There is a hell. It's name is Chuck E. Cheese.
Yesterday we went to Chuck E. Cheese for a few hours for my niece Susan's birthday party.
I ran around with them taking pictures of them having fun playing games, winning tickets, getting prizes, eating pizza, and just having an awesome time.
I spent a lot of time hanging with my buddy niece Skye, she is so stinking adorable!
She is still fascinated with my body jewelry, my tongue ring to be specific.
When she was a baby/toddler, I used to stick my tongue out and she used to try and grab it.
She is still intrigued with it.
I kept dong it to her yesterday, sticking my tongue out, and she'd just stare at it, ask what it was, and then she'd try to touch it, and then giggle.
But Chuck E. Cheese is hell.
That place is absolute chaos.
This is what it says about their kid check program. Emphasis mine.
When you first arrive at Chuck E. Cheese's you will pass through our Kid Check area where parents or guardians will have their hand stamped with a number that matches their child's. This is our special way we try to assist you in helping that everyone who comes together leaves together. (This program is not a substitute for adult supervision.)
Yeah, so they have a way to make sure that your kid doesn't walk out the front door with someone who is not their parent or adult in charge, but there were 5 fire exits that I saw with no alarm bars on them, kids were playing right near those doors, the staff was not paying attention, and neither were the parents.
And the part I bolded up there about adult supervision is my biggest issue with Chuck E. Cheese.
There were kids everywhere, running all over, pushing other kids, one small child was going around and stealing the little cups full of tokens from other kids, climbing on tables and chairs, just absolute crappy behavior.
And the parents?
The parents were all just sitting at tables talking with the other parents and adults, paying no attention at all to what their heathen brat children were doing.
Chuck E. Cheese's motto is "where a kid can be a kid."
It does not say where a kid can be a complete jerk and steal from other kids, push them, run around and climb on tables, scream at decibels that would cause a dog's ears to bleed, and the signs do say that parents need to supervise.
But so many parents just let their kids do whatever while they sit there and gab to each other.
I find that it's an absolutely horrible place, I'm glad my sons are grown up and I will never have to take them there for a birthday party, ever.
It was dirty, dirty tables, dirty floors, and the behavior of the kids and the lack of parenting, just aggravated me to no end.
But I made the best of my time with my nieces who I don't get to see very often, I have a ton of pictures of them playing games and having a really good time.
I might post a few of my favorites later on, I did have fun with my girls, but man, that place is just absolutely horrible, it is my version of hell on earth.
Comments
Katie is always wanting to go there and I am always telling her no. The moment I set foot inside those gates of hell I instantly get the migraine from hell. The pizza is putrid, the chaos is soul consuming and the parents are non existent. I HATE that place.
Posted by: Mindy | August 11, 2008 4:08 PM
I have never in my life set foot in a Chuck E. Cheese, and I have no plans to do so. I've heard enough horror stories about it, though.
You know that I rant a lot about kids misbehaving in restaurants. I blame the whole "Chuck E. Cheese, where a kid can be a kid" in part for this. Who are these parents who think that "being a kid" means running around like a monkey on crack, stealing, and annoying others in general?
We didn't go to restaurants much when I was a kid, but if my brother or I even misbehaved at McDonald's, we'd have gotten our asses whooped, and we'd not be taken there again for a good long time.
Yet these so-called parents also let their kids act this way in other, non-Chuck E. Cheese restaurants.
Yeah, CEC is for kids, with the games and play areas and all, but sheesh, that is no excuse for this sort of behavior. Kids still need to be taught to be polite and not annoy (or steal from) others. Proper restaurant behavior still needs to be taught and practiced, even at kid-friendly places like CEC.
Posted by: Christine | August 11, 2008 5:11 PM
I loath that place, and outright refuse to go there. The last time I went, a couple years ago with a friend and our kids. Didn't take long before chaos erupted and fights started. I do not handle people well in situations like that.
Posted by: Christie | August 11, 2008 10:33 PM
I remember as a kid we always wanted to go to Showbiz Pizza, and it was absolutely great. Then they merged with Chuck E Cheese, and after one visit under the new name my parents refused to ever take us back again.
I made the mistake of going to a birthday party there a couple years ago, and I will NEVER go back again. I agree the place is absolutely disgusting, and in the one here you not only have screaming out of control kids, but you've got screaming out of control teenagers who think they're still kids.
My best friend drives an hour and 1/2 to take her son to the closest one to us once a month, and I don't see why. There are so many other game/arcade type places that are sooo much better and closer! Chuck E Cheese is a disgusting waste of money IMO.
Posted by: Jenn | August 12, 2008 4:41 AM
Oh yeah, I did my time in there back in the day. The trouble is that the mob mentality takes over once there are a lot of kids in there. Ordinarily nice children become animals. The highlight of our very last visit there was when some kid pooped on my daughter's hair in the ball pit, and she wet her pants in retaliation. I think it was the only time in history that they actually had to close down the ball pit for the rest of the afternoon.
Posted by: Chris (Singer) | August 12, 2008 9:29 AM
Ours isn't bad, but my friends and I take our kids when they first open (10am or so) so there are hardly any people there. I've seen it packed before when I've driven by there in the evening and there's no way in HELL I am going in then!
Posted by: Christine | August 13, 2008 4:39 PM