Chuck E Cheese bday on a budget

[disneymagicgirl]

I am planning my son's 6th bday party and he has decided to do Chuck E Cheese. The website shows $13/head for the least expensive package. We have 9 kids attending so that is $117. However I see I can do a walk-in party. Basically just show up with cake and decorations and buy tokens, pizza and drinks. We would need 2-3 pizzas, 9 drinks, and a bunch of tokens. Seems this will be the less expensive way to go. I see the date/time I was planning is still open for parties so I assume won't be too crazy busy. It is on a Friday at 4pm. Has anyone done a walk-in party at CEC?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1932723

 

[disneymagicgirl]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1932723

thanks. i actually saw that in my google search but thought may be outdated since last post was 2008.

 

[Fishteacher]

Be sure to look for coupons and reward calendars. You can find these in your local newspaper, on Ebay and at their website. We had our daughter's birthday party there as well and we were allowed to use multiple coupons. This allowed us to save some money and get a bunch of extra tokens for the kids. Good Luck and have fun!

 

[tina.tina]

To me, the thing about not having a reserved party is that they won't let your kid do the ticket blaster. That's the whole reason my daughter wants a birthday party there.

Definitely sign up for coupons on the CEC website.

 

[okeydokey]

With 6 year old guests, are parents staying or just dropping off and picking up? If staying, I would order some food for them as well.

 

[ktlm]

Just be prepared for the fact that if it is busy, you may not have any tables for your party. DD has had 2 birthday parties there. On the last one, her party was on a busy day, with several other parties We watched some people try to do a "walk in" party. They were told there were no tables for them. They had to take their cake and decorations back to their car. They had a disappointed kid. They were allowed to enter and play games etc., although there were no tables where they could sit and do cake etc. Also, their guests had to stand in the wait line to get in, and were not allowed to bypass that line as party guests. We did it on a Saturday though, so if it is not a busy day, you may be fine. I definitely wouldn't try it on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. On Mon-Thurs I think you would be fine. On Friday, 4:00 as you have planned might be okay, but I wouldn't try any later than that.

Also the PP poster is right about the ticket blaster. You need to be aware that if there are other parties booked at the same time, that your son will watch other birthday kids get to do the ticket blaster, get crowns, get to go in front with Chuck E. while a fuss is made that it their birthday, and that he will not get that. I don't know if he would care about that, but my DD would have.

 

[mrodgers]

With 6 year old guests, are parents staying or just dropping off and picking up? If staying, I would order some food for them as well.

I took my youngest to several Chuck E Cheese parties and stayed in the restaurant. I dropped her off at the party then went to our own table with my older daughter and ate crappy pizza and played games by ourselves. I would try to take the older out to a nice steak dinner at the steakhouse, but she always wanted to stay and eat the crappy pizza and play games, LOL. She was too old for Chuck E Cheese, but wanted to do it anyways.

 

[Mrs.Malone]

Whoever came up with the ticket blaster as an exclusive benefit for reserved parties was a genius. It's nice that they still allow unreserved parties, though. We've done a few unreserved parties, but only with 5-6 kids, and we did them at opening time (10 in the morning) on Saturdays when the place was empty. Still, we weren't allowed to use the "reserved" party tables--we ha to spread out over a few regular booths. We were allowed to use multiple coupons and the staff was very nice. We bought the $2 goody bags they sell there. Total junk but it made it feel more like an official party and the kids liked them. My kids were a little older so ok with missing the ticket blaster and the birthday show stuff.
#1 thing is you need to do it at a quiet time.

 

[smitch425]

Some CECs have two ticket blasters. I know the one in Louisville had one that was out in the regular gaming area. It cost $1 to do, and it was money well spent. Funniest thing ever!

OP, how many pizzas are included in their birthday package? Could you do it on a different day? We have a rule in our house that CECs is only done Mon-Thurs. Fri-Sunday is crazy crowded here.

 

[EmilyAnn]

I have done 3 birthday parties at CEC. I always book the party for 4 kids (the minimum they will let you do) then where it asks for how many other seats we will need I include all the other kids and adults in that number. Then I use coupons to buy food and tokens for everyone. That way my kid gets the balloon and birthday show but it saves me money.

 

[tina.tina]

Unfortunately, there is only one ticket blaster at the CEC near me. My daughter had an amazing strategy. She held the hem of her shirt straight out and against the glass in front of her. Everything blew over her head and landed in her shirt. They had to refill the ticket blaster because she caught almost every thing in there.

I have done 3 birthday parties at CEC. I always book the party for 4 kids (the minimum they will let you do) then where it asks for how many other seats we will need I include all the other kids and adults in that number. Then I use coupons to buy food and tokens for everyone. That way my kid gets the balloon and birthday show but it saves me money.

Gosh, you're brilliant!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Some CECs have two ticket blasters. I know the one in Louisville had one that was out in the regular gaming area. It cost $1 to do, and it was money well spent. Funniest thing ever!

OP, how many pizzas are included in their birthday package? Could you do it on a different day? We have a rule in our house that CECs is only done Mon-Thurs. Fri-Sunday is crazy crowded here.

With the package it is 2 slices per kid.

the couple parties we have attended at CEC were not crowded. IIRC they were both on Saturday early mornings. Now that I am thinking about it, if we have a snow day that could ruin everything since I assume no school would mean it would be busy....and I see a snowflake on my weather app for next Friday.

Not too worried about the ticket blaster. He has never mentioned it before, even when we were there for parties. Maybe I will call the restaurant and see how many parties they have scheduled that day. As long as we can get 2 booths for the kids to sit they will be fine. I am sure they will only sit for 10 mins anyway. They would rather be playing.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I have done 3 birthday parties at CEC. I always book the party for 4 kids (the minimum they will let you do) then where it asks for how many other seats we will need I include all the other kids and adults in that number. Then I use coupons to buy food and tokens for everyone. That way my kid gets the balloon and birthday show but it saves me money.

That's super smart!!

 

[QVCshopper]

I have done 3 birthday parties at CEC. I always book the party for 4 kids (the minimum they will let you do) then where it asks for how many other seats we will need I include all the other kids and adults in that number. Then I use coupons to buy food and tokens for everyone. That way my kid gets the balloon and birthday show but it saves me money.

That is brilliant! Do they get mad or anything? I see they have a promo for 100 free tokens if you book a Friday or Sunday party, which makes your idea even a better deal. I might go ahead and do it too. I told my kids we were stopping parties and we took my daughter to Hershey Park for her birthday, but nothing is really open in March.

Also, can you bring your own cake to the party? Or do you have to buy theirs? Thanks!!!

 

[Kellydelly]

I am planning my son's 6th bday party and he has decided to do Chuck E Cheese. The website shows $13/head for the least expensive package. We have 9 kids attending so that is $117. However I see I can do a walk-in party. Basically just show up with cake and decorations and buy tokens, pizza and drinks. We would need 2-3 pizzas, 9 drinks, and a bunch of tokens. Seems this will be the less expensive way to go. I see the date/time I was planning is still open for parties so I assume won't be too crazy busy. It is on a Friday at 4pm. Has anyone done a walk-in party at CEC?

You won't only be buying food for 9 kids. I guarantee some parents will stay. Plus you have to feed yourself and your spouse or other kids too? I would suck it up and book the party, you are going to spend that much anyway. The only money you will save is the tip for the host, in my opinion. If you really want to do the walk in thing, I suggest you pick a different day of the week when there shouldn't be a crowd. Good luck!

 

[MAJPLO]

To me, the thing about not having a reserved party is that they won't let your kid do the ticket blaster. That's the whole reason my daughter wants a birthday party there.

Definitely sign up for coupons on the CEC website.

^^ This!!! The "party" experience is important, I think. Sign up for coupons, stick with pizza and nothing else. We did a veggie tray and no one ate it. It was outrageously expensive. They sent us home with all the leftovers. They count cups to figure your total. So kid beverage cups, less than adult beverage cups and make sure no one takes an extra because they tossed or lost theirs. If you give a kid extra tokens, don't give them a new cup full of tokens, just hand them some extra coins. They bring out 15 token cups an count what you have left/didn't use when your party is over. So if you've given three kids an extra cup of tokens they add on three kids. Not because they intend to charge for more people than you had, just because that's their method for keeping track I guess. The young lady who worked our party was great. There were things she didn't charge us for and she threw in some extras here and there. It was reasonable and having her run it made it go pretty smoothly. All I had to worry about was keeping track of kids, taking pictures, handing out party favors.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

You won't only be buying food for 9 kids. I guarantee some parents will stay. Plus you have to feed yourself and your spouse or other kids too? I would suck it up and book the party, you are going to spend that much anyway. The only money you will save is the tip for the host, in my opinion. If you really want to do the walk in thing, I suggest you pick a different day of the week when there shouldn't be a crowd. Good luck!

I expect parents will stay...it will be myself, my husband, and 4 other moms. I am not feeding the adults, whether I book the party package or not. Our last couple parties I did finger foods for adults and they were barely touched, so lesson learned. I don't expect to be fed when I attend kids' parties and usually I am not. DH and I are not going to eat there either. I will feed siblings, however, as stated on the invite.

We are sticking with the walk in idea. I will go a bit early and get 2 booths, although I really don't expect it to be very busy. Maybe our CEC is less popular than others. Even on a Saturday we have never had to wait in line nor have all the tables been filled. I will report back with the results next weekend. Thanks for all the help!

 

[EmilyAnn]

That is brilliant! Do they get mad or anything? I see they have a promo for 100 free tokens if you book a Friday or Sunday party, which makes your idea even a better deal. I might go ahead and do it too. I told my kids we were stopping parties and we took my daughter to Hershey Park for her birthday, but nothing is really open in March.

Also, can you bring your own cake to the party? Or do you have to buy theirs? Thanks!!!

no, they have never said anything. I am still buying pizza and tokens so they are still making money I always book online to get the 100 free tokens too. And I have my kids signed up for the birthday club so I get a coupon for 20 free tokens for the birthday child, and I print out 3 rewards charts (one for each of my 3 older kids) and turn those in for 10 free tokens each.

I have a son with a severe nut allergy so I always bring my own cake. I have had the CEC cake at a party I attended once and it wasn't very good

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

We just had my daughters party in Jan at Chuck E Cheese. I am all for budgeting and getting the best deal, but I chose to reserve a party because the experience for the birthday child is a little more special when you book rather than do a walk-in. With a reserved party, not only does the child do the ticket blaster, but Chuck E comes out when they are singing Happy Birthday. To me it just feels more special. If you book online, they will give you extra tokens too. I wouldn't buy food for the parents. When I take my kids to their friends parties, I don't eat and I don't expect to. If I want something I can buy it.