Bankrupt - Chuck E Cheese's 

Every BANKRUPT episode ever... Step one - Founder has a vision Step two - Founder works hard to build a successful company Step three - Private Equity Firm buys company Step four - Bankruptcy

As someone who has studied business and has a sister in childcare, if you cut corners in a kid-oriented business they WILL notice. everytime one of these companies tries to go "fancy" and "modern" and loses the magic, kids don't want to go anymore. That kind of thing has RUINED many a restaurant in my town.

As an adult there is no way I would have ever been able to deal with being in a place like Chuck E Cheeses without alcohol.

Kids growing up today will never know how it felt to be a superstar when you had your birthday party there back in the day. You were literally a King or Queen.

If I was in charge of Chuck E. Cheese, I'd rebrand one or two restaraunts and theme them back to their original 1981 design, complete with retro arcade machines of the time. A lot of their fanbase are now adults, so it would be a hit for both nostalgia and parents showing kids how the restaurant was like when they were their age. But what would I know?

Chuck E. Cheese is what fueled my love of clinking, shiny coinage. Hearing the company replacing them with flimsy, dull cards was heartbreaking.

Losing the singing puppets is not what killed Chuck E's It was all about the games and tickets. In the 80s the place was absolutely crammed with great machines for 1 or 2 tokens. When it started costing 4 -8 tokens to play anything, and home gaming got better, there was no reason to go outside of friend's birthdays

I really hope we're nearing the end of the "minimalistic", flat corporate design of the 2010s. It's time for fun to come back again.

One thing that wasn't mentioned here is the amazing coupons that Chuck E. Cheese offered in the mid/late 90's, as well as the extra awards to kids for good report cards. As a single mom, those coupons for buying a large pizza and getting 40 or so extra tokens for my kids was invaluable!! If not for that, we couldn't have afforded to go there. But thanks to that, we spent many happy days at Chuck E. Cheese. 😀

I remember as a kid losing interest in chuckecheese when they took away the tickets. Collecting the tickets and buying stuff with the physical ticket itself was so much fun as a kid. Digital ticketing took that magic away.

One of the biggest mistakes I think was getting rid of the animatronics, people nowadays make jokes about them but during their golden years in the 80s and 90s when they were well kept and the company put effort into the shows and birthday parties, it was a huge draw for families because it was so unique and iconic, no other kids place had something appear so extravagant. Also, for the birthday shows, you could tell the employees cared and loved what they were doing. In all the VHS and home video recordings you see, all the workers had a smile on their face, were genuine, and had fun singing the songs and dancing which then rubbed off on the families, friends, and atmosphere of the location and it showed. In the 80s, 90s, and even in the early 2000s before its decline there were dozens of birthdays held there daily and every location was bustling.

As a person who LOVED Chuck E Cheese as a child, this is a heartbreaking story. But since becoming a parent since their last bankruptcy, I appreciate my local CEC because my daughter is absolutely OBSESSED! Luckily we didn’t get the complete modernized concept. We have the play pass now but the building itself is still old school, which brings a small feeling of nostalgia while making new memories with the next generation

It went from a fun old school Disney experience to Orwellian Cafeteria with flat screens.

The facts that the tubes no longer exist is depressing. Growing up as a kid rushing through the tunnels and ball pits was a high I will never reach again

It's amazing how many companies seem to not realize why they are successful

It looks silly now, but if you were a kid in the 80s or 90s, Chuck E Cheese was super fun. The animatronics were really cool, having an arcade in a pizza shop was amazing, and the pizza(to a kid) was good.

I was so excited to bring my nephew last year. He finally was old enough to understand arcade games and I hyped it up sooo much. We walk in the doors, there’s no fun climbing structures anymore, probably 1/5 of the games, and it’s not a fun colorful place anymore. The 5 year old came up to me the other day and said “I just wanna tell you bowlero is cooler than Chuck E. Cheese”. I was like I know kid I know

As someone who's into architectural design, especially vintage or historic styles, it annoys me how companies decide to make something all bland and boring because "modernnnnn", which is a problem thats prominent with not only Chuck E. Cheeses, but especially Mc.Donalds and many other prominent food chains. Like, the wood style of the 70s is oddly comforting and I'd even go as far as to say it's beautiful, like some elaborate cabin or lodge, and even the 80s, 90s and 2000s design were charming and had their own distinct character that the modern facilities now lack. Obviously some designs from those eras can become dated, but at least give the "modern" redesign some bright colors other than white, brown and muted green-

It's always sad that every "rebranding" to "fit with the times" always boils down to "adults not thinking how kids will enjoy things". And even as someone who never went to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid (poor family, yaaaaay), this still made me sad.

Chuck E. Cheese holds a lot of nostalgia for me and i guess it has come to what Jake said “the place where the kids that could be kids have finally grownup”.

Something that I've always found interesting is that from the '90s right up until they were discontinued, Chuck E. Cheese's animatronic characters had their performances programmed via a single 1.4 MB floppy disk that was swapped out on a semi-monthly basis. And I've heard that a small community of people have been tracking down these floppies and are trying to reverse engineer the code to work with Arduino-based robots, so Charles Entertainment Cheese and pals may have an unexpected revival in the future.

These new stores somehow look more liminal and depressing than if they'd left them alone.

Given the maintenance costs I’m not surprised that they decided to do away with the animatronics, but getting rid of the free attractions and the tokens was stupid. Kids love small shiny things, not boring plastic cards. And when people feel they are getting something for free they will, ironically, probably spend more money because the ROI is higher than if they walked in knowing they would have to pay for every attraction

As a kid I really liked the dimly lit aesthetic at showbiz, felt like a nightclub for kids

Man, Chuck E. Cheese back in the early 90s was epic! From the invisible hand stamps to the big cup of tokens and dragging a bunch of tickets, that place was pure nostalgia good times.

I've always thought it was crazy that they abandoned the animatronics. It was such a cool and interesting concept, and obviously one that worked for some time. Especially these days with the popularity of Five Nights at Freddy's it seems like they'd latch onto that market as much as possible.

Thank you for this! While in college I worked for Showbiz Pizza, so I can confirm two things: First, there's nothing like having to make pizza in a (short sleeve) white dress shirt and bow tie to motivate you to actually STAY in college. Second, your description of an emphasis on quality was a real thing. We made all our own pizza dough from scratch every single day, then let the buns rest 24h to proof properly. We prepped all our own veggie toppings too from cases as well - I still vividly remember going through and cutting up cases after case after case of green peppers, and I still don't like them to this day. Everything was made to-order, from these and other high quality ingredients, and it was actually pretty darn good pizza. This is also where I learned that it takes about 7 1/2 minutes to make, bake, and hand over a pizza for delivery assuming you have a conveyor / blower style oven. Those things were great and very fast!

They had the worst pizza. I never had my birthday party there but I remember going there for other kids birthdays. The ball pools and the games were the best part. The animatronics always freaked me out, especially when they would still blink and move while they were not playing music. An abandoned Chuck E Cheese with animatronics would be freaky as heck.

the thing i really hate the most with modern brands is the lack of colors. ive noticed a trend within all brands and companies, not just cec, that take their brand associated colors and mute them or replace them with boring beiges and creams. like this is especially egregious for childrens entertainment companies, idk who decided that the late 2010's- early 2020's was going to be defined by fuckin. taupe and steel gray. but i just wanna have a lil conversation with them

This is going to sound odd, but as a 10 year old in 1980, there was something great about the dark, slightly seedy, slightly sinister feel of the original concept. It gave a feeling of mystery, especially with the creepy animatronics. It was glorious. The 2.0 remake had none of this.

Nolan bushnell is a f’n pioneer and genius. He literally established the USA gaming industry. F’n legend.

What a shame they never thought to capitalize of the absolute craze Five Night's at Freddy's caused. Imagine opening up a Halloween 21+ special where they transform the place into a haunted attraction.

My earliest memory is of being lost in a Showbiz Pizza. I was 4 and my grandparents had taken me there and in the dark, I couldn't find them. But I wasn't afraid because I was with BillyBob. A person in a BillyBob mascot suit was holding my hand and walking me around the place to look for my grandparents. And while I can't remember much else from then, I remember the absolute sense of safety and security, knowing that everything would be okay because I was with BillyBob and BillyBob wouldn't let anything bad happen. And that's the kind of stuff people need to think about when they have a business that tailors to kids, I think. That a kid can look at their mascot(s) and know that this is a safe person and it's a person they WANT to be with. Which means they'll then WANT to go to that restaurant/place/whatever and that's how the business gets that persons money and loyalty. Removing the animatronics, imho, was a huge mistake. Having the stage shows was a way for the kids to get to know the characters. Their personality, their likes and dislikes, and thus giving the kids an opportunity to have a favorite and so on. Kids are highly personable and if they get a favorite something, they'll nag and whine and beg and ask their parents for every and anything of that character. It's just another missed opportunity by the people in charge. Makes me wonder if these powers-that-be people ever consulted with someone or someones who have heavy experience in childcare and all.

Literally the only reason I knew this chain existed as a kid was because it was a surprisingly common sponsor for PBS during the early 2000s.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but thanks to the popularity of FNaF… maybe someday animatronics will make a resurgence? There’s clear interest from people of all kinds of demographics, not just FNaF fans. For me personally, FNaF was what got me interested, but I was born too late to see the animatronics. I would love to go to a restaurant like these old ones- not a horror attraction, but a genuine one working as intended. FNaF has made me interested in the experience of what its locations should have been without the supernatural activity and murders, what the experience would be like to an average customer. Security Breach may have been a mess, but it only increased this longing for a place that can fulfill this with how wonderful and colorful the Pizzaplex is. It’s what might have someday been (minus the sentient animatronics of course) if these corporations had _actually pursued_ what people liked about these places instead of sucking the heart, soul, and color out of everything.

I got to spend a few young birthdays at Showbiz in the late 80s and early 90s. That dark and dingey look was actually quite comforting, and my friends and I couldn't have been happier! That new bland corporate look is depressing as hell. I wish kids today could have the experience we had back then.

The Chuck E. Cheese where I live went from being a nice family oriented place, to being a haven for troublemakers. I started noticing this around the mid and late 2000s. Decent and well behaved families stopped taking their kids there to avoid problems and confrontations. As a kid who grew up in the 80s, it’s sad to see what happened to it.

CEC was my childhood. My grandma took me there when I was 4, and ever since, we'd go every Friday night. I loved the place so much! I'd play the games, eat the pizza, and watch the animatronics. It was a nice routine we established! Me being Autistic made me super invested in the animatronics and even considered them to be alive and my best friends. They comforted me, basically. Growing up, I never had a lot of friends since I always struggled to make any. So, I befriended inanimate objects like cars, boats, my toys, and the CEC animatronics. Jasper was and still is my favorite character. He inspired me to learn how to play the guitar! When I got my first phone, I recorded the characters so I could rewatch their songs on the go. I started this in 2015 but had to stop in 2022 because the last location with a stage in my state removed their animatronics. That was a horrible shot to the heart, especially since I was still dealing with the loss of childhood location that I went to every Friday night. It closed in 2020 cause they couldn't afford to pay the landlord. It was like losing my family.. I've known that location almost my whole life.. My faith in CEC honesty started to fade even before all of that, largely due to the fandom being so toxic (they bullied me and wouldn't shut up about the animatronic parts they somehow got) and the content that CEC creates getting horrible as time goes on. They stopped covering songs, changed the demographic to kids and everyone anymore, and they stripped the characters of their personalities and much much more. They made a lot of bad decisions with the entertainment, the characters themselves, and how they run stuff. I'm very ashamed of what CEC has become, and I honestly am very sad that I will never be able to look at them the same ever again.

As an 80's kid: it was like having your own "weird Enchanted Tiki Room" - you are correct.

Chuck E. Cheese's in 90s-early 2000 was the best. Today, it's not the same. It'll never be the same.

It feels weird seeing Chuck E Cheese the way it is now. I grew up in the 2000's so i didnt get to see the animatronics in their great condition, but i loved that as a kid. It showed that other kids also loved this place i liked, i was always excoted to find a random token, wondering when id go back to spend them. Now its unusually bright, it doesnt feel like people go there to have fun, its just a brightly lit building with some games and maybe a play 'park'. It hurts but maybe one day they'll go back to their roots.

My biggest regret is not paying enough attention to the stage show as a kid. When I was young I just wanted to go play the games.

1989 was my 1st birthday at chuck e cheeses i was 3. Celebrated every year until i was 16. Thats 13 birthdays ill never forget. I still have gold tokens from 1994 and 1997.

The 2008 crash is what killed the brand's happy atmosphere. Before then, people had things to be happy about and would show it when they went places, even work. But after the crash, the threat of foreclosure on millions of people laid an air of depression on everything. Slowly but surely dragging everything down. People stopped truly enjoying life, and it really showed in places like chuck e cheese. The workers, under huge stress as most of them (much like my mom at the time) were worried their homes and cars might be repossessed and the bank may even go bankrupt, losing their life savings. Being a kid was just different after 2008...

I chatted with a dude that worked on maintaining those animatronics. One story he told me was one day he was walking by the currently playing bears. Stopped and listened due to hearing something was off. If you ever worked maintenance or operating machines, your ear can easily be tuned to anything that is off and broken. He reach under the female bear and felt around a bit, came back out with oil all over his hand. There was this family sitting nearby, he said out loud, "It either got to be a leak or its that time of the month again." The entire family lost it LOLing.

I was homeschooled so spent a lot of time at Showbiz/Chuckie Cheese. The animatronics were both fascinating and terrifying to me.

I’d love to see a video on David’s Bridal. Weird company, so many bankruptcies. I worked there for a year while they were going through it and the policy changes pay changes and other changes were bizarre.

One of the most unique experiences of my childhood. Was so happy running around getting lost with friends doing whatever you wanted to do whenever and losing track of time. 98’ to 2005 was my last visit. The one here is always an empty parking lot. This is part of what made that era the golden era to me along with the greatest shows, games, movies, and early internet. I miss those times

I'm honestly surprised Chuck E Cheese hasn't gone the route of Pizza Hut, Burger King and Taco Bell and done a complete nostalgia-filled rebrand to rake in that sweet, sweet millennial cash. As cynical as I am about that stuff, I could 100% say it'd work in some degree (probably more older people than children, but hey that could be an excuse for said older people to drag in their child relatives to ogle robot rodents)

Chuck E. Cheese went from feeling like a miniature Disney World to Dave & Busters for toddlers. I miss it when they used to market toward families of all ages like Showbiz Pizza did, nowadays you walk in and you feel like you've walked back into a kindergarten classroom or something. The animatronics will always remain a relic of the chain's glory days

Former employee here, (2013-2016) and let me tell you... Visted chuck e cheese in the late 90s and early 2000s for many birthdays, and still have tons of VHS tapes of it. Used to go to the Bell, California location a lot. Full band still till this day but it sure doesnt look the same. Now when i started back in 2013 at the Walnut Park location it was fun to work for them, but little did i know that it was the final years of "making magic". I used to actually get into the mood when being the Mascot, danced around and all that. But once CEC Dick Frank sold to Apollo Entertainment and appointed Tom Leverton as CEO it got terrible. It became more about profits than the customers opinions. Hours were cut so bad every year for trying to "beat last years numbers". Which meant to drive up more sales with less employees. Instead of 3 gameroom attendants on the weekend, its now 2. Instrad of 2 cashier's its now 1 and another doing salad bar and Prize counter/merch. Somtimes they had the same chasier doing all 3 of them. Cashier, merch and salad bar. It was terrble. Customer complains went up about broken down games, long lines at the prize counter dirty tables, dirty resrrooms and more. Then dictrict managers would come down on us about it, well we siad "we need more hours and employees". They would then be like nah. We were overworked and underpaid. I climbed the ranks in that place but CEC was leaving a bad taste in my mouth. They lost lots of good managers and GMs when they wanted GMs to work 10 hour shifts, especially those that were already making over $100,000 a year. I worked in a area were customers were always aggressive and mad for some reason, and when they complained about something they had a fighting stance like gangster kind of thing which was stupid. But anyways some employees were threatened and when told to leave Managers would come in and defend them, instead of the cast member. Everything for the company like if it was the first and only job they had. I was becoming like that too but good thing I left.

I genuinely have no idea how Chuck E. Cheese could go out of business. I know it’s a generally dated concept, but every one I have ever been in over the last five years in multiple Texas locations is packed.

I grew up with Chuck E. Cheese in the early 2000’s, and it’s sad to see how it’s changing. I’m gonna miss the old atmosphere, and especially the animatronics. Chuck will always have a special place in my heart.

This is utterly depressing. Great video as always Jake!

As a 90s kid, I remember the heyday of this franchise well! Your bankrupt and abandoned stories are so well done!

the worst thing about the new chucky's is how bright it is. The coolest thing in the 80's was how dark it was, it was a fun place to run around like a whole different little world.

I think ditching the animatronics, right around the time that Five Nights at Freddie’s starting going viral was a massive error. When I was a kid in the early 90s, I thought they were super lame and paid 0 attention to them, but you better believe I would have been fascinated with them if I was familiar with FNAF.

I find it funny that the significant revival in the interest of animatronic mascots with the advent of Five Nights at Freddy's and the mascot horror genre did absolutely nothing to save Chuck E Cheese's obsolete business.

As a kid going to Chuck E Cheese honestly it was a place to play arcade games . Wasn’t too expensive so I can see why parents would choose to let kids run off some energy. Late 90s early 00s were the best .

Oddly enough, despite news about this bankruptcy they still managed to build a whole new Chuck E. Cheese's near me over these past few months. It even got all the way to a grand opening without issues

Chuck E. Cheese is a classic! It’s sad to see it fall so far from what it once was.

Fun story. There was a chuck e cheese where I lived in the burbs. I have a friend who was a cop there and he said there were fights breaking out every night that it got to the point where they had to close it down. One of my coworkers went there and said its just a place to dump your kids at and the parents would drink because it was so bad. The pizza was awful, but the kids didnt care.

Chuck E: I've got this perfect idea to bring people back! No more animatronics, no more tokens, no more tickets, no more old artwork, no more stage shows, no more colors, no more retro

Wow. I can’t imagine my childhood WITHOUT Chuck E. Cheese. My little sister and I would beg our parents to go like every single weekend 😂

As a child who grew up there in the early 80s I can tell you what I loved about the place. MY Chuck E. Cheese was basically a dark arcade/play area. The dark lighting made the place seem bigger. The entrance to the arcade had a regular entrance and a kid’s size only entrance through the play area. At various birthday parties my friend’s and I would bolt for the kid sized entrance and go through the dark maze-like play area. The arcade though was the stuff: REAL video games not the crap ripoff stuff off today. The arcade usually had older kids in there so that made the place seem even cooler. Like, if the big kids are there, this place must be awesome. The last time I was in one was about ten years ago and it was awful. Brightly lit, everything was dirty and made of plastic, kids just trying to get tickets, spending ask kinds of their parents money just to get a prize worth fifty cents. Those stupid crane machines and other garbage money vacuums. If I ran the company I’d get back to making it a place where kids nag their parents to go to. Add some mini golf outside and maybe some laser tag and go carts! Make it a destination!

I’m not going to lie it would be pretty cool if they made a Chuck E. Cheese for adults, old-school video games and alcohol whole place designed for not kids but the big kids 🤣

At every friend’s birthday party, my anxiety levels directly correlated to how close the party table was to any horrifying animatronics. Those dead eyes…those clunky, terrifying movements…

I'm an MBA student and even though I tell myself I hate my schoolwork, I always find myself watching these case studies in my downtime as I play video games lol

In 1996 I had my 10th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. My mom forced me to invite my entire class from school. Neither of my close friends outside of school could come. The pizza was okay. When the staff came out to sing happy birthday to me, they had zero enthusiasm and had a choreographed dance that they couldn't remember. Knowing what I know now about what it was like to work there, they were likely exhausted. But as a kid I was a tad disappointed. I took it as them not giving a crap. None of the kids I invited wanted to play with me, which made sense since they all bullied me in one way or another at school. I ended up falling in the ballpit and several kids trampled me. The arcade games were never available cause kids were always on them, and there were a few that weren't working. I don't remember much else besides being miserable the whole time because nothing had been fun. I vowed to never go there again after that.

No better way to spend my Friday than watching another great documentary from Bright Sun Films…and about a seminal business that we all know: Chuck E. Cheese!

18:28 Peter Piper went downhill when the company acquired the brand. They added more seating, less games, bad quality pizza, and cheap prizes. The same can be the same with CEC, removed animatronics for an as$ dance floor. It’s genuinely sad the new generation won’t grow up with both brands in their prime.

Honestly, I don’t think they’ll last much longer once the last stage is nothing but mangled up medal. That’s the thing that made them unique. Without them, they’re just another pizza place. But CEC doesn’t give any sh*ts. Great video by the way

I was forced to attend 7 birthday parties at my local Chuck E Cheese this last year and the place was absolutely packed every single time. The joys of parenting a 6-year-old. But at least in my area, it appears that they are doing well. It is sad to see it devoid of the character it had in my youth, though. It's essentially a big featureless dining room with a dance floor and video screens surrounded by arcade machines. It's very loud, messy and somehow sterile at the same time. But the kids all love it, so who am I to complain?

Changes in technology definitely helped with Chuck e cheese going bankrupt too. We went from animatronics to VR.

The memories. Games, dim lighting, pizza, slides, ball pit, mouse hole tunnels under the stage, the smell of feet and cheese, etc.. Pizza time theater was the best version.

I've witnessed numerous fights between parents in those ridiculous buildings. Nothing like when I was a kid in the 80s

I love how dark n gritty it was in the 90s. Truly a special memory that will always live on

The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” creator walks into a Chuck E Cheese’s one day and sees the slightly creepy animatronics. “I got an idea,” he said.

Me and my brothers had many birthdays at Chuck E Cheeses, memories that I hold dear. It’s crappy to see what it has become but nothing can last forever.

Never been to a Chuck E Cheese (I'm from the UK), but have studied Nolan Bushnells success stories. CEC was such an innovative idea and would have loved to have visited back in its heyday.

i've never been to a chuck e cheese. my parents always REFUSED to take me and gave reasons that i now realize translated to selfishness "you won't like it" = "we hate it there" "it's too loud for you" = "it's too loud for us" "we don't want you getting in trouble" = "we don't want you having fun" "it's closed" = "please shut up"

The dark-and-dingy look was a feature, not a bug. If it it's not dark, dingy and windowless, it's not Chuck E. Cheese. I was a kid going to CEC in the 80s and that's how I fondly remember it. All of the shots in this video of brightly-lit stores are unrecognizable and charmless.

I went into a CEC recently and was disappointed how sterile everything was. This version 2.0 should be called the Jehovah's Witness concept. It's like they did everything on the cheap. The memories I had as a kid were all gone. No animatronics stage, no cool rides or ball pits. No costumed Chucky. Just a big square space with bad florescent lighting. It used to be like a theme park but now the whole vibe is completely gone.

I'm glad we don't live in the timeline where the creators of these companies are murderous and stuff corpses inside animatroninics. Really dodged a bullet there

I had many great birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese’s, it was sad to see my local CEC close and I feel equal parts sad and nostalgic when I see a furniture store standing in its place.

My local Chuck E Cheese was so poorly run it kept hiring more people, despite being unable to even put most of them on part-time shifts, so nobody could make money there

Its still so wild to me to think about how my younger brother and I, born mid 80s, were born early enough to enjoy classic Chuck E Cheese....and then be able to take our youngest siblings to visit, born 98 and 2000. When you think about it, the fact that Chuck E Cheese was able to have so many physical locations and evoke such atrong memories today, that has to count for some major brownie points.

Without paper tickets, gold coins, ball pits, tunnel jungle gyms, and the un organized arcade machines scattered throughout every knook and cranny, Chucky Cheeses will never be chucky cheeses. I loved that place as a kid to go play. I would never go there for pizza or for what it is now LOL Dave and busters is what it use to be but bigger and better.

Up until 2022 Aaron Fechter did tours of his warehouse in Orlando where he still had a fully functioning Rock-A-Fire explosion as well as tables and other memorabilia from Showbiz. Almost like a time capsule!

a powerful rat…named charles entertainment cheese.

Chuck E Cheez reminds me of one of those less popular casinos in Laughlin. Just depressing, you only went in to use the bathroom, and you feel a little guilty and obligated to buy something.

These videos are incredible. This is why I like youtube. Say what you will, but they create opportunities for me to learn so much for so little, and they support their creaters

While this is about Chuck Cheese going belly up, you glossed over the major decision in choosing Chuck and friends over the Rock-A-Fire critters, and that was the rights to the characters. That's a great story within the history of CEC, and was worth a reference in your explanation as to why they stuck with the rat rather than the bear and friends.

This video made me incredibly nostalgic. I remember going to Chuck E Cheese quite frequently as a kid and it was always a blast. Back when they still used coins and paper tickets and had the sky tubes and ball pits. The one I used to go to in my hometown is still there and still operational but I haven't been in well over 10-12 years. Funnily enough, it sat in the same parking lot as the only Toys-R-Us in northern Nevada (to my knowledge), which is of course gone now and was replaced by a Goodwill thrift store of all things. Once the Chuck E Cheese inevitably closes, it will truly be the end of an era for that shopping center. Wonder what, if anything, they'll put in it's place once it's gone.

90s to early 2000s Chuck E Cheese's was the golden era of the company they were on top of the world while still having positive relationships with the comsumer. im glad i grew up during that time i had many parties at my local location (which to this day hasnt been changed since the 90s) and i attended many parties at other locations i still have a jar full of those tokens

If they go back to their roots and maybe form some partnership/rebranding or collaboration with Five Nights at Freddy's, I think there can be some widespread appeal. Going to Chuck E Cheese's was always a reward when I was younger and feeding my tickets to the ticket monster and redeeming them for mediocre prizes was a blast! Appreciate the entertaining history lesson and walk down memory lane!

I have to say how funny it is that I’m New Mexico almost all the Chuck E. Cheese locations are still there, but it’s because they never got remodeled there’s still the same old model with the old mascot who was the rat. I just think it’s really interesting to see.

When you were there as a child, you always waited to see which kid was going to pop first during the animatronic show. With out fail, there was always some kid who couldn't take it, and would begin hysterically crying. Good times. Btw Showbiz was my place.

I think the animatronics should’ve had a redesign or make all new ones to suit the new brands

I remember going to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid. If you told me back then that the company would end on its knees going through bankruptcy within less than a decade, I would’ve called you crazy. Yet…here we are.