The trip began with chanting “Chuck E Cheese! Chuck E Cheese!” but by the time we were 5 minutes on the road Kiki had arranged a chorus of sorts:
Link — “Chuck E Cheese! Chuck E Cheese!”
Gleek — “I love Chuck E Cheese! I love Chuck E Cheese!”
Kiki — “Chuck E Cheese is Fun Fun Fun! Chuck E Cheese is Fun Fun Fun!”
Fortunately the drive was a short one.
This outing to Chuck E Cheese was part of the package of delights for the summer that was promised in lieu of the expensive family camp that we could no longer afford. We kept putting off the Chuck E Cheese trip because the contemplation thereof made neither me, nor Howard, nor my budget very happy. Last week Link sat up and gasped “We forgot to do Chuck E Cheese this summer!” his eyes began to water and I knew this was a promise I really needed to make good on. Noon on Labor day is probably one of the most crowded days and times I could have picked, but Chuck E Cheese has free kiddie rides from 11 am to 1 pm and all the other days of this week the older kids are in school at that time.
On the way into the store Kiki spotted a “help wanted” sign and her eyes lit up. “Mom! You could get a job at Chuck E Cheese!” My rational explanation about already having a job and the costs of childcare did nothing to quell her enthusiasm. She could think of nothing cooler than having a mom who worked at Chuck E Cheese. Even contemplating that makes me shudder.
We got inside and got settled. Patches loved the kiddie rides. In fact he spent the entire hour running from kiddie car to kiddie plane to kiddie dinosaur punching buttons and making things go. That was nice for me because I could just sit in one place and keep an eye on him. Gleek loved the rides and the giant playset. She didn’t clue into the token games until after she ate some pizza, she then happily used tokens and brought me tickets. I pretty much let Kiki and Link have the run of the place. I insured that they would check back in regularly by only dispensing a few tokens at a time. Kiki has reached the age where she still loves Chuck E Cheese, but because she’s older she isn’t sure that she is supposed to anymore. She solved this dilemma by maximizing her ticket acquisition for each game she played. She got to play a lot of games because Patches didn’t use any of his share of the tokens. She really really wanted to bring home cotton candy which she assured me was because she wanted the other kids to have a chance to try it. She succeeded.
The total cost came to $7 per person, which is a little steep for an hour’s entertainment, lunch, a few trinkets, and a bag of cotton candy. It definitely isn’t something we can afford to do often, but as a once-a-year treat we’re okay.
*Shudder*
Trust me, working at Chuck E Cheese is as bad as it sounds. I found it to be a most effective form of birth control, along the lines of Kestrel’s first day working retail a toy store: http://www.queenofwands.net/comics/20021219.gif.
I’m told that nowadays, they don’t let ChuckE carry the cake to the table. That was always my nightmare, how to carry this massive Albertson’s sheet cake to the table without tripping over the kids that are pushing close to see, getting frosting on my fur, or setting my fur on fire.
Did the cotton candy actually get shared? Did you have fun on the trip, too?
Yes I had fun watching the kids be delighted with the excursion. I was tired by the time we all got home, but I was not frazzled which was a nice surprize. I fully expected frazzled.
Whats Chuck E Cheese
Hi Sandra,
Love the rhyme, I’m curious to know more about Chuck E Cheese, from your thread I guess its a fast food outlet based on Cheese, it’s new to me, I’ve never heard of Chuck E Cheese, tell me more.
By the way, I’ll get a peep into your world again come March, my daughter is expecting our first grandchild 🙂 Christine and I are over the moon.
Keep you posted.
Chris.
Re: Whats Chuck E Cheese
Chuck E Cheese is a mouse character. He has a pizza franchise all over america. But the pizza is not the draw, in fact it is pretty nasty pizza. The real draw is that they fill the space with carnival style games you put in a token (worth $.25) and depending on how well you play the game you get out 1-20 tickets (worth $.01 when exchanged for prizes). You can see where they’re making money. Occasionally you can get more than 25 tickets for one token, but not usually.
The restaurant also features small motorized cars & airplanes which rock in place so a small child can pretend to be driving, those are the kiddie rides I mentioned. The kiddie rides also take 1 token unless you come on a weekday between 11 am and 1 pm when they’re free to convince parents to come in on weekdays.
The kiddie rides make noise and flash lights. The carnival games make noise and flash lights. The kids run around screaming and if all of that weren’t enough the restaurant also features large animatronic Chuck E Cheese & friends who put on a silly show once an hour. The result is garish and anything but relaxing.
You have to remember that you’re buying an experience because the value of what you take home is far below the amount you spent. Like gambling casinos, at Chuck E Cheese the house always wins. They do throw in the headaches gratis, which I suppose is something.
In short, kids love it, parents hate it.
Re: Whats Chuck E Cheese
Oh, and congrats on the grandchild-to-be!
Re: Whats Chuck E Cheese
We have Chuck E Cheese here too, but the place I prefered as a kid was one called Mr Gatti’s. They are a more sedate pizza place with a buffet and kids’ prices for things. Their pizza isn’t great, but it is a step or three up from Chuck E Cheese’s pizza. Most if not all of them have a ticket dispensing arcade thing too called Gatti Land, but instead of forceing the parents to sit in the arcade, it is seperated by a partial wall which blocks most of the noise but lets you keep an eye on your kids. It is quieter and less expensive than Chuck E Cheese’s, and at least mine has Whack a Mole.