Adult behavior at Chuck E Cheese

[bcla]

I thought this thread was going to be completely different based on the title.

I guess maybe "Adults behaving badly at Chuck E Cheese" would have better described my thoughts.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I only take my kids if they need a few days off of school with strep throat

On behalf of some one who can catch that from thin air thank you

 

[englanddg]

I am not a fan of the Rat, err ... I mean Chuck E. Cheese.

Anyway, the only thing I'd like to think is that she was getting them for her small child who isn't fast enough, but who knows? If it was for her gain that's pretty low imho.

He's not a Rat from New Jersey anymore. He officially became a Mouse in 1998 with the restructuring.

 

[englanddg]

Our child wanted to go, and frankly it's not that bad an option just for the food. However, every :30 minutes on the hour they have someone in a Chuck E Cheese costume come out to do the "Chuck E Dance" and throw out tickets (and sometimes tokens) for the assembled kids. Last night I saw what looked like a kid cleaning up - noticeably faster and more aggressive than the other kids. Then I saw she was small but an adult. She was right in the middle with the kids.

I've seen one YouTube video showing something similar. Seems kind of classless to be an adult just grabbing these tickets and even snatching a few out of a kid's hand.

What you are seeing there is known as a Ticket Splash. Basically, you take a pack of 100 tickets after doing a Boom Box live show with CEC and toss them up in the air and people go nuts. It's a free for all. And yes, some adults behave poorly during it. But, most do not.

 

[englanddg]

Well - when I was a kid my parents never took me to one. In fact I'd never been to one until I had my own child. However, I remember the original Chuck E Cheese with the bowler hat and an almost mob boss look. There was certainly something sinister about him. The current looks is certainly less sinister. Here's what it used to look like:

I know one of the rules there is that the adults are allowed to have fun, play games, etc. However, what I saw almost seemed like the adults at easter egg hunts that are grabbing everything is sight without any concern that it's for the kids. The last time I took my kid to an easter egg hunt, the organizers yelled out "REMEMBER, THIS IS FOR THE KIDS!" I certainly followed my kid around, but was careful around other kids, and only pointed out where to go or one that was missed. I never grabbed anything myself, because I frankly had an unfair advantage.

At that time his back story was that he was a Rat from New Jersey.

 

[englanddg]

I worked for CEC for 11 years, 3/4s of that as a Manager/GM and later a Corporate Trainer, though I started as the big dancing mouse himself. I worked in over 40 of their locations across the country throughout the years (sometimes only a shift or two though at some of them), and opened another dozen or so. As another previous CM listed, yeah, weekends could get interesting. Most of the time the fights you see on youtube are from rather rough stores, but frankly, I witnessed it getting far worse in my tenure there.

Oh the stories I could tell.

 

[sersee05]

On behalf of some one who can catch that from thin air thank you

Just to be clear..it was a joke ...I wasn't saying that i take them there to give strep. I was saying my kids catch strep there..

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Chuck E. Cheese: the third circle of Hell.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

When CEC gets boring the parents move to the TT queue.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I'm actually surprised they are still in business. I don't think I've seen one in years.

 

[BrianL]

I have fond memories of going there as a kid (Or Showbiz as it was sometimes named). I don't recall any particularly bad behavior from adults, but one time I got lost in the "cheese maze" and could see my family through this window to the dining room. I was banging on the window and crying but nobody could hear me through all the noise and such. Chuck was meeting with the diners and I really wanted out of that maze! I feel like I remember being in there for hours, but it probably wasn't really that long.

 

[bcla]

I'm actually surprised they are still in business. I don't think I've seen one in years.

They market pretty well, the food isn't that bad, and I see lots of families in there enjoying it. The cost of the games is actually pretty reasonable now that every game only requires a single token. I guess the adult version would be Dave & Busters, and their games use points, which in general are way more expensive. Also, their redemption consists of weighing the tickets.

I personally haven't seen any fights at CEC or even anyone arguing. This one adult in the middle of kids was probably the worst thing I've ever seen at one. Surprisingly enough, most people get along just fine even if they're from different backgrounds.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

They market pretty well, the food isn't that bad, and I see lots of families in there enjoying it. The cost of the games is actually pretty reasonable now that every game only requires a single token. I guess the adult version would be Dave & Busters, and their games use points, which in general are way more expensive. Also, their redemption consists of weighing the tickets.

I personally haven't seen any fights at CEC or even anyone arguing. This one adult in the middle of kids was probably the worst thing I've ever seen at one. Surprisingly enough, most people get along just fine even if they're from different backgrounds.

If they are pretty effective at marketing then I can only assume there aren't any near me, because I haven't heard of them for quite some time. I do remember taking our oldest to one, but that would have been about 20 years ago or so. I'm probably out of their demographic as well.

 

[Ceila]

On behalf of some one who can catch that from thin air thank you

Well, the poster was joking. And anyone can catch it "from thin air."

 

[bcla]

If they are pretty effective at marketing then I can only assume there aren't any near me, because I haven't heard of them for quite some time. I do remember taking our oldest to one, but that would have been about 20 years ago or so. I'm probably out of their demographic as well.

They market with commercials between kids' TV shows. The locations are kind of out of the way for our family though. There used to be a location really close to where we live, but that went away after a local shopping mall was rebuilt. This was before we had kids.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

They market with commercials between kids' TV shows.

That explains it then.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

By the time I figured she was joking I already posted

And a year later I am still trying to figure out how I got one of the worse cases I ever had send 1996 I was summer vacation

 

[ruthies12]

This doesn't surprise me in the least unfortunately. Adults never cease to amaze me. My absolute biggest pet peeve of all time is people who walk around on Halloween with a tiny little baby and actually collect candy!

 

[InStitchesinNE]

Sooo, at CEC one can buy tickets for a penny each. If Chuck came out and threw a bunch of pennies down, would anyone actually be scrambling for them? Stealing them from children? People can be so dumb

We actually went there today, in the lull between lunch and dinner and it was fine. My kids pooled their tickets and "bought" a gumball machine which was pretty smart of them.

 

[bcla]

When CEC gets boring the parents move to the TT queue.

Most locations have beer and wine now.