macrossmaster
10-05-2008, 08:08 PM
So, this past week I'm chilling with the fam (from whom the RAE/PTT/CEC/SB thing is unknown), and they casually mention, "Are you going to go to your cousin's birthday? Its on Sunday." I figure I will, nothing else to do, and then
"By the way, its at Chuck E. Cheese."
Me: Um, OK, I guess I can make it.
(Inside: WOOOHOO!)
So today I cruise on over (our town has one store), and hit the door. They've, at some time in the past 4 years, completely overhauled the entire inside. The counter, kitchen and pizza window are in the same spot, but the old SB era enclosed showroom is gone. With no more walls, its bright and airy with TONS of tables and chairs. Studio C is there, which was not when I last attended. I approached with some wonder, as I'd never seen one in person. It's huge! The computer bank thing confused me as I had no idea what all these buttons would do. One monitor returned an error message so I guess it was broken.
Here's where it went slightly bad. My family had not reserved a party, and as we walk in, I'm getting pumped to sit down and watch the show (I'm an old RAE fan, remember - showrooms and pizza are the two reasons to go to these places!). Thats when I see: the entire room is reserved. Every table. We ask, and they say a lot of parties are coming in. Well, I think we could have taken two tables there, but such was not to be. As we dined in the game room, I'd pass near the showroom to get more Mello Yello (forgotten sodas for the win!).
Chuck comes out from the curtain, and seems impressive from the few times I can see him. The volume is fairly low, and the showroom is well lit. Attention paid to the show by the birthday was absolutely minimal - it was pure background noise. I didn't get to hear any of the show, and I took a second to notice whether or not Chucks curtain was open. Sad. Being so light, with no spotlights, Chuck being there was just another noise. I'm no great fan of his singing, so this was just as well I guess.
We sit down, and the food arrives in short order. The pizza is decent – not delicious, not horrible, just standard pizza. I have four slices of pepperoni and enjoy it. The real thrill was the soda fountain – Mello Yello, Mr. Pibb AND Cherry Coke on tap! It was the valhalla of pop! Needless to say, having gone three years since my last Mello Yello, I had three refills. Chuck gets a HUGE thumbs up here. If they'd served it in a pitcher, I'd have fainted.
We ate and talked, having a good time. Then – out to the game floor. I figured I'd stay for an hour or so, and see some crappy games. Turns out, they've been fixed up and had an infusion of new blood. Ski Ball SUCKS (slightly bouncy balls instead of wood combined with rubbery rolling surface is bad for aim, but worst of all, caused a few balls to bounce into other lanes! I never had this problem before, but had to apologize to the kids playing around me.)
Ski ball was decent when I got over the bounciness, and fun was had there.
I skipped the basketball game as it looked intimidating – and I suck at basketball. I had lots of fun with Smokin' Tokin', especially when I figured out max payout and how to time it. Deep Freeze was also fun, but I figured it out too late how to constantly make tickets from it, and was a little behind the game then.
A few games of Space Invaders: Silver Edition satisfied the old school itch, and I got to play with my cousin who I would occasionally hit the arcades with in the 80s. Lets just say since he's older, his SI skills are still MUCH better than mine! It was nice to see an old pro at work. He had no idea what QIX was, but I think that was 88-89, when he was done with the arcades.
Then, the real fun began, when half my family discovered the trivia game. We were hooked! Having four of us on it at once was a blast, and we talked about all the questions and stuff. A game adults can play along with kids all gathered around is a great idea, and I hope they develop more along these lines. We absolutely FED this thing tokens! We dumped coin after coin going round after round there. When everyone else departed and we had leftover tokens, they were all burned on Trivia.
Lastly, we played our last tokens and headed to the ticket muncher, where there was a slight mishap (detailed in another thread) where the machine reset while counting tickets. It was fixed by an attendant and we were on our way. We surprised my cousin's middle kid by having everyone give their combined ticket earnings to him. (I had plans to acquire a nice Chuck plush, but couldn't win enough tickets.) All told he had a little over 1,000 tickets. I helped him at the ticket counter, and it took around 15 minutes deliberation to find just the right item - a big kooshball looking thing. I kept suggesting cool stuff like a Chuck LE or a shirt, but the kooshball was too much. :)
So, at last, we split, taking the presents to the car, as most everyone else left a while back (extended family) leaving just the birthday boy, his family and me playing games etc. I walked out, tokens utterly spent, having had a great time. As I walked into the sunny afternoon, I thought "What a great time! How long was I in there?" As I looked at my watch, FIVE hours! Holy smoke! Had I bought more tokens, I could have stayed into the night, provided I had friends to play with. What a blast! The show (and our banishment from the showroom) was disappointing. Had I had time to enjoy the show, I think it would have really added to the experience.
A few observations:
• The showroom now is much, much less special than it was. No attention is paid to it since its not the real focus any more. Studio C looks nifty when you first see it, but loses its lustre soon.
• We got a visit from Chuck as a walkaround! Without an official b-day reservation, I was most impressed. The little kid across the table was taken with Chuck and waved at him, and seemed happy he came by.
• The game room is the FIRST time since SBPP that I've ever felt a family atmosphere at CEC. Great job on it, and people of all ages were there enjoying things.
• While kids won't know who the characters are, thanks to the hated Studio C, merchandising and characters on the walls, TVs and more was TOP NOTCH. I saw Helen Henny EVERYWHERE! Chuck and the gang are finally well represented. Munch is present, Jasper makes appearances, and I enjoyed the video over the Skiball machines. Almost made up for our exile from the showroom.
• Merchandise was not so great in terms of neat stuff, but BOY they finally figured out to feature the characters! Helen has finally taken her rightful place: Helen makeup kits, compacts, and girl items. Chuck is all over too. I lent my measelly 170 tickets to my cousin's little girl, who was eyeing a Helen Henny compact and lipstick. She didn't have enough, so I kicked mine in and she marched off, showing everyone her new prize.
• It is, sadly, the death knell for Pasqually. The only place I saw him was in the video above the Skiball machine. My friend (a CEC employee in High School) and I used to love to mock him, but he's just vanishing. If he doesn't get a LE plush or related ride, I'm afraid he's going to fade away.
• Lastly, for those of you who want to visit as adults, walking in on a weekend is the way to do it. There's such a madhouse no one is going to notice if you are by yourself. You could have a lot of fun with just two people.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
"By the way, its at Chuck E. Cheese."
Me: Um, OK, I guess I can make it.
(Inside: WOOOHOO!)
So today I cruise on over (our town has one store), and hit the door. They've, at some time in the past 4 years, completely overhauled the entire inside. The counter, kitchen and pizza window are in the same spot, but the old SB era enclosed showroom is gone. With no more walls, its bright and airy with TONS of tables and chairs. Studio C is there, which was not when I last attended. I approached with some wonder, as I'd never seen one in person. It's huge! The computer bank thing confused me as I had no idea what all these buttons would do. One monitor returned an error message so I guess it was broken.
Here's where it went slightly bad. My family had not reserved a party, and as we walk in, I'm getting pumped to sit down and watch the show (I'm an old RAE fan, remember - showrooms and pizza are the two reasons to go to these places!). Thats when I see: the entire room is reserved. Every table. We ask, and they say a lot of parties are coming in. Well, I think we could have taken two tables there, but such was not to be. As we dined in the game room, I'd pass near the showroom to get more Mello Yello (forgotten sodas for the win!).
Chuck comes out from the curtain, and seems impressive from the few times I can see him. The volume is fairly low, and the showroom is well lit. Attention paid to the show by the birthday was absolutely minimal - it was pure background noise. I didn't get to hear any of the show, and I took a second to notice whether or not Chucks curtain was open. Sad. Being so light, with no spotlights, Chuck being there was just another noise. I'm no great fan of his singing, so this was just as well I guess.
We sit down, and the food arrives in short order. The pizza is decent – not delicious, not horrible, just standard pizza. I have four slices of pepperoni and enjoy it. The real thrill was the soda fountain – Mello Yello, Mr. Pibb AND Cherry Coke on tap! It was the valhalla of pop! Needless to say, having gone three years since my last Mello Yello, I had three refills. Chuck gets a HUGE thumbs up here. If they'd served it in a pitcher, I'd have fainted.
We ate and talked, having a good time. Then – out to the game floor. I figured I'd stay for an hour or so, and see some crappy games. Turns out, they've been fixed up and had an infusion of new blood. Ski Ball SUCKS (slightly bouncy balls instead of wood combined with rubbery rolling surface is bad for aim, but worst of all, caused a few balls to bounce into other lanes! I never had this problem before, but had to apologize to the kids playing around me.)
Ski ball was decent when I got over the bounciness, and fun was had there.
I skipped the basketball game as it looked intimidating – and I suck at basketball. I had lots of fun with Smokin' Tokin', especially when I figured out max payout and how to time it. Deep Freeze was also fun, but I figured it out too late how to constantly make tickets from it, and was a little behind the game then.
A few games of Space Invaders: Silver Edition satisfied the old school itch, and I got to play with my cousin who I would occasionally hit the arcades with in the 80s. Lets just say since he's older, his SI skills are still MUCH better than mine! It was nice to see an old pro at work. He had no idea what QIX was, but I think that was 88-89, when he was done with the arcades.
Then, the real fun began, when half my family discovered the trivia game. We were hooked! Having four of us on it at once was a blast, and we talked about all the questions and stuff. A game adults can play along with kids all gathered around is a great idea, and I hope they develop more along these lines. We absolutely FED this thing tokens! We dumped coin after coin going round after round there. When everyone else departed and we had leftover tokens, they were all burned on Trivia.
Lastly, we played our last tokens and headed to the ticket muncher, where there was a slight mishap (detailed in another thread) where the machine reset while counting tickets. It was fixed by an attendant and we were on our way. We surprised my cousin's middle kid by having everyone give their combined ticket earnings to him. (I had plans to acquire a nice Chuck plush, but couldn't win enough tickets.) All told he had a little over 1,000 tickets. I helped him at the ticket counter, and it took around 15 minutes deliberation to find just the right item - a big kooshball looking thing. I kept suggesting cool stuff like a Chuck LE or a shirt, but the kooshball was too much. :)
So, at last, we split, taking the presents to the car, as most everyone else left a while back (extended family) leaving just the birthday boy, his family and me playing games etc. I walked out, tokens utterly spent, having had a great time. As I walked into the sunny afternoon, I thought "What a great time! How long was I in there?" As I looked at my watch, FIVE hours! Holy smoke! Had I bought more tokens, I could have stayed into the night, provided I had friends to play with. What a blast! The show (and our banishment from the showroom) was disappointing. Had I had time to enjoy the show, I think it would have really added to the experience.
A few observations:
• The showroom now is much, much less special than it was. No attention is paid to it since its not the real focus any more. Studio C looks nifty when you first see it, but loses its lustre soon.
• We got a visit from Chuck as a walkaround! Without an official b-day reservation, I was most impressed. The little kid across the table was taken with Chuck and waved at him, and seemed happy he came by.
• The game room is the FIRST time since SBPP that I've ever felt a family atmosphere at CEC. Great job on it, and people of all ages were there enjoying things.
• While kids won't know who the characters are, thanks to the hated Studio C, merchandising and characters on the walls, TVs and more was TOP NOTCH. I saw Helen Henny EVERYWHERE! Chuck and the gang are finally well represented. Munch is present, Jasper makes appearances, and I enjoyed the video over the Skiball machines. Almost made up for our exile from the showroom.
• Merchandise was not so great in terms of neat stuff, but BOY they finally figured out to feature the characters! Helen has finally taken her rightful place: Helen makeup kits, compacts, and girl items. Chuck is all over too. I lent my measelly 170 tickets to my cousin's little girl, who was eyeing a Helen Henny compact and lipstick. She didn't have enough, so I kicked mine in and she marched off, showing everyone her new prize.
• It is, sadly, the death knell for Pasqually. The only place I saw him was in the video above the Skiball machine. My friend (a CEC employee in High School) and I used to love to mock him, but he's just vanishing. If he doesn't get a LE plush or related ride, I'm afraid he's going to fade away.
• Lastly, for those of you who want to visit as adults, walking in on a weekend is the way to do it. There's such a madhouse no one is going to notice if you are by yourself. You could have a lot of fun with just two people.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!