CStoneNo37
04-01-2009, 02:58 PM
I don't know what got me thinking about Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz Pizza over the weekend, because I hadn't thought about my love for it in literally 10+ years, but for some reason I started reading up on the history of it and all these memories came flooding back. (Aided by the Rock-afire Explosion movie trailer and all of Chris Thrash's videos.)
I grew up "going" to the Showbiz/CEC in Laurel, MD, which as I understand it is still a three-stage show. I can't imagine that they've taken good care of it because the shopping center it's in is generally pretty crappy, but I'd love to know if anyone has been lately.
Anyways, I put "going" in quotes because I only ever actually made it to Showbiz/CEC maybe 5 times in my life because my dad hated it so much. More than anything I just remember constantly bugging him to go there from ages 4 to 10, give or take. I used to watch TONS of Nickelodeon and CEC constantly advertised on Nick, so it was always fresh in my mind and I was always being reminded how awesome it was.
One of the funnier things I remember is that I asked my dad once when I was REAL little if we could go Chuck E. Cheese, and he said "We don't have a Chuck E. Cheese. It's Showbiz." And I was all disappointed because CEC was what advertised all the time and I felt that somehow it was better than SPP. Then when I was maybe 5 or 6 it changed over to CEC and the inside didn't change AT ALL, but somehow it was cooler in my mind. (I do remember thinking the walkaround Chuck was the coolest, so that was added with the change-over.) Also whenever I went, I barely paid any attention to the Rock-afire show and always wanted to go straight to the ball pit and then to the games so I could win tickets for useless/cheap prizes. Thinking back on it now, I wish I would have seen more of the RAE, because that was way more unique than the ball pits, skee-ball or Super Shot basketball. Don't get me wrong, I definitely watched them because they were right in the room where you ate your pizza, but it wasn't the big draw for me. So it's kind of odd that THAT's what I'm really interested in now that I look back on it.
So that's my life story. I've been reading the forums and combing over this site for the last few days and I finally got up the gumption to register and post. This is probably the longest-winded I'll ever be, so thanks for reading all that if you've made it this far.
I grew up "going" to the Showbiz/CEC in Laurel, MD, which as I understand it is still a three-stage show. I can't imagine that they've taken good care of it because the shopping center it's in is generally pretty crappy, but I'd love to know if anyone has been lately.
Anyways, I put "going" in quotes because I only ever actually made it to Showbiz/CEC maybe 5 times in my life because my dad hated it so much. More than anything I just remember constantly bugging him to go there from ages 4 to 10, give or take. I used to watch TONS of Nickelodeon and CEC constantly advertised on Nick, so it was always fresh in my mind and I was always being reminded how awesome it was.
One of the funnier things I remember is that I asked my dad once when I was REAL little if we could go Chuck E. Cheese, and he said "We don't have a Chuck E. Cheese. It's Showbiz." And I was all disappointed because CEC was what advertised all the time and I felt that somehow it was better than SPP. Then when I was maybe 5 or 6 it changed over to CEC and the inside didn't change AT ALL, but somehow it was cooler in my mind. (I do remember thinking the walkaround Chuck was the coolest, so that was added with the change-over.) Also whenever I went, I barely paid any attention to the Rock-afire show and always wanted to go straight to the ball pit and then to the games so I could win tickets for useless/cheap prizes. Thinking back on it now, I wish I would have seen more of the RAE, because that was way more unique than the ball pits, skee-ball or Super Shot basketball. Don't get me wrong, I definitely watched them because they were right in the room where you ate your pizza, but it wasn't the big draw for me. So it's kind of odd that THAT's what I'm really interested in now that I look back on it.
So that's my life story. I've been reading the forums and combing over this site for the last few days and I finally got up the gumption to register and post. This is probably the longest-winded I'll ever be, so thanks for reading all that if you've made it this far.