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The trials of Tamino: Chuck E. Cheese
Filed under: Places To Go, Holidays
I had a vision of myself as Tamino, bound for the terrifying trials remembered from childhood viewings of Bergman's film. Worse than fire and water, however, I was destined for Chuck E. Cheese. The son of one of my high-school friends was turning five and Jared had been invited. Rachel (my Pamina) and I were dreading the experience.
We arrived in Redwood City and noted that the temperature was 106 degrees; we were very glad that the party was being held indoors rather than at a park or other outdoor venue. Until we got inside that is -- we learned right off the bat that the air conditioning was broken. Imagine hundred-degree-plus temperatures and dozens of small children running around frantically generating more heat and you might begin to see what we encountered. They passed out plates for the pizza, but I think they saw more use as impromptu fans. As if that weren't enough, there were kids sneaking around our tables swiping the tokens used for various games and someone peed in the habitrail system (it wasn't me).
Despite it being even worse than we had expected, there were some positives to it. First and foremost, the kids had a blast. Jared loved climbing through the habitrail and Sara liked the ride-on toys. They do offer a salad bar in addition to their adequate pizza; Rachel was glad of that. They also have milk, an important option for us as our kids don't drink soda. For the parents of the birthday boy, it was a headache-free way to have a party that is a lot of fun for the kids without breaking the bank or destroying your house. And even though it wasn't much fun for the parents, it's really about the kids, right?
Have you been to Chuck E. Cheese's and survived? What horror stories do you have to tell, either about Chuck E. Cheese or birthday parties in general? What venues have you used for parties?
We arrived in Redwood City and noted that the temperature was 106 degrees; we were very glad that the party was being held indoors rather than at a park or other outdoor venue. Until we got inside that is -- we learned right off the bat that the air conditioning was broken. Imagine hundred-degree-plus temperatures and dozens of small children running around frantically generating more heat and you might begin to see what we encountered. They passed out plates for the pizza, but I think they saw more use as impromptu fans. As if that weren't enough, there were kids sneaking around our tables swiping the tokens used for various games and someone peed in the habitrail system (it wasn't me).
Despite it being even worse than we had expected, there were some positives to it. First and foremost, the kids had a blast. Jared loved climbing through the habitrail and Sara liked the ride-on toys. They do offer a salad bar in addition to their adequate pizza; Rachel was glad of that. They also have milk, an important option for us as our kids don't drink soda. For the parents of the birthday boy, it was a headache-free way to have a party that is a lot of fun for the kids without breaking the bank or destroying your house. And even though it wasn't much fun for the parents, it's really about the kids, right?
Have you been to Chuck E. Cheese's and survived? What horror stories do you have to tell, either about Chuck E. Cheese or birthday parties in general? What venues have you used for parties?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
7-24-2006 @ 12:51PM
Cathy said...I get a headache just thinking about Chuck E. Cheese but my children love it. The baby/toddler area is always unusable because of two or three older children who appear to be parentless running amok.
We've had birthday parties at CEC, skating rinks, bowling alleys, pizza places, Pump-it-up, movie theaters, our backyard and our living room floor. IMO, younger child parties work best someplace outside the home because of the enormous mess and need for constant activity. Older children do better with just a few friends at home. Bonfires, marshmallow guns, diet coke and mentos, popcorn and sleepovers are plenty for children old enough to want to have contro over what they do and when they do it.
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7-24-2006 @ 1:33PM
Goldie said...We've had a few b-day parties at Chuck E. Cheese. It wasn't that bad. Naturally, it was noisy and a very large and scary mom attacked me once for no good reason. I think I ran away. I guess it really was he!! on wheels, but being a mother of two very young boys, I hardly noticed anything unusual. We had our children's parties there because we lived in a rather small apartment at the time and could not accomodate all of my son's friends.
My favorite CEC story is about a friend of a friend, who got into an argument with Chuck E. and ended up kicking him in the crotch. He was 12yo when it happened. I guess that's way too old to be in a Chuck E. Cheese!
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7-24-2006 @ 4:11PM
ann adams said...No birthday parties like that for me but I'm glad they had fun. We keep it very simple.
As an aside. Pamina led Tamino through the trials if I remember The Magic Flute correctly. That's the first opera my kids saw.
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7-24-2006 @ 9:05PM
Gin said...Chuck E's was our first foray into the "open play area of death". Not sure if it was trying to let 15 month old AJ out a little bit, or trying to anticipate which contraption I needed to bleach-wipe down before he climbed aboard, but it was no fun. I take that back. Once he found the 3-step, platform, slide down, repeat pattern, he seemed to be having the time of his life. And I found out he could slide all on his own without help from me. That part was nice, but everything around it was a mess. Turns out Chuck E's is the place parents go to dump their kids in a mosh pit for a while, without regard as to how they're behaving or what they are doing. Maybe it was a good harbinger of things to come.
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7-26-2006 @ 7:52AM
Angie said...We've been to two or three chuck e cheese birthday parties, and I thought they were fun. I like playing with the kids at these places. The most uncomfortable experience was when the birthday boy didn't know how to play with all his guests, and my son felt left out. I played with him, and he told me that it was the best.
We've thrown a few McDonald's parties, and it is much easier on your house. We also threw a party at Peter Piper Pizza, a smaller Chuck e Cheese type place.
I think I like going out better than staying in, but my kids prefer house parties.
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