game was Gus’ favorite – you shoot water in the center of that volcano looking thing. The longer you keep the stream of water hitting dead center, the more tickets you get! Turning in all the tickets at the end was another highlight and a first for my boys. We had enough tickets to get 14 SweeTart candy rolls. What a way to end the night! We had an affordable and fabulous time – we will be visiting again soon for sure!

For more information, visit Chuck E. Cheese’s website and stay connected by liking Chuck E. Cheese’s page on Facebook.

WIN $100 CHUCK E. CHEESE’S GIFT CARD! Why does your family love Chuck E. Cheese’s? Leave your answer in a comment below to enter to win!

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72 thoughts on “Fun With Chuck E.”

  3. I try to avoid Chuck E. Cheese (or as my son says Chunky Cheese) at all costs, but you made it sound not quite so scary. I’m sure my kids would love to check it out!

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  6. We love that you can eat and be entertained all in one place. There are games for kids of all ages and my kids love redeeming their tickets for prizes at the end of our stay there!

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  28. I have personally never been but my husband took our son recently and he said they had a great time. What a great excuse for me to go check it out!

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  39. We love Chuck E Cheese’s for much of the same reason that you list. We have a blast there (10am on a Tuesday is the perfect time to go because no one else is there!) and it isn’t super expensive. My children haven’t even learned that all those tickets we earn are then turned into prizes. Shhh!

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  45. My kids love Chuck E Cheese, because there is a side for older kids and a side for the little ones. They always have a blast playing games and riding rides!

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  47. My son loves Chuck E Cheese because of the games…or is it he loves the tickets that the games give out and the little prizes he gets to take home! I love the enclosed space, with no worries about his running out the door or someone trying to take him out the door!

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  55. My daughter is really crazy for CEC,and not only her but me too.I like the way of all different vaiety of games,which are really brain inspiring and when u play perfect u will get tickets.we have earn lots of tickeets and my daughter loves to get the gifts from tickets..and more of these all is food….Me and my daughter love the vege pizza…Its so much fun and my child is safe.Birthday celebration is great in CEC….my daughter’s bday we celebrated there and it was really a lots of fun and no hazzal at home…just dress up nice and come back with so much fun and lots of coin…..CEC we loves uuuuu…

    a few seconds ago · Like..

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  56. Perfect place to have a weekday party for preschoolers, and good food
    There are plenty of games for the older and younger kids, all the games are age-appropriate!
    karenmed409 at comcast dot net

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