Chuck E Cheese (Indoor Play Places) A Dying Breed

[CaptainHero]

Any children of the 80s or early 90s probably know what I am talkinga bout. Discovery Zone, Showbiz Pizza, Jumpin' Jax, Chuck E Cheese, Circus Pizza. All those pizza places with arcade games, ball pits, slides, and extremely creepy perhaps tramautizing audio animatronic shows with animals singing the Macarena or songs synched to their body motion. The only surviver is CEC, which isn't anything like it used to be. Who has fond memories or would like to share stories on a soft play place they used to have

[Darklordavaitor]

dth1971 Should be bound to come here in any second.

[CaptainHero]

dth1971 Should be bound to come here in any second.


Why?

[Michael24]

There's a Chuck E. Cheese not far from here that always looks like it's doing great business.

There's also a Boomers and Funworks, which have an eating area, video arcades, go-cart tracks, miniature golf, etc. that are pretty popular around here. Boomers also has a water area with small vehicles you can float around on and fire water cannons at other people. Very popular during the summer.

I personally miss Bullwinkle's Restaurant, which used to be in Santa Clara, CA. It had a huge sit-down pizza area with an animatronic show and those neat "showy" water fountains that change color and fire in time with music, and a great arcade. Every kid I ever knew growing up had had at least one birthday there. I had 2 or 3 at least. It was a great place for families to go even just for dinner. It closed in the mid-90s and was replaced by a preppy adult nightclub that barely managed to stay around for several years, and now the building just sits empty and run-down. :( I think there's a couple others still in existence in other state, but I really miss the one we used to have. Have many fond memories of that place.

[CaptainHero]

Is there any reason these places died? They were all the rage in the early to mid 90s. And it kept kids fit when you think about it

[DarthGonzo]

Is there any reason these places died?

The internet
Cell phones
Several video game systems to choose from
Handhelds
Ipods

Nowadays kids are just too savvy to go for ball pits and cheap animal robots. Does anyone have a Chuck E Cheese in their area that still even has those robots by the way?

And arcades themselves are a dying breed, considering you can play video games in a multitude of different ways these days, usually with graphics that are better than what you'd find in an arcade.

[sdp]

I loved them, well I only ever went to Showbiz Pizza but I had a few birthdays there and I remember them all very fondly. I always had tons of fun there, heck I even remember enjoying the show. I loved playing Turtles in Time there.

Why?
well if he mentioned it then don't you think its likely because he is a fan of those places?? ;)
Is there any reason these places died? They were all the rage in the early to mid 90s. And it kept kids fit when you think about it
Maybe same reasons arcades died? I doubt you can call it healthy with the Pizza ;D

[Dr.Pepper]

I always hated the robots. The tubes and ball pits were okay until I was 8. I liked the video games just so I can get tickets and win prizes. There are a few Chuck E. Cheese's in my area but I have no idea what is in them.

[The Irishman]

Why take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's, when you can go to Dave & Buster's and have fun yourself?

[G. Wen]

You know, my first (but far from only) experiences of head bangin', mosh pitting, and clubbing was at Showbiz Pizza. In my defense, I was 3 at the time. I didn't care much for the arcades, but I liked the ball pit.

As for these places going out of business, well kids think they're sooo cool gaming on their cell phones...:yawn:

[EinBebop]

I personally miss Bullwinkle's Restaurant, which used to be in Santa Clara, CA.It's gone? NOOOOOO!!!! :crying:

[Michael24]

You're from the area? Pretty sure it was about mid-90s when "The Backbeat" replaced it, though business seemed to be dropping steadily before then. It was a sad day among all us kids when it closed. :(

[Lord Dalek]

It's gone? NOOOOOO!!!! :crying:Move to Oregon, IIRC there's still one in Wilsonville.

[Daxdiv]

I remember those places from when I was young. I liked the pipes, slides, and the ball pit. Sometimes when I see a ball pit, I feel tempted to jump into on of them.:p Too bad the only place around me is a Chuck E. Cheese. We used to have a DC, Jeepers, and some other stuff, but now they're gone.

I would have liked to take my kid cousin to one of those places. Guess he'll have to settle for Chuck E. Cheese.

[purplehairedwonder]

Ah, I remember going to Chuck E. Cheese and Discovery Zone for birthday parties when I was younger. The ball pits and mazes were so much fun. Though Malibu Grand Prix was the place to have parties once we turned 10. Good times.

[Daikun]

I think the downfall of these places mounts to two problems:

1) The degradation of arcades. I remember when arcades used to be superior to home consoles. The graphics and gameplay were better by leaps and bounds, and the lines would be packed. Nowadays, arcades look like a joke compared to console games. Kids grew up and got smart. Why put a quarter or two in a slot for a single game when you can play the same thing at home as much as you want for free?

2) The food. It mainly consists of McDonald's or cheese/pepperoni pizza. (Want another topping? *pffft* Good luck.) The kids may like it, but adults with more developed tastes are kinda trapped. A few locations are lucky enough to serve alcohol, but the choices aren't very good. The rise of dieting doesn't help matters, either.

[ToOn~g@l]

Oh man I lived for Discovery Zone when I was seven to nine. I would try to go there as often as I could and just hang out with friends or with the summer camp I stayed with. I remember one had a tumbler and I would spend forever in that thing just to see how dizzy I would get. The last time I think I went to one was when I was twelve and it closed shortly after. Those were great times though.

Chuck E. Cheese seems to be doing well around here, all the young kids in my apartment complex have birthdays there.

We also have a popular place here called Mr. Biggs, I haven't been to it yet but it looks like fun since it has a bowling alley and game room. I think they also sell beer there too. ;)

[Kevin]

I remember Chuck E Cheese and Discovery Zone. When I was young, I used to go to Chuck E Cheese all the time for my birthday. My parents hated the pizza, but I loved playing at the indoor playground and arcade games there. We'd always save our tickets to try and win one of the big prizes. The one I went to is still there, and seems to still be doing good business.

Discovery Zone is another place I miss that I used to go to quite a bit when I was young. I remember loving to play in that huge indoor playground, and I do remember one of them having a laser tag area too.

For anyone in the Baltimore area, do you remember a place called The Fun Jungle? It was very similar to Discovery Zone.


1) The degradation of arcades. I remember when arcades used to be superior to home consoles. The graphics and gameplay were better by leaps and bounds, and the lines would be packed. Nowadays, arcades look like a joke compared to console games. Kids grew up and got smart. Why put a quarter or two in a slot for a single game when you can play the same thing at home as much as you want for free?

I remember that too. Being an '85 person, arcades were HUGE back then. Every kid I knew would be playing at one. Nowadays like you said, people feel there's no need for them due to home consoles. It's a shame too, because those arcades were some of the most fun places to go to.


2) The food. It mainly consists of McDonald's or cheese/pepperoni pizza. (Want another topping? *pffft* Good luck.) The kids may like it, but adults with more developed tastes are kinda trapped. A few locations are lucky enough to serve alcohol, but the choices aren't very good. The rise of dieting doesn't help matters, either.
Exactly why my parents hated the Chuck E Cheese pizza. They always complained the crust tasted like cardboard. I didn't mind though. Probably because I'm not a picky eater. Nowadays, we discovered Dave and Busters and started going to that instead of Chuck E Cheese, because it was more grown up.

[CaptainHero]

Are Discovery Zones still around or did they go bankrupt?

[DarthGonzo]

From Wikipedia:

Stretched thin by expansion, changes in management tried to save the company, however (under Viacom's control) Discovery Zone filed for bankruptcy on March 26 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_26), 1996 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996) in Wilmington, Delaware (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington%2C_Delaware) with debts of up to $366.2 million (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Zone#_note-1) Chuck E. Cheese's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_E._Cheese%27s) parent company purchased 500 Discovery Zone locations and turned them into Chuck E. Cheese's facilities by the end of 1999 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999).

There ya go.

[CaptainHero]

That doesn't explain why the poster above me said they still have a DZ in their town o.O

[Kevin]

Are Discovery Zones still around or did they go bankrupt?
No, they're now Chuck E Cheese's due to their parent company buying them out and converting all Discovery Zone's to them. It's a shame too, because I'd love it if someone ever brought Discovery Zone back.

[Angilasman]

I remember how fun Discovery Zone was. I'm sure I'm expanding the size of the thing in my memory, but I seem to remember a complex network of crawlable tubes that covered more ground than most restuarants.

I remeber thinking that if a kid ever died in the back of one of those things it would be difficult to get the body out.

...what?!

[CaptainHero]

YES I seem to remember them being about 60 feet high into the air and covering nearly every corner of the building

[Mynd Hed]

There are still quite a few places like that in my area, but they lack the creepy robots and the arcade tends to be an afterthought, the main attractions being minigolf, go-karts, batting cages, and laser tag. Still, they fulfill much the same purpose that Chuck E Cheese, Showbiz Pizza, Discovery Zone, etc. used to.

[Dr.Pepper]

There are still quite a few places like that in my area, but they lack the creepy robots and the arcade tends to be an afterthought, the main attractions being minigolf, go-karts, batting cages, and laser tag. Still, they fulfill much the same purpose that Chuck E Cheese, Showbiz Pizza, Discovery Zone, etc. used to.
There's a Bullwinke's where I live and it is like that.

[ThePeterNetwork]

There used to be a Chuck E. Cheese in a local shopping area near Bay Ridge, but that was when it was coming right from under the wings of ShowBiz Pizza. It had classic arcade games, animatronics, pizza, etc. That location is gone now, but CEC still exists in Brooklyn. It's in the downtown area which is confusingly located in the northern section. I don't think I would be allowed in there by myself. :o

Additionally, there were other places in my area to "get my arcade on", so to speak. Near Sheepshead Bay was a local place called Funtime USA, which was fine except that you had to purchase tokens just to get in (incentive to play video games, or greedy admission collection?) It is now a Public Storage warehouse. At least they had a Pac-Man machine there when it was an arcade. Another arcade was right in my neighborhood adjacent to a kids amusement park. That's become a Petco.

All we've got left in Brooklyn after Coney Island (and who knows how long that is going to stick around) is Nellie Bly Amusement Park and Mini Golf. Haven't been there much either, and I wonder if it will still be operable in future summer seasons.

[DBZNarutoWarrior]

Is there any reason these places died? They were all the rage in the early to mid 90s. And it kept kids fit when you think about it

Personally (having a totally unbiased opinion being a child of the 90's:p ) I believe that we had the PERFECT blend of technology and fun. We have video games and early stages of the internet we all know today, but more importantly, we still went outside and played with our friends. First I think that the scales were tipped towards the "all-play" aspect of living. Nowadays it's more towards the all-gameplay" aspect of living for kids. 90's was a good mixture of both and we basically made the first transition from play to gameplay lifestyle when we grew up to be 10-early teens. We are to blame.:D

[Galaxy 9000]

I've never heard of discovery zone just discovery place, which i still have around here

[thecoolone]

Nowadays kids are just too savvy to go for ball pits and cheap animal robots. Does anyone have a Chuck E Cheese in their area that still even has those robots by the way?


Here in Tulsa, they were last time I went a few years ago for my little cousin's birthday.

[sdp]

Oh yeah, I remember Discovery Zone. And yeah it appears Chucke E Cheeses just bought all its competitors. However I guess they didn't "die", in my city and very close town we have "Incredible Pizza Company" and "Playtime Pizza" which is basically the same concept. No "show" but you have a Pizza buffet and an arcade.

[zimbach]

You're from the area? Pretty sure it was about mid-90s when "The Backbeat" replaced it, though business seemed to be dropping steadily before then. It was a sad day among all us kids when it closed. :(


The location is still in business. It's still a nightclub-- they just did a remodel and changed the name. It's now the "Avalon".

There was a time in the '80s and '90s when parents were totally paranoid about their children's recreation options. They couldn't play outside in the streets that were full of cars and drug pushers, or in the unsupervised parks with their dangerous outdated equipment and feces strewn sand and bees and homeless people and child molesters. So this paranoia gave rise to the private, supervised indoor playgrounds. Their popularity declined as the next generation of parents largely got over this over-protective trend. Still, a new Chuck E. Cheese's opened in Cupertino about a year ago and it's doing great.

[ROBOTRON]

:sweat: - None in the Detroit area anymore.

Face it...the popularity of these places were based on 2 things, pizza and stand alone arcade games.

Pizza: Better quality pizza can be found at delivery pizza joints and and it usually tastes 10 times better. So why go to say CEC and pay more for crummy pizza?

Stand alone arcade game scene: Its dead. When console technology surpassed the stand alone units, the arcade scene flopped. The newer stand alone units like the upcoming Tekken 6 cost 30 grand each. Who can operate an arcade (or vendor them) with machines costing that much? Nag your parents for a PS3 and you've got the tech for free...invite a few friends online (or to your house) and order a pizza and your home free.

There are other underlying factors...like the economy. The nearest arcade in my area for example would probably be one of those fancy Dave & Buster places in which the closest one is a mere 30 miles away...at todays gas prices, meh. You're better off in the long run buying a next gen system and staying home and renting games from Netflix or something.:raven:

EDIT: Oh yeah, I went to D &B once...I think to play a single game was a buck. Nothing cost a quarter. That was 2 years ago, I haven't been back. I really don't drink much so I really have no other reason to go there.

[Michael24]

The location is still in business. It's still a nightclub-- they just did a remodel and changed the name. It's now the "Avalon".

Ah, okay. One of the last times I was over that way I passed by and it looked like it was all rundown or something, so I thought "Backbeat" had finally closed and the building was just sitting there empty. Maybe that was during the remodeling.

[G. Wen]

I wonder if these places can be brought back to life by hosting LANNING parties instead of arcade games... Big screen monitors of your fav. games, for those L337 players... woot!!!!!!!11111!!!

other things they can do:

Better food! And have a wider selection than just pizza.

Miniature golf courses, bowling allies, go-cart racing, wind tunnels, laser tag, tubes, and ball pit, rock climbing, roller rink all in one place.

Actual music instead of those scary animatronics.

Indoor water fountain that changes colors to the music (only because I like those things...)

[ROBOTRON]

I wonder if these places can be brought back to life by hosting LANNING parties instead of arcade games... Big screen monitors of your fav. games, for those L337 players... woot!!!!!!!11111!!!



Seems logical that where gaming would be headed. There is an anime themed store not far from me called Masquerade Games. Their main focus used to be the buying and selling of video games and imports (toys, video games, movies, etc). They started a LAN thing there and card playing tournaments like Pokemon and Yugioh and Heroclix. Belive it or not, the video game/toy portion of the store died. The only thing keeping them going is the Lan gaming and card stuff, so they expanded it.

The business appears to be thriving.

Later, a LAN based chain of gaming stores opened up just north of me called Planet X. They host XBOX, and PS3 LAN based gaming on several plasma screens. This business also appears to be thriving.

Related source: Planet X (http://www.planetxgamecenter.com/)

This appears to me to be the future of gaming.

[CaptainHero]

I remember Discovery Zone was never too big on arcade games, don't get me wrong they had a lot, but their main draw were always the ball pits and slides

[G1Ravage]

Back when I lived in Las Vegas, we had a Chuck E. Cheese, which later became a Peter Piper Pizza. The pizza was New York-style, and was totally delicious. The tubes was nothing write home about, though.

I also once attended a birthday party at a Discovery Zone. IIRC, they allowed parents into the tubes with the children.

My favorite tubes were at Kids Quest and Kids Tyme, which were supervised childrens' play areas at select casinos in Las Vegas. The tubes were the highest I'd ever seen, and covered a LOT of square feet. With multiple entries, steps, tubes, dead-ends, and more than one slide, you could easily get lost in there. I usually went there with a friend, and our imaginations ran wild in there.

[Kitschensyngk]

I never went to a Chuck E. Cheese or a Discovery Zone when I was a kid, BUT the summer before I entered the sixth grade my Sunday school class took a trip out to a place in Kansas City called "Leaps 'n' Bounds". I forget what kind of food they served (if they had any) but they did have the whole tunnel/slide/ball pit deal.

I don't know if that place is still there, though.

Back in town, we had "Mr. Gatti's", a pizza buffet/arcade place, which went out of business a while back.

Today we have "Pizza Street". I've never been there, but I know it has a game room.

Here, read this: http://www.whitehutchinson.com/leisure/articles/83.shtml

[The Wolverine]

Back when I lived in Las Vegas, we had a Chuck E. Cheese, which later became a Peter Piper Pizza. The pizza was New York-style, and was totally delicious. The tubes was nothing write home about, though.


Las Vegas has Peter Piper?

Wow, I thought it was just a Phoenix thing. Peter Piper has lots of locations here. I hate most pizza (including from there), but I still like playing the games.



Back in town, we had "Mr. Gatti's", a pizza buffet/arcade place, which went out of business a while back.

They had that back home in KY. Actually, it's still there and doing well. Which is great, considering its location...

[Russkafin]

Chuck E. Cheese now is not the same as it was back in its glory days in the 1980s. They don't have all the singing robots now, and its much more wide-open than it used to be. Back in the day, Chuck E. Cheese had a bunch of different rooms... there was the main room with all the singing robots, then another "lounge" type room with an Elvis-type singing robot, then at least two or three different sections to the arcade. To a kid, it was freaking awesome, but to a parent it was a nightmare because half the time you could not see and/or keep track of your kid.

At my Chuck E. Cheese when I was little, they had a "mouse hole" under the stage in the main room that was big enough for little kids to crawl into but not parents. My cousin and I went in there one time and there were these other mean kids in there with sharp sticks that they had brought in, and they were claiming the mouse hole as their own and threatening to stab any other kids that tried to come in. Again, a parents' nightmare - you can't get to your kid, and lord knows what's going on in that freaking mouse hole.

The next time we came back, they had closed up the mouse hole.

[Draft]

I'm pretty lucky. I live about an hour or so away from "Funspot", which is a 2-3 level place with numerous arcade games and mini golf courses. They also have an entire floor dedicated to classic arcade machines (With an original Donkey Knog machine used by Steve Webie in '"The King of Kong"). I've been there a couple times, awesome place.

[CaptainHero]

We have something in Burnsville MN called Grand Slam USA, it has mini golf, bumper cars, lazer tag and batting cages, but the nostalgia from Discovery Zone and Showbiz makes me yearn for the 90s

[Hurricane V1]

Where I live we have several Clubhouses and a Dave & Busters. I used to blow so much money at those places, but they were great for getting exercise. The Clubhouses all have a rotating climbing wall and a basketball room, though the basketball room gets really hot and stuffy after ten minutes. Dave & Busters has this one addictive game called Jumping Jack's Jackpot where you basically have to jump over a string of moving lights, which accelerate.

We used to have this place called the Challenge Center when I was a kid. It was full of obstacle courses, laser tag, sports simulations and inflatable room stuff. I had some great times there, but the place went under very quickly because everything was so expensive. A game of laser tag was six bucks for twenty minutes, which wasn't bad, but if we played for a few hours the money quickly disappeared. Plus you needed a million tickets to buy anything and few games rewarded you with tickets.

[Harvey Two Face]

I don't really think they could be a dying breed, I mean there are plenty of fast food places but most of them just have that basic gym climbing equipment stuff for 5 year olds.

[Daphne Blake]

Ah man, we never had Chuck E Cheese. Whe had the Wacky Warehouses though which is like a pub resturant with a ball pool and play area. Donno how they are doing how like.

[Zechs]

The internet also familes have become busy with sports. Little Tommy has to pratice to be a baseball star one day no time for silly things like fun. Also kids have things like the internet and cell phones.