# I pit Chuck E. Cheese and all that he stands for **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696 "2004-04-07T05:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/41 "2004-04-08T03:21:29Z")
> [@](#): > > As if I didn’t have reason enough to avoid the place already… You fucking kidding me? All that, and they _pay_ you? 🙂 Actually, in my hometown, the parking lot of the local Chuck E. Cheese was wisely chosen as the turf for a gang war. Guns, knives, you name it. Several people were shot, and one of the waitresses, who was caught in the open by the whole thing, was killed. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/42 "2004-04-08T03:31:30Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > There’s no such thing as an evil blowjob, **Anna**. I think you’re missing **Anna** ’s point, that **Anna** ’s blow jobs are _much_ better! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/43 "2004-04-08T03:56:44Z")
Count myself as one who was a little offput at the OP… I mean, what did you expect? It was _Chuck E. Cheese_ fer godsakes! 😉 Easily the worst chain pizza _ever_. Some mom-and-pop dump might make worse, but no national or regional company can. ---
**Author:** ![Coulbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Coulbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coulbean)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/44 "2004-04-08T05:54:45Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Easily the worst chain pizza _ever_. Some mom-and-pop dump might make worse, but no national or regional company can. I have to dispute your comment about mom and pop pizza places… We have some really excellent private pizza places in this area that I gladly choose over the big chains. I prefer to support the private places. Granted, Chuck E. Cheese the other day was an exception, but I had to attend my brother’s birthday party. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/45 "2004-04-08T06:48:20Z")
> [@Garnet](#): > > Actually, your tea party probably was doomed from the start. They won’t let you in without a kid, at least at the Chuck E. Cheese nearest me. And yes, I speak from experience. Heh…about a year ago, my boyfriend, another close friend, and I went to Chuck E. Cheese’s…sans kids. I just wanted to play skee-ball. I don’t remember seeing an adult in the whole riotous building except employees. And the kids do tend to turn into absolute little hellions. I grew up going to Showbiz on very special occasions…and on the backroads of small towns one may still find a Billy Bob’s Circus, in a dilapidated building, with grass growing in the parking lot, but full of screaming 6 year olds… ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/46 "2004-04-08T06:57:57Z")
I used to love Chuck E. Cheese when I was a kid. It was Valhala. Tickets were a side-note. This was my younger experience of the place. I tried to go there for lunch on a break from high-school, and they refused us. I guess they had their reasons, but why couldn’t they have just let us eat and leave? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/47 "2004-04-08T06:58:38Z")
> [@Coulbean](#): > > I have to dispute your comment about mom and pop pizza places… We have some really excellent private pizza places in this area that I gladly choose over the big chains. He said “some”, not “all”. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/48 "2004-04-08T14:03:47Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > If they had a larger-sized one of those places for immature adults, I’d hang out there all the time. Big ball pits, arcade games. Do they have go-carts? They should. You got yer paintball, yer laser tag, and batting cages and that stuff. Of course you’d have to have strippers, ALL THE TIME. Although I don’t think this is the type of “Big ball pit” you had in mind, [here ya go](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/icehouse1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/49 "2004-04-08T16:38:42Z")
It’s been about two years, but the Chuck E. Cheese in Indy had beer. I went for a friend’s child’s birthday. Sheer hell. I never had parties in places like that when I was a kid, and neither will my daughter. Cake parties at home are much more relaxing, and the kids can still have fun without me going mental. It’s one thing to have five or six kids running around your house, but quite another to go somewhere where there are 50 of them screeching and acting out-of-control. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/50 "2004-04-08T19:26:50Z")
…that kids lack any sense of good food. I used to take my daughter and stepson there when they were little…they LOVED that horrible pizza! Actually since both of themn think that Domino’s is excellent pizza (ghack!), my wife and I never bother takinhg them to a good restaurant-these kids do NOT like good food! So, we go out and have a nice quiet meal-they stay home and eat that disgusing crap from Dominos-and we are all happy! ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/51 "2004-04-08T19:35:15Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I used to love Chuck E. Cheese when I was a kid. It was Valhala. Tickets were a side-note. This was my younger experience of the place. I tried to go there for lunch on a break from high-school, and they refused us. I guess they had their reasons, but why couldn’t they have just let us eat and leave? Because, from what I can see, Chuck E. Cheese is not actually about selling you a pizza. Pizza is strictly a sideline. The main thrust of the place seems to be about vacuuming your wallet by having your children extract money from you so they can buy worthless little brass tokens which are then placed into various “games” which then dispense worthless little paper tickets, which are then exchanged for worthless little plastic craplets of one kind or another. YOU guys just wanted PIZZA. And you didn’t have your parents with you to keep you in line if you got rowdy. Why should they let YOU in? ---
**Author:** ![MissBHaven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missbhaven/32/7170_2.png) [@MissBHaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBHaven)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/52 "2004-04-08T20:24:04Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > I guess I will be the lone voice of dissent in the wilderness of blinking lights and tangled vines of tickets… I’ll join you! It’s not about the ‘adult’ experience, it’s about the kid’s and they LOVE it! They get to run and climb and be loud and play games, in other words, they get to be kids… and they sleep really well when they get home! ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/53 "2004-04-08T22:27:58Z")
I’ve never been to a Chuck E Cheeses… When I was younger though, there was a lovely place called Bullwinkles. Rocky and Bullwinkle were the main draws with a little stage set with animatronics doing a song and dance, I recall fountains and a games room and pizza. So it was something like Chuck E Cheese, but I loved it there. Never got anything on the games but had such fun. I was so disappointed when I got older and moved to within a block of where it was… except it is now a Parts Source (automotive store). Aw well. I doubt I’ll ever go to Chuck E Cheese though… I know we have them up here, but they are usually out of the way and hard for me to get to. ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/54 "2004-04-09T22:39:26Z")
I’ve never been to a Chuck E. Cheese’s, I certainly don’t intend to now. I’ve been to Showbiz and that was pretty decent. We seldom went though. Course now I have no intention to go to such places because the thought of it makes me cringe. I guess you outgrow such things. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/55 "2004-04-09T22:54:01Z")
Hmmm…Apparently the CEC around here isn’t all that bad. I know teenagers who still go there for birthday parties. Of course, they had to have their parents there, due to the fact that they sell alcohol. But I remember Discovery Zone. That place was wonderful, far better than CEC could ever be. Shame that it closed. ---
**Author:** ![Coulbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Coulbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coulbean)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/56 "2004-04-10T05:49:27Z")
> [@MissBHaven](#): > > I’ll join you! It’s not about the ‘adult’ experience, it’s about the kid’s and they LOVE it! They get to run and climb and be loud and play games, in other words, they get to be kids… and they sleep really well when they get home! But they could run, climb, be loud, play, and be kids at a good park. At a park, they would get more exercise. It would cost less money. And they would be socializing with other kids. I didn’t see many kids climbing in the tubes at CEC. They were way more concerned with tickets and tokens. (It should be noted that the day I was there was a beautiful sunny day. A day that could have been well spent at a park, instead of indoors.) ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/57 "2004-04-10T06:09:11Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > [Armed Robbery at Chuck E. Cheese’s](http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1080431704405&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154). > > “I know! Let’s jack up a place filled with wound-up children! It’ll be fun!” :eek: Ack! Man, this makes me homesick, it’s only a couple of minutes from my home. Can’t wait to get back to Toronto. And I’m not being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/58 "2004-04-10T23:29:59Z")
My parents took me to CEC for my 17th birthday. I’m still plotting my revenge. ---
**Author:** ![htns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/59 "2004-04-11T00:35:07Z")
I went to Chuck E Cheese back in 1984. Maybe times have changed, but all I remember is the video games, the ball pit, and a dining area with a singing clown. I also got a gag million dollar bill with my picture on it (photo booth), and wondering how I could spend it, only to have my mom disappoint me by telling me that it wasn’t real. The whole area was about the size of a small one storey house. The tokens, those I remember. Four for a dollar, one token got you a game of PacMan, Galaga or Space Invaders. Two tokens and you got the arm wrestling machine. I even remember the pizza. Seemed normal enough to a nine year old boy, which I was at the time. Lots of cheese, mushrooms and pepperoni. No sauce, though. It was a good place to be a kid. I’m glad to see that the tradition survives. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696/60 "2004-04-11T02:37:10Z")
> [@AnnaLivia](#): > > You also don’t want to know what happens in the kitchens there. Don’t know why, but when I first read that, I swore it said “you don’t want to know what happens to _kittens_ there”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-chuck-e-cheese-and-all-that-he-stands-for/238696.md?page=4)